22 Facts About Barbara Graham

Barbara Elaine "Bonnie" Wood Graham was an American criminal convicted of murder.

Barbara Graham was executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin Prison on the same day as two convicted accomplices, Jack Santo and Emmett Perkins, all of whom were involved in a robbery that led to the murder of an elderly widow.

Barbara Graham married Harry Kielhamer, a US Coast Guardsman, in 1940, and enrolled in a business college and soon had her first two children.

Barbara Graham was arrested on vice charges in these naval cities and in San Pedro, California.

Barbara Graham soon became involved in gambling and illegal drug circles, cultivating a number of friends who were ex-convicts and known career criminals.

Barbara Graham served a five-year sentence for perjury as a false alibi witness for two petty criminals, serving her sentence at the California Women's State Prison at Tehachapi, California.

Barbara Graham obtained work in a hospital and as a waitress, but soon got on a bus for Los Angeles.

In 1953, she married Henry Barbara Graham, who worked as a bartender at one of her frequent haunts.

Henry Barbara Graham was addicted to illegal drugs and known as a hardened but low-level criminal.

Barbara Graham started an affair with Perkins, who told her about a 64-year-old widow, Mabel Monohan, who was alleged to keep a large amount of cash and jewelry in her home in Burbank, California.

Barbara Graham's ex-son-in-law was 74-year-old Luther B Scherer, a multi-millionaire who was well known through his ownership of various gambling clubs in locations such as Palm Springs and casinos in Las Vegas.

On March 8,1953, Barbara Graham had dinner in the San Fernando Valley with Perkins, Santo, True, and Shorter, a safe-cracker.

Shorter stated that he initially did not want Barbara Graham to participate because she was a "dame" but Perkins convinced him that it was the only way Monohan would open the front door.

True did not mention these events and stated that Barbara Graham began to viciously beat Monohan.

Barbara Graham stated that he had seen Perkins hit Monohan with the gun and that he was shaken having witnessed the murder.

Barbara Graham stated that he decided not to participate out of fear of retaliation from "Tutor" Scherer.

The inmate was working to reduce her own sentence, and the "friend", who offered to say he was with Barbara Graham the night of the murder, was a police officer.

Barbara Graham was convicted, while the informant was immediately released from jail, and the informant's sentence commuted to time served.

Barbara Graham appealed her sentence while at the California Institution for Women in Chino, California.

Barbara Graham's appeals failed, and on June 2,1955, she was transferred to San Quentin State Prison.

Barbara Graham was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery, San Rafael, California.

Simpson murder trial, has authored Trial by Ambush, a true crime book exploring the Barbara Graham case, set for publication on December 1,2024.