But a new examination of the case 70 years on, by the lead prosecutor in OJ Simpson's murder proceedings, has revealed that the woman dubbed 'Bloody Babs' would almost certainly have met a different end had it not been for a 'travesty' of a trial and a 'profound breach of ethics.'.
The sordid, untold story of Bloody Babs... 'the most beautiful victim the gas chamber has ever claimed' Barbara Graham was blessed with 1950s movie star beauty - but she was no angel.
But, while critically acclaimed, that version of events took the opposite approach, painting Graham as 'a devoted mother who’d been falsely accused and framed by unscrupulous cops,’ says Clark.
Graham was convicted of murder based on the flimsy account of an accomplice, and sent to the gas chamber - the third woman in California to meet that gruesome fate.
Clark said she'd seen serial killers and mass murderers get more humane treatment than Barbara Graham.
