Johnny Ray Swindle, 19, was a Radioman Petty Officer third class in the US Navy. In 1964, his first enlistment was coming to an end and he decided to re-enlist. He decided to take some leave from his San Diego duty station and return home to Jasper, Alabama. While there, on 18 January 1964, he married his high school sweetheart, Joyce, also 19 years old. They traveled together back to San Diego for their honeymoon. They rented an apartment on the beach and spent time together, fishing, sightseeing, and taking walks on the beach every night. On the night of 5 February 1964, less than three weeks after their wedding, the couple was gunned down while walking along the Pacific Ocean beach. A gunman in hiding opened fire and shot Johnny and Joyce several times, disabling them. He then came up to them and shot each in the head. His weapon fired .22 long rifle hollow point bullets. Joyce died at the scene. Johnny was taken to the hospital where he died a few hours later without regaining consciousness. Although many have attempted to connect this murder with the Zodiac killer, the case remains unsolved. LINKS: John & Joyce Swindle The Swindle Murders This Day in History
Johnny Ray Swindle BIRTH 4 Jul 1943 DEATH 5 Feb 1964 (aged 20) BURIAL Pleasant Hill Cemetery Townley, Walker County, Alabama, USA Gravesite Details He and his wife Joyce were shot on the beach in California while on their honeymoon. Family Members Parents Alvie A. Swindle 1913–1945 Mary E. Boshell Swindle 1918–1976 Spouse Joyce Swindle 1945–1964 Siblings Hubert Swindle 1936–2014 Joyce Swindle BIRTH 22 Jan 1945 DEATH 5 Feb 1964 (aged 19) BURIAL Pleasant Hill Cemetery Townley, Walker County, Alabama, USA Family Members Parents Pauline Sarah Lane Lane 1923–2011 Spouse Johnny Ray Swindle 1943–1964 Siblings Roger Eugene Key 1947–1970 LINKS: Johnny Ray Swindle (1943-1964) - Find A Grave... Joyce Swindle (1945-1964) - Find A Grave Memorial
Here is a 2017 blog commentary on this case by a fellow Navy shipmate who knew Johnny Swindle: 1964 – Unsolved murders. “On Wednesday, February 5, 1964, Navy radio-man third class Johnny Ray Swindle and his newlywed wife Joyce were violently murdered along the Ocean Beach Boardwalk next to the Silver Spray Apartments. Swindle had married his childhood sweetheart on January 18, 1964 and they stayed in a three room cottage nine blocks from where they would eventually be slain. According to the San Diego Union Newspaper, five shots were fired from the sniper position above. Police said two more were fired at close range. Indicating that the killer fired the last two shots into their heads in a kind of coup de grâce.” (1) A year and a half earlier I was fresh out of radioman school and assigned to the Holiday Beach Communication Station on Kodiak Island, Alaska. My first night on watch, nervous and unsure of myself, another radioman befriended me. His nickname was Twidge because of the way he operated the CW key. First his arm would jerk, then his shoulder, and finally his leg, all in time to his hand tapping out Morse code. His name was Johnny Swindle. Twidge was from a small town in Alabama and I from a small town in Minnesota. Six-foot tall, dark wavy hair, handsome, Twidge was quiet to the point of not being noticed. If he got harassed about his herky-jerky sending style he’d respond with an “aw shucks” grin. Our complement was forty sailors, many of them loud, boisterous characters and Twidge did not stand out. He was just a quiet, nice guy. I was 18, he was 19 when one evening, off duty, standing on a cliff looking out at the gray expanse of the northern Pacific, he told me about his girlfriend, Joyce, back home, whom he intended to marry... ... We served together for only four months before Twidge was reassigned and we lost touch. A year later I stationed aboard the USS Jason in San Diego. We were in port and had telephone lines hooked up to the outside world. I was on duty in the radio shack when the phone rang. Somebody answered and shouted that it was for me. A telephone call from the outside for me? That was unusual. The voice on the other end identified himself as Bump. Bump was a lifer and he had been my, and Twidge’s, watch supervisor up at Holiday Beach. I was immediately wary for Bump was more than a little off center, which is why I’m using a made-up nickname rather than his real name. He asked if I had read the paper today. There was one on the desk and I picked it up. The headline read: US Sailor and his bride murdered. That’s Twidge, Bump informed me... LINK: This Day in History
Possible connection? This news article was from 13 February 1964, just a month after the murders of Johnny and Joyce Swindle. Both shootings were done with a .22 firearm. Click on image to enlarge. LINK: Johnny Ray and Joyce Swindle 1964 Oceanside
