Editing Barbara Graham (section)

==Arrest and conviction==

On March 26, 1953, police arrested and questioned five men in connection with the murder of Monohan. Three were known associates of L.A. gangster [[Mickey Cohen]], along with another man and Shorter. All of the men knew Monohan through Scherer; however, they were all released due to lack of evidence.<ref name="LAMag" />

Shorter, who was shaken at the thought of going to the gas chamber should the police figure out his involvement, volunteered to [[turn state's evidence]] and gave the police details of the Monohan murder and attempted robbery. He stated that he had seen Perkins hit Monohan with the gun and that he was shaken having witnessed the murder. However, Shorter's statement was leaked and he was later kidnapped and murdered by Perkins and Santo after his release from police custody shortly after his confession.<ref name="LAMag" />

Upon hearing of Shorter's disappearance and probable death, William Upshaw, a convicted felon, volunteered to testify before the grand jury. Upshaw testified that he had been in the car with Barbara Graham, Perkins, Santo, True, and Shorter the night prior to the murder as the group conducted surveillance on Monohan's home and ran through the robbery plans. He stated that he decided not to participate out of fear of retaliation from "Tutor" Scherer.<ref name="LAMag" /> Subsequently, John True agreed to become a state witness in exchange for [[immunity from prosecution]]. In court, True testified against Graham, who continually protested her innocence.<ref name=ok>{{cite journal|last=Foster |first=Teree E. |url=http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/lpop/etext/okla/foster22.htm |title="I Want to Live!": Federal Judicial values in Death Penalty Cases: Preservation of Rights or Punctuality of Execution? |journal=Oklahoma City University Law Review |volume=22 |number=1 |year=1997 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213074759/http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/lpop/etext/okla/foster22.htm |archive-date=2007-02-13 }}</ref>

The press nicknamed Graham "Bloody Babs", reflecting the public disgust for her alleged actions.{{sfn|Cairns|2013|p=106}} Having no alibi, Graham doomed her own defense when she accepted another inmate's offer to pay $25,000 ({{Inflation|US|25000|1953|fmt=eq}}) to the inmate and "a friend" who would provide a false alibi. The inmate, however, was working to reduce her own sentence, and the "friend", who offered to say he was with Graham the night of the murder, was a police officer. Meeting with Graham to plan the alibi story, he insisted that she admit to him that she had indeed been at the scene of the crime. The officer was recording the conversation. This attempt to suborn [[perjury]], plus the recorded admission that she indeed had been at the scene of the widow Monohan's senselessly violent murder, abutted by her previous perjury conviction, completely destroyed Graham's credibility in court. When questioned about her actions at the trial, she said, "Oh, have you ever been desperate? Do you know what it means not to know what to do?"<ref>{{cite book|last=Gillespie|first=L. Kay |title=Dancehall Ladies: The Crimes and Executions of America's Condemned Women|publisher=University Press of America|year=1997|pages=77|isbn=0-7618-0675-X}}</ref>

Graham was convicted, while the informant's sentence was commuted to time served, and she was immediately released. The prosecution was led by district attorney [[J. Miller Leavy]].<ref>{{cite news| work= [[The New York Times]] | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/06/us/j-miller-leavy-89-prosecuted-celebrated-cases.html|title=J. Miller Leavy, 89; Prosecuted Celebrated Cases|date= January 7, 1995 |page=A25 }}</ref>