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James B. Stewart, the Columbus Dispatch, The Other Paper, and other sources tell similarly eerie stories of Swango's performance at OSU University Hospitals:
- The very first day Swango began making rounds in the neurosurgery rotation, January 14, 1984, patients started dying. The death of Cynthia McGee, a Dublin native who was recovering nicely until she met up with Swango, was just the beginning.
On February 7, Rena Cooper was recovering from back surgery when Swango put something in her IV line. A student nurse observed Swango; minutes later Cooper turned blue and shook her bedrails. After Cooper recovered, she told OSU police Swango had put something in her IV; her roommate told the same story. A nurse's aide also reported he saw Swango emerge from another room with a "shit-eating grin", a big goofy grin on his face.
A total of four deaths occurred during Swango's five-week stint at OSU. All of them were suspicious; yet an investigation team made up of OSU administrators and staff found no evidence of wrongdoing by Swango. One OSU administrator (no longer with the university) who was part of the team said "physicians badly botched the investigations, but there was also this understanding that this kind of thing can't have happened at the great OSU hospital." (The Other Paper, July 20-26, 2000, Page 2) Stewart says the allegations were dismissed as "gossip" from staff and that patient accounts were "unreliable".
Swango then worked in pediatrics at Children's Hospital as part of his internship. At one point he bought fast-food chicken for co-workers he referred to as "extra spicy". All who ate the chicken vomited profusely.
Rather than conducting a proper investigation, OSU chose to drop Swango from their internship program. In July Swango returned to his hometown of Quincy, Illinois to work as a paramedic. In October he was accused of poisoning six of his coworkers (they lived), and was sentenced to five years in prison. During his trial, Swango admitted he bought the poison in Columbus in 1983. Quincy authorities asked OSU officials to investigate Swango, but at this point it appears physical evidence was no longer available in Columbus. Swango then went on to work as a doctor in Virginia, New York, and Zimbabwe, where more patients mysteriously died in his "care".
OSU conceded to ABC News in August, 1999 that "we should have called in outside police authorities to investigate in 1984". (Columbus Dispatch, September 14, 1999, Page 1A) Yet OSU's Lee Tashjian, vice president for university relations says "we've probably gone beyond what was recommended" and wrote in a letter to the editor of the Dispatch that "while there is little we can add to what is already known about the events related to the employment of Swango in 1984, we believe it is appropriate to comment when serious questions are raised about the quality and substance of our operations and services today." (Columbus Dispatch, September 26, 1999, Page 2B) And while OSU denies reports they aren't cooperating with federal officials, the Dispatch quotes former OSU Medical Director Donald Boyanowski as saying "these are not bad people deliberately trying to cover up a murder, but these are people who used terribly bad judgment and don't want to admit it or do anything about it in the future." Former OSU Police Chief Peter Herdt says "Everybody wanted it to just go away." (Columbus Dispatch, September 14, 1999, Page 1A)
Columbus NBC affiliate WCMH-4 reports Swango will plead guilty to three poisonings in New York as part of a deal to avoid the death penalty. The Dispatch says this will give Franklin County prosecutors enough evidence to charge him with McGee's death. Swango is reportedly pleading guilty to avoid extradition to Zimbabwe where he would likely receive the death penalty.
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