Carroll Iowa Newspaper

Friend says Swanson just wanted to stay out of jail

CARROLL — One of Michael Swanson’s friends shed a little light on the 18-year-old’s alleged plans in November 2010.

Danny Cegla, 20, of St. Louis Park, Minn., was one of 13 witnesses to take the stand Tuesday during the second day of Swanson’s first-degree murder and first-degree robbery trial in Carroll County.

Swanson is accused of killing Sheila Myers, 61, of Humboldt, during a Kum & Go robbery the night of Nov. 15, 2010.

Cegla said he had known Swanson for three years, and Swanson sought him out around 2:30 p.m. that day.

Cegla said he had just arrived home from school when he heard his name called and saw Swanson driving his mom’s Jeep. He said it caused him some concern.

“I had a feeling he didn’t have permission to drive the Jeep, and his permit had been revoked earlier,” Cegla said. He added that he stayed three feet away from the vehicle while he talked with Swanson and refused to get in when Swanson asked him to because he “didn’t want anything out of his control.”

Instead, Cegla and another friend met up with Swanson at a park. There Swanson showed the two a Beretta .40 caliber pistol he was concealing in his waistband.

“He said he’d gone to the family cabin, broke in and stole it,” Cegla said.

That information was corroborated by witness Darin Shevich, a deputy with the Itasca County Sheriff’s Department, who investigated a burglary that day at the Swanson family’s cabin near Big Fork, Minn., five hours north of Minneapolis.

Swanson’s father was an avid hunter and had many guns in the house; however, due to fear of their son, Michael, they locked them all in a high-security vault, according to testimony from Matt Reilly, an agent with the St. Louis Park Police Department in suburban Minneapolis.

Cegla said Swanson was determined to stay out of jail after he violated his probation by stealing Ramen noodles from a store.

“His main plan was to stay out jail,” Cegla recalled. “He sounded like he was going to cross state borders and just drive.”

To get gas, Swanson told his friends he’d just “pump and run,” Cegla said.

Cegla added he tried to discourage Swanson from acting on his plans and told him to seek help at a hospital — because if Swanson said he was sick he wouldn’t get in trouble. But Swanson repeatedly dismissed the idea, Cegla said.

As they were saying their goodbyes — they figured they wouldn’t see each other for a year — Swanson told him, “You’ll see me on the news.

Authorities search for missing Carroll, Iowa woman - KTIV ...

CARROLL, Iowa (AP) -- Authorities are searching for a missing 50-year-old woman from western Iowa whose car was found in the parking lot of a nightclub the morning after she disappeared.

The Carroll Police Department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said Friday they are asking for anyone with information related to the disappearance of 50-year-old Dawn Allen to come forward.

Allen was last seen at her home in Carroll on Wednesday at about 8:30 p.m. and no one has reported talking to her since. She did not show up for work the next day, and her employer reported her missing to police.

Allen's vehicle was found Thursday morning in the parking lot of the Piranha Club on the east edge of town.

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