COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – An arrest has been made in connection to the fatal shooting and burning of an Ohio State student 25 years ago.
According to court records, 48-year-old Brian Swanson is charged with murder and aggravated murder in the death of Charles Ballard, a 22-year-old student who died on Feb. 8, 2000.
An earlier report from The Lantern stated that Ballard was found shot dead and partially burned in the basement of his East 17th Avenue apartment. Police said he was laying on top of a gun that may or may not have been used in the homicide.
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The victim was shot three times, once in the head, chest and abdomen and was lying on the basement floor and on top of some paper, which was partially burned. The bottom half of Ballard’s body suffered severe burns, The Lantern said, and were less severe on his torso and clothes.
The basement door, which was open, was also burned, though police do not believe there was a struggle. It is still not clear how the fire was ignited.
The Columbus Division of Police official podcast, The fifth floor, described a dispute occurred between Ballard and an employee at the BP gas station near Ballard’s residence. Police said that on one occasion, the employee followed Ballard home before Ballard scared him away with a gun.
On Feb. 18, 2000, police discovered that the same employee was seen about 90 minutes after Ballard’s death, at 4:18 a.m., using an ATM card on North High Street. Officers questioned the employee, who was wearing a mask while attempting to use the bank card.
The name on the card was Ballard’s girlfriend, who opened an account and co-signed it with Ballard. She told police she never was in possession of the ATM card and that it was Ballard’s card.
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The employee, who said he found the card, was then considered the main suspect in Ballard’s death. The ATM card and ski mask were submitted into evidence, but he was not charged in what was described as a “suspicious incident.”
The link between that incident and Ballard, however, was never confirmed, as the evidence appeared circumstantial, police said.
Swanson, who lives in Cincinnati, was arrested Thursday. Both charges, which were filed Thursday in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, include a three-year firearm specification.
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