Charles City deaths ruled as murder-suicide

CHARLES CITY — Authorities say the deaths of two people last week in a Charles City home was a murder-suicide.

Charles City police responded on the afternoon of Tuesday October 12, where on arrival officers spoke with people present, with one person being transported to the hospital by ambulance, with that person later being pronounced dead. Officers then conducted a search of the residence and located a body inside the house.

Police now say the body of 44-year-old Jennifer Swingen of Dunkerton, also known as Jennifer Smith, was found inside the home, while her ex-husband, 46-year-old Shane Swingen, died of an apparent drug overdose.

Police say an autopsy determined Jennifer Swingen’s cause of death was by strangulation.