HBO Films’ ‘Swango’ Gets a Boost From ‘Black Swan’ Writer John McLaughlin (Exclusive)

HBO Films' long-gestating feature film “Swango” is moving forward, with John McLaughlin doing a rewrite of the script about the doctor-turned serial killer

HBO Films' long-gestating feature “Swango” is moving forward, with "Black Swan" and "Hitchcock" writer John McLaughlin redoing the script about the ultimate serial killer, a person familiar with the project has told TheWrap.

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“Swango” tells the true story of Dr. Michael Swango, who, despite being associated with the mysterious deaths of several of his patients, continued working within the medical community until he was finally apprehended for murder.

The in-development film is based on James B. Stewart’s book, “Blind Eye: How the Medical Establishment Let a Doctor Get Away With Murder,” which was published in 1999.

Spring Creek Productions is producing, with Paula Weinstein and Jeffrey Levine executive producing.

Also read: 'Silence of the Lambs' for Real: 'Dark Minds' Uses a Serial Killer to Catch Serial Killers

In his book, Stewart describes how Swango would visit patients unobserved late at night and slip something into their IV feeds. Stewart reported circumstantial evidence linking Swango to the deaths of patients at a number of American hospitals before he fled to Zimbabwe, where he allegedly killed an additional 20 people.

He was captured in 1997 at Chicago's O'Hare Airport on his way to Saudi Arabia and indicted in 2000. A federal judge in New York sentenced him to life without parole.

The book also charges Swango with poisoning people, non-fatally, including two girlfriends and a landlady.

 

 

 

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