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Youngstown library cancels CSI talk by ex-convict Swiger
The library said it didn’t know the thriller writer’s criminal background.
YOUNGSTOWN — The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County has canceled an appearance by Michael Swiger, who writes legal thrillers and mysteries, because of his criminal past.
Swiger, who served 15 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter and kidnapping in the murder of a Thiel College graduate in 1988, also said last week that he wanted to cancel the appearance when he found out the brother of the victim lives in the area. The victim’s brother, Michael Pratt, lives in Warren.
The victim, Roger “Butch” Pratt, was lured to a back road in Hudson, Ohio, and beaten to death by Ed Swiger, Michael Swiger’s brother.
Michael Swiger, who was there during the beating, has maintained that he did not participate in it. The brothers put Pratt’s body into the trunk of Michael’s car and eventually buried him on a farm in Jamestown, Pa., near Crawford County.
Butch Pratt knew about the Swiger brothers’ involvement in the arson of a furniture store in Greenville, Pa., and that likely led to his murder, Michael Pratt said last year on the 20th anniversary of his brother’s death. A co-owner of the store, Linda Karlen, had gotten the Swigers to participate in burning it down for insurance money. Butch Pratt had refused to participate.
Karlen and the Swigers all were convicted in the arson, and Karlen was convicted of conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the murder. She served 15 years in Ohio and is now in prison in Pennsylvania for the arson.
Ed Swiger is serving 43 years to life for aggravated murder.
While Michael Swiger was in prison, he began writing to pass the time, he said last week. He eventually wrote two books under a pen name, then wrote two more under his own.
His publisher, OakTara, indicated on its Web site that one of his books was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2001, but Swiger said that isn’t true. His book was only submitted for consideration, he said. He was to appear at the library Tuesday for CSI YTown, a group for mystery-novel enthusiasts, to promote his latest book, “Lethal Objection.”
“When the Friends of the Public Library of Youngstown [and] Mahoning County booked author Michael Swiger for their ‘CSI Youngstown’ program, they had no knowledge of the author’s past or his connection to a crime involving a family residing in the neighboring community of Warren,” the library said in a prepared statement.
The library said it supports “the right for all voices to be heard and all stories to be presented.” It continued, though, that it had to be sensitive to the victim’s family.
Swiger’s books do not draw from the Pratt murder, and he does not capitalize on the murder at appearances, he said, answering questions about the crime only if they are posed.
He said he is contractually obligated to do appearances to promote the books, though he never would have agreed to the Youngstown appearance if he’d realized Pratt lived in the area.
“It would be like me putting my finger right in his eye,” said Swiger, who has maintained he is sorry for what he did.
He is now a minister in the Cleveland area. According to his Web site, he is on the pastoral staff at the Gospel House Church, where he works primarily as a chaplain in prison ministry.
Pratt, reached last week, said the publicity doesn’t really upset him.
He said he doesn’t think there’s much after 21 years that he hasn’t heard already.
“The prison system is rehabilitating these people,” he said, adding that it’s better than their going on welfare.
starmack@vindy.com