[He]persuasively dissects the medical establishment. : The Mysterious, Unsolved Murder of Frank Richardson. Swango is finally in prison, having pleaded guilty to lying under oath about his past. He was popular among students and highly respected in his field, and the fact that he championed Swango went a long way to ease student concerns about Swango's competence. They surmised that Michael hadn't performed well in the admissions interview and wondered what he had answered when asked why had wanted to become a doctor. John had 8 siblings: Calvin Swango, Stephen Swango and 6 other siblings. Apr 1 1950 - 411 Lind, Quincy, Adams, Illinois, United States, John Harvey Swango, Ada Alma Swango (born Hamilton), Miller (born Swango), Mary Grace Vahlkamp (born Swango), Louise Swango, Robert Leroy "Bobby" Swango, Bette Pavel (born Swango), Carl Swango, 1920 - Quincy Ward 4, Adams, Illinois, USA, Chas H Swango, Mabel R Swango, Mary G Swango, Ruth Swango, Mary G Swango, Louise Swango, Robert Swango, Betty J Swango, Source: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6291859/louise-b-hoener, Quincy, Adams County, Illinois, United States, Sunset Cemetery, Quincy, Adams County, Illinois, United States, shooting spree at a McDonald's restaurant in San Ysidro, California. Bob and John were educated at public schools, but -- largely at the insistence . Michael Swango attended Quincy Catholic Boys High School, where he was valedictorian of his 1972 class and played clarinet in the school band Quincy Notre Dame. In a further reflection of his newfound interest in medicine, he worked part-time as an orderly at Blessing Hospital in Quincy and became a certified emergency medical technician.During his senior year, Swango wrote a paper, evidently his senior thesis in chemistry, on the poisoning murder of a prize-winning Bulgarian writer living in exile in London. Judge Mishler sentenced Swango to three consecutive terms of life without parole. Michael Swango has been featured on the American crime show Unsolved Mysteries, the Oxygen series It Takes a Killer, and the National Geographic Channel episode Angel of Death. Geni requires JavaScript! Swango then found a job as a laboratory technician for ATICoal in Newport News, now Vanguard Energy, a division of CITA Logistics. Though that meant Sweeney and Swango had to see each other virtually every day, they avoided each other as much as possible. These staffers soon realized what Swango was doing, but no one on the faculty complained. The email does not appear to be a valid email address. Judge Jacob Mishler sentenced him to three consecutive life terms, which he is serving at ADX Florence near Florence, Colorado. Expand. Under intense questioning from the head of Stony Brook's psychiatry department, Alan Miller, Swango admitted he had lied about his poisoning conviction in Illinois. Sorry! Yet, after the initial charm and blush of promise, disturbing behavior soon begins to emerge. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we dont use a simple average. Federal inmates must serve at least 85 percent of their sentences before being eligible for time off with good behavior, meaning that they likely had only three years to prove Swango was indeed a murderer. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request, There is an open photo request for this memorial. Sorry, there was a problem loading this page. Joseph Michael Swango was born on October 21, 1954 in Tacoma, Washington to Muriel and John Virgil Swango. An intelligent, highly-recommended read. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. Biography. Upon his release in 1989, he started working as a counselor at the state career development center in Newport News, Virginia, but was fired after being caught with one of his scrapbooks during work hours. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. The incredible true stories of killer killers who shocked the world. Some of his fellow students had suspected he had been faking checkups as early as his second year, but this was the first time he had been caught red-handed. He participated in a whirlwind of extracurricular activities: he was a class officer, and served on the student council, yearbook, and newspaper staffs.His main interest mirrored his mother's love of music. Swango claimed she suffered heart failure; he had killed her by giving her a potassium injection that stopped her heart. In his new book, "Blind Eye: How the Medical Establishment Let a Doctor Get Away With Murder," Stewart traces Swango's career step by step, from Southern Illinois University Medical School to Ohio State University Hospitals to medical-care positions in Quincy; Newport News, Va.; Sioux Falls, S.D. But Swango didn't drink alcohol and, despite his close relationship to Wacaser, never attended the parties. This was the case not just at the country's most prestigious institutions, but also at newer, less well-known medical schools such as Southern Illinois University. Swango never expressed any interest in patients.Still, apart from the cadaver incident, nearly everyone conceded that Swango seemed hardworking and disciplined. The pair ended up giving their presentation in two discrete sections, which might as well have been separate reports. Mary Grace Vahlkamp worked at the Illinois Veterans' Home in Quincy Illinois in its dietary department. Chillingly thorough.Wonderfully done.An elaborate journalistic reconstruction that has the fascination of an acutely observed and troubling novel. Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried. Then he would return, take that test, and repeat the process. Actually, he served only two years of the five year sentence. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. Because of her considerable clinical expertise, Thomesen was able to review documents and evidence and give a criminal profile of Swango, along with her assessment of why he had committed such crimes. Michael was the second of Muriel and John Virgil Swango's three sons. Wacaser raved about Swango. Reprinted by permission. Other Works | Publicity Listings | Official Sites. Each time, Swango had been the floor intern. He attended Millikin University in Decatur, where he did well academically. A new word was coined. Did Stewart know about the case of Swango, another Quincy native, Cashman wondered. Following his graduation, he managed to get into Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, where he also served as an ambulance attendant. And he showed an intense interest in photos in the local paper of car crashes, which his classmates found peculiar. 0 cemeteries found in Quincy, Adams County, Illinois, USA. See full bio Born: October 21, 1954 in Tacoma, Washington, USA More at IMDbPro Contact Info: View agent, publicist, legal on IMDbPro Awards Filmography (by Job) Trailers and Videos Hide all | | Edit Filmography Hide Archive footage (4 credits) It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness. Weve updated the security on the site. Swango's father, Virgil, was a Marine officer -- the family might be thought of as the Cleavers but starring the Great Santini. Indeed, some members of his group, who never saw him in the anatomy lab at all, wondered how he was going to make his presentation.What Swango gained in privacy from his unorthodox hours he lost in guidance from faculty and other students. Though most students sharing a neurosurgery specialty would observe each other's surgeries, Sweeney stayed away from Swango's he was horrified by the prospect of what he might see and Swango never showed up at Sweeney's, either.Zawodniak, though he was genial and friendly, also developed an aversion to Swango. John Virgil Swango used to serve in the Vietnam War of the 1960s. Please try again. Discover Michael Swango's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Early in the podcast I stated that Michael served four years out of the five sentenced for poisoning in 1985. During his time there, several employees sought medical attention with complaints of persistent and increasing stomach pains. Swango was silent. A horrifyingly gripping and pointed reminder of why government regulation and over-sight of MANY key industries that effect just about EVERY citizen are as necessary as ever, and always will be. He received an honorable discharge in 1976. A scathing review by law school dean James Meeks concluded that the hospital should have called in the police, and also revealed several glaring shortcomings in its initial investigation of Swango. Steve Twedt Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Stewart has produced an extraordinary book. He wore a beeper and would rush off whenever the ambulance service called. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. He called Richard Thomesen, who was stationed in the DEA's Manhattan field office to discuss the case. - Middle child of Muriel and John Virgil Swango but later got divorced. There are no volunteers for this cemetery. "It happened often with Swango. Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy, Dr. Death: Life of Serial Killer Michael Swango (Serial Killer True Crime Books), Killer Nurse: The Harrowing True Story of One Woman's Murder Spree in an East Texas, Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital. Valery was called by the FBI to discuss holding Swango. While he worked in Rhodes Hall at OSU, nurses noticed that apparently healthy patients began dying mysteriously with alarming frequency. The wedding took place in St. Rose of Lima church in Quincy Illinois. His story was featured in an episode of Justice Files on the Discovery Channel, and he was subsequently fired from Stanford, but he managed to get out of AMAs radar. It was also his first official step on the path to becoming a physician under suspicion. He decided to pursue chemistry and biology at Quincy University, where he provided wrong information about himself, stating that he had earned a Bronze Star and the Purple Heart in the Marines. Dr. Michael Swango was born on October 21, 1954 in Tacoma, Washington raised in Quincy, Illinois. In the surgery rotation, students were assigned in pairs to give oral presentations. Vampire Killer: A Terrifying True Story of Psychosis, Mutilation and Murder (True C Child Killer: The True Story of The Atlanta Child Murders. In this alarming and well written true story, James B. Stewart tells the tale of a psychopathic homicidal doctor and the bafflingly lax professional medical establishment that failed to properly monitor and halt his transgressions. "That's just what happens. In October of that year, Swango was arrested by the Quincy Police Department after arsenic and other poisons were found in his possession. Today, as Michael Swango sits in a Colorado prison, we discuss his life, crimes, and family history. Standing in a remote field in Zimbabwe with a man who had survived what some medical professionals thought was suspicious treatment at Swango's hands, it occurred to Stewart that it "could not be coincidence" that the man "would tell substantially the same story as (another Swango patient), a woman he had never met or heard of, who spoke a different language, and who lived a hemisphere away" in America. But the facts gathered by Stewart are compelling. The lab reports were passed on by the Zimbabwe Republic Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) through Interpol to the FBI, who subsequently visited Zimbabwe to interview Cotton and the pathologist in Bulawayo, Stanford Mathe. Prosecutors read lurid passages from Swango's notebook, describing the joy he felt during his crimes. A small, private college founded by the Franciscan Brothers in 1860, and still affiliated with the Catholic church, the school had long drawn applicants from students at private Catholic high schools, mostly in Illinois. After two tours in Vietnam in the 1960's, Virgil retired as a colonel, then returned to Vietnam with the Agency for . His mother clipped the articles and circulated them among relatives. Award-winning author, James B. Stewart, has penned a riveting true-crime tale about golden-boy, Michael Swango, who seems destined for a successful career as a medical doctor. , money, salary, income, and assets. Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2022, Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2010. His personnel record states that he entered the service at St. Louis, attended administrative procedures courses at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C., and was working at Camp Lejeune in 1976, when he received an honorable discharge. In both cases, Swango forged several legal documents that he used to reestablish himself as a physician and respected member of society. He is a member of famous Killer with the age 68 years old group. The result, according to Stewart's research, is that Swango may indeed have been involved in at least 60 deaths. Rosenthal went up to Swango and asked him why he did such a thing. We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. Failed to report flower. Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request? R. Z. Sheppard Time magazine James B. Stewart's Blind Eye is a persuasive case against Dr. Michael Swango. In July 1998, he was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison. Best of 2022 Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Top 250 TV Shows Most Popular TV Shows Most Popular Video Games Most Popular Music Videos Most Popular Podcasts. 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