Credit: Montgomery County Jail
Credit: Montgomery County Jail
The victim, identified as 61-year-old John L. Mullins of Trotwood, was found dead Sept. 29, 2022, near the 6500 block of Midway Avenue, less than a mile from his Drexel home, Trotwood police said last year.
Mullins was believed to have been killed between Sept. 22 and 29, 2022, at Swisher’s Lensdale Avenue house in Drexel, according to an affidavit filed in Montgomery County Municipal Court - Western Division in Trotwood.
“Nicholas Swisher did lure John Mullins to the address. While there, Nicholas Swisher hit, kicked and stomped Mullins. He then bound him with rope and duct tape before causing his death by beating,” the affidavit read. “Nicholas then wrapped Mullins’ body, put him in a toolbox and disposed of him in the woods.”
Swisher was apprehended Dec. 12 as a result of a Trotwood police investigation into a robbery reported around 4:30 a.m. in the 6900 block of West Third Street. The robbery happened the same day Swisher was formally charged in Mullins’ death.
Investigators learned a U-Haul pickup truck, a 2023 Chevrolet Silverado, was potentially involved in the robbery and that it had been reported stolen in Dayton. Trotwood patrol officers spotted the U-Haul pickup around 3:15 p.m. in the Townview neighborhood, according to police.
The driver of the U-Haul, later identified as Swisher, fled immediately, which initiated a pursuit that ended after the pickup crossed over the double yellow center line at 5350 Hoover Ave., striking an SUV head-on. The impact caused both vehicles to spin off the road into a group of large bushes, according to a Trotwood Police Department crash report.
A 38-year-old Dayton woman driving the SUV, a 2010 Dodge Journey, suffered serious injuries and was taken to Miami Valley Hospital. Her two passengers, girls ages 16 and 17, were not injured, the report stated.
Swisher ran away but was quickly apprehended, police said. He suffered minor injuries in the crash and also was taken to Miami Valley Hospital before he was booked into the Montgomery County Jail.
His two passengers, a 48-year-old Farmersville man and a 61-year-old Jefferson Twp. man, were not injured. They were detained but were released after police determined they were not involved in the crimes.
Swisher also is charged with vehicular assault and failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer for the Dec. 12 incident. The robbery remains under investigation. Anyone with information on the robbery is urged to call Trotwood police detective Anthony Page at 937-854-7237.
Swisher is held on $1 million bail in the Montgomery County Jail.
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