According to The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, females between the ages of 12 and 19 are the most victimized segment of the U.S. population. In Montgomery County, Texas, in 1998, 19-year-old Melissa Trotter vanished after studying for finals in the library at Montgomery College. Almost immediately, an ex-convict was penned as the most likely suspect in the disappearance
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Sources
Houston Chronicle, 12 December, 1998 – “Montgomery College Student Missing”
Houston Chronicle, 16 December, 1998 – “Scores Keep Search Going”
Houston Chronicle, 18 December, 1998 – “More Bones of Unidentified Man are Found”
Houston Chronicle, 23 December, 1998 – “Daily Searches for Student Called Off”
Houston Chronicle, 3 January, 1999 – “Remains Found in Forest May be Missing Student’s”
Houston Chronicle, 5 January, 1999 – “Ex-Convict Good Suspect in Trotter Case”
Houston Chronicle, 27 January, 1999 – “Ex-Con Indicted in Teen’s Slaying”
Houston Chronicle, 14 February, 1999 – “Trotter Case Prompts College to Hire Patrol Escorts”
Houston Chronicle, 16 May, 1999 – “Murder Suspect Slashes his Wrist While in Jail Cell”
Houston Chronicle, 6 November, 1999 – “Jury Adds Another Charge in College Student’s Death”
Houston Chronicle, 14 June, 2000 – “Testimony to Begin Over Slaying of Coed”
Houston Chronicle, 15 June, 2000 – “Slaying Victim Angered Suspect Before Abduction”
Houston Chronicle, 23 June, 2000 – “Pantyhose in Suspect’s Home a Match to Strangling Device”
Houston Chronicle, 28 June, 2000 – “Murder Defendant Faces Jury”
Houston Chronicle, 29 June, 2000 – “Willis Man Guilty of Slaying Student”
Houston Chronicle, 7 July, 2000 – “Ex-Girlfriends Testify to Man’s Violent Past”
Houston Chronicle, 12 July, 2000 – “Jury Sentences Willis Man to Die”
Lardeo Morning Times, 26 March, 2003 – “Court Rejects Appeal of Man Convicted of Strangling Woman”
Houston Chronicle, 28 May, 2004 – “Convicted Killer Says Scientific Evidence Rules him Out”
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 7 January, 2007 – “Contrary to National Trends, Texas Continues Double-Digit Executions”
San Angelo Standard-Times, 18 January, 2007 – “Cop Killer Put to Death”
Houston Chronicle, 22 January, 2007 – “Condemned Man Denies Rape, Killing”
Associated Press, 23 January, 2007 – “Killer of Houston Area College Student Set to Die”
Associated Press, 23 January, 2007 – “Killer of College Student Wins Reprieve from Wednesday Execution”
Houston Chronicle, 3 July, 2007 – “Swearingen Defense Offers New Evidence”
Houston Chronicle, 21 September, 2007 – “Judge Rejects Condemned Killer’s Bid for a New Trial”
Houston Chronicle, 19 January, 2008 – “Killer’s Appeal Hinges on ME’s Change of Mind”
The Villager, 24 January, 2008 – “Court Denies Swearingen’s Bid, Stay Lifted”
The Courier of Montgomery County, 6 March, 2008 – “Swearingen Heads Back to Town”
The Courier of Montgomery County, 7 March, 2008 – “Swearingen Case Continues to Follow Man”
The Courier of Montgomery County, 14 October, 2008 – “Request for Edwards’ Recusal in Murder Appeal”
Houston Chronicle, 27 December, 2008 – “Execution Date Set Jan 27 For Killer”
The Courier of Montgomery County, 8 January, 2009 – “Swearingen Files Request for Stay”
Houston Chronicle, 22 January, 2009 – “Time is Running Out”
Austin American-Statesman, 24 January, 2009 – “Pathologists: Condemned Man Innocent”
Houston Chronicle, 3 February, 2009 – “Texas is Vowing Not to Execute Innocent, But Verdict is Still Out”
Associated Press, 10 February, 2010 – “Condemned Killer of College Student Loses Appeal”
The Age, 4 March, 2012 – “Burden of Proof”
The Courier of Montgomery County, 6 March, 2012 – “Prosecution’s Expert Stands Firm on Trotter’ Death Timeline”
The Courier of Montgomery County, 9 March, 2012 – “Meteorological Expert Says Forest Helped Keep Trotter’s Body in Good Condition”
Houston Chronicle, 18 January, 2013 – “Courts – Death Row Inmate Seeks a DNA Test”
Houston Chronicle, 10 February, 2013 – “Will Texas Execute an Innocent Man?”
Associated Press, 1 October, 2014 – “Advocates Urge Texas to Expand DNA Testing”
East Montgomery County Observer, 25 October, 2017 – “Sweringen Wanted Fellow Inmate to Take Rap for Trotter Murder”
Houston Chronicle, 5 February, 2019 – “DNA Testing Results Released on Death Row Case of Larry Swearingen”
The Daily Mirror, 10 August, 2019 – “Man Appeals Death Sentence”
ABC – 24 KVUE, 20 August, 2019 – “Larry Swearingen Muttered Lord Forgive Them Before Being Executed”
Audio Sources
“Death Row Stories – The Murder of Melissa Trotter”
“Body of Evidence: Larry Swearingen”
