Paul Nuncio

Case details

Paul Selso Nuncio was convicted of capital murder in the strangulation death of 61-year-old Pauline Crownover Farris in Plainview, Texas. He broke into Pauline’s home through the back door and beat her until she was unrecognizable, then raped her and strangled her to death. He then stole two television sets, a stereo, a VCR and some jewelry. He was arrested almost a week after the murder after selling one of the TV’s.

Timeline

• Dec. 2, 1993 — Paul Nuncio went out drinking with several friends and acquaintances at clubs in Plainview, Texas.
• Shortly after midnight, Dec. 3, 1993 — The group got a ride with a relative of one of the group’s members, rode around for a while looking for a “bootlegger,” and ended up on Beech Street, where they ran to Pauline Farris’s porch.
• Sometime between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. on Dec. 3, 1993 — Nuncio visited a room at the Warrick Inn and sold a television for $50.
• About 4:25 a.m. — Plainview police officer Steven Cook saw Nuncio on the corner of Carver Street and approached him for identification.
• Shortly thereafter — Officer Cook gave Nuncio a ride to the Givens Street Apartments.
• Between 5:00 and 5:30 a.m. — Nuncio went to the room at the Airport Motel where Henry Navarro and Angela Ruiz were staying.
• About 6:30 a.m. — Nuncio went to the motel room of his friend Patricia Lopez and offered to sell the television.
• Around 11:00 a.m. on Dec. 3, 1993 — Nuncio asked Lopez and her husband for a ride to Lubbock but they refused; Nuncio applied for a $150 loan at the Sun Loan Company listing TV, VCR, a stereo, and a four-wheeler as collateral.
• Later that afternoon (Dec. 3, 1993) — Pauline Farris’s neighbors found her dead on the living room floor of her home.
• Dec. 5, 1993 — Police received an anonymous tip that resulted in Nuncio becoming a suspect; it was later discovered that the tip came from Olga Villalon.
• Dec. 6, 1993 — After police recovered a television identified by Pauline Farris’s daughter, a warrant was issued for Nuncio’s arrest.
• Two days later — Police arrested Nuncio after finding him hiding in the closet of a house in Plainview.
• Dec. 21, 1993 — A Hale County grand jury indicted Nuncio for capital murder of Pauline Farris in the course of committing and attempting to commit burglary of a habitation, aggravated sexual assault, and robbery.
• March 2, 1995 — A jury convicted Nuncio of capital murder.
• March 4, 1995 — The jury answered the first special punishment issue affirmatively and the second special punishment issue negatively.
• June 30, 1995 — The trial court assessed Nuncio’s punishment at death in accordance with Texas law.
• Feb. 5, 1997 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Nuncio’s conviction and sentence.
• Aug. 20, 1997 — Nuncio filed an application for writ of habeas corpus in the 64th District Court of Hale County, Texas.
• March 3, 6, and 8, 1998; April 1 and 7, 1998 — An evidentiary hearing took place on ineffective assistance of counsel.
• July 15, 1998 — The court forwarded its recommendation to deny relief to the Court of Criminal Appeals.
• Sept. 23, 1998 — The Court of Criminal Appeals adopted findings of fact and conclusions of law and denied Nuncio relief on all claims.
• March 1, 1999 — Nuncio filed a federal habeas petition.
• May 13, 1999 — The federal district court denied the federal habeas petition.
• June 14, 1999 — The district court denied permission to appeal.
• Jan. 24, 2000 — The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied permission to appeal.
• Feb. 18, 2000 — The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied rehearing.
• July 21, 2000 — Nuncio was executed by lethal injection in Texas.

The offence

Paul Nuncio was convicted of capital murder in the strangulation death of 61-year-old Pauline Crownover Farris in Plainview, Texas.

On the evening of Dec. 2, 1993, Nuncio went out drinking with several friends and acquaintances at clubs in Plainview, Texas. The group consisted of: Nuncio, Isabel Barrios, Oralia Medrano, Efrain Garcia, Enrique (Henry) Navarro, Angela Ruiz, and Olga Villalon.

Shortly after midnight on Dec. 3, the group got a ride with a relative of one of the group’s members and rode around for a while looking for a “bootlegger” before finding themselves on Beech Street. An argument between Nuncio and the driver resulted in the driver stopping the car and “kicking” Nuncio and the others out in the pouring rain. The group then ran to the porch of the house at 708 Beech Street, which was owned and occupied by Pauline Farris, the 61-year-old victim.

Oralia Medrano, one of the seven present, used to rent a small house located directly behind the victim’s residence and Nuncio visited Medrano frequently during that time. Nuncio stated in his confession that he knew who Pauline Farris was, but “hadn't really ever met her.” The group members’ testimony differed as to how long they remained on the porch: one testified that it was as little as 10 to 15 minutes, while others thought it was as long as an hour and a half to two hours. Several persons claimed to have knocked on either the front or back door, but each stated that there was no answer. No one saw any lights come on or heard any sounds from inside the house.

At one point, Nuncio left the porch and unsuccessfully attempted to hot-wire Farris’s vehicle, which was parked in her driveway. When the rain subsided somewhat, everyone except Nuncio left. One member of the group asked Nuncio where he was going, but Nuncio did not answer. Others in the group testified that Nuncio was not intoxicated at the time they left the porch of the house.

on Dec. 3, Nuncio visited a room at the Warrick Inn, where he sold a television for $50. When the buyer observed blood on Nuncio’s shirt and arm, Nuncio gave an explanation about helping a friend with some sheep, one of which had been pregnant. After he sold the man the television, Nuncio left and returned about 45 minutes later with a camera, a stereo and some rings. The man did not want the rings so Nuncio threw them in a nearby trash can. At the buyer’s request, Nuncio wrote out a receipt for the sale of the items and confirmed his identity by showing the buyer his driver’s license and writing the number on the receipt.

About 4:25 a.m., Plainview police officer Steven Cook saw Nuncio on the corner of Carver Street. Officer Cook approached Nuncio and asked him for identification. Nuncio claimed not to have any identification on him, but he verbally identified himself as Joe Nuncio from Frederick, Oklahoma. Officer Cook testified that Nuncio appeared somewhat disoriented and confused, so he administered a series of field sobriety tests; Officer Cook concluded that Nuncio was not intoxicated and noticed no odor of alcohol on Nuncio’s breath. At Nuncio’s request, Officer Cook later gave Nuncio a ride to the Givens Street Apartments and dropped him off.

Shortly thereafter, Nuncio encountered an acquaintance, Kenneth Brooks. Nuncio asked Brooks to take him to “his house” to pick up a television and directed him to the victim’s house on Beech Street. Nuncio picked up a television from Pauline Farris’s porch and then asked Brooks to take him to the Warrick Inn, where Nuncio attempted unsuccessfully to sell the television. The prospective buyer noticed fresh blood on Nuncio’s arm. After his unsuccessful effort to sell the television, Nuncio and Brooks went to the Airport Motel.

Between 5:00 and 5:30 a.m., Nuncio went to the room at the Airport Motel where Henry Navarro and Angela Ruiz were staying. Nuncio asked Navarro if he wanted to go drinking; Navarro declined and Nuncio left. Ruiz noted that Nuncio “was all drunk,” which she said was distinctly different from when she had been with him on the porch of the victim’s house earlier that morning.

Nuncio then went to the motel room of his friend Patricia Lopez about 6:30 a.m. and offered to sell her the television. She told him to come back later when her husband was home. Nuncio subsequently sold the television to a friend of Olga Villalon. When Nuncio went back over to Lopez’s room a little later, she confronted him about what appeared to be blood on his boot. In response, Nuncio stared at her and left. When Lopez went to her mother’s room to talk to her about the blood, Nuncio walked in and began cleaning off his boot, explaining that it was not blood, but ketchup.

Around 11:00 a.m. on Dec. 3, Nuncio asked Lopez and her husband for a ride to Lubbock but they refused. Later that afternoon, Nuncio told Villalon that he needed money to leave town and that he was going to a loan company to get some. Later that afternoon, Nuncio applied for a $150 loan at the Sun Loan Company, listing a TV, a VCR, a stereo, and a four-wheeler as collateral. Nuncio initially told the loan officer that he needed the money for “newborn stuff,” but he also wrote on the application that he was single. When confronted by the loan officer, he admitted that he really wanted to take a trip, but thought he would not get the loan if he had told him that. Furthermore, Nuncio put on the application that he was employed at M & S Videos; upon learning that he had never been employed there, the loan company refused to grant his loan request.

Meanwhile, around the time Pauline Farris’s neighbors found her dead later that afternoon, investigators at the scene found her lying face down and nude, with a blouse or pajama top pulled up around her shoulders. A pair of ladies’ slacks or pajama bottoms and women’s underwear were next to her right foot. Investigators observed that the victim was not wearing any rings, and that her bottom denture plate was lying several feet from her body under the corner of a small coffee table, while the top denture plate was still in her mouth. The victim’s daughter testified that her mother wore her dentures at all times, including when sleeping, and she testified that she knew of at least one ring her mother wore constantly, including to bed.

A vacuum cleaner was observed next to the victim’s body with the cord lying underneath her, and evidence indicated that the house had been ransacked.

The forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy noted injuries including numerous bruises on the face, neck, shoulders, arms, legs and scalp, as well as in the groin area, hemorrhaging of both eyes and bleeding in the white of the right eye, and marks on the neck consistent with manual strangulation. The pathologist also testified that a number of bruises on the victim’s legs, hands, and arms were consistent with defensive wounds and that, on the front part of her scalp, there were many bruises caused by a blunt object. The record further reflects that the victim had numerous bruises on her upper thighs consistent with her legs being violently forced apart.

Investigation

On Dec. 5, 1993, police received an anonymous tip that resulted in Nuncio becoming a suspect in the murder; it was later discovered that the tip came from Olga Villalon.

After police recovered a television identified by Pauline Farris’s daughter on Dec. 6, a warrant was issued for Nuncio’s arrest.

Investigators later obtained consent to search a house in Plainview, where they recovered clothing and boots worn by Nuncio on the night of the murder. A DNA analysis on a blood sample from Nuncio’s boot revealed a 98.8 percent probability of a match to the victim’s blood.

Arrest and statements

Two days later after the warrant was issued, police arrested Nuncio after finding him hiding in the closet of a house in Plainview. At the Plainview Police Department, Nuncio was informed of and voluntarily waived his constitutional rights.

Nuncio gave police both oral and written statements. He stated that he had been “messed up” on drugs and alcohol the night of the crime and had decided to break into the Farris’s house to steal items that he could sell to get money for more drugs. He stated that he did not think anyone was home because no one had answered the door earlier. After he broke in the back door, he saw the victim and they began fighting.

Nuncio confessed that he hit the woman, kicked her, and kept knocking her down until she no longer attempted to get up. He then stated that he put two television sets and a stereo on the front porch and found some rings which he put in his pocket.

Nuncio claimed he looked back at the victim at some point, saw that she was naked, and decided to “have sex” with her. In his confession, he stated that he was an addict and that he had been molested as a child. He further asserted that he did not mean to kill the victim and that he did not know she was dead until he heard about it sometime later.

Detective Michael Carroll testified that Nuncio was emotional and crying somewhat during the two-hour period of his post-arrest interview.

Trial

A Hale County grand jury indicted Nuncio on Dec. 21, 1993, for the capital offense of murder of Pauline Farris in the course of committing and attempting to commit burglary of a habitation, in the course of committing and attempting to commit aggravated sexual assault, and in the course of committing and attempting to commit robbery.

Nuncio entered a plea of “not guilty.” Following a trial in the 64th District Court of Hale County, Texas, a jury convicted Nuncio of capital murder on March 2, 1995. The jury answered the first special punishment issue affirmatively and the second special punishment issue negatively on March 4, 1995.

At the punishment stage, the State showed that Nuncio had previously been convicted of felony theft in 1990, and that he was subsequently convicted for misdemeanor thefts in both Hale and Tarrant Counties.

Nuncio’s original probation officer, Jim DeWese, characterized Nuncio as a “sorry” probationer who was unable to maintain meaningful employment. DeWese also testified that Nuncio was a dishonest, passive-aggressive type who never learned to obey rules. Elsa Martinez, who lived with Nuncio for two-and-a-half to three years and had two children by him, testified that Nuncio had a bad temper when he was drunk, which she described as occurring “all the time.” She also testified that Nuncio had once struck her.

In accordance with Texas law, the trial court assessed Nuncio’s punishment at death on June 30, 1995.

Appeals

Nuncio automatically appealed his conviction and sentence to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and it was affirmed on Feb. 5, 1997.

Nuncio did not file a petition for writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court.

On Nov. 27, 1996, the Court of Criminal Appeals appointed counsel to represent Nuncio in a state habeas proceeding.

After filing an application for writ of habeas corpus in the 64th District Court of Hale County, Texas, on Aug. 20, 1997, Nuncio filed a motion for evidentiary hearing on ineffective assistance of counsel. The court granted the motion and conducted an evidentiary hearing on March 3, 6, and 8, 1998, and April 1 and 7, 1998. On July 15, 1998, the court forwarded its recommendation to deny relief to the Court of Criminal Appeals. On Sept. 23, 1998, the Court of Criminal Appeals adopted the lower court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law and denied Nuncio relief on all claims.

Nuncio filed a federal habeas petition on March 1, 1999, and it was denied by the federal district court on May 13, 1999. The district court denied permission to appeal on June 14, 1999. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied permission to appeal on Jan. 24, 2000, and denied rehearing on Feb. 18, 2000. Nuncio had not filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the Supreme Court.

Outcome

Nuncio was executed by lethal injection in Texas on July 21, 2000.

The execution was pronounced with a lethal injection at 7:17 p.m. CDT, after being delayed for about an hour while the Supreme Court ruled for the third time on 11th-hour appeals filed in his case.

In his lengthy and rambling final statement, Nuncio insisted he was sorry the victim was murdered but maintained that he did not commit the crime and directed comments to the children of the murder victim, Pauline Farris. He recited the Lord’s prayer and stated:

“I don't want you to have guilt of executing someone innocent because I am,”
“When your time comes, she will let you know if I am innocent or guilty,”

He also stated:

“I've tried over 15 capital murders and this is the very worst capital murder I've ever seen in my life,''
“It was animalistic.”
“He literally beat her face in so she was unrecognizable,”

The victim’s daughter, Becky Farris Payne, said after watching Nuncio die:

“I don't believe my mother will be reaching her hand out,”
“He wasn't ready to die. She wasn't ready to die. He took her away from us.”

The victim’s son, Eddie Farris, said:

“He ended up with a whole lot more chances than she did,”
“He was given several appeals. My mother didn't get appeals.”

Nuncio’s final statement included the following verbal portion:

“I have a written statement for the press. It will be released as soon as they can. And I also responded to a comment to me from Sandy, daughter of Ms. Farris. I have felt deeply sorry for the deceased. But I'm sorry that I wasn't the one that did it or anything. She will tell you that when she gets a chance to. When the time comes. I just wish just to be patient when the time for each and everyone of ya'll individually have ya'll time. But I'm not putting pressure on either one of ya'll being having any guilt. I just want to say two thing, executing someone that is innocent, cause even though I am. The burden will be wiped away and you will be at ease to know that I know how it is and they will pay for it when their time comes. And all I have to say is that right now I'm sorry that it happened and I was part, not part in it but, part responsible for not properly getting the word out in time to get the right victim or the right convict or the right person that did it. I just wish to say a little prayer for the family for their appearance and forgiveness in this matter. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give this day your daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Our Lord, Amen. And ah, don't be surprised if your Mom be the helper of God that would grab my hand and say "You are now into eternal life with God." This is her being one of the chosen ones to give as proof of innocence. That's what I meant by telling you I don't mean to injure you anymore. When your time comes that she would let you know, if I was innocent or guilty. That about all I have to say. Love you all.”

Nuncio’s written statement included:

“I wish the public to see my point of inside view that the officers of Death Row of the State of Texas. All the years of 5 or 6 years of my first time being locked up for not doing a crime of this sort. Now, officers of Texas TDCJ are of Terrell Unit, Walls Unit and some of Ellis I are just doing their job for their family. Now there are also respectful inmates death row and population that I've meet, now I say to all of you just realizing what crime is about, don't do it. One way I've thought of was having your friends "inmate" to witness your execution talking about those of population and first timers. I just want to give those officers that respected me while in prison of TDCJ Death Row. May God bless you all of TDCJ and inmates especially the free-world population. With Gods and my words of faith, Paul Selso Nuncio”

Other details

Scheduling notice

Texas Attorney General John Cornyn offered information on Paul Nuncio scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 15th.

Investigators and witnesses mentioned

Plainview police officer Steven Cook testified about field sobriety tests and lack of alcohol odor. The record named forensic pathologist observations about bruising and strangulation. Elsa Martinez testified about Nuncio’s temperament and that she said he had once struck her. Jim DeWese testified about Nuncio’s probation performance.

Group participants on the night of the offence

The group on the night of Dec. 2 included Nuncio, Isabel Barrios, Oralia Medrano, Efrain Garcia, Enrique (Henry) Navarro, Angela Ruiz, and Olga Villalon. Other people mentioned in the movements and sales included Kenneth Brooks, Henry Navarro, Patricia Lopez, and Olga Villalon’s friend.

Victim

Pauline Crownover Farris was 61 years old.

Property and evidence mentioned

Nuncio sold a television for $50 at the Warrick Inn. He later brought items including a camera, a stereo and rings; he threw rings in a trash can. Police later recovered a television identified by Pauline Farris’s daughter, leading to a warrant. At the scene, investigators observed the victim was not wearing any rings, and there were dentures displaced as described. A vacuum cleaner was found next to the body.

Drugs and alcohol

Nuncio stated he was “messed up” on drugs and alcohol the night of the crime and that he wanted money for more drugs. The record also described a history of drug and alcohol problems.