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Zamora: Murder confession made out of love
Former midshipman says her admissions 'misinterpreted'
February 11, 1998
Web posted at: 9:26 p.m. EST (0226 GMT)FORT WORTH, Texas (CNN) -- Diane Zamora says she falsely confessed to the murder of her romantic rival to protect her former fiancè, who actually committed the slaying.
"I wanted to take the blame because I loved him," Zamora testified Wednesday under cross-examination in her capital murder trial.
Zamora, 20, a former midshipman at the Naval Academy, and her former fiancè, David Graham, 20, a former Air Force Academy cadet, are charged with kidnapping, beating and shooting Adrianne Jones, 16, in 1995.
Prosecutors have alleged that the couple killed Jones because the girl had a sexual encounter with Graham that made Zamora jealous. Graham will be tried separately.
Testimony from the murder trial of Diane Zamora
2 min. 18 sec. VXtreme video
In 1996, Zamora signed a confession detailing how she instigated the murder and helped to subdue Jones by striking her in the head with an exercise weight before Graham shot her. Four other witnesses have testified that Zamora told them details about the murder.
Zamora testified she only witnessed the murder
But under direct examination Tuesday, she said she only witnessed the murder and neither encouraged nor helped Graham kill Jones.
On cross-examination Wednesday, when prosecutors asked Zamora why her confession contained more detail than a confession given by Graham, she said she was embellishing his tale.
Graham "His statement isn't very detailed. It's general," she said. "He left a lot of room for just talk."
When pressed to explain testimony from a high school friend, Kristina Mason, who said Zamora confessed details to her -- including that she exhorted Graham to shoot Jones -- Zamora angrily replied, "Kristina Mason is a liar."
She also said that three Naval Academy students who testified that Zamora told them details about the murder "misinterpreted a lot." She denied that she had told them that she had killed Jones.
Court adjourned for the day after a forensic psychologist, Dr. Michael Lobb, shocked the courtroom by testifying that there are "several volumes" of love letters, drawings and e-mail messages between Zamora and Graham. Prosecutors had not seen the material.
Testimony is set to resume Thursday morning.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Despite confession, ex-midshipman denies intent to kill - February 10, 1998
Related sites:
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- Texas v. Zamora: "The Diane Zamora Trial" - Court TV Online
- The Trial of Diane Zamora - Fort Worth Star-Telegram
- Sealed In Blood - People Magazine
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
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