Opinion ID: 2122312
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Investigation of Swaney

Text: Another BCA forensic scientist compared Swaney's finger and palm print exemplars with unidentified latent finger and palm prints from the crime scene and was able to identify some of the latent prints as Swaney's. This scientist identified two palm prints on the contact station counter as Swaney's, and found Swaney's right palm print, left palm print, and left thumb print on a 2001 Blue Mound Writers Series flyer recovered from the floor near Nelson's body. None of Dawn Swaney's prints matched any of the prints found at the contact station, and records at her place of employment confirmed her alibi that she had been at work on the afternoon of Nelson's murder. In mid-April 2007, BCA Investigator Dale Russell travelled to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to interview Dawn Swaney. Dawn Swaney consented to a search of a storage locker and Russell took possession of some family photos and photo negatives found in the locker. Some of the photos showed Swaney wearing a field ranger wristwatch or smoking Doral Light 100's. Other photos depicted Swaney driving a large, cream-colored 1984 Oldsmobile Delta 88 with a brown vinyl top. The day after Russell interviewed Dawn Swaney, Swaney called her from prison, and the telephone conversation was recorded. During the conversation, Dawn Swaney informed Swaney of her interview with Russell and confronted Swaney about his involvement in Nelson's murder. She also asked about the damage that had been done to their car in May 2001. Swaney denied any involvement in the murder and claimed he had never been to Blue Mounds State Park. On September 28, 2007, a grand jury indicted Swaney for seven counts of murder. The indictment contained three counts of first-degree murderincluding first-degree premeditated murder and first-degree felony murder for intentionally causing Nelson's death while committing or attempting to commit kidnappingand four counts of second-degree murder.