The David Graham - Diane Zamora Case: A Chronology

The Background of the Case 1991 Diane Zamora and David Graham meet each other for the first time at Fort Worth, Texas while they are both enrolled in weekly search and rescue training classes in the Civil Air Patrol, an Air Force auxiliary organization. August 1995 Zamora and Graham start dating. September 1995 Professing their true love for one another, Graham and Zamora announce their engagement to their families. They intend to marry on August 13, 2000, soon after their planned graduations from their military academies. Graham and Zamora envision themselves walking under crossed swords held by other cadets at the end of the ceremony. November 4, 1995 Graham has sex with track teammate Adrianne Jones, a Mansfield High School sophomore, while returning from a track meet held in Lubbock, Texas. The two have their encounter after Graham parked his car behind an elementary school while driving Jones home. Ridden with guilt over his infidelity, Graham confesses his affair to Zamora around Dec. 1. An enraged Zamora allegedly demands that Graham atone for his trangression by killing Jones. December 3, 1995 Graham and Zamora murder Jones. The plan begins with Graham calling Jones and arranging a late-night date with her. Graham picks up Jones, who sneaks out of her house to see him. After driving to a secluded area near Grand Prairie, Graham and Zamora, who hides in the car's hatchback, attack Jones. Frustrated that she is unable to break Jones's neck during a struggle, Zamora bashes Jones in the head with a dumbbell. Jones runs out of the car only to be tracked down by Graham and shot to death in a nearby field. Afterwards, Graham and Zamora dispose of their bloody clothes. December 4, 1995 Adrianne Jones's body is discovered by a farmer in Grand Prairie the next day. Her murder goes unsolved for the next nine months. Police question Graham in the days following Jones's murder but do not give him a lie detector test. He is almost immediately ruled out as a suspect. Late-August 1996 During a late-night conversation, Zamora, who had just started basic training at Annapolis, tells her two roommates about the murder of Jones. Zamora says that she and Graham love each other so much, they proved it by killing for one another. Adhering to the Naval honor code, the two plebes relay the story to the Naval chaplain, who then reports the story to the Naval attorney. August 29-30, 1996 After contacting authorities in Dallas-Fort Worth, Naval officials notify the Grand Prairie Police Department and tell them about Zamora's story. Detectives soon fly out to Annapolis to question Zamora, who claims she made the story up. Another team of detectives fly out to Colorado Springs, Colo. to question Graham, who has just started service at the Air Force Academy. Soon afterwards, Navy officials suspend Zamora and send her home pending the investigation. While en route to Texas, Zamora switches flights and visits Graham before detectives can question him. Graham later corroborates Zamora's story to investigators. September 4, 1996 Graham is arrested in Colorado for the murder of Adrianne Jones and after failing a polygraph lie detector test, confesses the crime to authorities. (He typed most of the confession.) Zamora is arrested in Texas two days later and eventually confesses to the murder. September 18, 1996 Prosecutors upgrade the charges against Graham and Zamora from murder to capital murder. Under capital murder in Texas, both could receive either the death penalty or life in prison. November 11, 1996 Prosecutors indict Zamora and Graham, and at the request of the victim's family, announce that they are not seeking the death penalty against the couple. February 6, 1997 KXAS-TV, NBC's affiliate in Dallas-Fort Worth, announces that it will not air the network's made-for-TV movie about the Graham-Zamora case, "Love's Deadly Triangle: The Texas Cadet Murder." NBC is criticized nationally for airing a movie about real-life defendants in a crime before they go to trial. February 10, 1997 "Love's Deadly Triangle: The Texas Cadet Murder" is televised on NBC in affiliates other than the Dallas-Fort Worth areas. KXAS-TV, which decided not to show the movie, airs another motion picture called "Tender Mercies" in its place. ("Tender Mercies," starring Robert Duvall, is about an alcoholic former country singer named Mac Sledge whose friendship with a widow and her young son enables him to resume his career.) August 20, 1997 Judge Joe Drago rules that Graham and Zamora will receive separate trials. It is reported that Graham and Zamora are blaming each other for Jones's murder. January 18, 1998 Jury selection for Diane Zamora's trial begins in Tarrant County. January 26, 1998 Jury selection for Diane Zamora's trial is completed. Opening statements in the trial are scheduled to begin February 2, 1998. January 27, 1998 Zamora's attorneys file a motion to have her confession kept out her upcoming trial. Zamora claims that her confession was coerced and that she was not totally aware of her rights when she was questioned by authorities. She also says that she only told authorities what she thought they wanted to hear after they promised her that she could visit with Graham. Judge Drago doesn't rule on the motion that day but later admits confession into trial. February 2, 1998 Testimony in Zamora's trial begins. February 10-11, 1998 Zamora testifies at her trial and blames Graham for Jones's murder. She tells jurors that she did not know Graham was going to kill Jones on the night of the incident and claims that she never intended to harm the victim. Instead, Zamora claims, she only wanted to confront Jones over the alleged affair with Graham. Zamora's testimony also focuses on an allegedly abusive relationship she had with Graham. February 17, 1998 Zamora is convicted of the capital murder of Adrianne Jones and receives a mandatory life sentence in prison. She will not be eligible for parole for 40 years. April 24, 1998 During a pre-trial hearing, Judge Don Leonard rules that Graham's confession will be admissible at his trial. July 6, 1998 Jury selection in Graham's trial begins. July 10, 1998 Judge Leonard rules that Zamora's confession will be admissible at Graham's trial. July 15, 1998 Testimony in Graham's trial begins. July 22, 1998 Outside the presence of the jury, and despite the promise of immunity from the state, Zamora invokes her Fifth Amendment Right not to incriminate herself and refuses to testify at Graham's trial. Graham's defense had wanted Zamora to testify on his behalf, arguing that she had forfeited her Fifth Amendment privilege because she testified at her trial. The judge disagreed, ruling Zamora still had the constitutional right and that the immunity offer was not adequate. Graham's defense rests without calling any witnesses. July 24, 1998 Graham is convicted of capital murder and automatically sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 40 years.