The Trial: Part Three
On cross-examination by the attorneys for the defense, John True admitted that he had agreed to participate in the Monohan robbery in order to raise money to finance a venture involving the salvaging of sunken logs in the northwest lumber camps. He claimed that he first met Barbara Graham when he and Santo arrived in El Monte from northern California, and that it had been Emmett Perkins who introduced them.
Regarding the murder itself, he was forced to reenact the pistol-whipping of the victim, he playing the part of Barbara Graham, one of the lawyers being the victim. True then had to admit that when first arrested as a suspect, he had denied any participation in the crime, which was a lie. He continued to lie in that manner until offered immunity for his testimony. Questioned again about the murder itself, True was asked why at some point he had not just walked out of the house when he had seen that the simple robbery, as planned, had turned into a vicious beating of a helpless old lady. His answer: "I was afraid to walk out. Afraid of the people in that house."
When John True's ordeal on the witness stand was over, the nine guards surrounded him once again and escorted him back out of the courtroom.
With Barbara Graham now believing that her guilt, as well as the guilt of Perkins and Santo, had been sealed by True's testimony, she tried a last, desperate measure. All along she had taken the position that she could not remember where she had been on the murder night. Now, she met with her attorney, Jack Hardy, after court in a conference room and told him she had finally recalled the night: she had been in a motel in Encino with an old friend named Sam. He had just visited her in jail and reminded her of it. Sam would be in court tomorrow to confer with Hardy and establish, finally, an alibi for her. Hardy, who had never quite trusted Barbara since the day he had been appointed by Judge Fricke to represent her, had emphasized to her that she had to be completely honest with him if he was to help her. He reminded her now that she had promised to do so, and she swore to him that her alibi was factual and that Sam was a legitimate witness. Hardy told her to have him in court the next day to be interviewed by him.
That night, in the women's lockup, Mommy passed a note to Candy Pants to use the inmate pay phone and call Sam right away to be in court. At that point, Barbara thought she was home free. Emmett and Jack were going to take a hard fall for this rap, and that was tough luck for them. She knew they were counting on her to help them beat the death sentence; they didn't think the jury would send a good-looking young mother to the gas chamber -- and if she didn't go, they wouldn't go.
But Babs had found herself a way out, and she was taking it.
She liked Emmett and Jack -- but not enough to take a chance on dying for them.
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