1996-03-29

After James Swanson and Crystal Gayle Swanson, his 16-year-old wife and mother of their infant baby, separated in February 1996, Crystal and the baby moved in with friends. During this time, James took the baby for a one-day visit, but later refused to return the baby to Crystal and filed for divorce. In that proceeding, Crystal was awarded temporary custody of the baby and moved in with her in-laws, Orville and Kathy Swanson in Amarillo.

On March 28, 1996, according to Orville, James and Crystal were at his house, but left the house for about two hours to take Crystal to the hospital; they returned later. When Orville went to work early the next morning, he thought that Crystal was on the couch, but never saw her again.

When Crystal missed a scheduled appointment on March 28, 1996, for child care counseling, Johnna Campbell, a nurse who had been providing counseling to Crystal, became concerned. Knowing that a divorce was pending, Campbell called the police and reported Crystal missing after James called her on March 29 and asked if she knew Crystal’s whereabouts.

Officers discovered Crystal’s body on April 23, 1996, in a shallow grave on a farm located in Donley County and owned by Frank and Vivian Corder, appellant’s grandparents.