The teen charged in the slayings of two convenience store clerks in northern Iowa last year is changing his plea in the second case to avoid another trial. On the same day that Michael R. Swanson is set to be sentenced after being convicted in the Humboldt County portion of his 1st-degree murder and 1st-degree robbery case, the Minnesota teenager has requested a hearing in Kossuth County to change his plea which was not guilty.
Third District Judge David A. Lester set the hearing for Thursday at 1:30 P.M. in Algona. Swanson was convicted on Thursday June 24th in Carroll. Swanson was arrested last November 15th after robbing two convenience stores in Algona and Humboldt and killing clerks Vicky Bowman Hall and Sheila Meyers.
The Humboldt County sentencing was moved to Webster County because of a conflict with another trial that day. Swanson faces a mandatory life in prison sentence as a result of the conviction. His trial in Kossuth County was moved to Rock Rapids in Lyon County and had been scheduled for Wednesday July 27th.
Swanson’s sentencing in Webster County that day is at 9:30 AM. If the court agrees to the Kossuth County request, Swanson is requesting immediate sentencing.
By Chuck Shockley, KLGA, Algona