Execution Report: Mario Swain

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Swain had no prior criminal convictions, but numerous witnesses testified to planned attacks and actual attacks against women. In two incidents in 1999, Swain removed the dome lights of women's cars, hid in the back seat, and then attacked them with a stun gun. A woman who dated Swain testified that he watched women, followed them home, and determined the times they would leave for and return home from work. She said Swain kept a spiral notebook with descriptions of women, automobiles, and license plate numbers, and that he kept a brown glass bottle in his car containing a substance he said would "put people to sleep."

Nicole Anderson testified that in December 2002, she woke up in her apartment around 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. to find Swain standing in her room. As she held her newborn baby, Swain jumped on her, choked her, and demanded her money and credit cards. He threatened to kill her and held a knife to her. He had a brown glass bottle containing a substance that he said would put her to sleep and make her forget everything that happened. He poured the substance onto a cloth and held it to her face, causing her to pass out. She woke up at about 10:00 a.m. and tried to leave the apartment with her baby, but Swain was standing outside. He spoke with her again, and then permitted her to leave.

As a youth, Swain was involved in a incident of sexual cruelty to his uncle's cow. The animal required veterinary treatment for its injuries.

Prosecutors called Swain a "serial killer in training."

A jury convicted Swain of capital murder in November 2003 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in November 2005. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Swain declined requests for interviews while on death row.

None of either Swain's or Nixon's family attended Swain's execution. When the warden asked him if he wanted to make a last statement, he shook his head. The lethal injection was then started. He was pronounced dead at 6:39 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 9 November 2012.
Sources: Texas Attorney General's office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, court documents, Associated Press.