TN TN - Karen Swift, 44, Dyersburg, 30 Oct 2011 - #3

[LotusPawprint]

It is a huge point to drop on us (the public) after two years of silence. I suppose it might be one of those points that was withheld to protect the integrity of the investigation and it slipped out.

When she first went missing he was questioned (routinely), I'm wondering if there were any signs of a struggle on him.. even if he was not viewed as a POI, perhaps LE interviewing him in those initial days would have taken note of anything suspicious. That's a brutal way to die and a brutal way to kill someone. And she was pretty fit, iirc.

 

[otto]

When she first went missing he was questioned (routinely), I'm wondering if there were any signs of a struggle on him.. even if he was not viewed as a POI, perhaps LE interviewing him in those initial days would have taken note of anything suspicious. That's a brutal way to die and a brutal way to kill someone. And she was pretty fit, iirc.

If the husband is responsible, that would mean that after Karen put her daughter into bed with her sister, there was some sort of altercation with her husband. It's a large house, so it's possible that no one heard anything. He said that he last saw Karen while he stood at the top of the stairs and she, inside the house, walked past front door.

She was supposedly in her pajamas, so I'm guessing that any altercation would have been inside the house. If she was beaten to death, then there must be a weapon and I would expect some evidence of blood in the house that came from more than a normal cut or injury. It seems to me that there must have been evidence in the house - but why wasn't it found? Was something found and evidence is just being returned from the lab? Is that why there's another search warrant?

Since it's an attached garage, he could easily have taken her from the house to his car. He would have driven her car the 1/4 mile to the road, returned home through the trees, dumping her clothes along the way, and then taken her in his car to the cemetery where she was found.

 

[otto]

Didn't we hear early on that there was DNA evidence under her nails ... something like that? Anyone remember something like that? I said earlier that his DNA on her could be explained away in court, but I'm rethinking that. If she had his skin under her nails and she was beaten to death, that usually means only one thing. At the very least, it suggests that there was more contact between the two than a visual from the top of the stairs. If his story is that they did not have physical contact and his DNA is under her nails ... that would be problematic for him.

 

[OldSteve]

Wonder if they took pictures of the husband after she went missing? Any scratches/ bruises...

That she was beaten to death is a bombshell!

Wonder if they are looking for weapon used to beat her with...

Seems by now all evidence would be gone, cleaned up...

 

[LotusPawprint]

Didn't we hear early on that there was DNA evidence under her nails ... something like that? Anyone remember something like that? I said earlier that his DNA on her could be explained away in court, but I'm rethinking that. If she had his skin under her nails and she was beaten to death, that usually means only one thing. At the very least, it suggests that there was more contact between the two than a visual from the top of the stairs. If his story is that they did not have physical contact and his DNA is under her nails ... that would be problematic for him.

Wonder if they took pictures of the husband after she went missing? Any scratches/ bruises...

That she was beaten to death is a bombshell!

Wonder if they are looking for weapon used to beat her with...

Seems by now all evidence would be gone, cleaned up...

Jumping off both posts ...

What would still be in the house or on the property after all this time?
-or-
What might be there that's new?

It seems from the Sheriff repeatedly saying test results would be back in a matter of weeks or months (a year ago) that this new search isn't a result of forensic findings. Seemingly. Can TBI be that slow? (On second thought, don't answer that) So maybe someone else knew something and spoke up. Maybe DS, I mean, the person responsible slipped up somewhere and that gave LE probable cause to issue the new warrant.


As for the possibility of his DNA under her finger nails or it being prominent on her body, that just won't fly according to his story that they only made the visual contact by the stairs. If LE conducted the interviews right, they have him locked into his story several times that their relationship was not physical in any sense of the word that day/night. He cannot change his story and the amount and location of his DNA cannot be explained away by living in the same home.

Hopefully he's backed into a corner with nowhere to go and this long wait has not be in vain, but you never know in this case.

 

[sophiebelle]

I thought the sheriff had all the results for a long time. He made it into a long and convoluted investigation, then fell silent. He's had a long time to go over the results and to decide if he had evidence for a conviction. So this is odd. I hope he got new info and that this is not another stall tactic.

 

[otto]

I wonder what the body DNA revealed (still looking for confirmation that there was DNA under her nails):

"Box told WBBJ that there were “apparent injuries” to the body, but investigators are still waiting for the medical examiner’s report to provide more information. They also plan to analyze DNA evidence collected from Swift’s car, her home and her body.

http://www.hlntv.com/article/2011/12/14/men-describe-finding-missing-tennessee-moms-body

 

[rachaellouise]

Are the kids still in his custody? (the younger ones, I mean)

 

[fhc]

Are the kids still in his custody? (the younger ones, I mean)

Yes! I wonder if they have any fear of their 'daddy'...

 

[tarabull]

Swift's attorney calls unannounced search on house 'unnecessary'

http://tiptoncounty.wmctv.com/m/new...ey-calls-unannounced-search-house-unnecessary

 

[OldSteve]

Wonder what was presented to the judge in order to get him to sign this search warrant?

 

[otto]

Wonder what was presented to the judge in order to get him to sign this search warrant?

My guess is that it has taken this long for all of the evidence to be analyzed. Something may have come back as positive for blood, and perhaps police wanted to check a specific area again.

"The Dyer County Sheriff says 50 to 100 pieces of evidence have already been collected in this case but he's waiting on more."

http://www.wmctv.com/story/19441454/arrest-may-be-near-in-karen-swift-murder

 

[cluciano63]

I hope I am never in TN long enough to be murdered, if it can take two years to process evidence.

 

[otto]

I hope I am never in TN long enough to be murdered, if it can take two years to process evidence.

In the murder of Michelle Fisher Young, NC, police were collecting evidence over a long period of time. I recall that they had to return to the house to photograph the bathroom and collect deck boards after evidence was first analyzed. It took years, but the husband was eventually convicted.

 

[tarabull]

A reminder for myself...

“In all debates, let truth be thy aim, not victory, or an unjust interest.”*―*William Penn

 

[cluciano63]

In the murder of Michelle Fisher Young, NC, police were collecting evidence over a long period of time. I recall that they had to return to the house to photograph the bathroom and collect deck boards after evidence was first analyzed. It took years, but the husband was eventually convicted.

Hoping for the best. Just dismayed by Holly Bobo's case, and also Shelley Mook.

 

[ktgirl]

I hope I am never in TN long enough to be murdered, if it can take two years to process evidence.

Have her kids been living with the POI in the mean time?

 

[fhc]

Hoping for the best. Just dismayed by Holly Bobo's case, and also Shelley Mook.

and Marsha Brantley!

 

[tarabull]

July 4 2013

David Swift has not been named a suspect in his wife's apparent murder, but neighbors said there are too many unanswered questions to rule out anyone.

http://www.wbbjtv.com/news/local/Se...d-of-Karen-Swift-214317631.html?m=y&smobile=y

 

[cocomod]

July 4 2013

David Swift has not been named a suspect in his wife's apparent murder, but neighbors said there are too many unanswered questions to rule out anyone.

http://www.wbbjtv.com/news/local/Se...d-of-Karen-Swift-214317631.html?m=y&smobile=y

(This is not directed at you tarabull, but at the article) Yes, Josh Powell was never named a suspect in his wife's disappearance either, but...

:waiting: Hoping for justice soon!