You are now listening to True Murder, the most shocking killers in true crime history,

and the authors that have written about them.

Gacy, Bundy, Dahmer, The Nightstalker, BTK.

Every week, another fascinating author,

talking about the most shocking and infamous killers in true crime history.

True murder.

With your host, journalist and author, Dan Zufansky.

Good evening.

In this dramatic, true account about the power of sensationalized crime, one woman's case is exposed for its sexism, flagrant disregard for the truth, and ultimately the dangers posed by an unbridled prosecution.

Unwanted and neglected from birth, Barbara Graham had to overcome the odds just to survive.

Her beauty was both a blessing and a curse, offering her too many options of all the wrong kind.

Her innate sensitivity left her vulnerable to the harsh realities of the street,

where she was left to fend for herself before she reached double digits.

Her record of petty crime spoke to a life that constantly

teetered on the brink of disaster. But in 1953, a catastrophic twist of fate would catapult her

out of obscurity and into the headlines. When a robbery spiraled out of control and escalated into a brutal murder,

Barbara became the centerpiece of a media circus.

Her beauty enraptured the press,

and they were quick to portray her as a villainous femme fatale,

despite abundant evidence to the contrary.

A fiction, the prosecution, eagerly promoted.

The frenzy of public interest and willful distortion

...