A death row inmate has been executed for abducting, raping and strangling a 19-year-old college student to death.

Larry Swearingen was convicted of murdering Melissa Trotter in December 1998, despite his denials and claims that they were "friends with benefits".

The 48-year-old was injected with a cocktail of lethal drugs in Huntsville, Texas, this morning after the state failed to execute him on five previous occasions, including one attempt that was called off with minutes to spare.

Miss Trotter's mum, Sandy, now a grandmother, prepared herself to watch Swearingen die before each of the aborted executions.

She told Texas Public Radio (TPR) she had no doubt Swearingen was her daughter's killer, adding: “We are more than ready to be done so hopefully it’s looking more likely it’s going to happen.

“It's been very frustrating for our family and horrific for the 92-year-old grandfather Charles Trotter Senior. He will be there viewing Swearingen executed."

In a final statement, published after Swearingen's death, the murderer said: "Today the State of Texas murdered an innocent man. Many people participated in my demise, beginning with the Montgomery County Police who falsely arrested me without a warrant and particularly officer Leo Mock who planted the pantyhose in my home that was used to convict me.

"Harris County medical examiner Joyce Carter then lied about the length of time Melissa Trotter's corpse laid in the woods.

"Judge Fred Edwards and the Montgomery County district attorney's office refused to give me a fair shake in legal proceedings, while the Houston Chronicle with other local media shared the same lack of fair play when it came to the court of public opinion.

"I also have to include myself in this accounting. Not because I had anything to do with Melissa's murder. She was my friend. But in my youth, I made a lot of stupid mistakes. When I was abducted by Montgomery County Police in 1998, I had been driving a stolen vehicle and was trying to commit insurance fraud.

"I was philandering with Melissa and other women instead of taking care of my wife and kids. I had been violent with both women and men. I put myself in the perfect position to be framed for murder.

"Sadly, so many people have suffered from all this. Melissa's family and friends were denied the opportunity for closure. My family was torn apart. My mother was ostracized and harassed to the point she had to leave her home, and my son is currently in jail.

"I have spent the last 19 years in solitary confinement, in a situation you wouldn't put a stray dog into. And this forced me to grow up. I found I had far more potential than I ever dreamed possible. I learned Texas law to the point where I proved my innocence beyond any shadow of doubt – although unfortunately for me, actual innocence is not legal cause for stopping an execution.

"I have made so many beautiful friends from all over the world, and I know they loved me and cared for me, as I did for them. This probably wouldn't have happened if I had been left to my own devices. I want to thank them and my excellent attorneys who worked all these years for no money just to keep me safe.

"In closing, I want everyone to know I'm not angry about my execution. Sure I would've liked to live and go free. But I feel certain that my death can be a catalyst to change the insane legal system of Texas which could allow this to happen. I am now one of God's sacrificial lambs, and hopefully people will use my example to help keep others from experiencing this dreadful and wrongful persecution.

"With love in my heart and peace in my mind, I am yours truly, Larry Swearingen."

Miss Trotter vanished in the city of Willis in December 1998, sparking a search that ended in heartbreak the following month, in January 1999, when hunters found her partially-naked body in the Sam Houston National Forest north of Houston.

Prosecutors said she was strangled with her own pantyhose.

She was last seen alive at a student centre at Lone Star College.

Swearingen, an electrician then aged 27, immediately came under suspicion because he and Miss Trotter were seen together at the college the day she disappeared.

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