Michael Swango, a 1983 SIU School of Medicine graduate, has been charged in the killing of five patients that were under his care in Zimbabwe.

Swango had been working in Zimbabwe at a hospital from 1994 to 1996 during which time five patients fell mysteriously ill and died, according to the Associated Press.

This was not the first time Swango had been under suspicion for murder, however. The SIU alumnus has left a trail of mysterious deaths and illnesses in his wake.

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Swango is awaiting trial in Long Island, N.Y., on a perjury charge, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Swango allegedly misrepresented himself on a job application. He told administrators at a veteran’s hospital that his time spent in prison for aggravated battery was the result of a bar room brawl when in fact his 1984 conviction resulted from the poisoning of six co-workers. The trial is scheduled to begin March 2.

Zimbabwe will pursue extradition of Swango after the trial. However, the situation is complicated by an absence of an extradition treaty with the African nation, according to the Associated Press.

Swango went to The Ohio State University in 1983 to begin an internship. He remained there for a year before disappearing after several patients fell mysteriously ill and five died. After the hospital decided to let him go, several co-workers fell ill after eating what Swango called extra spicy chicken.

A year after Swango left OSU, investigations began into five deaths that occurred in the area of the hospital in which he worked.

The investigation was not instituted by the hospital but by the OSU police and the Franklin County prosecutor’s office at the request of the police department in Illinois. Nothing was concluded by the investigation because of lack of evidence.

The investigation surrounding the OSU deaths was the focus of an episode of Unsolved Mysteries.

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The program reported that Swango went to another state and worked as a paramedic. It was during this time that Swango allegedly poisoned several other co-workers.

Upon searching Swango’s locker, the paramedics found two bottles of ant poison one empty and one full. A police search of Swango’s home discovered a variety of poisons, recipes for poisons and books on poisons and syringes.

Swango was arrested and convicted on six counts of aggravated battery. He served 30 months of a five-year sentence before he was released early for good behavior.

After his release, Swango began working in Newport News, Va., at another hospital. During his time there, three more colleagues fell ill.

His next stop was Long Island, N.Y., to a veteran’s hospital. Unsolved Mysteries reported that shortly after Swango began work there, a patient with a mild case of pneumonia slipped into a coma and died. Swango was at the man’s bedside at the time.

Police were sent to Swango’s house, but he had once again disappeared. Swango’s whereabouts were unknown until 1996 when he was accused of poisoning patients under his care at a hospital in Zimbabwe.