SUSPECT: Larry Swearingen - granted a stay of execution, Aug 2013

[Chris_Halkides]

At The Texas Observer, "Most compelling of all, DNA testing of pubic hairs found on Trotter’s vagina as well as blood under her fingernails showed that neither belonged to Swearingen."

 

[Moxie Vi]

Thanks for bringing this case to my attention. I've developed an interest in wrongful convictions. The thanks button wasn't enough for showing me a new case to read about!

 

[madeleine]

:furious: how many times will they delay this monsters execution?
I am tired of all the hired defence experts who try to make him look innocent!the evidence against him is so strong!!!I am 100% sure he did it.Now his lawyer claims evidence was planted by the cops,GMAB.This killer changed his story so many times it makes my head spin!It's ridiculous and the Trotters deserve CLOSURE lease:

 

[mikkismom]

Death Row Inmate Larry Swearingen's Execution Stayed

http://myhighplains.com/fulltext?nxd_id=334442

 

[mikkismom]

Death Row Inmate Larry Swearingen's Execution Stayed

http://myhighplains.com/fulltext?nxd_id=334442

 

[madeleine]

how many times will they delay this monsters execution?:furious::furious::furious:
I am tired of all the hired defence experts who try to make him look innocent!the evidence against him is so strong!!!I am 100% sure he did it.his lawyer even claimed evidence was planted by the cops,GMAB.This killer changed his story so many times it makes my head spin!It's ridiculous and the Trotters deserve CLOSURE

only HIS expert supported the theory that he was in jail when the murder took place! (condition of body,etc)

 

[madeleine]

:banghead:this happens in so many cases lately and it's plain wrong!!!ABSENCE of DNA doesn't make a suspect INNOCENT!!!WTH?it's only defence spin!

what about the other evidence??is it zero only because a killer's DNA is NOT at a crime scene or on the victim's body(maybe he was lucky/smart not to leave it behind)?:banghead:

 

[bessie]

Montgomery Co. DA approves death-row inmate's request for more DNA testing
Friday, January 25, 2013
by Christine Dobbyn
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The execution of a high-profile convicted killer has taken an unusual turn. The man on death row insists he didn't do it, and now has a chance to prove it.
snip
Her mother, Sandy Trotter, still wears her daughter's cross.
"We just try to be able to remember that she's a lot more than what happened December 8 and just keeping her memory alive," Sandy Trotter said.

 

[nutkin]

Investigation Discovery. Came on at 7 PM, but I am sure it will repeat.

Pretty biased account in my eyes. They really let him paint Melissa Trotter in a bad light.

Personally, I think he had an accomplice.

 

[forensicsguy76]

Well I see that no one has posted on this thread in a while, but I have to post my opinion, and I am obviously in the minority of those who have posted.

The one thing that stands out to me in this case is the autopsy report. There have been several medical examiners who have reviewed it and state that Trotter couldn't have been dead more than 10 days, with some saying likely 2 days. I have read these reports, and I have to agree. When you realize that her body only weighed 5 lbs less at autopsy then it did at her last medical check up, and that all of here internal organs were in perfect shape with little decomp, you have to come to the conclusion that Swearingen was in jail before her body was dumped.

Then there is the pubic hair and blood under Trotters fingernails that are not a match to Swearingen.

There are other inconsistencies as well. If you would like to read further, there are a lot of good articles written about the case at http://www.skepticaljuror.com/2011/08/absolutely-astounding-case-of-larry.html

I don't claim that Larry Swearingen is a good guy, and he definitely did things that make him look guilty, but just based on the scientific evidence I believe this case deserves another look. And they definitely should test the DNA on the ligature.

 

[0101ABA]

Montgomery County DA's Office requests new execution date for Swearingen

The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office asked a judge Tuesday to set a Sept. 21 execution date for Larry Swearingen, the Willis man sentenced to death for murdering a teenage Montgomery College student in 1998.

But Swearingen's attorney thinks an ongoing civil rights suit on his case should be decided before any execution date is even suggested.

 

[YESorNO]

Lawyers agree to DNA testing in Swearingen's death row case

"After years of courtroom wrangling, lawyers from both sides are finally agreeing to move forward with DNA testing in the 1998 rape and murder of Montgomery College student Melissa Trotter.

The agreement, expected to be finalized in court papers in the coming weeks, comes just days after a judge called off the pending execution of death row inmate Larry Swearingen, who was convicted in the slaying nearly two decades ago and has since repeatedly professed his innocence...

Years-long legal battles over DNA testing have become a hallmark of Swearingen's case, which even sparked changes to state laws regarding post-conviction DNA testing in 2015. Both sides have pushed for DNA testing at times, but always using different legal mechanisms and never in agreement.

At least twice, a trial court judge sided with Swearingen's testing requests - but each time the state slapped down the lower court's move, ruling that new DNA wouldn't be enough to counter the "mountain of evidence" pointing to Swearingen's guilt...

Now, though, an alleged death row confession plot that could have seen another convicted killer confess to Trotter's death has sparked new interest in testing...."

http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/c...ree-to-DNA-testing-in-Swearingen-12315422.php

Link: http://kwhi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/MELLISSA-TROTTER.jpg
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[RookieInvestigator]

Does anyone know the results of the new DNA testing the DA agreed to or the status of this case?? I've checked but haven't seen anything...

 

[JenniferTx]

I feel so bad for Melissa's family. This has been a nightmare for them since she went missing back in 1998. I went to the same campus and remember when it happened. I always thought her killer had been caught and sent up to Huntsville years ago. I see now I was wrong about that. I still have a flier from when she went missing. I feel bad for forgetting about her case but I really thought someone had been arrested and sentenced. I guess I had her case mixed up with another one.

 

[RookieInvestigator]

I feel so bad for Melissa's family. This has been a nightmare for them since she went missing back in 1998. I went to the same campus and remember when it happened. I always thought her killer had been caught and sent up to Huntsville years ago. I see now I was wrong about that. I still have a flier from when she went missing. I feel bad for forgetting about her case but I really thought someone had been arrested and sentenced. I guess I had her case mixed up with another one.

Larry Swearingen was convicted of Melissa Trotter's (I think that's her name) murder...However, he has always proclaimed his innocence...

He was scheduled for execution along with Anthony Shore...Prison official found Trotter's case info in Shore's cell as if he was planning to admit that he killed Trotter while giving his last statement during his execution. Texas stayed Store's execution to investigate ...The DA finally agreed to the DNA testing Swearingen had been requestung....Shore was executed... What's at issue is the time of death and condition of her body...Plus he was in jail around the time of her death...The DNA may help determine who killed her, but if it comes back inconclusive they are basically back to square one...

 

[JenniferTx]

Larry Swearingen was convicted of Melissa Trotter's (I think that's her name) murder...However, he has always proclaimed his innocence...

He was scheduled for execution along with Anthony Shore...Prison official found Trotter's case info in Shore's cell as if he was planning to admit that he killed Trotter while giving his last statement during his execution. Texas stayed Store's execution to investigate ...The DA finally agreed to the DNA testing Swearingen had been requestung....Shore was executed... What's at issue is the time of death and condition of her body...Plus he was in jail around the time of her death...The DNA may help determine who killed her, but if it comes back inconclusive they are basically back to square one...

'Tourniquet Killer' executed in Texas for 1992 strangling

Looks like he was trying to get Shore to admit to Melissa Trotters murder. What a monster.

 

[YESorNO]

Does anyone know the results of the new DNA testing the DA agreed to or the status of this case?? I've checked but haven't seen anything...

DNA testing results released on death row case of Larry Swearingen

February 5, 2019

"More than a year after prosecutors agreed to DNA testing on decades-old evidence in a Montgomery County death row case, the results are in - and they didn't reveal anything new.

Most of the aging evidence sent to the lab didn't show any male DNA at all, prosecutors said, while the genetic material pulled from cigarette butts found near Melissa Trotter's body only traced back to the hunters who found her.

"Everything (the defense) requested to be tested has been tested at this point," said Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Kelly Blackburn.

Now, with no pending appeals and no new DNA to help validate his claims of innocence, convicted killer Larry Swearingen could be one step closer to yet another execution date.

"Unfortunately, the testing we did really didn't move the ball," said Bryce Benjet, a defense attorney with the Innocence Project.

"At the end of the day, it was useful to the extent that it can show that we tested every item and none of that testing has pointed to Larry Swearingen."...

In addition to the cigarette butts and some of the slain teen's clothes, the lab analyzed hair stuck in a knot tied in the torn pair of pantyhose used in the murder. Though the strands looked like they may have belonged to someone other than Trotter, the two-decade-old sample didn't net any DNA for testing, Benjet said.

Attorneys also asked for testing on a different piece of pantyhose found near Swearingen's trailer after the crime. Whether that's the other half of the pair used in the killing has been a point of dispute, but testing on it showed some DNA pointing to Swearingen – and nothing pointing to Trotter....

Hair and fiber evidence later showed that she'd been in Swearingen's car at some point before she vanished...."

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-...ts-in-on-death-row-case-of-Larry-13590864.php
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[JenniferTx]

The question I have is in regards to the pantyhose. If they take the pantyhose found where the body was found and take the pantyhose from Swearingen's trailer house and compare them. I am pretty sure that not every pair of pantyhose is the same. Even if they are the same brand of pantyhose they are not all the same. Seems to me they would be able to take both pieces and see if they were a perfect match. I know I have seen some sort of forensic study done on duct tape before but I can't remember where. I would think that patterns on duct tape would kinda be manufactured in the same matter.

 

[YESorNO]

Sixth execution date set for convicted Montgomery County killer Larry Swearingen

March 13, 2019

"For the sixth time, the state of Texas is set to execute convicted killer Larry Ray Swearingen, a Willis man convicted of slaughtering Montgomery County college student Sandy Trotter before dumping her body in the Sam Houston National Forest.

In the two decades he's been on death row, the 47-year-old former mechanic has repeatedly professed his innocence while narrowly avoiding the gurney again and again. Once, he won a stay over a clerical error. Other times, it was questions about everything from autopsy evidence to entomology that helped him avoid the Huntsville death chamber.

But in February - weeks after getting back results from a monthslong DNA-testing process that failed to turn up new information in the case - prosecutors filed a motion asking for an Aug. 21 execution date....."

Montgomery County killer gets sixth execution date

Sandy?

 

[RookieInvestigator]

IMO...I don't think they should automatically schedule a new execution date...If the DNA came back to him then I could understand their reasoning...I think a similar DNA situation happened to Hank Skinner... With the conflicting theories between the experts they should find another piece of evidence to test for DNA...