'A child of God': forgiveness offered at sentencing for murder

Facebook Marketplace murder plea nets 55 years in prison

ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. ---Chavez Gustin will spend close to the rest of his life in prison, having taken a guilty plea for the murder of Roger Swedzinski.

The 22-year-old didn’t know Swedzinski, 67, a widower who lived alone on 17 acres in northwest Allen County.

But he scoped out Swedzinski after he saw the older man’s post on Facebook Marketplace advertising 10 2006 1/10oz. American Eagle gold coins for sale, according to the probable cause affidavit written by Allen County Det./Cpl. Gabe Furnish. 

The coldblooded aspect of the murder on July 26, 2024 didn’t square with Gustin’s insistence in court Monday that he was remorseful. He apologized to the family through tears and offered a letter to the family at the end. 

“Here it is, if you guys want it,” he said. Rather than face a jury, Gustin pleaded guilty and received a plea deal for 55 years, the state's advisory sentence. If he'd been found guilty by a jury, he could have received up to 85 years in prison. His attorney was Allen County's chief public defender, William Lebrato.

Chavez Gustin will spend most of the rest of his life in prison for the murder of Roger Swedzinski, 67. Gustin robbed Swedzinski of valuable gold coins at his home on July 26, then shot him dead.

Gustin’s Google searches included his victim’s Facebook page and pulling up the obituary for his deceased wife, facts the family found chilling.

After Gustin located his victim’s home in the 700 block of Hathaway Road, he made several trips to the residence pulling his Audi into the adjacent power station as if on a reconnaissance mission.

The Allen County High Tech Crime Unit used “a combination of technologies including but not limited to: cell towers, wireless networks, Bluetooth beacons, GPS satellites and Apple’s UI (Ultra Wideband) chip,” to track Gustin’s movements from his home in Woodburn along Cook and Lima roads, on to Hathaway Road and then to the power station and Swedzinski’s home, court documents indicate.

The first roundtrip started at midnight on July 25 and the last at 1:20 a.m. the next day arriving at the victim’s property at 1:41 a.m. and remaining there until 2:22 a.m. 

Sentencing Jan. 5, 2026: Chavez Gustin, 55 years for murder after he took a plea.

During those 41 minutes, Gustin entered the home and using his 9mm gun, overpowered his victim, directing him to the basement where the coins were in a safe. After the safe was opened, Gustin shot Swedzinski dead. Responding officers observed wounds to the chest and the head.

Gustin must have left quickly leaving smears of blood on the basement exterior door and a trail of blood from the victim to that door. A Samsung cell phone was found on the walkway outside the home that also had blood on it, court documents said.

Original article here:

https://www.theprobablecause.com/post/warrant-for-alleged-hathaway-killer-identified-through-stolen-gold-coins

The only thing that mattered to Gustin were the coins; guns in the safe weren’t taken nor was the house ransacked. Law enforcement also stated that there was no sign of forced entry, but would not say how Gustin got inside.

Swedzinski’s family had spoken to the victim around 9:30 p.m. on July 25. Twelve hours later, a friend stopped by to pick up some supplements and found him on the basement floor.

The Monday following the early Saturday morning homicide, Gustin went to sell the coins at “We Buy Gold,” and was quickly identified on store surveillance camera by law enforcement.

There followed a series of fabrications on Gustin’s part to deny the crime. He said a drug dealer had borrowed his car and his gun had been stolen and that’s why he reported it to police. He also told police his socks were missing from his car, anything to throw off law enforcement.

Swedzinski’s two daughters, L. And R., spoke at the sentencing. Their mother had already lost her battle with cancer, they said.

“That he was murdered absolutely breaks me,” L. said. “Our world has been completely turned upside down. Our dad was the rock of our family.”

She constantly revisits what might have happened that night and “what my dad might have had to go through.”

R. said her three-year-old daughter asks to visit her grandpa every time they pass by the house, not understanding that he is gone forever.

"I’m devastated for all the lives you’ve impacted.," she said, addressing Gustin through Judge David Zent. "I’m also sad for yours, because you’re so young and now your family will have to find a way to continue forward without you.”

She said her father, a religious man, would have forgiven Chavez. “My father would have told you that you are a child of God and that you would be loved and cherished by him.