Dustin Plottke, 27, of Rome Township, was sentenced to life in prison for the aggravated murder of Thompson teen Daniel Swan.
Daniel Swan once gave away his last $15 to a man pretending to be homeless.
“Because homeless or not, desperation deserves charity,” he told friend Nick Romero at the time.
Romero joined Swan’s parents in describing a kind, funny yet sarcastic Swan, who could seem apathetic, but always looked out for the underdog.
Everybody inside the crowded Geauga County Common Pleas courtroom this morning knew for certain that, at 17, Swan was too young to die.
His killer, Dustin Plottke, was sentenced to life in prison for aggravated murder. As part of a plea agreement, Plottke will be eligible for parole after 25 years.
“I’m very sorry about what happened to your son,” Plottke said, quickly mumbling, facing Judge Forrest Burt instead of Swan’s family. “I feel bad about it. Shouldn’t have happened. That’s it.”
“He’s never apologized except for what he just said,” said Geauga County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz. “He’s never owned up to what he did. He knew he killed a kid, and he sat on that for years and left a family not knowing what happened to their son. I’ve never seen any remorse from him.”
Swan was pronounced dead on Aug. 17, 2010, after he was struck three weeks before by a truck on Sidley Road in Thompson Township. Inside the vehicle were two men: Plottke, 27, and Matthew Boone, 23, also of Rome.
Plottke demanded the truck turn around, Flaiz told the court.
The two had been stealing scrap metal, so Plottke grabbed a pipe from the truck and “bashed the skull in of a 17-year-old kid who they didn’t know, who they didn’t have a gripe with,” Flaiz said. “I can’t think of anything more appalling.”
Boone pleaded guilty to complicity to murder and tampering with evidence in November for his role in the murder.
The death went unsolved until a random investigation during a July 2012 burglary in Montville Township, which gave Geauga County Sheriff’s Office detectives a break in the case.
Bill Swan, Daniel’s dad, said he prayed regularly to turn back time and trade places with his son.
“I’m so tortured with the thought of our kind-hearted young son meeting up with this pure evil,” he said, glancing toward Plottke. “Daniel could have never imagined that such a wicked, dark-hearted individual existed, let alone that he would have to face him all alone while he was walking down a familiar street.”
Daniel’s mother, Christina, spoke in a low voice, never looking up.
“You attacked him for no reason. You’re responsible for the worst imaginable pain, the pain of watching your son come out of the prison of a brain injury,” she said. “For three weeks of a hellish nightmare in the hospital, only to be followed by the surreal fact of making funeral arrangements for our 17-year-old. And seeing our family’s pain displayed on the front page of the paper.”
Judge Burt said he stopped long ago trying to figure out why such crimes were committed.
“I’m not sure you can figure out why it was done,” Burt told Plottke, who put his head down and nodded during the sentence. “Three and a half years ago, Daniel Swan was a person, and in a short period of time, he became victim.”
Burt’s sentencing followed the joint recommendation of lawyers.
Plottke had replaced his lawyer, Henry Hilow, with Michael Peterson 48 hours before the hearing. Peterson filed a motion to withdraw Plottke’s guilty plea, but decided to withdraw the motion after meeting with Burt and Flaiz before the hearing.
Plottke has an extensive criminal history, Flaiz said. This sentence will run concurrent with any prior convictions, Burt said.
Extra chairs were brought into a crowded, quiet courtroom so family and friends could sit. Most wiped their eyes at one point or another — especially when Bill shared a story about school dances Daniel attended through youth groups, told to him by girls Daniel had asked to dance.
“These were a variety of girls that a segment of our society does not put up as popular,” he said. “He asked them to dance; he shared words with them that helped them understand they did not get their self-worth or value from those who would bully or tear them down.”
