Swain Found Guilty

WOMAN GUILTY OF BEING ACCOMPLICE TO CAPITAL MURDER

FAYETTEVILLE — Heather Carlene Swain, 36, of Prairie Grove, was found guilty last week of being an accomplice to capital murder and kidnapping and sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.

She was found not guilty of a third count of tampering with evidence.

Swain and three men were arrested and charged with the beating death of Ronnie Lee Bradl ey of Pra ir ie Grove. Timothy Willliam Swinford and Anthony Allen Swinford avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty to accomplice to first-degree murder and kidnapping. The fourth person, James Patton, is awaiting a trial date, facing the same charges.

The Washington County prose- cuting attorney’s office waived the death penalty for both Swain and Patton.

Bradley, 48, was severely beaten, his body discovered the morning of Dec. 27, 2012, in the driveway of 17409 Four Corners Road in rural southwest Washington County. Prosecutors said Swain drove her vehicle around the county for seven to eight hours while the Swinfords repeatedly beat up and choked Bradley in the vehicle or in places outside the vehicle. Bradley was not wearing a shirt and the temperature that morning was a low of 19 degrees.

The seven- man, five- woman jury deliberated only 1½ hours before returning to the courtroom with the two guilty verdicts. Their deliberations followed three days of testimony before Judge William Storey in Washington County Circuit Court. The state presented its case last week on Jan. 13 and 14, resting at the end of the second day.

Swain’s attorney, Bill James of Little Rock, called one witness, Anthony Swinford, on Jan. 15, and then rested. Swain did not testify in court but the jury watched a 2- hour video of her interview by detectives with the Washington County Sheriff ’s Office recorded on Dec. 27, 2012.

The capital murder conviction came with a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. The sentence for the kidnapping charge ranged from 10 to 40 years or life. Thursday, Swain waived jury sentencing for the kidnapping conviction and Storey sentenced Swain to 25 years for being an accomplice to kidnapping, in addition to the life sentence.

John Threet, Washington County prosecutor, on Thursday said he was grateful to the jury for being attentive during the trial and looking at the evidence and coming to the right conclusion.

But he quickly added, “This isn’t a happy time for anyone. Ronnie Bradley is dead and his family is without him and her family is without her.”

Threet said he expected the convictions would be appealed.

Bradley’s aunt, Patricia Laumann, sat in on the trial all four days.

“I’m pleased,” Laumann said after court was adjourned Wednesday evening. “It was a good verdict.”

Laumann said both of Bradley’s parents were deceased and that he did not have any siblings. She said he had two children. She was the only family member who attended the trial.

Swinford Testimony

On the stand, Anthony Swinford, wearing prison clothes and shackled at the wrists and ankles, did not remember a lot of the details from Dec. 26, 2012, but admitted that he had been drinking and “shooting up” methamphetamine for about three days prior to that day. Anthony Swinford said he and his brother met up with Swain and Patton at Patton’s house before all four left in Swain’s black Suburban to go buy beer. They picked up Bradley about 1 p.m.

Anthony Swinford denied there was a plan to kill Bradley and testified that no one thought Bradley was dead when they dumped out his body on a rural county road. He testified, though, that he and Bradley had altercations in the past because of their relationship with Swinford’s late wife, Amy. Amy apparently had left Swinford for Bradley and then died under suspicious circumstances, with Swinford believing that Bradley was responsible for her death because of some pills.

Testimony in the trial indicated that Swinford broke into Bradley’s house at one point and Bradley stabbed him and on another occasion, Swinford left a note written in blood on Bradley’s door.

Swinford testified in the trial that he and Bradley had agreed to stay away from each other but said he did not consider him a friend and was not sure if Bradley saw him when he got into Swain’s vehicle that day.

“I’m not sure if he would have gotten into the car if he had seen me,” Anthony Swinford said in court.

He did remember and admit that he was the one who mainly beat up and strangled Bradley.

He said everything appeared fine at first in the vehicle until Swinford brought up the subject of Amy.

“What happened is that I punched him in the face, hit him as hard as I could. I hit him hard and knocked him out,” Swinford testified.

Swinford said he asked Bradley why he did that to Amy “and I beat him some more.”

He admitted to choking Bradley with the seat belt and said beatings also occurred outside the vehicle. He also testified that he would not let Swain take Bradley home.

Under cross examination by Prosecuting Attorney John Threet, Swinford testified that Swain was yelling at Bradley and that she slapped him, maybe more than once. Swinford also testified that he believed Swain “was lugging” him on. Threet asked what he meant by “lugging,” and Swinford said Swain was saying things about Amy to get him angrier.

Swinford testified that at one point, all four discussed what to do with Bradley, where to take him and leave him.

Threet asked Swinford if any of the four ever discussed whether Bradley needed medical attention or should be taken to the hospital.

“I don’t think anyone knew the severity,” Swinford replied.

Bradley’s Injuries

Dr. Charles Kokes, chief medical examiner with the Arkansas State Crime Lab, testified that Bradley died from internal injuries to the head and strangulation. Kokes said either injury was enough to cause death. He estimated that the injury to the brain and strangulation occurred about an hour before death.

His autopsy showed that Bradley’s body had about 100 “new” injuries that were inflicted by at least 50 different blows. Bradley’s body had a large number of blunt force injuries to the face, neck, chest, back, arms and legs. His neck had a band shaped injury consistent with the use of a seat belt, Kokes said.

Kokes also said that Bradley did not have any alcohol in his system but had evidence of Methadone, a narcotic used primarily for pain.

Swain Interview

Swain was questioned by Detective Brett Hagen beginning at 11: 45 p. m., Dec. 27, 2012. After reading Swain her Miranda Rights, Hagen assured Swain that she was not under arrest.

Swain replied, “I didn’t do anything so I shouldn’t be.”

She asked Hagen what happened to Bradley and when Hagen showed her a photo of Bradley’s face, Swain immediately covered her mouth, saying “Oh my God. That’s what happened? They didn’t do that in front of me. That’s horrible.”

Throughout the interview, Swain repeatedly told Hagen that she did not touch Bradley and that she was shocked. She said she didn’t have a role in the beatings and claimed that when the Swinfords left Bradley’s body on the driveway, they assured her they would go back later and pick him up.

Hagen asked her about the day, where they went and what happened, telling her, “You’re leaving out about six to seven hours of stuff.”

Video and eyewitness accounts showed that the four went many places in the county on Dec. 26, 2012, including two times to the Morrow Country Store for gas, the Pit Stop gas station, County Line Grocery Store, Brew Room, Crazy Horse Saloon and Evansville Post Office. Other records showed that she also used her cell constantly during the same period.

Swain said the Swinfords came to Patton’s house the next day but she would not answer the door because she was afraid of them.

Capt. Dallas McClellan asked Swain why she didn’t call 911 or tell anyone else what was happening to Bradley. Swain responded that she was scared and again repeated that she did not touch Bradley.

McClellan told her, “You didn’t have to touch him. You drove him to his death bed.”

Witness Testimony

In other testimony in the trial, Naomi Vaughn of Prince Road in Cane Hill, testified that the four came to her house that night sometime after dark. She said she knew Swain and Patton but did not know the Swinfords.

Vaughn said all four were in the house and then when they walked back outside, she saw someone laying on the ground behind Swain’s vehicle and thought he had been drinking and was passed out. He was wearing jeans and tennis shoes but no shirt.

Vaughn said she did not know the man but her main concern was that they would leave him in the driveway and he would hurt her children in the morning. She said they loaded the man into the back of the vehicle and left. She said she thought she heard him make some kind of noise when they put him in the vehicle.

Closing Arguments

In closing arguments, James told the jury that Swain did not have a legal duty to call the police.

“We may not like it or we may find it reprehensible,” James said.

He said the jury had to find that it was her “purpose” to participate in committing the offenses. James said the defendants did not try to trick Bradley into getting in the car and that there was no indication that Swain played a part in restraining him in the vehicle. No one intended to kill Bradley that day, James said. To find Swain guilty of murder, James said the jury had to find that she knew the act was going to happen.

He noted that not everyone believes they can call the police for help.

“I feel I can call the police but people who live in the county don’t always feel that way,” James said.

In the state’s closing argument, Threet pointed out that Swain in her taped interview said she had no idea that Bradley had been beaten so badly.

“But she knew he was laying on the ground at Naomi’s,” Threet said.

Over the course of about eight hours, from 1-9 p.m. that day, Threet said Swain stopped four times to buy gas, ran into many people but did not say anything. At one point, Swain’s vehicle got stuck in a ditch at the Evansville Post Office and records show Swain called people asking for help to get out of the ditch. She didn’t ask for help for Bradley, Threet said.

“All she had to do was to say, ‘I need help.’ She used her phone all day. Just call 911,” Threet told the jury, adding, “Instead of taking the opportunity to save a man’s life, she keeps driving that man around until they just dump the body out. What the defense is all about is that if you repeat enough stories enough times, you should be able to walk away and not be responsible for what you did. Don’t let her walk away.”

Anthony Swinford was sentenced to two consecutive 40-year terms at the Arkansas Department of Correction for his guilty plea and Timothy Swinford was sentenced to 80 years at the Arkansas Department of Correction with 30 years suspended. He will have to serve 35 years before becoming eligible for parole.

Anthony Swinford identified Swain, Patton and Timothy Swinford as accomplishes in the murder.

Swain’s attorney stated Thursday that he would appeal the jury’s decisions. An appeal must be filed within 30 days of the recorded judgment.

Swain