Land developer and philanthropist. Col. Thomas Hunton Swope was one of Kansas City Missouri's most prosperous land developers, who donated tracts of land for a hospital and a city park. Swope Park covers 1,334 acres. The park has two golf courses, baseball diamonds, a fishing lake, picnic facilities, soccer fields, the famous Kansas City MO Zoo, the Starlight Theatre, and other recreational activities. Swope who was a bachelor, lived in an Independence MO mansion with other family members. Illness mysteriously struck the household in 1909, and as a result Thomas Swope, the executor of Swope's will, and Swope's nephew, all three died. All of the dead had been patients of Dr. Bennett Clark Hyde. Swope's body was exhumed, and found to show traces of some "convulsive and paralyzing poison". Hyde who had recently obtained cyanide capsules and typhoid cultures, was indicted for murder, and prosecuted by attorney James A. Reed. Hyde was found guilty in 1910, but appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court. Two retrials resulted in hung juries, and a fourth trial was canceled. The deaths of Swope and the others were never resolved. Swope's body had laid in state in the public library, and the streets of Kansas City were packed for Swope's funeral procession. Swope was buried according to his wishes, at a memorial in Swope Park.
Land developer and philanthropist. Col. Thomas Hunton Swope was one of Kansas City Missouri's most prosperous land developers, who donated tracts of land for a hospital and a city park. Swope Park covers 1,334 acres. The park has two golf courses, baseball diamonds, a fishing lake, picnic facilities, soccer fields, the famous Kansas City MO Zoo, the Starlight Theatre, and other recreational activities. Swope who was a bachelor, lived in an Independence MO mansion with other family members. Illness mysteriously struck the household in 1909, and as a result Thomas Swope, the executor of Swope's will, and Swope's nephew, all three died. All of the dead had been patients of Dr. Bennett Clark Hyde. Swope's body was exhumed, and found to show traces of some "convulsive and paralyzing poison". Hyde who had recently obtained cyanide capsules and typhoid cultures, was indicted for murder, and prosecuted by attorney James A. Reed. Hyde was found guilty in 1910, but appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court. Two retrials resulted in hung juries, and a fourth trial was canceled. The deaths of Swope and the others were never resolved. Swope's body had laid in state in the public library, and the streets of Kansas City were packed for Swope's funeral procession. Swope was buried according to his wishes, at a memorial in Swope Park.
Bio by: Bill Walker
