Image Larry Swearingen was executed by lethal injection in August. Credit... EPA, via Shutterstock

New for the defense

Blood was found under Ms. Trotter’s fingernails, raising the possibility that she and the killer had engaged in a violent struggle. DNA tests determined that the blood was not Mr. Swearingen’s and had come from another man who could not be identified. But a prosecution witness explained that away during trial testimony, saying contamination had probably muddied the results. This year, though, a state crime lab director questioned that explanation.

The timing of the death established at trial has also been called into question. The medical examiner testified that Ms. Trotter had been killed about 25 days before her body was found, placing the murder date on roughly the same day she disappeared. Since then, other experts have said the body was found within two weeks of death. The medical examiner also later said after reviewing additional evidence that she believed Ms. Trotter’s body had been dumped in the woods within two weeks of its discovery. Mr. Swearingen had already been in jail for 22 days when the body was discovered.

Doubts emerged, too, about the pantyhose. Other experts determined that the hose recovered from Mr. Swearingen’s property — found only after the police had already searched twice, and after Ms. Trotter’s body was discovered — did not match the hose used to kill her.

Status of the case

Texas executed Mr. Swearingen on Aug. 21. His final statement was: “Lord forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.”

James Milton Dailey

Mr. Dailey was convicted and sentenced to death for the killing of Shelly Boggio, 14, whose body was found floating in the water near St. Petersburg, Fla., in 1985. She had been repeatedly stabbed and choked before drowning.

Evidence at trial

No witnesses or physical evidence tied Mr. Dailey to the killing. His co-defendant, Jack Pearcy, told the police that Mr. Dailey had committed the murder. Mr. Pearcy is serving a life sentence for his role in Shelly’s death. The case against Mr. Dailey, now 73, leaned heavily on the testimony of jailhouse informants who said Mr. Dailey had incriminated himself.