Viswa Vanapalli
In December 1995, teenager Adrianne Jones walked out of her house to meet a friend, only to never return. The following morning, her badly beaten body was found on a rural road. Investigation Discovery’s ‘People Magazine Investigates: In the Name of Love’ focuses on a love triangle that led to Adrianne’s death that was only solved by the killers’ confessions. So, let’s find out what happened then, shall we?
How Did Adrianne Jones Die?
Adrianne Jessica Jones was born in Mansfield, Texas, in June 1979. Her family moved to Mansfield from Dallas, Texas, in 1984, and Adrianne grew up in a strict household. The 16-year-old had two younger brothers and was described as an athletic and fun-loving girl. At the time of the incident, she was a high-school sophomore at the local school and a gifted runner.
During the early morning hours of December 4, 1995, a farmer found a dead body behind a barbed wire fence while driving on a lonely country road; it was Adrianne’s. She had been badly beaten and had suffered two gunshot wounds. One left a hole in her left cheek while another left one in her forehead. Apart from that, Adrianne had blunt force trauma on the left side of her head.
Who Killed Adrianne Jones?
Linda Jones, Adrianne’s mother, remembered her daughter returning home from work on December 3, 1995. After working out at a local fitness center, Adrianne spoke to someone over the phone and then went to sleep. Then, at around 2 am, her brother remembered seeing her leaving home. There were no signs of a kidnapping or struggle at the house; everything seemed to point to Adrianne voluntarily going to meet someone she knew. However, the case turned cold over the next few months.
It wasn’t until August 1996 that things changed, thanks to information all the way from Annapolis, Maryland. There, two cadets at the Naval Academy told their superiors about one of their friends confessing to a murder. The person in question was Diane Zamora, and she talked about Adrianne’s murder. Diane studied in Crowley, Texas, before graduating from high school and joining the Naval Academy. She had been in a relationship with David Graham, who used to be a high school student in Mansfield. After the incident, he went on to join the Air Force Academy.
Investigation revealed that David and Adrianne had been at the cross-country meet in Lubbock, Texas, in November 1995. He then gave her a ride back home, and on the way back, they had a sexual encounter behind an elementary school. Once the authorities learned of Diane’s confession to her roommates, she was suspended. Then, instead of going home, Diane went to see David at his academy in Colorado. The authorities eventually questioned David, and while he denied it at the beginning, he provided a detailed confession later on.
By then, the police had also learned that one of David’s friends had David and Diane visit him on the night Adrianne disappeared; the couple’s clothes were bloody at the time. In his confession, David stated that he told Diane about his fling with Adrianne, and in return, she asked him to kill her. So, on the night of the murder, David picked up Adrianne while Diane hid in the back of the car. Once on the country road, David claimed Diane hit Adrianne in her head with a dumbbell. However, the 16-year-old somehow escaped from the vehicle. She then collapsed in a field, and David shot her twice with a 9mm firearm.
Then, Diane was also questioned, and she told the police a similar story. According to the police, Diane mentioned that the plan was to kill Adrianne, wipe her down, and dump her in a lake. But while David began to choke her, she resisted, leading Diane to hit her in the head. While Diane was in the Naval Academy, she told Jay Guild, a fellow midshipman she got close to, that she asked David to kill a girl after David cheated. In her testimony, one of Diane’s roommates said, “She said … the girl deserved it … everyone knew the girl was a tramp and a sl*t.”
Where Are David Graham and Diane Zamora Today?
During Diane’s trial in February 1998, she claimed her confession was false and that she only repeated what the police told her about David’s confession. Diane had asserted that she only wanted to talk to Adrianne, never kill her. She claimed to witness the murder and cleaned the car afterward. Nevertheless, a jury found her guilty of capital murder. Diane was 20-years-old in February 1998 and was sentenced to 40 years to life. Prison records indicate that she remains incarcerated at the Dr. Lane Murray Unit in Gatesville, Texas. Diane will be eligible for parole in 2036.
In July 1998, David was found guilty of capital murder. Then 20-years-old, he received the same sentence as Diane. While David once claimed he wasn’t even present when Adrianne was killed, he later admitted to pulling the trigger. David is serving his sentence at the James V. Allred Unit in Iowa Park, Texas. He will be eligible for parole in 2036. In 2003, Diane married another inmate by proxy, and David did the same in 2010. However, it has been reported that Diane has since divorced her partner.
Read More: How Did Royal Abram and Matrell Johnson Die?
