Tags
by Sherry Swiney
July 28, 2021
July 28, 2009 DoD
INTRODUCTION
Patrick Swiney’s spirit was freed from prison twelve years ago today. His strength of character and integrity are still with us. I thought it was fitting to write this article today in his memory. It’s the first time I’ve publicly celebrated his passing. At my age, it’s good to bring up old memories, especially the good ones. I loved Patrick with all my heart. I fought for his freedom while leading an international human rights group, while at the same time working in the construction field, and planning to build a homestead for us, for my children, and for the day when the SHTF. From behind bars, Patrick called the homestead his promised land. He spent many of his days seeing the land, designing things, then building them in his mind’s eye.
At the bottom of his letters he wrote his favorite saying from a poem by Kahlil Gibran: “Like seeds dreaming beneath the snow, my heart dreams of spring.”
Our lives together were necessarily of a spiritual nature more than a physical one. We had many happy moments during dream-sharing in spite of the darkness that surrounded us in the waking time. I was his loving wife for thirteen years. Few knew him, and no one knew him like I did. I should say it was likewise for his part. No telling for certain where he is right now. That’s up to one’s imagination.
So today, while doing some clean up work on my website, Keyhole Journey, I decided to click on the old websites there to see if they were still clickable. I did not have Patrick on my mind at the time, yet I was led to the page below. I think Universe and/or Patrick had a hand in this unconscious maneuver and I am grateful for that. It is true. Patrick’s spirit is still with us. At least it feels true to me. My heart was warmed when I read what others wrote upon his passing. I’ve copied those comments in this blog if you’d like you join me on a short walk down memory lane.
But first, the clickable screenshot below says what I would have said at his funeral services but for some reason I was not allowed to speak in the church where the services took place. I guess some Alabama folks are strange that way.
WHO WAS PATRICK?
Here are the comments from others upon his passing. This tribute ends with a deeply meaningful poem, written by a member of the human rights organization, and a friend.
WEDNESDAY JULY 29, 2009
To Sherry, with our sympathy and love
Ronald Patrick Swiney
1944-2009
Doug Tjapkes said…
Patrick can breathe perfectly now. And he has no pain!
He had been in the Alabama Prison System since 1989, when he was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life without parole. He maintained his innocence until the moment he died.
Patrick, and his wife Sherry (who campaigned tirelessly for his release and his well-being 24/7) became friends of ours in 2002. Sherry was fighting on behalf of Patrick, and I was fighting on behalf of Maurice Carter.
I most recently corresponded with Patrick late last year. I learned that he loved to talk about drag racing, and so I sent pictures of Doug racing Studebakers. How he loved those memories! He closed his last letter to me: I appreciate all your hard work on my behalf, and making my heart happy with using one word: STUDEBAKER!
But, as his appeals and requests for legal assistance continued to fail, so did his health.
Last night, Sherry sent out an urgent appeal to those of us who remained close to the case: If each of us could stop everything we are doing right now and give a few moments to focus on Patrick’s well-being, that will be powerful!
Many of us did that, but that was about the same moment that he was called home. Perhaps that was the answer we were given. No more pneumonia, no more health problems of any sort, and not even any more false accusations of guilt. I have a feeling that Maurice Carter, who could relate to most of those experiences, was there to welcome him with open arms.
Patrick can breathe perfectly now. And he has no pain!
Doug
3 comments:
Candy Hawk said…
Patrick Swiney was proven innocent in 2003 through scientific evidence. This evidence was presented to the trial judge who refused to look at it. That judge signed an Order prepared by the Alabama Attorney General’s office declaring that the Courts would not accept the evidence. The federal district court, 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court subsequently refused to look at the evidence of actual innocence.
Americans believe that the legal system works most of the time. What Americans don’t understand is that what we call “justice” is not part of the construct of the court system. The court system is designed to take from the lower class and channel resources to the upper class.
If anyone still believes that the “justice system” has anything to do with justice then you’re not paying attention. What will it take for people to get this? The justice system undermines everything Americans believe that this country stands for.
Patrick spent 20 years in prison, innocent of any crime and died there. Every judge, lawyer, warden, court clerk, and corrections employee are responsible for that. Any one of these people could [have] fought for true justice. As Americans we are ALL responsible for this injustice. How? Because we don’t question; we don’t think; we don’t look.
Candy
July 30, 2009 at 8:45 AM
He was singled out
Ned Delaney said…
On Wednesday, 5 December 2007, Patrick Swiney wrote a letter to me in response to a card I sent him. I forget the details of my card, but I believe it was a simple greeting with a short letter attached. Patrick’s return letter was two and a half pages long. I generally respond to personal letters, but I never heard from him again.
While recently sorting through files, his letter came to my attention. I read it over and decided to check on him, only to discover I was some six months too late. Why, I wondered, did he come to my attention at this time, and the more I thought about him the more I realized he still has a voice.
I maintain a mixed website dealing with various aspects of injustice, sometimes referred to as “conspiracies,” depending on which side of the fence [you’re] on. We live in very unstable times if for no other reason than that our institutions have failed us, yet we are expected to embrace the news, support the system, and feel good about our country.
Our founding fathers warned us about snake oil salesmen, get rich schemes, and political promises. And true to form the Joker’s in town, he has a gag order on Batman, and Gotham City is being held hostage.
I offer Patrick a voice through my website ~ Paradoxes to Enlightenment.com ~ 911DELANEYTRUTH.COM. It has been said that the Truth is out there. But the Truth can’t just be absorbed by following the mainstream. It requires a little work, exploratory reading, and a burning desire to embrace what has given us all the lives we have. Patrick’s case will be posted in the near future.
February 12, 2010 at 5:13 PM
BookemDanno said…
And so it came to pass: last night the State of Alabama finally succeeded in its quest to kill former Police Officer Ronald Patrick Swiney.
The place of death: Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer, where Mr. Swiney was serving a sentence of life imprisonment, without parole, upon his 1989 wrongful conviction for murdering his former wife, Betty Snow Swiney, and her ex husband, Ronnie Lynn Pate.
And indeed that conviction was wrong; it rested solely on evidence fabricated by the State, tailor-made to coincide with the scene of the crime. This fact cannot be denied; in recent years the nation’s leading experts in gun shot residue, ballistics and forensic pathology scientifically proved Patrick could not possibly have done what the State accused him of.
But the State courts would not hear of it; the newly-discovered evidence of Patrick’s innocence they would not consider. The judges and prosecutors remained hell-bent on covering up the truth: that the murders were committed by others, while Patrick was convicted of them, in retaliation for what Patrick did as a career police officer several years earlier … while working as an investigator for the Gulf Shores Police, Swiney uncovered evidence that a large scale drug ring was being spearheaded by then Baldwin County District Attorney Jimmy Hendrix and then Baldwin County Sheriff’s Department Chief Investigator Bobbie Stewart. A cop’s cop having sworn to uphold the law, Patrick turned the evidence over to federal authorities. Resulting was that some 47,000 lbs. of illegal drugs were seized, and DA Hendrix and Investigator Stewart were both sentenced to federal prison.
Soon after, several attempts on Officer Swiney’s life were made. One was nearly successful: at the hands of assailants he suffered knife wounds requiring several hundred stitches to keep him alive. One of the three assailants was identified. Though originally charged with First Degree Assault and Attempted Murder, a Baldwin County judge reduced the charges to a single count of Simple Assault for which he was allowed to go free after paying a small fine.
Throughout the many years of serving his unjust sentence to life imprisonment, former Officer Swiney was routinely denied the same quality medical care as afforded other inmates. Years ago he began suffering from serious heart problems. His medical records show as much. They also show he was denied corrective surgery. After developing pneumonia last week, he finally died last night. Plain and simple: it was a killing by the State of Alabama; not by lethal injection or the electric chair, but by confining an innocent man to an isolated dank prison cell and consciously ignoring his medical needs.
A reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest, prosecution and conviction of the person(s) actually responsible for planning and/or carrying out the December 10, 1987 murders of Betty Snow Swiney and Ronnie Lynn Pate.
July 29, 2009
===
If you’re still with me, I’d like to close this celebration with a beautiful poem written by Vivi Ann Cheyenne Hanssen – Norway June 25, 2001
THE HOWLING
In the still of the night
In the darkest corner of your soul
In that little space inside
where you dare not enter
You can hear it
The howling of the Wolf
Penetrating yet softly
the Wolf howls
Carried by the wind it reaches you
it haunts you
It tells the story of the lonely one
It tells the story of the strong one
It tells the story of a Wolf
in need of freedom
And when you really listen
listen for the howling
Your spirit changes
You’re drawn
drawn into the wolfs reality
A wolf in captivity
But you can feel hope
You can feel love
You can feel strength
And you can SEE….. A WARRIOR
Listen for the Wolf
Listen for Patrick
Listen for the howling
Both are one
For this is the miracle
and the Great Mystery
It’s the consciousness of the
GREAT SPIRIT!
Namaste,
Sherry
Please visit my website: https://www.keyholejourney.com
About Sherry Swiney
Sherry researches quantum physics related to spiritual development and physical well-being. She studies archaeology, organic gardening, natural healing, paranormal and other unusual topics. She co-authored “An Amazing Journey into the Psychotic Mind – Breaking the Spell of the Ivory Tower.”
Keyholejourney Blog - exploring mind-opening concepts 