A man was executed in the state of Texas for killing a woman during a home burglary almost a decade ago.  Mario Swain, 33, received a lethal injection on Thursday for the murder of Lola Nixon at her Longview, Texas residence just two days after Christmas in 2002. 

When Swain was asked by the warden whether he had a final statement before his death, the inmate shook his head, shut his eyes and took a couple of breaths.  Shortly after, all of his movements stopped and he was pronounced dead a half hour later, at 6:39 p.m. CT. 

None of the late Nixon's family members or friends were in attendance to witness the execution.  Swain also had no relatives among those present.

According to Fox News, James Volberding, Swain's attorney, stated that no last-minute attempts were made in the court room to halt the execution, which is the thirteenth this year in the United States' leading capital punishment state.

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to re-visit the case, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied an appeal made last week by a prison expert, who testified that the sentencing phase of Swain's 2003 capital punishment trial was both false and misleading.

According to evidence, Swain put the 46-year-old Nixon's body inside the trunk of her BMW after her slaying.  He then drove to a remote location roughly 120 miles east of Dallas and then placed her the rear seat of an abandoned vehicle.

On the night that she was killed, Nixon missed out dinner plans with friends.  When they couldn't get a hold of her the following day, her friends contacted the police.  Upon examining the home, authorities soon discovered that her back door had been jimmied into.

Swain initially pointed the finger at his own friends for the break-in, and then brought the police to Nixon's body.  It was soon determined that she was brutally beaten with a tire iron, stabbed and strangled.

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