Greenwood arsonist pleads guilty to setting string of fires

For several months last year, Kevin Swalwell terrorized Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood by setting a string of fires that caused $3 million in damage and injured one man.

Business owners spent sleepless nights standing vigil in their shops; the Seattle Fire Department launched nighttime patrols; and one fire captain urged residents: "If you see something, say something." An award fund totaled $25,000.

On Friday, Swalwell, a homeless man and convicted arsonist, pleaded guilty to 11 counts of arson and a single count of second-degree burglary and agreed to accept the 30-year sentence recommended by King County prosecutors. He is scheduled to be sentenced later this month.

Swalwell, 47, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree arson and eight counts of second-degree arson for the 10 fires in Greenwood and one fire in Shoreline.

King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Erin Becker said her office believes that 30 years in prison "is a fair resolution."

Defense attorney Spencer Hamlin said it was Swalwell's decision to accept the plea agreement. Hamlin said he isn't certain why Swalwell wanted to plead guilty, but noted that he has a lengthy history of mental illness.

Had Swalwell not pleaded guilty to the charges, prosecutors would have sought a 36-year prison sentence at trial, Hamlin said.

Swalwell did not elaborate on why he accepted the plea agreement in court Friday. He quietly admitted his role in each of the charges before going back to jail, where he has been held since his November arrest.

Swalwell has been convicted of arson six times in the past and was under community supervision by the state Department of Corrections when the series of fires were set last summer and fall, mainly in Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood. He was arrested Nov. 13 near a burning vacant warehouse in Shoreline.

The most destructive fire was set Oct. 23 in the Eleanor Roosevelt building, where four businesses — Green Bean Coffee House, Szechuan Bistro, C.C. Teriyaki and Pho Tic Tac — were destroyed. The adjacent Taproot Theatre playhouse was heavily damaged by smoke and water.

All told, the fires caused $3 million in damage and severely burned a 68-year-old man.

Police say Swalwell was caught on surveillance-camera video Nov. 9 around the time a fire was set behind the Olive You restaurant at 8516 Greenwood Ave. N., in the Greenwood neighborhood, the document says.

Police also matched Swalwell's palm print to one on a container of lighter fluid left near the scene of an Aug. 13 fire at a home in the 100 block of Northwest 84th Street, the court document says. One man suffered burns and "was forced to flee or die" from the flames, it says.

The standard range sentence for the crimes charged is about 12 years in prison. The prosecutor's office pushed for an exceptional sentence because of Swalwell's extensive criminal history.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com

Seattle Times news researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed to this report, which includes information from Times archives.