Donald Swain

The night before Martin Auto Mart manager Robert Dark was fatally shot at his business, a cell phone tied to the alleged shooter was in service in the area near the business, a detective testified Wednesday.

Dark, 39, was killed just before noon June 25 at the auto dealership at 1001 U.S. 31-W By-Pass.

Donald Swain, 46, of Louisville, was arrested earlier this month on a charge of murder, shortly after the arrest of Darris Allen, 42, of Bowling Green, on a count of complicity to murder.

Swain appeared Wednesday in Warren District Court for a preliminary hearing, at which Warren District Judge John Brown found probable cause to refer the case to a grand jury.

Bowling Green Police Department Detective Kyle Scharlow testified that investigators used surveillance video footage from locations near the dealership, cell phone location data and license plate recognition technology to establish Swain’s connection to the homicide.

Questioned by Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Kori Beck Bumgarner, Scharlow testified that, after Swain was taken into custody in Louisville on July 10, he told investigators that he had come to Bowling Green on June 24, spent the night at Allen’s residence and left the following day, but made no admissions in connection to the shooting.

A canvass of video systems near the auto dealership led to the discovery of footage of a man walk into the business, with audio capturing the firing of eight shots, Scharlow said.

A man, believed to be Swain, is seen exiting a silver Cadillac along East 10th Avenue just before the shooting and then leaving that area in the vehicle after the shooting.

Scharlow said the man who was seen entering the business had a physical appearance “consistent with” Swain.

City police learned the Cadillac was registered to a woman who has children with Allen.

Police found the car at Allen’s nephew’s residence on Plum Springs Road, and Scharlow said further investigation led police to surveil a residence on Glen Lily Road and stop a vehicle on June 28 that left the address and was traveling into the city.

The driver of the vehicle told police that she had been to Allen’s residence on June 24 and saw a man there that she did not recognize, along with a Chevrolet Cruze parked outside the residence, Scharlow said.

The woman said Allen asked to borrow her car on June 24, and that he used it to pick up food from Domino’s Pizza, which Scharlow said police confirmed.

License plate identification technology enabled police to learn that the Cruze was seen driving along Calgary Way near Allen’s residence on June 24, with the car being followed on June 25 on Louisville Road by a Chevrolet Suburban belonging to Allen after the shooting, “basically caravanning to the interstate,” Scharlow said.

Scharlow testified that, from around 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on June 24, a cell phone belonging to Swain pinged off a tower close to the U.S. 31-W By-Pass near the auto dealership.

Earlier that afternoon, Swain’s cell phone pinged off cell towers in Lexington, Scharlow said.

After Swain was taken into custody, he told detectives that he had traveled to Bowling Green the afternoon of June 24 to meet with a girlfriend, but ended up traveling to see Allen, someone Scharlow said that Swain previously knew from prison, and that Swain spent the night there and left Bowling Green the following day.

Swain reportedly told police that, as he left Bowling Green, he was “escorted to” Interstate 65 by Allen, Scharlow said.

According to police records, a silver Cadillac consistent with one found on camera near the crime scene was captured on surveillance video leaving the Plum Springs Road residence of Allen’s nephew around 8:24 a.m. on June 25, and is not seen returning to the residence.

A dark-colored SUV consistent with Allen’s suburban is seen on the same system pulling out of the driveway around 12:08 p.m., June 25, shortly after the shooting, returning at 1:04 p.m. and leaving again seven minutes later, records show.

Questioned by Swain’s attorney, Eric Clark of the Department of Public Advocacy, Scharlow said that the woman who had reportedly seen Allen with Swain the night before the shooting was not aware of any “nefarious conversations” between the two men.

Scharlow also testified that police are not aware of any conversations between Swain and Dark at any time or between Allen and Dark in the week before the shooting.

While police have learned that Allen and Dark had previously been partners in a restaurant that closed, Scharlow testified when questioned by Clark that he was reluctant to ascribe a motive to the shooting.