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True Murder with your 31 00:01:29.799 --> 00:01:43.319 host journalist and author Dan Zupanski, Good Evening. 32 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:47.959 John Edward Swindler never learned to read or write, and 33 00:01:48.040 --> 00:01:51.519 instead became a bona fide criminal at the age of fifteen. 34 00:01:51.879 --> 00:01:55.640 His crimes quickly advanced from carfaf to arson. At three 35 00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:58.879 hundred pounds, with long, fuzzy red hair and pimplely's skin, 36 00:01:59.079 --> 00:02:02.599 his appearance was so frightening that he intimidated fellow inmates 37 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:06.799 into performing crimes from their jail cells. He sodomized other 38 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:10.240 convicts who dared not refuse him. He was moved in 39 00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:13.520 and out of solitary confinement in an attempt to break 40 00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:17.039 him of his violent ways. It failed. Released from prison 41 00:02:17.080 --> 00:02:20.680 because he was uncontrollable, he began a multi state crime 42 00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:23.360 spree that culminated in the rape and murder of three 43 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:26.639 young people and the shocking assault on a Fort Smith, 44 00:02:26.840 --> 00:02:30.520 Arkansas policeman named Randy Basnett. In a matter of days, 45 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:34.599 Swindler's lust for death grew into an unforgettable killing spree. 46 00:02:34.759 --> 00:02:38.240 On September twenty fourth, nineteen seventy six, two men, John 47 00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:42.319 Edward Swindler, a force for evil an officer Randy Basnett, 48 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:45.360 laying his life on the line for good, came together. 49 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:49.240 The results altered their lives and the lives of many others. 50 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:52.120 This is their story. The book that were featuring this 51 00:02:52.159 --> 00:02:55.039 evening is The Killing Spree, a true story of a 52 00:02:55.080 --> 00:02:58.879 string of brutal murders, rapes, and the cop who tried 53 00:02:58.919 --> 00:03:02.159 to stop it. With my special guest, author Anita Paddock. 54 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:05.000 Welcome back to the program and thank you for this interview. 55 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:08.639 Anita Paddick, Hello, thank you so much for this interview. 56 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:09.879 You're very welcome. 57 00:03:10.199 --> 00:03:10.759 Right away. 58 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:14.479 In this book, you take us to September twenty fourth, 59 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:18.080 nineteen seventy six, Fort Smith, Arkansas, and you take us 60 00:03:18.120 --> 00:03:21.360 to a house in Barling, a little town outside of 61 00:03:21.400 --> 00:03:24.680 Fort Smith, and the home of Fort Smith police officer 62 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:28.240 thirty year old Randy Bassinett, his wife, Cindy, and their 63 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:30.960 three children. Tell us, as you do in the book, 64 00:03:31.080 --> 00:03:35.120 about Randy and Cindy and their extended families and their 65 00:03:35.159 --> 00:03:38.639 lives at that time. In September nineteen seventy. 66 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:43.240 Six, Randy Bassnan and his wife Cindy were They were 67 00:03:43.240 --> 00:03:47.879 a very happy couple. They had a new baby, and 68 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:52.120 this new baby was just a gole to Randy. He 69 00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:55.560 could not believe how much he loved that baby and 70 00:03:55.719 --> 00:03:58.280 as well as the other children in the family who 71 00:03:58.360 --> 00:04:03.199 were four and six. Cindy, his wife, was a daughter 72 00:04:03.400 --> 00:04:07.120 of a policeman, so she very well knew what a 73 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:10.560 wife of a policeman needed to do. Because she was 74 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:13.960 actually the only child and her mother. She and her 75 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:18.720 mother were often left alone while her father was out 76 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:22.720 doing his detective work. Anyway, Cindy was a real few 77 00:04:22.759 --> 00:04:27.759 little girl. Nobody's traded on Cindy. She adored her mother 78 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:33.759 and father, and Randy's parents were really kind to her 79 00:04:33.959 --> 00:04:37.680 and she loved them as well. And on this particular 80 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:42.040 day of September twenty fourth, she had taken her children 81 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:46.560 and gone out to visit with Randy's parents because they 82 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:49.759 had bought an ease swing set or the older children 83 00:04:49.800 --> 00:04:53.480 and mister Basnett had put it up and so she was. 84 00:04:54.279 --> 00:04:58.800 Cindy was in the kitchen with Peggy bass Set. They 85 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:03.399 were just visiting, having a good time, and then while 86 00:05:03.439 --> 00:05:07.360 they were in the kitchen visiting on the two way radio, 87 00:05:07.959 --> 00:05:12.560 they heard that there had been a shooting in the 88 00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:16.079 north side of town, and so they both kind of 89 00:05:16.120 --> 00:05:20.279 perked up then because they knew that Randy patrolled that 90 00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:24.160 part of town. They all, both of them knew what 91 00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:27.920 the dangers were of being a policeman and what the 92 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:32.560 heartache could be are a policeman's family if something would 93 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:35.959 go wrong. Now, then I'm going to take you back 94 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:41.680 to a week earlier when John Edwards Swindler got off 95 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:45.519 the bus at a bus station in Columbia, South Carolina. 96 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:49.120 That's where he was from, and he had he had 97 00:05:49.199 --> 00:05:52.319 been involved with a lot of really petty crimes and 98 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:57.199 our son, and he was really a bad guy. He 99 00:05:57.240 --> 00:06:00.560 had been in he had been in Levin War and 100 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:03.920 in Leavenworth. He was such a he was in and 101 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:08.079 out in solitary and nothing that the warden or anybody 102 00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:13.000 else at that prison could do to stop him from intimidating, 103 00:06:13.399 --> 00:06:17.680 sodomizing other prisoners. So they just let him out and 104 00:06:17.720 --> 00:06:20.759 sent him home, gave him forty dollars and a bus 105 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:24.560 ticket to South Carolina. When he got off the bus, 106 00:06:24.600 --> 00:06:27.920 he was met by his brother. The brother wanted to 107 00:06:28.040 --> 00:06:30.759 help him, wanted to get him, find him a job, 108 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:34.319 wanted to find him a place to live, but John 109 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:39.959 Edreds Swindler was not interested in that. He immediately as 110 00:06:39.959 --> 00:06:44.519 soon as his brother left, he immediately started walking and 111 00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:48.079 kidnapped the man who was driving a car. He had 112 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:51.439 stopped at a stop lot, and John Edwards Windler just 113 00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:55.319 jumped in the car before this guy he wanted happened, 114 00:06:55.600 --> 00:06:59.120 and he stole that car and drove it until it 115 00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:02.079 ran out of game, and then he left it. Then 116 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:05.920 he went to a He walked to this kind of 117 00:07:05.959 --> 00:07:10.079 Hamburger place, a drive in Hamburger place, and there in 118 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:15.279 her father's car sat Dottie and Greg and they were 119 00:07:15.319 --> 00:07:20.120 sweethearts in high school. They had just graduated from high school, 120 00:07:20.360 --> 00:07:23.879 and she was driving her daddy's car and they were 121 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:29.079 getting a Hamburger, and he just there again opened the door. 122 00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:32.000 He just walked up to him, opened the door, and 123 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:35.160 she was behind the wheel because she had driven him there, 124 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:38.800 of course in her daddy's car, And he stuck a 125 00:07:38.839 --> 00:07:44.360 pistol in Greg's side and told her to drive to 126 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:47.160 this nearest. It was like a place you could go 127 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:50.639 fit go fishing. It was like a park and she 128 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:53.519 knew where it was, and so they had it off 129 00:07:53.839 --> 00:07:57.399 that park and all the time she was driving, she 130 00:07:57.560 --> 00:08:01.600 was trying to go fast that police maybe would stop 131 00:08:01.639 --> 00:08:05.439 her for speeding, but that didn't happen. She was very 132 00:08:05.480 --> 00:08:08.959 worried about what her father was gonna say, because he 133 00:08:09.079 --> 00:08:12.079 had told her just to drive this car to work 134 00:08:12.120 --> 00:08:16.079 and back her parents. When she didn't return home in 135 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:21.959 the car, they grew concerned and they called Greg's parents, 136 00:08:22.360 --> 00:08:26.279 and Greg's parents said, well, he's not home either, so 137 00:08:26.360 --> 00:08:30.000 they knew something bad had happened, so they called the police. 138 00:08:30.439 --> 00:08:35.600 The police ended up searching around and they found Greg 139 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:40.639 and Dottie's bodies. Greg had was all his clothes had, 140 00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:44.080 and he was naked, and he was lying on top 141 00:08:44.159 --> 00:08:47.519 of a falling down the trunk of a tree. She 142 00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:51.879 was tied up to a tree, and the car was 143 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:56.480 stolen and Greg Greg had been shot. He was dead 144 00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:00.279 and she too had been shot. So two days days 145 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:03.120 after he got out of leven Word he had killed 146 00:09:03.159 --> 00:09:07.120 this really nice young couple, Greg and Dottie. 147 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:10.519 Anita tell us what happens. A couple days later, Swindler 148 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:13.559 goes to a bar and sees an ex con, and 149 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:16.039 that ex con tells him that the cops are looking 150 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:18.519 for him for a murder of a young couple. So 151 00:09:18.600 --> 00:09:21.000 what is his reaction and what does he do as 152 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:22.559 a consequence, Well. 153 00:09:22.759 --> 00:09:27.279 He can't believe that already they're looking for him. He doesn't. 154 00:09:27.480 --> 00:09:30.480 He's amazed about that, but he realizes he got to 155 00:09:30.519 --> 00:09:33.480 get out of town, and so he has to look 156 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:37.440 for another car in which he can leave. So he 157 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:42.559 walks around in this neighborhood until he finds a house 158 00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:46.519 that appears. He can tell that the house is occupied 159 00:09:46.600 --> 00:09:49.960 by some elderly people, so he knocks on the door 160 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:52.639 and the lady comes to the door, and he pushes 161 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:57.440 her in, and then he steals their money. She has 162 00:09:57.480 --> 00:10:02.759 a husband who comes downstairs, and he seals their money. 163 00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:07.519 He seals their car, and the man has a gun cabinet, 164 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:10.159 and he looks in that gun cabinet and he sees 165 00:10:10.200 --> 00:10:13.919 a real pretty rifle that has a brand newscape that 166 00:10:14.120 --> 00:10:17.080 goes with it that's already in a box, and he 167 00:10:17.480 --> 00:10:20.600 and a couple of shotguns. So he seals those guns 168 00:10:20.919 --> 00:10:23.879 and puts them in the back of their car, along 169 00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:27.159 with the money. He sold from them, and off he goes. 170 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:30.879 He wants to go to Kansas City because there's some 171 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:35.039 people who live in Kansas City who wronged him in 172 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:37.759 when he was in Living Word. So off he goes, 173 00:10:38.279 --> 00:10:41.960 and he is as far as Georgia when he hears 174 00:10:42.120 --> 00:10:46.360 on the car radio that a Georgia policeman has has 175 00:10:46.519 --> 00:10:51.720 spotted this car. So he hides behind a filling station 176 00:10:51.879 --> 00:10:54.639 that has a great, big like a sign that would 177 00:10:54.759 --> 00:10:57.399 that he could hide the car behind. And he stays 178 00:10:57.480 --> 00:11:00.440 there trying to decide what to do. You know, he 179 00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:05.879 continue on west or go back east where he knows 180 00:11:05.960 --> 00:11:09.799 the area better. He's at a real disadvantage because he 181 00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:13.840 can't read or write, but he goes into when it 182 00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:17.320 gets down, he goes into this all night, twenty four 183 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:22.360 hour filling station and he robs this guy who works there, 184 00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:25.000 and then he hides him in. He locks him into 185 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:27.399 a closet and tells him not to try to get out, 186 00:11:27.559 --> 00:11:30.360 but the guy does try to get out, and he 187 00:11:30.360 --> 00:11:33.360 hears him trying to get out, and so Swindler takes 188 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:37.080 the gun and shoots this guy and then leaves him 189 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:40.960 in there, leaves him for dead. The fellow, the attendant 190 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:45.080 who was shot. Eventually he lives, but he has to 191 00:11:45.080 --> 00:11:47.840 be in the hospital for many many weeks. He's really 192 00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:52.879 his back is he's really really damaged by this shotgun anyway, 193 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:58.200 and the people there's a couple parked in the car 194 00:11:58.440 --> 00:12:02.440 in front of the service and they see what's going on. 195 00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:05.039 It's a mother and her son. And then they see 196 00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:07.919 the man leave and then they call the police that 197 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:11.000 they just tell them about the man shooting somebody in 198 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:14.080 the filling station and that he was that he was 199 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:19.879 driving a gold Plymouth Gosha. So off he goes, and 200 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:24.000 he decides that he will go west, and he picks 201 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:27.600 up a hitchhocker. He doesn't try to rob the hitchhicker 202 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:31.320 because he knows that he's probably poured or he wouldn't 203 00:12:31.320 --> 00:12:34.279 be hitchhocking. But he asks the hitchhacker if he has 204 00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:37.159 a map that he could draw on and tell him 205 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:42.559 how to get to how to get to Kansas City. 206 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:45.200 And so the guy does. He has a map and 207 00:12:45.240 --> 00:12:48.840 he draws and he tells him you keep on this forty, 208 00:12:49.080 --> 00:12:52.879 how hey, forty and then when you get to Alma, Arkansas, 209 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:58.039 you turn right and go go left, or you turn 210 00:12:58.159 --> 00:13:02.120 right and go north on Highway seventy one, and that'll 211 00:13:02.120 --> 00:13:05.679 get you to Kansas City. So he heads that way 212 00:13:05.960 --> 00:13:11.320 for Alma, and he's driving real fast, and he's drinking 213 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:15.519 along the way, and he passes by Alma and heads on, 214 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:20.639 heads on west and when he gets when he gets 215 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:25.679 to a filling station that's just across after he's crossed 216 00:13:25.720 --> 00:13:29.399 the Arkansas River, he knows that he's gone too far 217 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:32.679 and he stops at the very first filling station that 218 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:36.360 he can and that's on Kelly Highway. And Kelly Highway 219 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:41.200 is a real busy street. And on Kelly Highway, across 220 00:13:41.240 --> 00:13:45.440 the street from this filling station and convenience store is 221 00:13:45.480 --> 00:13:50.720 the Arkansas State Patrol Office, a real big, fancy, nice office. 222 00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:56.960 And coming to that office is a policeman named Chuck Lambert, 223 00:13:57.720 --> 00:14:00.960 and he has seen this. He is I've seen swindler 224 00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:05.360 on the highway and already thinks, ooh, that guy looks weird. 225 00:14:05.799 --> 00:14:09.320 And he's driving this South Carolina license plate. So he's 226 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:12.240 far from home. And when he gets and he's so 227 00:14:12.440 --> 00:14:16.279 he pulls off and goes into the State Patrol office 228 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:19.480 and gets the business that he's supposed to be getting. 229 00:14:19.879 --> 00:14:24.679 He's an undercovered narcotics inspector. He looks out the window 230 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:28.480 and sees it that same car that he noticed on 231 00:14:28.519 --> 00:14:32.159 the road is parked at that filling station. So he 232 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:37.080 keeps goes on about his business, but keeps looking out 233 00:14:37.159 --> 00:14:39.279 and seeing that that car is still there. 234 00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:43.000 You set the stage in the book for Randy. Randy 235 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:45.360 Basnett liked to stop at this gas station to have 236 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:48.120 a coffee and coke with the attendant there, which is 237 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:52.559 named Carl Tinder, he also worked at He also worked 238 00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:55.039 at Edward's funeral at home as well, and they were 239 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:58.039 friends for a long time. And at this time that 240 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:02.919 Randy often frequent this gas station. In the convenience store 241 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:06.440 in walked in this as you said, this big, huge, 242 00:15:06.519 --> 00:15:10.240 three hundred pounds smelly guy that was looking for directions 243 00:15:10.279 --> 00:15:13.240 said he couldn't read and had a map and wanted assistance. 244 00:15:13.639 --> 00:15:17.360 Take us to this scene where Carl and Randy Bestnett 245 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:19.360 encounter John Swindler. 246 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:23.679 Well, they see johns Swindler and when he tells them 247 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:26.919 that he can't read or ride, there say, oh my, 248 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:30.919 I'm in sort of a pandary how to explain someone 249 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:33.799 who can't read or ride? But they begin showing him 250 00:15:33.799 --> 00:15:36.600 on that map that he brings in how to get 251 00:15:36.639 --> 00:15:41.519 to Alma. Well, Randy best Nett is remembering the briefing 252 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:44.559 that he had earlier in the day where there was 253 00:15:44.600 --> 00:15:50.039 an all points bulletin sent out about Swindler. And by 254 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:53.039 this time they knew that he thought he was driving 255 00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:57.000 because the elderly couple had said, he's driving our car 256 00:15:57.120 --> 00:16:01.320 and it's a gold Plymouth Dodger and the last South 257 00:16:01.360 --> 00:16:05.080 Carolina license plate, and then describes the man, and the 258 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:09.519 man is the man's The description fits the description of 259 00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:14.720 this guy who's in the asking for directions. And Randy 260 00:16:14.759 --> 00:16:18.720 bassetent looks out and sees this car that's parked right 261 00:16:18.759 --> 00:16:24.519 outside the door to the convenience store. So he he says, well, guys, 262 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:26.679 I've got to get back to work. And so he 263 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:30.960 leaves mister Tinder there in the office with this Swindler 264 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:34.960 and he goes Raady Bassett goes to his car, gets 265 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:38.960 his notebook, calls in to his office and tells him 266 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:42.039 that he's seen this guy and where he is and 267 00:16:42.200 --> 00:16:45.879 just send back up. And then Randy, I suppose, was 268 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:48.360 afraid that maybe this guy was going to get in 269 00:16:48.440 --> 00:16:51.360 the car and take off, and so he walks over 270 00:16:51.799 --> 00:16:55.639 to the fellow swindler who's working under the hood of 271 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:59.960 his car, and he asks them if he has any identification, 272 00:17:00.519 --> 00:17:03.240 and the fellow says, let me put Swindler says, let 273 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:06.640 me put the trunk the car pud down and I'll 274 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:10.480 get it out of my car. So Randy sort of 275 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:15.359 stays there fairly close to the car, and the swindler 276 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:18.960 gets in. He reaches over as if he were getting 277 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:23.079 his wallet to show his driver's slices, but instead he 278 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:27.039 reaches in and gets a revolver, and he swings around 279 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:31.319 and hits and uses the gun and shoots Randy twice 280 00:17:31.480 --> 00:17:35.079 in the stomach at close range. And when Randy Bass 281 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:40.440 then is falling down after being mortally hit, he is 282 00:17:40.519 --> 00:17:43.440 able to get his gun out of the holster and 283 00:17:43.559 --> 00:17:49.400 fire off six shots into that car, and one of 284 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:54.359 the shots hits Swindler in the left thigh, and then 285 00:17:54.519 --> 00:18:01.119 Swindler takes off. He takes off and heads down that 286 00:18:01.559 --> 00:18:05.000 is a dead end road, and in the meantime, Chuckelambert 287 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:08.319 looks out the window and he witnesses all this shooting, 288 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:12.000 and he grabs the revolver and he runs outside and 289 00:18:12.039 --> 00:18:16.519 when Swindler is passing by. He shoots at that car, 290 00:18:16.599 --> 00:18:20.039 but he doesn't hit the car, but he sees the 291 00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:24.279 direction in which the car is escaping to. And about 292 00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:29.640 that time, Bob Ross, who is a policeman and Randy's 293 00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:33.720 really good friend, he shows up and he sees Lambert, 294 00:18:33.880 --> 00:18:36.680 and Lambert tells him what has happened, and he's in 295 00:18:37.319 --> 00:18:40.359 this Bob Ross is getting the car with me, and 296 00:18:40.440 --> 00:18:44.359 so he does. And then Bob Ross's car shawls and 297 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:47.599 he can't get it to start, so they go back 298 00:18:47.960 --> 00:18:52.880 where Randy Bassett's car is parked. They get in to 299 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:57.640 it and it stalls also, and so they're wondering what 300 00:18:57.720 --> 00:19:01.880 the heck is going on here, But finally finally they 301 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:04.680 get the car started. They take off and go down 302 00:19:04.759 --> 00:19:08.799 this dirt road that leads to the Arkansas River, and 303 00:19:08.920 --> 00:19:11.880 that is that's the direction in which Swindler was going. 304 00:19:12.119 --> 00:19:14.640 He didn't know where he was going, he just took off. 305 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:18.440 Ross and Lambert they go looking for him, but they're 306 00:19:18.599 --> 00:19:21.480 sort of afraid that there might be an ambush, but 307 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:25.319 Swindler calls out, I give up. I don't want to 308 00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:29.599 be killed, and so they separate. By this time more 309 00:19:29.640 --> 00:19:34.480 policemen show up, so they all separated and sneak over 310 00:19:34.759 --> 00:19:39.319 to where the voice is coming from Swindler, arrest him 311 00:19:40.039 --> 00:19:44.599 and find all the guns that he has, and those 312 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:49.200 policemen are really really angry at this Swindler for killing 313 00:19:49.240 --> 00:19:54.279 one of their own. Sure they take him. They take 314 00:19:54.440 --> 00:19:59.079 Swindler to the hospital because he's been shot by he's 315 00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:03.680 got this bullet his thigh, and he's all dirty and 316 00:20:04.039 --> 00:20:08.240 awful looking because he's been on the run, and so 317 00:20:08.359 --> 00:20:11.920 they take him. They take him to the same hospital 318 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:16.920 where Randy Basnett was taken, and Randy died on the way. 319 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:22.000 Mister Tinder went out and stayed with Randy while he 320 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:26.160 was lying on the concrete street. He stayed with him. 321 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:30.359 Mister Tinder says that he had worked at Edward's funeral 322 00:20:30.440 --> 00:20:33.880 home for a long time and he knew something about 323 00:20:33.960 --> 00:20:37.960 dead bodies, and by the way Randy's eyes looked, he 324 00:20:38.119 --> 00:20:41.559 was sure that he was already dead, but he stayed 325 00:20:41.640 --> 00:20:44.960 with him tele the ambulance got there and they took 326 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:50.039 him to Sparks Hospital, where they also took Swindler. And 327 00:20:50.440 --> 00:20:53.279 the police were none too gentle with Swindler. 328 00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:57.640 As you can imagine, no Meanwhile, you write that, Meanwhile, 329 00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:01.960 Peggy Basnett, as you were talking about earlier, was with 330 00:21:02.119 --> 00:21:05.680 Cindy and baby Amanda and had that police scanner on. 331 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:08.359 When they did hear that there were shots fired in 332 00:21:08.519 --> 00:21:12.519 the area that Randy was working in. Peggy told her 333 00:21:12.519 --> 00:21:14.160 to call the police station and find out what was 334 00:21:14.200 --> 00:21:16.680 going on. Of course they couldn't. They said they couldn't 335 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:21.039 say anything, but they would notify her. So they've been notified. 336 00:21:21.400 --> 00:21:24.839 Cindy has been notified, the family has been notified. But 337 00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:28.000 what you do, right, is that the grandfather sees it 338 00:21:28.039 --> 00:21:33.160 on television unfortunately, that his grandson has been mortally wounded 339 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:36.799 in this altercation with John Swindler. So tell us what 340 00:21:36.960 --> 00:21:40.880 happens next. You talk about the funeral, You talk about 341 00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:43.599 so many things that happened as a result of this. 342 00:21:44.039 --> 00:21:48.319 Tell us what happens in regards to the investigation into 343 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:50.519 other crimes by John Swindler. 344 00:21:50.599 --> 00:21:54.920 All right, they notify the Fort Smiths Palaete Department, notifies 345 00:21:55.240 --> 00:22:00.759 the Palaze department in South Carolina and that they've caught 346 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:04.960 this guy and that he's killed a policeman. And and 347 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:09.759 then they started in on looking at this guy's record 348 00:22:09.880 --> 00:22:12.759 and they know that he's a bad guy and he's 349 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:15.759 been Oh he's just he's just a horrible guy. They 350 00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:19.039 put him. Somebody has to work, a doctor has to 351 00:22:19.079 --> 00:22:22.319 work on him, and that the doctors actually make it. 352 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:25.680 They was rumored and I think true that when the 353 00:22:25.720 --> 00:22:30.079 doctors were working on Swindler, they did not give him 354 00:22:30.119 --> 00:22:33.440 and he didn't use any kind of painkiller because nobody. 355 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:38.440 Nobody likes somebody who kills a policeman. And Randy bas 356 00:22:38.440 --> 00:22:42.559 Sent was he was a He was a very likable guy. 357 00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:48.000 He was a native of Fort Smith and so Sidney's 358 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:53.480 Sidey's father, Odell Davis, and Randy bas Sent were very 359 00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:57.079 very good friends. They fished together and her daddy had 360 00:22:57.119 --> 00:22:59.960 been a policeman, so so they had that in common. 361 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:04.000 And he really took over and helped Cindy out more 362 00:23:04.039 --> 00:23:08.240 than anybody could. He went to the police station with her, 363 00:23:08.440 --> 00:23:11.599 he talked to the doctors who were willing to give 364 00:23:11.799 --> 00:23:16.480 her a senatuvee because it was her local doctor heard 365 00:23:16.519 --> 00:23:19.559 about it and he called and said, I want you 366 00:23:19.640 --> 00:23:22.640 to take Cindy to the hospital, and I want to 367 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:25.799 the emergency room. I've already called and they're going to 368 00:23:25.839 --> 00:23:29.039 give her a senatude because they knew that she had 369 00:23:29.079 --> 00:23:33.319 to be just, you know, really inconsolable. So she stays 370 00:23:33.400 --> 00:23:37.400 at her mother and daddy's house and while she's there, 371 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:43.200 the police chaplain rings the doorbell and he comes, and 372 00:23:43.240 --> 00:23:47.039 he's the one who really delivers the message that Brandy 373 00:23:47.079 --> 00:23:51.640 Best said has been killed. And she she beats him 374 00:23:51.720 --> 00:23:55.400 on the chest and says, don't don't don't tell me that. 375 00:23:55.640 --> 00:23:58.440 Don't tell me that it's got to be a mistake, 376 00:23:58.759 --> 00:24:04.200 and her father soothes her and says, no, this is 377 00:24:05.279 --> 00:24:11.440 the truth. And so eventually Cindy and this police chaplain 378 00:24:11.839 --> 00:24:17.440 become very very good friends. He delivered the true message 379 00:24:17.480 --> 00:24:19.920 to her that her husband had been killed, and for 380 00:24:19.960 --> 00:24:23.960 some reason she latched on to him because he had 381 00:24:24.039 --> 00:24:28.200 given her the truth. And so if she's there, she's 382 00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:32.400 there and her daddy is with her, her mother is 383 00:24:32.519 --> 00:24:37.319 taking care of the children, and mister Cindy's father says, 384 00:24:37.440 --> 00:24:40.680 we want you to go lie down and try to rest. 385 00:24:40.799 --> 00:24:45.559 And while she's lying down and resting, the doorbell rings 386 00:24:45.880 --> 00:24:49.200 and mister Davis, her daddy, goes to the door and 387 00:24:49.240 --> 00:24:53.920 it's two FBI men who want to talk with Cindy. 388 00:24:54.240 --> 00:24:57.400 So he goes and mister Davis goes and wakes up 389 00:24:57.440 --> 00:25:01.839 his daughter and tells her that there's two FBI fellas 390 00:25:01.839 --> 00:25:04.480 who want to talk to her. So she comes into 391 00:25:04.519 --> 00:25:10.440 the living room. The FBI guys are extremely gentlemen and 392 00:25:10.519 --> 00:25:13.680 they stand up when she enters the room and they 393 00:25:13.720 --> 00:25:16.680 tell her that they're very sorry for what had happened. 394 00:25:16.759 --> 00:25:21.640 And then they tell her that the reason John Swindler 395 00:25:21.799 --> 00:25:26.160 was even out was because the warden at Levenworth could 396 00:25:26.200 --> 00:25:30.839 not control him. And she freaks out over here and that, 397 00:25:31.079 --> 00:25:34.440 and she said, well, I hope that that warden is fired, 398 00:25:34.920 --> 00:25:39.039 and the guys say, we think that should happen too, 399 00:25:39.480 --> 00:25:44.000 and eventually she does find out that that warden was fired, 400 00:25:44.200 --> 00:25:48.240 and that's how she found out from FBI guy, which 401 00:25:48.279 --> 00:25:51.200