MEMPHIS, Tenn. — After just over a week at trial, a Dyer County man has been found not guilty of murdering his wife Karen Swift in 2011.
Thursday, June 6, 2024, a jury in Weakley County, Tennessee, found David Swift not guilty of the murder of Karen Swift. The jury told the judge they unanimously found him not guilty of first and second-degree murder and not guilty of attempted first and second-degree murder. He won't be retried on those charges.
However, the jury told the judge they were hopelessly deadlocked and could not agree on a charge of voluntary manslaughter. A mistrial was declared on that charge, and Swift could be retried on that charge if prosecutors choose to move forward.
David Swift had been indicted 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 had living after being remarried.
Prosecutors said David Swift was the only one with motive. However, defense attorneys cited a lack of evidence in the case, saying he knew nothing before learning Karen was missing.
Judge Mark Hayes granted a change of venue request for the trial, which was originally scheduled for January 2024 in Dyer County. It was held in Weakley County, about 50 miles northeast of Dyer.