MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The man charged with killing his ex-wife in a 2011 cold case says he's not guilty.
David Swift appeared in a Dyer County court Wednesday morning, after being extradited from Birmingham, Alabama to face a premeditated first-degree murder charge in the death of Karen Swift.
Swift was appointed a public defender Wednesday and is being held without bond. His next court appearance is set for October 4, 2022.
A Dyer County Grand Jury indicted David Swift and he was arrested Monday in Birmingham, Alabama, where he was living after being remarried. The indictment comes more than a decade after Karen Swift’s slain body was found on Dec. 10, 2011.
Swift, a mother with four children, was reported missing on Oct. 30, 2011, three weeks after she had filed for divorce from her husband.
David Swift was allegedly the last person to see her alive when she returned home from a Halloween party.
If convicted, David Swift faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
RELATED: Husband arrested in 2011 cold case murder of Dyersburg woman Karen Swift
RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Autopsy Report Reveals Karen Swift’s Cause Of Death