Execution Report: Paul Nuncio

Paul Selso Nuncio, 31, was executed by lethal injection on 15 June in Huntsville, Texas for the murder of a 61-year-old woman during a home burglary.

In December 1993, Nuncio broke into the home of Pauline Farris through the back door. He beat Farris, raped her, and strangled her to death with his hands. He then stole several items, including two TV sets, a stereo, a VCR, several rings, and a watch.

Court records show that Nuncio and a group of friends ran to Farris' porch to get out of the rain late one night. When the rain stopped, everyone but Nuncio left. He showed up a couple of hours later at a motel where he sold a television for $50, then returned with a camera and some rings. He showed the buyer his drivers' license and wrote the number on a receipt. The buyer purchased the electronic items and Nuncio threw the rings in the trash. He then convinced a friend to take him to "his house", which was really Farris' house, where he took another television and sold it to a friend. Two days later, the friend tipped police that she thought Nuncio was involved in Farris' murder.

After his arrest, Nuncio told police that he was high on drugs and alcohol at the time of the crime and broke into the house to steal items to sell for money to buy drugs. He said he broke through the back door, saw the woman, beat her until she couldn't get up, strangled her, took the items, then raped her.

A DNA analysis of blood from Nuncio's boot showed a nearly 99 percent match to the victim's blood. The district attorney called it "the very worst capital murder I've sever seen in my life. It was animalistic. He literally beat her face in so she was unrecognizable."

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