On the evening of September 5, 2020, a gathering in Old Forge, New York, ended with the death of 50-year-old Scott R. Krempler. The retired FDNY lieutenant and U.S. Air Force veteran from Patterson was at a party that moved to the driveway of a second home on Dan-Bar Acres Road, where an argument escalated. Swanton allegedly brandished a handgun and fired at Krempler and 55-year-old William J. Robertello. Krempler was pronounced dead at the scene; Robertello was hospitalized in Syracuse for a gunshot wound and later released.

Webb and Inlet law enforcement responded after an initial report of a home invasion and took Swanton into custody without incident. He was charged with second-degree murder in Krempler’s death and second-degree attempted murder in Robertello’s shooting, and was remanded to the Herkimer County Jail after a Skype arraignment. In December 2021, a jury returned a guilty verdict and a 45 years to life sentence, but that conviction was reversed by the New York State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division in May 2023 on grounds that the jury had not been properly instructed on the defense of justification, vacating the verdict and sentence and ordering a new trial.

Did anyone at the Dan-Bar Acres gathering or nearby see what happened that night, or have information about the events leading up to the shooting?