Barbara Graham was an American criminal convicted of murder. She was executed in the gas chamber on the same day as two convicted accomplices, Jack Santo and Emmett Perkins, all of whom were involved in the robbery that led to murder of an elderly widow. Nicknamed "Bloody Babs" by the press, Graham was the third woman in California to be executed by gas.
Graham, Santo, and Perkins were all sentenced to death for the robbery and murder. Graham appealed her sentence while serving time at the California Institution for Women in Chino. Her appeals failed, and she was transferred to the death row at San Quentin State Prison to await execution. On June 3, 1955, she was scheduled to be executed at 10:00 am, but that was stayed by California governor Goodwin J. Knight until 10:45 am. At 10:43 am, the execution was stayed by Knight again until 11:30 am, and a weary Graham protested, "Why do they torture me? I was ready to go at ten o'clock." At 11:28 am, Graham was led from her cell to be strapped in the gas chamber. There, she requested a blindfold so she would not have to look at the observers. Her last words were, "Good people are always so sure they're right." On being advised that taking a deep breath after the cyanide pellets were dropped would make it easier, she replied "How the hell would you know, you silly rascal ??"