On this date, December 8, 1998, Melissa
Trotter was murdered by Larry Swearingen in Sam
Houston National Forest. In loving memory of her, we will make her one
of the 26
Christian Martyrs of Unit 1012 and we will remember her every year on November 26 and December 8.
We will post information about the
case before giving our comments and condolences.
Melissa Trotter
[PHOTO SOURCE: http://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/swearingen-larry-photos.htm]
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INTERNET
SOURCE: http://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/swearingen-larry.htm
Larry Ray Swearingen was convicted of killing
Melissa Trotter in the course of either an aggravated kidnapping or aggravated
sexual assault.
According to the prosecution,
Swearingen became angry that Trotter rejected his sexual advances. He strangled
her with pantyhose, and left her body in the woods where she remained until
about 25 days after the crime was committed.
Trotter was found lying on her back,
clothing pulled up under her arms, and one shoe off. Her jeans were on and the
fly was closed, but one pocket was torn exposing her red underwear. No
scratches were found on her skin, and no soil was on her shoes.
Evidence showed the pantyhose came
from Swearingen’s home, and that Trotter also had an injury on her neck that
could have been caused by a knife. She had no injuries that indicated she had
struggled with her assailant, but did have a bruise on her face, and a discoloration
in her vagina that could have been a bruise, though there was no evidence of
penetration.
Swearingen wrote a letter to his
mother in Spanish purporting to be from a female who implicated her boyfriend
was the murderer. At trial, the state proved the letter was written in
Swearingen’s handwriting.
Melissa Trotter |
Texas Attorney General
Media Advisory: Larry
Swearingen scheduled for execution
January 21, 2009
AUSTIN – Texas
Attorney General Greg Abbott offers the following information about Larry Ray
Swearingen, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on Tuesday, January
27, 2009.
On July 11, 2000,
Swearingen was sentenced to die for the kidnaping, rape and strangulation of
Melissa Trotter. A summary of the evidence presented at trial follows.
After meeting Trotter,
a nineteen-year-old college student, in December 1998, Larry Swearingen told
his co-workers and friends that he had met an attractive college girl and
hinted that he wanted to have sex with her. In the early afternoon of December
8, Swearingen and Trotter were seen departing together from Montgomery College
in Conroe after talking to each other in the school library.
Trotter’s friends and
family never again saw the college student alive. Swearingen became the focus
of an investigation into the woman’s disappearance, because he was the last
person seen with her. On December 11, Swearingen was arrested on unrelated
outstanding warrants.
On January 2, 1999,
Trotter’s partially nude body was discovered in Sam Houston National Forest.
She had been strangled with a piece of torn hosiery found around her neck.
Evidence showed she had been raped.
Fiber evidence showed
that Trotter had been in Swearingen’s trailer, on the floor and perhaps on the
bed, and in the cab of his pickup truck. And evidence in the truck cab showed
that some of her hair had been pulled from her head. Although neither
Swearingen nor his wife smoked, a pack of cigarettes, Trotter’s brand, was
found in Swearingen’s trailer.
A piece of hosiery, the companion to the piece
used to strangle Trotter, was found in a trash heap beside Swearingen’s
trailer. Hair evidence linked the hosiery to Swearingen’s wife.
Cell phone
records showed that on the day that Trotter disappeared, Swearingen traveled
from his trailer to the area where the body was found. After Trotter
disappeared, Swearingen told friends that he was in trouble and that the police
would be after him.
While in jail
awaiting trial, Swearingen, using a Spanish-English dictionary, composed a
letter in crude Spanish, purportedly written by an individual named “Robin.” In
the letter “Robin” identified Trotter’s killer as an individual named “R.D.”
The prosecution alleged that Swearingen composed the letter, arranged for it to
be hand-copied by a cellmate, and had the letter delivered to authorities, to
deflect blame from himself.
Procedural history
- Jan. 26, 1999 – A Montgomery County grand jury indicted Swearingen for kidnapping-related capital murder.
- Nov. 2, 1999 – He was reindicted, with rape-related capital murder added.
- June 28, 2000 – A jury found him guilty of capital murder.
- July 11, 2000 – After a separate punishment hearing, the court sentenced him to death.
- Mar. 11, 2002 – Swearingen filed his initial state application for habeas corpus relief.
- Mar. 26, 2003 – The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction and sentence.
- May 21, 2003 – The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Swearingen’s initial application for habeas corpus relief. He filed his petition for habeas corpus relief in the federal court, Southern District, Houston Division.
- Oct. 19, 2004 – In the trial court, Swearingen, acting without a lawyer, sought additional DNA testing.
- May 21, 2004 – Swearingen filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in a Houston U.S. district Court.
- April 7, 2005 – The trial court denied his request for additional testing.
- April 8, 2005 – Still acting without counsel, in connection with this testing request, Swearingen sought mandamus review with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
- May 20, 2005 – Again acting without counsel, Swearingen filed a second application for mandamus review with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
- June 8, 2005 – The Court of Criminal Appeals denied both requests for mandamus review.
- Sept. 1, 2005 – Swearingen filed petition for writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court asking that Court to review the state court’s denial of his second mandamus request.
- Sept. 8, 2005 – In federal habeas corpus proceedings, the district court denied relief but allowed Swearingen to appeal.
- Sept. 9, 2005 – Swearingen filed a notice of appeal with the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
- Feb. 1, 2006 – The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed Swearingen’s appeal in connection with his request for DNA testing.
- Feb. 21, 2006 – Swearingen sought rehearing from the Court of Criminal Appeals in connection with his DNA testing request.
- Mar. 27, 2006 – The U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari review of state court’s denial of mandamus review.
- May 10, 2006 – The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied his request for rehearing on his DNA appeal.
- July 31, 2006 – The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the federal district court’s denial of habeas corpus relief.
- Nov. 22, 2006 – Swearingen filed a petition for writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court.
- Jan. 22, 2007 – Swearingen filed a second application for state habeas corpus relief.
- Jan. 23, 2007 – The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals remanded the application for a hearing.
- Feb. 20, 2007 – In federal court, after the Fifth Circuit Court affirmed the district court’s denial of habeas corpus relief, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari review.
- Jan. 16, 2008 – As for Swearingen’s second state habeas corpus application, when the case returned after remand, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied relief.
- Jan. 22, 2008 – Swearingen filed a third state application for habeas corpus relief.
- Mar. 5, 2008 – The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals remanded the third application for a hearing.
- July 31, 2008 – Swearingen, without an attorney, filed a third application for mandamus review with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
- Nov. 26, 2008 – In a separate action, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed Swearingen’s motion to recuse, filed without an attorney.
- Dec. 4, 2008 – Swearingen, without an attorney, for the fourth time sought mandamus review with the Court of Criminal Appeals.
- Dec. 17, 2008 – As for his third state habeas corpus application, upon return after remand, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied relief. The court also rejected Swearingen’s third request for mandamus review. The convicting court set the execution date for January 27, 2009.
- Jan. 6, 2009 – The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected his fourth request for mandamus review.
In the punishment
phase of his trial, evidence was introduced that Swearingen had committed two
unadjudicated rapes, one unadjudicated assault on his ex-wife, and that while
awaiting trial, he had tried to escape.
Family photos of Melissa Trotter, 19, who
disappeared in 1998.
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Body
of Evidence
VIDEO SOURCE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S10AuXvhqco
COMMENTS AND CONDOLENCES:
To the
loved ones of Melissa Trotter,
Precious in the sight of the LordIs the death of His saints.- Psalm 116:15 (NKJV)
We, the
comrades of Unit 1012, walk in the shoes of you all. We feel your sorrow and
have strong empathy and sympathy for you all. We will keep you in our prayers. We
never forget the way Melissa lived on this earth, as we remember her every year
on her birthday on November 26.
We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.- II Corinthians 4:8
Here are some prayer points we will remember:
- Pray for
the loved ones of Melissa Trotter that they would be comforted.
- Pray
that the Justice System in Texas be improved.
- Pray
that we will never forget the victim by remembering how she lived on this
earth.
- Most of
all, remember the victim in prayer and she is in the hands of Jesus Christ in for
eternity.
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