Beverly J. Swartz, a 47-year-old female, was shot and killed on March 23, 1989, in Littleton, Colorado. Public memorial records identify her by name and age and place her death that day in Littleton; cemetery records list her as Beverly Jean Nelson Swartz, with the same date and location of death.
The violence that claimed Beverly’s life unfolded during a ten-hour rampage by 20-year-old Eugene Thompson Jr., who began by invading a suburban Denver home, abducting a woman, and forcing
her into a series of movements that escalated into multiple shootings. Armed with a MAC-11, Thompson killed two women, wounded two sheriff’s deputies during a townhouse confrontation, and shot an 18-year-old male hostage before turning the gun on himself. He died at a hospital hours later, ending the spree.
Authorities tied the two homicides during the rampage to the same day and locality as Beverly’s death; contemporary wire-service reporting described the victims as a mother and daughter killed earlier that Thursday, matching later memorial listings that name Beverly and her 68-year-old mother, Janice Irene Swartz, among the dead. As Thompson died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound shortly after his capture, there were no arrests or subsequent prosecutions in the case.
