Saturday, September 14, 1996

Prosecutor May Seek Death Penalty in Military cadets murder

By Associated Press

FORT WORTH (AP) - The two young lovers charged in the murder of a 16-year-old Mansfield girl may face the death penalty.

The lead prosecutor in the case against two military cadets says it probably will be several weeks before the decision is made on whether to charge them with capital murder.

Police say David Christopher Graham and his fiancee, Diane Zamora, killed 16-year-old Adrianne Jones in December because of a sexual encounter she supposedly had with Graham.

Assistant Tarrant County District Attorney Michael Parrish said Thursday that he and his colleagues are trying to determine whether to allege that Miss Jones was kidnapped before the killing.

One statutory definition of capital murder is a homicide that occurs during the commission of certain other felonies, including kidnapping.

"You can kidnap somebody by force, threats or deception," Parrish said. "If he (Graham) induced her into that car by deception ... it could be kidnapping."

In the confession that authorities say they obtained last week, Graham said that he and Miss Zamora decided to lure Miss Jones out to his car and then drive her out near Joe Pool Lake so he could "break her young neck."

Graham, who was attending the Air Force Academy at the time of his arrest, said the reason for the attack was to make up for his indiscretion with Miss Jones, which he said had angered Miss Zamora, a Naval Academy midshipman who graduated from Crowley High School.

Graham's attorney contends that the statement was coerced.