Trotwood man accused of luring man to his death indicted twice in same week

Nicholas Swisher also charged for crash that caused serious injury during pursuit in stolen U-Haul.
ajc.com

A Trotwood man indicted Friday in connection to a pursuit and crash in a stolen U-Haul earlier this month that seriously injured another driver also was indicted for murder Thursday for allegedly luring a man to his house in September 2022, beating him to death and then placing his body inside a truck toolbox found in the woods.

Nicholas Ray Swisher is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court for failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer and vehicular assault for the Dec. 12 incident, in addition to charges of murder, felonious assault, kidnapping, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse.

Nicholas Swisher

Credit: Montgomery County Jail

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Credit: Montgomery County Jail

Swisher was apprehended Dec. 12 as a result of a Trotwood police investigation into a robbery reported around 4:30 a.m. in the 6900 block of West Third Street.

Investigators learned a U-Haul pickup truck, a 2023 Chevrolet Silverado, was potentially involved in the robbery and that it had been reported stolen in Dayton. Trotwood patrol officers spotted the U-Haul pickup around 3:15 p.m. in the Townview neighborhood, police said.

The driver of the U-Haul, later identified as Swisher, fled immediately, going more than 80 mph in a 25 mph residential area, according to an affidavit filed in Montgomery County Municipal Court - Western Division in Trotwood.

During a police pursuit, the pickup crossed over the double yellow center line at 5350 Hoover Ave., striking an SUV head-on. The impact caused both vehicles to spin off the road into a group of large bushes, according to a Trotwood Police Department crash report.

A 38-year-old Dayton woman driving the SUV, a 2010 Dodge Journey, suffered serious injuries and was taken to Miami Valley Hospital. Her two passengers, girls ages 16 and 17, were not injured, the report stated.

Swisher, who had a suspended driver’s license, ran away but was quickly apprehended, police said. He suffered minor injuries in the crash and also was taken to Miami Valley Hospital before he was booked into the Montgomery County Jail.

His two passengers, a 48-year-old Farmersville man and a 61-year-old Jefferson Twp. man, were not injured. They were detained but were released after police determined they were not involved in the crimes.

The robbery and pursuit happened the same day Swisher was formally charged in the death of 61-year-old John L. Mullins of Trotwood, who was found dead Sept. 29, 2022, near the 6500 block of Midway Avenue, less than a mile from his Drexel home, Trotwood police said last year.

Mullins was believed to have been killed between Sept. 22 and 29, 2022, at Swisher’s Lensdale Avenue house in Drexel, according to an affidavit.

“Nicholas Swisher did lure John Mullins to the address. While there, Nicholas Swisher hit, kicked and stomped Mullins. He then bound him with rope and duct tape before causing his death by beating,” the affidavit read. “Nicholas then wrapped Mullins’ body, put him in a toolbox and disposed of him in the woods.”

The robbery remains under investigation. Anyone with information on the robbery is urged to call Trotwood police detective Anthony Page at 937-854-7237.

Swisher is held on $1 million bail in the Montgomery County Jail.

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