A judge has denied D.C. serial killer James E. Swann Jr.’s request to be released from custody to spend the day with his father.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Fred Ugast on Friday said Swann would be “a danger to himself and others” if he was released from St. Elizabeths Hospital. Swann, known as the “The Shotgun Stalker,” had terrorized residents in the Columbia Heights and Mount Pleasant neighborhoods in the spring and winter of 1993, by driving up to his victims and blasting them with a 20-gauge shotgun.
He killed killed four people and injured five others in 14 attacks.
Swann told authorities that screaming ghosts had told him to shoot people in Northwest Washington in retaliation for the death of Malcolm X. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and was confined to Saint Elizabeths, a psychiatric facility that holds dangerous people like John Hinckley Jr., the man who shot President Ronald Reagan to impress actress Jodie Foster.
In arguing against Swann’s release, prosecutors described him as unrepentant, dangerous and a person who “derives his self-esteem from the grandiose image of himself as a famous killer and a tough guy.”
During 16 years of therapy, Swann has shown a lack of remorse and empathy for his victims, prosecutors said. He once wore a T-shirt with the phrase “The Thrill of the Kill” and pointed a finger to the head of a staff member as if it were a gun and threatened to kill again, court documents state.
