Career

Swinney was a known criminal with a history of counterfeiting and auto-theft. Two of the lead investigators in the case, Max Tackett and Tillman Johnson, believed for the remainder of their lives that Swinney was guilty of the murders. Swinney grew up in rural Cleveland County, Arkansas, the son of a Baptist minister.

Swinney was convicted of auto-theft in 1947 and as a repeat offender, he received life in prison.

However, he was released from prison in 1973 following a habeas corpus proceeding which found that a prior conviction in 1941 used for sentence enhancement purposes was void because Swinney had not been represented by counsel Investigation into his involvement in the murders eventually faded away.

The case remains unsolved, and physical evidence is nearly nonexistent today. A 2014 book, The Phantom Killer: Unlocking the Mystery of the Texarkana Serial Murders by Doctor James Presley claims that Swinney is the culprit of all five Phantom attacks.