Talk:Michael Swango

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Surgeon

He is referred to as a surgeon in the beginning of this article. As far as I know, the extent of his training was a single year as a general surgery intern. I believe this does not make him a surgeon.12.214.97.223 (talk) 23:02, 9 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Before he was not allowed to graduate on time, Swango had matched to a neurosurgical program at University of Iowa hospitals. Since he did not graduate SIU until 1983, he had to find another program and instead found a surgical internship at Ohio State University hospitals. I believe his later enrollment in the psychiatry training program at the VA Hospital in New York was to gain access to the hospital and to patients; clearly at that point his purpose was to continue murdering patients and any access to the hospital was what he required. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.206.6.193 (talk) 00:34, 27 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Picture

The pic is of a book and seems like an ad. If it's purpose is the minute pics of Swango on the cover, then it should be cropped and enlarged to show Swango. Otherwise, remove pic and find another one that shows the subject of article better.Malick78 10:17, 29 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The photo of Swango on the cover of Stewart's book is not Swango, I believe. The book does contain photos reproduced from the SIU School of Medicine yearbook of 1982 (by the time he was not allowed to graduate SIU he was already in the yearbook, which was printed, so nothing could be done about it). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.206.6.193 (talk) 00:37, 27 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

THAT PICTURE IS NOT MICHAEL SWANGO - Refer to the television show "Catching Killers" on ID, episode: "Proving Poison" to get Swango's real picture. He was a medical doctor, but not a surgeon. 108.31.41.5 (talk) 21:45, 6 June 2014 (UTC) 108.31.41.5 (talk) 21:52, 6 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Sexuality

This site says he was gay. Is there another source to confirm this?Malick78 10:21, 29 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Stewart's biography is quite thorough and complete and nothing in it suggests Swango was gay. All his known relationships were with women. He did not have close male friends. Classmates and co-workers considered him weird or worse.

There was no apparent sexual component to Swango's crimes. Narcissism and power seemed to be the driving forces. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Palisadesk (talk • contribs) 12:56, 17 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

1982 Chicago Tylenol murders

I have always thought of it as more than just a coincidence that Swango lived in Illinois at the time of the 1982 Chicago Tylenol murders. Has this thought crossed anybody elses mind? Earpol (talk) 23:49, 3 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I doubt it; physically being close to the victims seemed to be an essential component of Swango's M.O. He wanted to be right next to them, watching the death up close and personal; likewise with his paramedic career. (He was/is a fan of J.G. Ballard's novel Crash.) Putting poison in a bottle of pills and hoping that someone who takes them, miles away, might die doesn't seem like it would satisfy him at all. Golden Hound (talk)

clarification needed

" [1] Kinney went back to Virginia soon afterward after suffering from violent migraines. After she left Swango, the headaches stopped.[6]"

Kristin Kinney, Swango's fiance didn't have the chance to move back to Virginia. On July 15, 1993, Swango claimed they were "on the wooded and secluded Noland Trail in Newport News, Kristin put a gun to her chest and fired." Her funeral was 4 days later. The police were too quick, in my opinion, to rule it a suicide, but many at her funeral, including her parents, felt he was involved with her death, because they had heard how he had served time in prison for poisoning fellow paramedics. After Kristin's funeral Swango "slept at Kristin's apartment that evening. He moved out her furniture the next morning, donating most of it to the Friends of the Homeless Shelter in Newport News where Kristin had volunteered. Swango moved on after that. It doesn't appear he ever set foot on the Peninsula again. He went to New York, then Africa."

Swango displayed some disturbing behavior & comments at her funeral.

Poisonous Passion The Untimely Death Of Kristin Kinney November 26, 2000|By DAVID CHERNICKY and JOANNE KIMBERLIN Daily Press talk) 21:22, 09 July 2015 (UTC)

"In June 1997, he embarked upon a double flight from Africa to Saudi Arabia. He had a layover between flights at O'Hare Airport in Chicago, Illinois,"

Something's wrong or unclear here. He was going from Africa to Saudi Arabia with a stop-over in Chicago??

Also: "He served in the Marine Corps, receiving an honorable discharge in 1980. He then attended Quincy College (now known as Quincy University), and later Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.[1]" I'm sitting in the room with a woman who lived two doors down from Swango in their first year at SIU med. They entered in June 1979. Something is wrong here...

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.69.0.251 (talk) 07:47, 27 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Serious CE needed

This article is, in a word, substandard. Poorly written, unencyclopedic use of sentence structure, grammar, and punctuation. Would like to spend more time on it tonight, but it's late. Will probably revisit it tomrorrow. I have, in accordance with MOS:TRIVIA rid the article of the trivia section. Comments, thoughts? Any editors involved in the article on a regular basis - let's discuss it. Lhb1239 (talk) 05:42, 4 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified (January 2018)

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Reads like a promotion for a sensationalised biography

The writing in this article is problematic in places, using overly sensational language to describe the person as though promoting a biographical book about him. For example, lines like "Swango displayed troubling behavior during his time at SIU. Although he was a brilliant student,..." use unnecessarily colourful terms. The article needs to be edited to meet wikipedia standards for biographies. Halogenated (talk) 16:27, 13 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]