Diane Zamora

YEARS FROM NOW, the linkage between Diane Zamora and the U.S. Naval Academy may be forgotten -- as it should be. Before and after the 20-year-old was sentenced last week to life in prison for the December 1995 murder of Adrianne Jones in Texas, the academy sought to place as much distance as possible between it and her. The school's motivation was understandable, but it need not apologize.The horrendous crime had nothing to do with the institution in Annapolis, where Zamora was enrolled for two months.

YEARS FROM NOW, the linkage between Diane Zamora and the U.S. Naval Academy may be forgotten -- as it should be. Before and after the 20-year-old was sentenced last week to life in prison for the December 1995 murder of Adrianne Jones in Texas, the academy sought to place as much distance as possible between it and her. The school's motivation was understandable, but it need not apologize.The horrendous crime had nothing to do with the institution in Annapolis, where Zamora was enrolled for two months.

MANSFIELD, Texas -- Beside the track where Adrianne Jones ran, her coaches and fellow students at Mansfield High School planted a red oak tree in her honor. In front of the tree stands a bronze plaque with a simple motto: "Strength, Unity, Courage."The epitaph was written just two weeks after her slaying Dec. 4, nine months before the arrest of a Naval Academy midshipman and an Air Force Academy cadet would catapult the killing onto the national newscasts. Yet it is an oddly apt commentary on this lurid slaying in the suburbs of Fort Worth that have seen more than their share of such murders.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- A jury convicted former Naval Academy midshipman Diane Zamora of capital murder yesterday in the slaying of Adrianne Jones, a 16-year-old high school classmate with whom Zamora's boyfriend claimed he once had sex.Zamora, holding the hand of one of her three lawyers, showed little emotion when the verdict was read. Her wide, dark-brown eyes appeared confused and scared as she looked over her shoulder at her sobbing family and was led away by bailiffs. Her attorneys said they will appeal.

MANSFIELD, Texas -- It was a love that some say was strong, others obsessive. And it appears that somehow that bond became twisted, leading David Graham and Diane Zamora down the forlorn, Seton Road toward murder on Dec. 4.The two 18-year-old honor students who within six months would be at prestigious military schools -- Graham at the Air Force Academy and Zamora at the Naval Academy -- are today in jail, charged with the murder of Adrianne Jones, a...

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Diane Zamora, the former U.S. Naval Academy midshipman, accused of killing the teen-ager with whom her fiance had a one-night tryst, was unfaithful, according to testimony yesterday.Jay Guild, also a former midshipman and once a member of Zamora's squad at the academy, told jurors that he and Zamora became romantically involved in their two months at the academy. They kissed a few times, but never slept together, and introduced each other's parents during a parents' weekend, he testified.

He told me, 'You haven't been the only girl in my life.' He said, 'I have had sex with someone else before.' I kept ramming my head against the walls. I just didn't want to live with what he had said to me. I felt like I had lost everything. My family wasn't in the best financial shape, and now he was telling me the one thing I prized more than anything else was taken away. I screamed at him, 'Kill her, kill her.' -- Diane Zamora, Sept. 6, 1996FORT WORTH, Texas -- The journey to the Tarrant County Courthouse for her murder trial tomorrow began 16 blocks away at Harris Methodist Hospital, where 7-pound Diane Zamora emerged as the first child of Carlos and Gloria Zamora.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- A jury convicted former Naval Academy midshipman Diane Zamora of capital murder yesterday in the slaying of Adrianne Jones, a 16-year-old high school classmate with whom Zamora's boyfriend claimed he once had sex.Zamora, holding the hand of one of her three lawyers, showed little emotion when the verdict was read. Her wide, dark-brown eyes appeared confused and scared as she looked over her shoulder at her sobbing family and was led away by bailiffs. Her attorneys said they will appeal.

REVENGE MAY BE behind the inquiry into Naval Academy Superintendent Adm. Charles R. Larson's conduct in dealing with crimes by midshipmen, but it should go forward. A fair-minded probe will vindicate his decisions.The basic allegation against the superintendent by disgruntled Navy investigators is that he limited naval criminal investigations in a number of cases. From what is known publicly, he did not obstruct any inquiry or prosecution. He handled the incidents in ways to divert attention from the officer training school, whose reputation was under siege at the time.

BY NOMINATING Rear Adm. John R. Ryan as the next U.S. Naval Academy superintendent, the Navy is following precedent established when Adm. Charles R. Larson took over four years ago. The billet is now considered an important post that must be filled by a strong leader who can mold future Navy and Marine officers.Admiral Ryan is a well-regarded flag officer who will continue the much-needed reforms Admiral Larson initiated. Colleagues say Admiral Ryan is effective and forceful, and demands a great deal from himself and the personnel under his command.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Jurors in Diane Zamora's capital murder trial failed to reach a verdict after 7 1/2 hours of deliberation yesterday, and are to return today to grapple over whether the former Naval Academy midshipman should receive a life sentence.Is Zamora the "sociopathic liar" Assistant District Attorney Mike Parrish described in closing arguments?Or is she the victim of a domineering and sadistic boyfriend, described by John Linebarger, her lawyer, as a "machismo G. I. Joe?"The jury of seven men and five women went out at 10: 55 a.m. Central Standard Time and by day's end had not reached a decision.

BY NOMINATING Rear Adm. John R. Ryan as the next U.S. Naval Academy superintendent, the Navy is following precedent established when Adm. Charles R. Larson took over four years ago. The billet is now considered an important post that must be filled by a strong leader who can mold future Navy and Marine officers.Admiral Ryan is a well-regarded flag officer who will continue the much-needed reforms Admiral Larson initiated. Colleagues say Admiral Ryan is effective and forceful, and demands a great deal from himself and the personnel under his command.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Diane Zamora, the former U.S. Naval Academy midshipman, accused of killing the teen-ager with whom her fiance had a one-night tryst, was unfaithful, according to testimony yesterday.Jay Guild, also a former midshipman and once a member of Zamora's squad at the academy, told jurors that he and Zamora became romantically involved in their two months at the academy. They kissed a few times, but never slept together, and introduced each other's parents during a parents' weekend, he testified.

He told me, 'You haven't been the only girl in my life.' He said, 'I have had sex with someone else before.' I kept ramming my head against the walls. I just didn't want to live with what he had said to me. I felt like I had lost everything. My family wasn't in the best financial shape, and now he was telling me the one thing I prized more than anything else was taken away. I screamed at him, 'Kill her, kill her.' -- Diane Zamora, Sept. 6, 1996FORT WORTH, Texas -- The journey to the Tarrant County Courthouse for her murder trial tomorrow began 16 blocks away at Harris Methodist Hospital, where 7-pound Diane Zamora emerged as the first child of Carlos and Gloria Zamora.

REVENGE MAY BE behind the inquiry into Naval Academy Superintendent Adm. Charles R. Larson's conduct in dealing with crimes by midshipmen, but it should go forward. A fair-minded probe will vindicate his decisions.The basic allegation against the superintendent by disgruntled Navy investigators is that he limited naval criminal investigations in a number of cases. From what is known publicly, he did not obstruct any inquiry or prosecution. He handled the incidents in ways to divert attention from the officer training school, whose reputation was under siege at the time.

Diane Zamora, a former Naval Academy midshipman who is accused of conspiring with her fiance to kill a romantic rival, told a fellow cadet that she confessed to her mother about the slaying shortly after the killing and was "forgiven" for her alleged part in the crime, the Dallas Morning News reported yesterday.Jay Guild, who is expected to testify in Zamora's murder trial, said that Zamora told him about her confession to her mother while they were classmates at the Naval Academy."I know that she told her mom about it," Guild was reported as saying in the Dallas paper.

Diane Zamora, a former Naval Academy midshipman who is accused of conspiring with her fiance to kill a romantic rival, told a fellow cadet that she confessed to her mother about the slaying shortly after the killing and was "forgiven" for her alleged part in the crime, the Dallas Morning News reported yesterday.Jay Guild, who is expected to testify in Zamora's murder trial, said that Zamora told him about her confession to her mother while they were classmates at the Naval Academy."I know that she told her mom about it," Guild was reported as saying in the Dallas paper.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Jurors in Diane Zamora's capital murder trial failed to reach a verdict after 7 1/2 hours of deliberation yesterday, and are to return today to grapple over whether the former Naval Academy midshipman should receive a life sentence.Is Zamora the "sociopathic liar" Assistant District Attorney Mike Parrish described in closing arguments?Or is she the victim of a domineering and sadistic boyfriend, described by John Linebarger, her lawyer, as a "machismo G. I. Joe?"The jury of seven men and five women went out at 10: 55 a.m. Central Standard Time and by day's end had not reached a decision.

MANSFIELD, Texas -- Beside the track where Adrianne Jones ran, her coaches and fellow students at Mansfield High School planted a red oak tree in her honor. In front of the tree stands a bronze plaque with a simple motto: "Strength, Unity, Courage."The epitaph was written just two weeks after her slaying Dec. 4, nine months before the arrest of a Naval Academy midshipman and an Air Force Academy cadet would catapult the killing onto the national newscasts. Yet it is an oddly apt commentary on this lurid slaying in the suburbs of Fort Worth that have seen more than their share of such murders.

MANSFIELD, Texas -- It was a love that some say was strong, others obsessive. And it appears that somehow that bond became twisted, leading David Graham and Diane Zamora down the forlorn, Seton Road toward murder on Dec. 4.The two 18-year-old honor students who within six months would be at prestigious military schools -- Graham at the Air Force Academy and Zamora at the Naval Academy -- are today in jail, charged with the murder of Adrianne Jones, a...