Sacramento jurors find man guilty of murder in grandfather’s 2020 bludgeoning death
Jurors convicted a Sacramento-area man of second-degree murder in the bludgeoning death of his grandfather in March 2020.
Frank Swanson IV, 37, faces 16 years to life in state prison for the attack on Frank “Pete” Swanson II, 78, after he was found guilty at trial in Sacramento Superior Court before Judge Michael Sweet.
The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office announced the verdict in a Friday statement. Sentencing for Swanson is set for Nov. 28.
The killing was not Frank Swanson IV’s first violent encounter. District Attorney’s officials say he received a three-year suspended sentence and was referred to mental health court after beating his then-pregnant wife in 2014 with a table leg as she held their child. Swanson graduated from the court program in 2018.
The younger Swanson moved in with his grandfather in November 2019. Sacramento County prosecutors say Swanson struck his grandfather in the head several times with a baseball bat in the March 2020 attack after the two exchanged words. Swanson IV then called Sacramento County Sheriff’s dispatchers.
Sheriff’s deputies found the elder Swanson dead of blunt force trauma.
Prosecutors say the day before the elder Swanson was killed, he threatened to kick out his grandson who, angry over a financial situation, began to smash items in the home. Prosecutors said Swanson IV had stopped taking medication for schizoaffective bipolar disorder.
The day of the fatal encounter, a live-in caretaker had filed a restraining order against the younger Swanson.
Swanson IV remains held without bail at Sacramento County Main Jail as he awaits sentencing.
This story was originally published October 28, 2022 at 3:01 PM.
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