The prime suspect in the case was Youell Swinney, a career petty criminal who was linked to the murders primarily by statements from his wife plus additional circumstantial evidence. After Swinney's wife refused to testify against him, prosecutors decided against pursuing the case, and he was never convicted of murder but was sentenced to a long term as an habitual car thief and forger. Two of the lead investigators in the case, however, believed him to be guilty, and the 2014 book "The Phantom Killer: Unlocking the Mystery of the Texarkana Serial Murders" by Dr. James Presley also points to Swinney as the culprit of all five attacks. Presley believes that there is enough evidence to close the case.