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Barbara Graham might have been a diabolical dame in a hard-boiled detective story—beautiful, sexy, and deadly. Charged alongside two male friends in the murder of an elderly widow during a botched robbery attempt, “Bloody Babs” became the third woman executed in California—after a 1953 trial that played out before standing-room-only crowds captured the imaginations of journalists, filmmakers, and death penalty opponents. Why, Kathleen A. Cairns asks, of all the capital cases in the twentieth century, did Graham’s have such political resonance and staying power?
Leaving aside the question of guilt or innocence—debated to this day—Cairns examines how Graham’s case became a touchstone in the ongoing debate over capital punishment. While prosecutors positioned the accused woman as a femme fatale, the media came to offer a counternarrative for Graham’s life highlighting her abusive and lonely beginnings. Cairns shows how Graham’s case became crucial to the abolitionists of the time, who used instances of questionable guilt to raise awareness of the arbitrary and capricious nature of death penalty prosecutions. Critical in keeping capital punishment in the forefront of public consciousness until abolitionists homed in on a winning strategy, Graham's case illustrates the power of individual stories to shape wider perceptions and ultimately public policies.
- Sales Rank: #819004 in eBooks
- Published on: 2013-05-01
- Released on: 2013-05-01
- Format: Kindle eBook
Review
“At a time when states are closely reexamining capital punishment, particularly in light of the Innocence Project’s scathing findings that dozens have been wrongly sent to prison and to Death Row, Kathleen Cairns’s meticulous and moving reprise of the notorious 1950s case of Barbara Graham is a sobering, insightful, and welcome study of why the swift and awful justice of execution is neither swift, nor just, but merely awful.”—Dennis McDougal, author of Privileged Son: Otis Chandler and the Rise and Fall of the L.A. Times Dynasty (Dennis McDougal 2012-09-19)
“Proof of Guilt is a fascinating book that details the case of Barbara Graham and also explores the issue of the execution of women. Although the Graham case occurred decades ago, Cairns brings Barbara Graham back to life in this compelling narrative. The book sheds new light on the issue of the death penalty and dispels many myths and misconceptions surrounding it.”—Gloria Killian, exonerée and coauthor of Full Circle: A True Story of Murder, Lies, and Vindication (Gloria Kill 2012-09-19)
"This outstanding book is a major contribution to the history of the criminal justice system and its limitations."—Gordon Morris Bakken, Montana, The Magazine of Western History (Gordon Morris Bakken Montana, The Magazine of Western History)
About the Author
Kathleen A. Cairns is a lecturer in the Department of History at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She is the author of The Enigma Woman: The Death Sentence of Nellie May Madison (Nebraska, 2007) and Hard Time at Tehachapi: California’s First Women’s Prison.
Most helpful customer reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
The Case of Barbara Graham and Executing Women in America
By Bill Emblom
I decided to purchase this book because I found the movie "I Want to Live" to be fascinating. This book by Kathleen Cairns discussing the case and execution of convicted murderess Barbara Graham in 1953 for the murder of Mable Monahan in Burbank, California, discusses at length whether or not she was or was not the actual murderer.
There is no doubt that Graham came from a very disfunctional family. Her mother had no use for her and Barbara spent much of her short life trying to find love in all the wrong places with the wrong individuals. Author Cairns discusses the roles played by those individuals who were also involved in the Monahan murder who were executed for the crime. Whether or not Graham confessed to the murder is debatable.
A chapter is devoted to the movie entitled "I Want to Live" in which actress Susan Hayward played the role of Barbara Graham. The movie was made as an indictment against capital punishment. Approximately the final half hour of the movie dealt with the execution of Graham and Susan Hayward was absolutely fantastic in her portrayal.
The book concludes with other capital murder cases such as Caryl Chessman in addition to the abolishment and reinstatement of the death penalty. Several cases are listed as to women such as Karla Faye Tucker and Aileen Wuornos who have been executed for their crimes.
I found the book to be a worthwhile read and I would also suggest you purchase the movie "I Want to Live" either prior or after reading this book.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
One Woman and the Death Penalty
By jiffy
"I Want to Live!" is one of my favorite movies, and I was bowled over by Susan Hayward's performance. Partly because of the film, I wanted to know more about Barbara Graham and the crime for which she was executed. I had trouble finding books about her, and I was pleased to get this one. It is subtitled "Barbara Graham and the Politics of Executing Women in America," and as such, it goes well beyond Mrs. Graham's story. Roughly the first half of the book deals with her life, the murder of Mable Monahan, and Mrs. Graham's trial, imprisonment, appeals, and execution in San Quentin's gas chamber. The second half discusses the issue of her guilt or innocence, the film "I Want to Live!", women executed in the United States, and the death penalty itself. The author does not take a position on Barbara Graham's guilt, but she certainly raises reasonable doubt. Neither does she formally oppose the death penalty, but she makes it clear that she doesn't like it. The chapter on women who have been executed tells each story in only a few sentences, but the relentless accounts of one person after another who was put to death are emotionally overwhelming. I also was distressed by stories of governors deciding whether to commute or execute, not because of the facts of the case but because of the effect on their own reelections. I know this isn't exactly news, but it's still disturbing. This book is factual, logical, and emotional, all at the same time. You don't have to be opposed to capital punishment to find it moving and enlightening. If you have any interest at all in the subject, it's definitely worth reading.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Read it for it's gender and capital punishment discussion, not the Barbara Graham case.
By EdCalifornia
The author concludes that narrative is effective in shaping public opinion and that the potential execution of an innocent person is a compelling argument against capital punishment. She also gives a cogent review of the role gender has played and continues to play in capital cases and the ongoing death penalty debate. Much of the public narrative of this case has been provided by the movie "I Want to Live," in which Barbara Graham is portrayed as most likely innocent. What if the narrative isn't true? Does it matter? What about the legalities surrounding the case that, combined with her own actions, put Barbara Graham in the gas chamber? This last subject is almost never discussed anywhere, and this book avoids it entirely, as well as most details of the crime and its investigation. Any discussion of the death penalty should involve what criminals have actually done; not what a movie director, news reporter, political activist or college professor intimates they have done. Only then can a voter or juror faced with the subject make an intelligent and compassionate decision.
Firstly, there is the principle of equal culpability in a murder and home invasion. As a Principal in the crime, the accused does not have to be the person wielding the actual murder weapon to be guilty of murder. The District Attorney only had to prove Graham was a principal, in other words, a participant with the intent to do harm and that a murder occurred as a result. The author states that Graham's guilt may never be known, but Graham admitted on a wire recording to being at the scene when she attempted to purchase a false alibi from a police detective. A state's witness, John True, was an eyewitness (and accomplice given immunity) to the crime. These two pieces of evidence, revealed in the book no less, refute the author's own claim that the case was entirely circumstantial.
However, the truth in this case makes for an even more interesting and compelling story. Beyond Graham's tragic background, high IQ, street smarts and good looks, she was offered a deal, most likely immunity though the details weren't formalized, and in deference to the criminal code against squealing, she turned it down. This was her first legal misstep that lead her to the death house. At the time, capital trials were not bifurcated as the author correctly points out, so there was no separate penalty phase. It did not help that she was tried with two vicious accomplices. She also confessed to a cellmate, who was given a reduced sentence for her testimony. There is no right to privacy in jail. The cellmate was replaced by an undercover policewoman, who set up the false alibi sting operation. While the author asks why the District Attorney was so "desperate" to prosecute Graham, there are several answers, one being that Graham gave him no choice. After the conviction, Graham's appeals ran out and she was executed. She did admit that she would rather die than serve a lengthy prison sentence and she got her wish. The author covers the appeals process extensively, and does refer to the overall story of what actually happened; that at the very least, Graham was the shill who got the victim, Mrs. Mabel Monahan, to open the door to her house under the false pretense that her car was not running and that she needed to call the auto club.
The gender implications in the crime itself are at least as interesting as the death penalty discussion. For example, Mrs. Monahan might not have been selected as a victim had she not been an elderly female. Graham would not been selected as a shill had she not been an attractive woman, and an experienced gambling shill at that. Woman are often used by police and criminals alike to open doors. There are also stereotypes about woman and cars, and this was used effectively by the criminals. Ironically, Graham was often at the wheel while the gang was driving around Los Angeles planning the crime, or according to undocumented sources, kidnapping and murdering the first state's witness, Baxter Shorter, a safe cracker and accomplice who disappeared while the case was being assembled by the police, never to be seen again. The book devotes just a few lines to Shorter and his disappearance.
Yet, Graham's case is still compelling because it is about a troubled person, not legally insane, but according to the psychiatrist who evaluated her, possessing a personality disorder and moral ambivalence. Combined with Heroin addiction, the drug given the name of a female hero because it was supposed to wean addicts off Morphine, Graham was either numb or experiencing withdrawal while committing the crime. Money to buy the drug was the motive, and her subsequent search for it lead police to her arrest. Under the law, drug use might be a reason, but not an excuse, for murder. To the author's credit, she goes through in great detail Graham's alleged confession to Warden Harley Teets at San Quentin that she did pistol-whip Mrs. Monahan. Mrs. Monahan made the mistake of crying out and was killed in an effort to silence her. She was beaten and strangled and she took a long time to die. The two accomplices with whom Graham was tried participated extensively in this grisly process, and were convicted of the Monahan murder, as well as other murders in California. Both were executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin. I hope the authorities in my town are just as "desperate" to prosecute home invaders and murderers, the death penalty notwithstanding.
Today, although the death penalty is legal in California, Graham's trial might have been bifurcated, and more importantly, her lack of a violent history would have probably taken the death penalty off the table. The author correctly posits that her gender might have helped her as well. Graham most likely would have gotten what she wanted the least; a long prison sentence.
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