JLouEllen90
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In Arlington County, Cold Case Detective Rosa Ortiz works 22 active cases. One of the first cases she worked when she came into the cold case unit from the sex crimes unit is the case of Stanford “Sam” Swift III, murdered as he counted the day’s money in the back office of an Arlington Roy Roger’s restaurant on June 11, 1992, where he worked as the night shift manager.
Police discovered his body there, where he had been stabbed in the head, and money was missing from the restaurant. A witness saw the killer running from the restaurant with a bag, and get into a car with D.C. plates. Police released a sketch of the suspect, but have not been able to solve the crime.
As with many cold cases, aging family members struggling with the loss are also nearing the end of their lives without the resolution they need about what happened, and why.
In the Swift case, his 81-year-old mother, Marian, used to call Detective Ortiz frequently about the case, but now “feels bad for calling” Ortiz for any news, according to her son, Peter Swift, Sam’s younger brother, who had just talked to his brother the day of his murder.
The sad truth is that his mother may never get the resolution she is seeking. She is running out of time. “My mother’s health is bad now, and she is just holding on the way she is in the hope of getting closure,” he says.
Peter remembers when detectives had a sketch of the suspect—described as a medium-build black man between 5-feet-9 and 5-feet-11-inches, in his late 20s with a moustache and a goatee—and thought the case would be solved quickly.
But that wasn’t the description of the suspect that Detective Ortiz showed them when she met with the family in 2002. She indicated it was another suspect—a smaller Caucasian guy who lived in Virginia at the time of the murder—who was already incarcerated in Seminole County in Florida. Oddly, Peter had just moved to the Orlando area, just five miles from where that suspect was jailed, to take a job in the hospitality business as he worked through the bitterness about his brother’s murder. “So, at that point, we really thought we had him,” he says. “I even got kind of crazy and thought, wow, I wish I can go to that jail and meet this guy. I thought what would I do if I was face to face with him. All kinds of stuff goes through your mind, like maybe killing him yourself,” he says. “But then, you kind of corral your emotions and start thinking sensibly again.” That was the last the family ever heard of that guy as a suspect in his brother’s case, he says.
The two Swift brothers were very close, which makes the pain of his murder harder to live with. His brother Sam was two years older than he was, was his best friend growing up and his biggest fan when he played sports in high school. Peter says that Sam was not a violent person, wasn’t aggressive, didn’t have bad habits and would never have put up a fight.
He had been a victim before, robbed when he was working for Family Dollar store in Dallas. During that robbery, he was hit on the head by a gun near his car as he was going to make a bank deposit.
This time, this robbery was different. “This was a senseless murder,” Swift says. “I mean, his hands were tied up with his own tie. What more of a threat are you at that point? And there was no forced entry.”
He says police think the perpetrator was hiding in the back room of the restaurant. “I don’t believe so,” Swift says. “I believe that my brother knew him. Those are my own thoughts on why this would have happened.”
Shortly after his brother’s murder, Swift left his job at Ralston Purina because, he says, “I couldn’t take the emotional drain. I couldn’t take the emotional bombardment of just hating people after that happened.”
His mother has never taken down pictures of Sam, and still has all of his stuff boxed up in a closet. “It’s her baby,” he says. “How do you ever get over losing a child?”
Ortiz says that, in cold cases like this, there is always the prospect that people will change and the case could get solved. “You committed this crime at a certain age, where there was a lot going on with you at the time,” she speculates. “Today, maybe you are a changed individual, and so things are different. I am going out and shaking trees to find you. But it’s always better if you come in and be accountable for your actions. Because any justice, even if it’s late, is still justice,” she says.
Here is a link to his memorial
Sanford K “Sam” Swift, III (1961-1992) - Find A...
Sanford "Sam" Swift might have been counting receipts in the back of the Roy Roger's Restaurant in Arlington where he worked as a night shift manager on June 11, 1992. He had just said good night to six employees and would have been finishing the night counting money or taking inventory, as he did every night.
But something happened around 12:15 a.m. A person -- who either hid in the fast-food joint through its closing or was let in by Swift after hours -- went into the back office.
At Swift's home, his roommate began to worry. Hours passed and Swift did not come home. The roommate began calling the restaurant, finally reaching an employee who was opening the restaurant at 5 a.m. The employee had not seen Swift, so the roommate told the employee to check the back office.
The office was in order with no apparent signs of a scuffle. But Swift was there, fatally stabbed in the head, and the store had been robbed of an undetermined amount of cash.
Police quickly had strong leads, and even released a sketch of the suspect. But today, almost 19 years later, Swift's death remains one of the thousands of cold cases in the Washington area.
Many things have changed since the slaying -- the suspect has undoubtedly aged, the Roy Rogers company changed ownership, and the restaurant at 5222 Lee Highway is now a Capital One Bank. However, police still look for answers and closure.
The killer is a slender, medium-build black man between 5 feet 9 inches and 5 feet 11 inches tall. At the time of the slaying he was in his late 20s with a mustache and goatee and short hair. He has a scar on his lower right jaw. The night of the slaying he was wearing a dirty dark-blue T-shirt with a design on the front.
The killer was seen by a witness on the night of the murder around 1 a.m. running from the restaurant holding a large Roy Rogers bag. The witness saw the killer get into an old white Toyota Corolla two-door with District plates. The car was headed eastbound on Lee Highway.
Anyone with information on Swift's slaying, or any other cold case in Arlington is encouraged to call the Arlington County Police Tip Line at 703-228-4242 or Crime Solvers at 866-411-TIPS (8477) to remain anonymous.
Thank you for not losing the memory of the murder of my brother Sanford K. Swift ..... His murderer has never been found. Detective Rosa Ortiz at the Arlington Police Department now heads up the case.
My email address is: Etep7384@aol.com
Police discovered his body there, where he had been stabbed in the head, and money was missing from the restaurant. A witness saw the killer running from the restaurant with a bag, and get into a car with D.C. plates. Police released a sketch of the suspect, but have not been able to solve the crime.
As with many cold cases, aging family members struggling with the loss are also nearing the end of their lives without the resolution they need about what happened, and why.
In the Swift case, his 81-year-old mother, Marian, used to call Detective Ortiz frequently about the case, but now “feels bad for calling” Ortiz for any news, according to her son, Peter Swift, Sam’s younger brother, who had just talked to his brother the day of his murder.
The sad truth is that his mother may never get the resolution she is seeking. She is running out of time. “My mother’s health is bad now, and she is just holding on the way she is in the hope of getting closure,” he says.
Peter remembers when detectives had a sketch of the suspect—described as a medium-build black man between 5-feet-9 and 5-feet-11-inches, in his late 20s with a moustache and a goatee—and thought the case would be solved quickly.
But that wasn’t the description of the suspect that Detective Ortiz showed them when she met with the family in 2002. She indicated it was another suspect—a smaller Caucasian guy who lived in Virginia at the time of the murder—who was already incarcerated in Seminole County in Florida. Oddly, Peter had just moved to the Orlando area, just five miles from where that suspect was jailed, to take a job in the hospitality business as he worked through the bitterness about his brother’s murder. “So, at that point, we really thought we had him,” he says. “I even got kind of crazy and thought, wow, I wish I can go to that jail and meet this guy. I thought what would I do if I was face to face with him. All kinds of stuff goes through your mind, like maybe killing him yourself,” he says. “But then, you kind of corral your emotions and start thinking sensibly again.” That was the last the family ever heard of that guy as a suspect in his brother’s case, he says.
The two Swift brothers were very close, which makes the pain of his murder harder to live with. His brother Sam was two years older than he was, was his best friend growing up and his biggest fan when he played sports in high school. Peter says that Sam was not a violent person, wasn’t aggressive, didn’t have bad habits and would never have put up a fight.
He had been a victim before, robbed when he was working for Family Dollar store in Dallas. During that robbery, he was hit on the head by a gun near his car as he was going to make a bank deposit.
This time, this robbery was different. “This was a senseless murder,” Swift says. “I mean, his hands were tied up with his own tie. What more of a threat are you at that point? And there was no forced entry.”
He says police think the perpetrator was hiding in the back room of the restaurant. “I don’t believe so,” Swift says. “I believe that my brother knew him. Those are my own thoughts on why this would have happened.”
Shortly after his brother’s murder, Swift left his job at Ralston Purina because, he says, “I couldn’t take the emotional drain. I couldn’t take the emotional bombardment of just hating people after that happened.”
His mother has never taken down pictures of Sam, and still has all of his stuff boxed up in a closet. “It’s her baby,” he says. “How do you ever get over losing a child?”
Ortiz says that, in cold cases like this, there is always the prospect that people will change and the case could get solved. “You committed this crime at a certain age, where there was a lot going on with you at the time,” she speculates. “Today, maybe you are a changed individual, and so things are different. I am going out and shaking trees to find you. But it’s always better if you come in and be accountable for your actions. Because any justice, even if it’s late, is still justice,” she says.
Here is a link to his memorial
Sanford K “Sam” Swift, III (1961-1992) - Find A...
Sanford "Sam" Swift might have been counting receipts in the back of the Roy Roger's Restaurant in Arlington where he worked as a night shift manager on June 11, 1992. He had just said good night to six employees and would have been finishing the night counting money or taking inventory, as he did every night.
But something happened around 12:15 a.m. A person -- who either hid in the fast-food joint through its closing or was let in by Swift after hours -- went into the back office.
At Swift's home, his roommate began to worry. Hours passed and Swift did not come home. The roommate began calling the restaurant, finally reaching an employee who was opening the restaurant at 5 a.m. The employee had not seen Swift, so the roommate told the employee to check the back office.
The office was in order with no apparent signs of a scuffle. But Swift was there, fatally stabbed in the head, and the store had been robbed of an undetermined amount of cash.
Police quickly had strong leads, and even released a sketch of the suspect. But today, almost 19 years later, Swift's death remains one of the thousands of cold cases in the Washington area.
Many things have changed since the slaying -- the suspect has undoubtedly aged, the Roy Rogers company changed ownership, and the restaurant at 5222 Lee Highway is now a Capital One Bank. However, police still look for answers and closure.
The killer is a slender, medium-build black man between 5 feet 9 inches and 5 feet 11 inches tall. At the time of the slaying he was in his late 20s with a mustache and goatee and short hair. He has a scar on his lower right jaw. The night of the slaying he was wearing a dirty dark-blue T-shirt with a design on the front.
The killer was seen by a witness on the night of the murder around 1 a.m. running from the restaurant holding a large Roy Rogers bag. The witness saw the killer get into an old white Toyota Corolla two-door with District plates. The car was headed eastbound on Lee Highway.
Anyone with information on Swift's slaying, or any other cold case in Arlington is encouraged to call the Arlington County Police Tip Line at 703-228-4242 or Crime Solvers at 866-411-TIPS (8477) to remain anonymous.
Thank you for not losing the memory of the murder of my brother Sanford K. Swift ..... His murderer has never been found. Detective Rosa Ortiz at the Arlington Police Department now heads up the case.
My email address is: Etep7384@aol.com
