Trial Begins with Zamora Blaming Graham and Casting
Doubt on Alleged Sexual Liaison
(FORT WORTH, TEXAS - Feb. 2) According to the alleged confession of David Graham, defendant
Diane Zamora's former fiancee and accomplice in the murder of 16-year-old Adrianne Jones, Zamora
was so enraged when Graham told her about his one-night affair with Jones that he could not resist
her demand for vengeance in the slaying of Jones. Graham's confession implied that Zamora had some
control over him. And prosecutor Michele Hartmann told jurors during her opening statement
that Zamora had control over herself and described for police in her own words her role in Jones's murder
However, Zamora's attorney John Linebarger painted a very different picture of the Graham-Zamora
relationship during opening arguments in the first day of testimony of her murder trial. According
to Linebarger, Graham and Zamora had an intense relationship in which "David Graham became her [Diane's] mother,
father and her lover." Zamora, Linebarger implied, would have done absolutely anything for Graham
and was under his control. Linebarger told jurors that Zamora, like the rest of her family, was a
religious person who helped take care of her siblings, valued her relationship with Graham and her
virginity. The defense attorney also told jurors that by the end of the trial, they would not only
have reasonable doubt about Zamora's alleged role in Jones's murder, but also about whether Graham
even had a sexual encounter at all with Jones. (This defense assertion implied that Zamora only
thought that Graham had had an affair with Jones because Graham had told her so.)
During opening statements, the defense also claimed that county police and detectives had mishandled
the crime scene and handled crime scene evidence sloppily.
The first witness called by the prosecution was Kristina Mason, one of Zamora's former best
friend from high school. Under examination by prosecutor Michael Parrish, Mason described
Zamora in high school as "very determined, goal-oriented" person who wanted to be an astronaut
one day. She told the court that Zamora was attracted to Graham because they had common goals
and shared an interest in the military.
Mason testified that Zamora told her about her role in Jones's murder one week after the incident.
This witness told the jury that the defendant told her how she had made Graham prove his love for
her by ordering him to kill Jones. Zamora told Mason about how their plan to kill Jones was
supposed to occur--and how it did not go exactly as planned. According to Mason, Zamora struggled
with Jones in the car while Graham tried to hold Jones. Zamora hit Jones in the head with a dumbbell,
but Jones unexpectedly ran out of the car. According to Mason, Zamora confessed that she told Graham to "Shoot her! Kill her! Shoot her!" Graham then took his gun, tracked down Jones, and shot her twice in the head.
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Mason also admitted that she originally did not go to police with this information and lied in her previous depositions about her knowledge of the case because she was afraid of what might happen to her. Even after police an erroneous initial arrest in the murder of Jones (In the days after the murder, police arrested a Jones acquaintance, Brian McMillan; he was later released because of lack of evidence.), Mason did not approach the authorities.
Under cross-examination by the defense, Mason told jurors about an argument that occurred between Zamora and Graham during a weekend camping trip more than six months after Jones's murder. Mason claimed that Zamora was crying, upset and in fear of Graham and sought refuge in Mason's tent. The witness then said that an angry Graham, armed with a 14-15 inch knife started slashing the tent. The defense also had Mason admit that Graham had a preoccupation with guns. Mason also admitted that Zamora told her during her alleged confession that Jones's murder "shouldn't have happened" (The defense was trying to use Mason's testimony to portray Graham as a domineering, intimidating figure in their relationship with a tendency towards violence.)
Linebarger also asked Mason about the condition of Zamora's left hand. (Zamora allegedly used her left hand to strike Jones. However, Zamora's hand was severely injured in a car accident months before the murder and had limited use.) The defense tried to imply with this questioning that Zamora's hand may have been too weak for her to use during Jones's murder. However, during a redirect cross-examination by the prosecution, Mason testified that Zamora was right-handed and could perform various tasks despite the injury to her left hand.
Linda Jones, the victim's mother, also testified and described her late daughter as "energetic, a best friend to many and outgoing." Choking back tears, Mrs. Jones told the court how her daughter had received a call from David Graham a few hours before her murder and how, against her parents' wishes, Jones stayed on the phone with Graham beyond her phone curfew. Mrs. Jones said she became nervous about her daughter's whereabouts when she found that she was not in her room that morning.
The defense ended the first day's testimony by trying to undermine the efficiency police investigator Michael Fleming and forensic death investigator Gloria Franco Hamilton in gathering evidence from the murder scene.
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