Harold and Thelma Swain Murder Investigation

Update - December 9, 2024 
 
Camden County, GA (December 9, 2024) – The GBI has arrested and charged Erik Kristensen Sparre, age 61, of Waynesville, Georgia, with two counts of murder and two counts of aggravated assault in the 1985 deaths of Harold and Thelma Swain.  Sparre was arrested in Waynesville, Brantley County, GA without incident.  
 
Sparre was booked into the Camden County Jail.  
 
This investigation is active and ongoing. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the GBI regional investigative office in Kingsland at 912-729-6198.  Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.Harold and Thelma Swain Murder Investigation
 
Camden County, GA (December 9, 2024) – The GBI has arrested and charged Erik Kristensen Sparre, age 61, of Waynesville, Georgia, with two counts of murder and two counts of aggravated assault in the 1985 deaths of Harold and Thelma Swain.  Sparre was arrested in Waynesville, Brantley County, GA without incident.  
 
Sparre was booked into the Camden County Jail.  
 
This investigation is active and ongoing. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the GBI regional investigative office in Kingsland at 912-729-6198.  Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.

Update - August 6, 2020 – On August 6, 2020, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant at 1680 Stafford Road, Waynesville, Brantley County.  This property has been occupied by the late Gladys Sparre and her son Erik Sparre. The search was conducted as part of the ongoing investigation.  Agents continue to work to determine what involvement Erik Sparre had in the Swain’s deaths. 

To date, the investigation remains active with tips and leads provided by the public.  Anyone with information pertinent to this case is strongly urged to contact the GBI tipline at 1-800-597-TIPS (8477).

ORIGINAL RELEASE:

Kingsland, GA (May 13, 2020) – On May 13, 2020, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Camden County Sheriff’s Office reopened the investigation into the 1985 murders of Harold and Thelma Swain because of possible new evidence.  The Swains were shot to death while at the Rising Daughter Baptist Church in Woodbine, Georgia.  The case was closed after Dennis Perry was convicted of those murders in 2003.  The GBI will reexamine the investigation and evidence in the case to determine the significance of the possible new evidence. 

Anyone with information pertinent to this investigation is urged to contact the GBI at 1-800-597-TIPS (8477).