Diane Zamora

Diane Michelle Zamora (January 21, 1978 - ) is the notorious villainess behind the "Texas Cadet Murder"; the brutal slaying of Adrienne Jones in 1995.

Diane Zamora was a volunteer in the Texas Civil Air Patrol in 1991 when she met fellow volunteer David Graham. The pair began a romantic relationship in August 1995, that resulted in them being engaged a month later, with plans to marry in 2000--long after their high school graduations. On November 4, David engaged in a sexual tryst with schoolmate Adrienne Jones, and it was just a few weeks later that he confessed to the affair to Diane. In response, an enraged Diane demanded to David that in order to prove his love and loyalty to her, he had to kill Adrienne.

The pair planned Adrienne's murder shortly afterwards, and it was on December 3, 1995 that Adrienne and David drove out to Joe Pool Lake for a date, while Diane hid in the hatchback of the car. The plan was that Diane would come from behind and snap Adrienne's neck, but a struggle between the women changed things. Instead, Diane bludgeoned Adrienne with weights before David shot her to death. The couple disposed of Adrienne's body and cleaned up after themselves before leaving the scene, with Adrienne's body found on the following day.

Diane ended up at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, and it was during her time there that she informed her roommates that she killed Adrienne. Her roommates phoned the police, leading to Diane and David's arrests in September of 1996. Diane's trial lasted two weeks during February 1998, and it ended with the 20-year-old villainess convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison--she would not be eligible for parole until 2038 (when Diane is 60). Diane's deceptions were played out during the trial, as after both she and David confessed to the murders, they recanted and each one labeled the other as the sole killer. In a 2007 interview on Dateline, Diane claimed that she and David were on the verge of breaking up, and that David killed Adrienne on his own to "tie Diane to him." She also took a polygraph, which she failed, during which she gave exaggerated breaths (which are a known countermeasure).

Trivia

 * Love's Deadly Triangle: The Texas Cadet Murder, a Lifetime movie based on Diane Zamora, was released in 1997, with Holly Marie Combs (of Charmed fame) playing Diane.