Day 3 of Swift murder trial, friends of victim testify

FURTHER COVERAGE:

• Jury selected in State of Tennessee vs. David Swift trial
• Court reconvenes for day 2 of Swift murder trial
• Witnesses take the stand to testify in Swift murder trial
• More witnesses take the stand in day 3 of Swift murder trial
• Day four of the Swift trial: Investigators share evidence results

DRESDEN, Tenn. — It is the third day of trial in the case of the State of Tennessee versus David Swift who is accused of murdering his wife Karen more than a decade ago.

On the witness stand Thursday were Bill and Cathy Bona who were friends Kathy hung around regularly.

Cathy says in the beginning their friend group of women would hang out at David and Karen’s but later began to have get-togethers at the Bona residence.

“When we would hang out at her house he was there. He was always there. He always knew where she was. He would always be in the other room. He’d be watching, listening, hanging out with the kids — always in there making little remarks, ‘Oh you’re drinking too much or you’re doing this.’ Just very belittling constantly, and just watching over her whatever she did,” said Cathy Bona.

Karen was attending a Halloween party at the Bona’s house the night before she was reported missing.

Karen left the Bonas late that evening when her daughter called to be picked up from a friend’s house.

In a previous interview shown Wednesday, David Swift states his wife came home at two a.m. after the Halloween party.

David Swift said although he knew his wife returned home in the middle of the night, he did not physically see her.

Swift said he woke up at 10 a.m., and his wife was gone.

We learned Wednesday that Swift was not the first to notify the police about his missing wife.

Swift notified law enforcement after the Bonas reported Karen missing.

Other testimonies from law enforcement stated that on the day Karen was reported missing they found her car about a quarter mile from her house with a flat tire and the doors locked.

David Swift provided the responding officer with a key to the vehicle.

The officer stated he was able to get his more-than-six-foot body into Karen’s vehicle without having to move the driver’s seat back.

Police recovered Karen’s cell phones near the Swift’s home.

“You gave Karen Swift a second phone so she didn’t have to communicate with her husband,” asked the attorney.  “I give her the phone to be able to communicate with her attorney,” said Bill Bona.

Cell phone records suggest she was at home between 2:08 a.m. and 4:38 a.m.

David Swift was indicted on premeditated first degree murder charges in 2022 more than a decade after his wife, Karen’s body, was found by hunters near a Dyersburg cemetery just weeks after she filed for divorce.

SEE ALSO: Court reconvenes for day 2 of Swift murder trial

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