Local News
Convicted killer dies without giving final statement
Christopher Jay Swift offered no words before receiving the lethal injection Tuesday night.
Friends offered their tears and prayers as they watched.
“Look at his face. His face is completely at peace. He is going to see Jesus,” one friend said.
Swift had insisted on receiving the death penalty for his crimes.
“He didn’t want to spend the rest of his life in prison,” said Jerry Cobb, one of his trial lawyers. “If convicted, he wanted the death penalty. He made that very clear to everybody.”
He ordered no appeals to be filed to stop the lethal injection.
Swift was convicted of the 2003 strangling his 29-year-old, eight months pregnant wife, Amy Sabeh-Swift, to death with his hands inside their recreational vehicle in Irving. He then took his 5-year-old son to a mobile home park in Lake Dallas and strangled his mother-in-law, Sandra Stevens Sabeh, 61, at her home.
The 5-year-old boy was found the next day, April 30, 2003, wandering the lobby of a Days Inn in Irving where his father had rented a room, then left after the child fell asleep. Hotel staffers fed the boy breakfast and let him watch cartoons in the lobby but then called police after no one claimed him and he was getting frightened.
The child made a startling disclosure to officers.
“Basically he was saying: ’Daddy killed mommy and he killed grandma, too,”’ former Denton County Assistant District Attorney Lee Ann Breading said.
Officers found his mother dead, then his grandmother. Within hours, Swift was under arrest.
“He said from the start he had done it,” said Earl Dobson, another prosecutor who tried the capital murder case.
Derek Adame, another of Swift’s trial lawyers, described the experience as frustrating because Swift insisted there be no serious defense.
“Obviously, it’s an uphill battle, but you’d at least like to be able to fight for the guy,” Adame said. “I thought we did the best we could, but I have to do what my client tells me.”
Adame and Cobb presented psychiatric testimony contending Swift was insane.
“The state put on psychiatric testimony he was not, and jurors found he was not,” Cobb said. “After the case was over, then he was through. He didn’t want to do anything.”
Swift’s wife worked as an aide at the Denton State School for the mentally disabled and the couple had been married six years although at one point Swift had filed for divorce.
Four days after their wedding, he started a four-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to assaulting a Texas state trooper in 1996 and a Denton County woman in 1997. He also pleaded guilty to an assault charge for shoving and choking his wife in March 1996, driving while intoxicated and fleeing a police officer. In 1992, he pleaded guilty to evading arrest.
Prosecutors said Swift, who had a history of alcohol abuse and drug use, quit his job at a concrete company because they asked him to take a drug test. When he came home, his decision sparked an argument with his wife that led to the slayings, prosecutors said.
Another Texas inmate is scheduled to die next week. James Jackson, 47, is among at least 11 Texas prisoners with execution dates. Jackson was condemned for the 1997 slayings of his two stepdaughters at their Houston home. Jackson’s wife, the mother of the girls, also was killed.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
- Local News
-
-
Bearkats take game down to the wire
For 37 minutes, Sam Houston State was on the verge of becoming the Cinderella of the Dance.
The 14th-seeded Bearkats stood their ground against 19th-ranked Baylor in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday afternoon at New Orleans Arena. But with the game in the balance, Sam Houston just couldn’t get any shots to fall in a 68-59 loss to the Bears. -
Queen contestants putting final touches on presentations
Nine young ladies are putting the finishing touches on their presentations for the Walker County Fair Queen Contest this Saturday, when judges will determine which candidate will best represent the 2010 Walker County Fair.
-
House Dems on track for vote on $940B health bill
House Democrats are pushing to the brink of passage a landmark, $940 billion health care overhaul bill that would deliver on President Barack Obama’s promise to expand coverage while also reducing the federal deficit in a bid to attract the backing of the party’s fiscal conservatives.
-
Ceremony Sunday for updated San Antonio mission
A new splash of Spanish colonial color will greet worshippers at a renovated church in the Mission Concepcion complex.
A rededication ceremony is scheduled for Sunday at Concepcion, highlighting one of several preservation projects planned for San Antonio’s centuries-old Roman Catholic missions. - Appeal rejected for convicted Selena killer
- Remains of Vietnam veteran found; service set
-
Recreation services to host March to the Park
The City of Huntsville Department of Recreation Services will host the second annual March to the Park event in Eastham-Thomason Park this Saturday from 2-5 p.m.
-
Scramble heifer program in second year at fair
The 2009-2010 Walker County Fair Scramble Heifer Program got off to a great start during the Walker County Fair rodeo in March 2009.
-
Huntsville mayor shows support for meals program
Huntsville Mayor J. Turner helped the Senior Center of Walker County deliver meals to homebound residents Wednesday as part of the nationwide Mayors for Meals Day.
-
City, school elections set in New Waverly
Five people have filed as candidates for the New Waverly City Council, while five newcomers have filed for two positions on the New Waverly Independent School District for the May 8 election.
- More Local News Headlines
-
