Death Row Stories

Body of Evidence (4x5)

Air date: Jun 30, 2019

After a month-long search, the body of missing nineteen-year-old Melissa Trotter is recovered in a Texas forest. Local police quickly zero in on Larry Swearingen, who was last seen with Melissa just before she disappeared. After physical evidence and the murder weapon tie Larry to the murder, he is convicted and sentenced to death. Twenty years later, Larry maintains his innocence, pointing out flaws in the State's case - including incomplete DNA tests, an alternate suspect, and forensic evidence that suggests Melissa may have been killed after Larry was arrested.