MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A judge has granted a change of venue for the trial of a Dyer County man charged with killing his wife in 2011.
Judge Mark Hayes granted a change of venue request for the trial against David Swift for the murder of Karen Swift. The trial, originally scheduled for January 2024 in Dyer County, will now start May 28, 2024, in Weakley County, about 50 miles northeast of Dyer. It’s expected to last about two weeks.
David Swift pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder following his indictment in August 2022, more than a decade after his wife was killed.
Karen Swift, a mother with four children, was reported missing on Oct. 30, 2011, three weeks after she had filed for divorce from her husband. Hunters found her body near a Dyersburg cemetery on Dec. 10, 2011, six weeks after she was reported missing and nine weeks after she had filed for divorce.
Prosecutors said David Swift was the last person to see his wife alive when she returned home from a Halloween party.
Following the indictment more than 11 years after her death, David Swift was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama, where he was living after being remarried.
If convicted, David Swift faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Changes in venue are typically granted to ensure an unbiased jury pool.
