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Ex-Trotwood officer indicted for murder found dead in Alabama

Tommy L. Swint, a former Trotwood probationary police officer, was indicted Feb. 3 for the December 1991 death of Tina Marie Ivery.

Staff photo by Chris Stewart Tommy L. Swint, a former Trotwood probationary police officer, was indicted Feb. 3 for the December 1991 death of Tina Marie Ivery.

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By Doug Page and Lucas Sullivan
Staff Writers Updated 2:14 AM Thursday, February 4, 2010

DAYTON — The apparent suicide of a former Trotwood police officer indicted in a 1991 murder could cloud any closure in the 2001 disappearance of a Richmond, Ind., woman.

Tommy Swint, 43, of Phenix City, Ala., died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head on Wednesday, Feb. 3.

Officers were approaching Swint’s home in Alabama just after noon and heard a single gunshot, said Ken Betz, director of the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office.

The death came just an hour after a Montgomery County grand jury returned an indictment against Swint for the December 1991 death of Tina Marie Ivery, 33, of the Dayton area.

According to the indictment, Swint is accused of having “purposefully caused” Ivery’s death. A tree-trimming crew discovered Ivery’s partially nude body Dec. 17, 1991, in a pile of trash on Dayton Liberty Road near Calumet Lane.

Swint was also a person of interest in the 2001 disappearance of Marilyn “Niqui” McCown of Richmond, Ind. Swint had denied involvement in McCown’s disappearance and was never charged.

Local lawmen working out of the Miami Valley Regional Crime Lab developed DNA evidence in Ivery’s homicide that led to the indictment.

Greg Flannagan, spokesman for county Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr., said the detectives were able to find DNA to link Swint to Ivery’s death.

“For the past 18 years, this case has remained unsolved,” Heck said in a statement. “Now, through the advances in forensic science, we have identified the man who killed Ms. Ivery.”

Ivery had been beaten, strangled and dumped in a brush pile, according to authorities. Her body was wrapped in two semitransparent trash bags and then wrapped in a red, white and blue quilt in Jefferson Twp. She was last seen alive about 7 p.m. Dec. 14. Until the indictment, no one had been charged in Ivery’s death.

Swint served for less than two months with the Trotwood Police Department. He was forced to resign when it was revealed that he was a person of interest in McCown’s disappearance. Swint was working as a security guard at the time of his death.

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