Prosecuting Evil With Kelly Siegler is investigating the murder of teenager Adrianne Jones, sometimes known as the Texas Cadet Murder Case, because the two killers, David Graham and Diane Zamora, were recruits in military academies.
On December 4, 1995, Adrianne, a 16-year-old sophomore student from Mansfield, Texas, was beaten with a dumbbell and shot twice in the head near a deserted road near Grand Prairie, Texas.
Adrianne had been lured out of her house by another member of her school track and field team, David Graham. The pair had had sex on one occasion despite Graham being in a relationship with Zamora.
The cops would later conclude that Zamora had been so consumed with jealousy after hearing about her boyfriend’s one-time affair with Adrianne that she demanded she be killed for him to prove his love for her.
On the night of the murder, Zamora hid in the trunk of a car as Graham drove Adrianne to the secluded spot. There was a struggle with Adrianne when she realized the danger and tried to escape.
The cops suspect Zamora hit Adrianne with the weight and that Graham shot her in the head with a Russian Makarov 9mm pistol.
The Mansfield community was shocked by the teenager’s murder, and they were doubly shocked when they learned who the killers were. Zamora was an honor student enrolled as a Midshipman in the Naval Academy. Graham was a keen athlete who had recently started in the Air Force Academy and dreamed of becoming an astronaut.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelDiane Zamora told friend she and David Graham killed Adrianne Jones
The cops initially struggled to crack the case, interviewing hundreds of people of interest, but failed to find the killer.
The breakthrough eventually came when one of Zamora’s friends at the Naval Academy told the police Zamora had confessed to the murder.
A second childhood friend of Zamora eventually admitted to the cops that Zamora had told her, “That’s how [Graham] proved his love for me. He killed [Adrianne].”
David Graham and Diane Zamora blamed each other for Adrianne Jones murder
Graham and Zamora were arrested, and both turned on each other. Graham claimed his girlfriend had given him an ultimatum demanding he help her kill Adrianne.
Whereas Zamora portrayed Graham as a manipulative, abusive boyfriend who had forced her into helping him kill their victim. Both killers insisted the murder had been the other one’s idea.
Graham and Zamora were tried separately, but in the end, both were convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison. The prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty.
In 2018, Zamora lost an appeal after she sought and failed to win a civil rights lawsuit against Texas prison officials. She had demanded to stay in protective custody due to the high-profile nature of her case; however, her argument was struck down by an appeals judge.
Prosecuting Evil With Kelly Siegler airs Saturdays at 8/7c on Oxygen.