Title: The Hollywood Murder That Shook the Nation: Was Barbara Graham Wrongfully Executed?
Barbara “Bonnie” Graham’s fate was sealed in a California gas chamber on June 3, 1955—but was she truly guilty of murder? The trial that led to her execution was riddled with inconsistencies, hidden evidence, and questionable witness testimonies. Now, decades later, former prosecutor and best-selling author Marcia Clark revisits the infamous 1953 case, uncovering shocking revelations that could change the way history remembers the so-called “Bloody Babs.”
The Brutal Crime That Shocked California
On March 9, 1953, 64-year-old Mabel Monahan was found murdered in her Burbank home. She had been tied up, beaten, and left to asphyxiate. The attack stemmed from a fatal mistake—her killers believed she was hiding a safe filled with cash linked to her mob-affiliated former son-in-law. But there was no safe, no fortune—just a brutal crime that would captivate the media and the public.
Almost immediately, authorities honed in on three suspects: Jack Santo, Emmett Perkins, and Barbara Graham. Unlike her co-defendants, Graham stood out. She was young, attractive, and had a checkered past involving bad checks, perjury, and alleged prostitution. The media ran wild, painting her as a femme fatale—a cunning seductress who lured Monahan into a deadly trap. It wasn’t long before she earned the nickname “Bloody Babs.”
A Flawed Trial and a Fatal Verdict
The prosecution’s case relied heavily on two damning testimonies. First, John True, an accomplice who turned state’s witness in exchange for immunity, claimed Graham pistol-whipped Monahan before Santo and Perkins even entered the house. Second, an undercover officer testified that Graham had attempted to pay him for a false alibi.
In September 1953, the jury delivered a verdict: guilty of first-degree murder. Graham and her co-defendants were sentenced to death.
But was justice truly served?
Marcia Clark Uncovers Disturbing Truths
Through exhaustive research, Marcia Clark uncovered glaring discrepancies in the prosecution’s case—ones that could have spared Barbara Graham’s life.
Hidden Evidence: The John True Confession
One of the most damning revelations Clark unearthed was an original statement from John True that directly contradicted his testimony in court. This statement was never shared with the defense or the jury. If True had lied, Graham’s role in the crime could have been drastically misrepresented. “Even in 1953, the prosecution was obligated to share all witness statements,” Clark explains. “This could have been the difference between life and death.”
The Undercover Sting: Was Graham Set Up?
During the trial, an undercover officer, Sam Sirianni, testified that Graham attempted to buy an alibi while in jail. But what the jury didn’t know was that another inmate, Donna Prow, had been working with the police to set up Graham. The prosecution hid this fact, preventing the defense from questioning Prow about her role in the scheme.
“Setting up a defendant with a jailhouse informant and then making sure that informant disappears? That’s not justice,” Clark says. “It’s manipulation.”
Would Barbara Graham Have Been Spared Today?
Clark believes that if the jury had been presented with the full picture, Graham would never have been sentenced to death. “This was literally a matter of life and death,” she says. “Had the jury known what I know now, they never would have voted for execution.”
Barbara Graham was only the third woman executed in California, and only one other woman has been put to death in the state since. Her case was immortalized in the 1958 film I Want to Live!—but was she truly a cold-blooded killer, or a scapegoat in a deeply flawed justice system?
One thing is certain: Barbara Graham’s story remains one of the most haunting cases in American legal history. And thanks to Marcia Clark’s findings, it may be time to reconsider the legacy of “Bloody Babs.”
