Barbara Graham

Barbara Graham
1953 mugshot of Graham
Born
Barbara Elaine Ford

(1923-06-26)June 26, 1923
DiedJune 3, 1955(1955-06-03) (aged 31)
Cause of deathExecution by gas chamber
Other namesBloody Babs
Criminal statusExecuted
Children3
MotiveRobbery
Conviction(s)First degree murder
Criminal penaltyDeath

Barbara Elaine "Bonnie" Wood Graham (née Ford; June 26, 1923 – June 3, 1955) was an American criminal convicted of murder. She 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. Nicknamed "Bloody Babs" by the press, Graham was the third woman in California to be executed by gas.[1]

Her story of adult criminal activity is told in the highly fictionalized 1958 film I Want to Live!, in which she was portrayed by Susan Hayward, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress.

  1. ^ O'Shea, Kathleen A. (1999). Women and the Death Penalty in the United States, 1900–1998. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 70. ISBN 0-275-95952-X.