Although Marcia Clark is perhaps most famous for her role as the prosecutor in the 1994 OJ Simpson trial, she also always wanted to write books. Now, she’s combined both her passions in Trial by Ambush: Murder, Injustice, and the Truth About the Case of Barbara Graham, which released December 1, 2024.
(Note: Marcia has also written other books, including Without a Doubt, about the OJ Simpson trial, and several novels.)
In Trial by Ambush, Marcia offers a true account of the burglary-turned-murder of Barbara Graham—and the resulting trial. Marcia investigates the case, exposing the fallacies in the picture the prosecution painted of Graham, and the critical evidence that was never revealed.
Marcia joined Kim on a recent episode of The Kim Gravel Show, and discussed not only her new book, but also her role in and reaction to the Simpson trial, her love of true crime, and more.
She said she experienced “a moment of identification with Barbara Graham” thanks to the way the media treated her when she was Simpson’s prosecutor.
Just as the media commented on everything from Marcia’s hair to her love life, they went in “like a homing pigeon” on Barbara Graham during the 1950s trial: “She’s young, she’s 30 years old. She’s beautiful. And she’s charged with this heinous crime, a murder of a very innocent elderly woman who lives in this quiet little suburban place, Burbank … and it’s a vicious, really vicious murder. And she’s sitting next to these two thugs [her co-defendants] … one thing here is not like the other.”
“The press went nuts with this,” she said. “The press nonstop focused on her hair, her makeup, her clothes, every move she made, every time she yawned, every time she turned her head. And it was, in large part, such a distortion and exaggeration of anything she did. Because they were just looking for something to write about.”
Marcia said, “It was their version of clickbait. And they wrote about her morning, noon, and night.”
“It was so hard researching for this book, to even find one line describing the men,” Marcia said. “They were the masterminds. But she got stood up as being the leader of the gang, which was completely wrong. It was an amazing thing.”
Kim asked Marcia to share the details of Barbara Graham’s story, based on her research, and Marcia said Barbara was abandoned and neglected from birth. Although Barbara’s mother didn’t want her, she had two more kids and kept them. Barbara wound up getting into trouble. She lived with strangers on and off, and eventually with an abusive woman.
“She ended up doing what unskilled, impoverished people do, which is anything she can in order to make a living. And so shoplifting, wrote bad checks, prostitution, and yet somehow managed to stay away from the really violent stuff. So her involvement in this particular case was really something way out of step for her. It’s not in her nature at all.”
There was a rumor, Marcia said, that a casino operator and real estate entrepreneur stashed money in the victim’s Burbank home. On the night of the burglary-turned-murder, the masterminds sent Barbara to the door because she was a young, beautiful woman and the victim would be more likely to open the door to her.
She was supposed to tell the victim her car had broken down and ask to use the phone. When the victim opened the door, the men behind the crime rushed in. They tore up the house looking for the money. In the end, the victim ended up dead. When her gardener came to the house, he found the house torn up and blood on the walls, and called his police officer friend.
A purse full of cash, along with expensive jewelry, remained in the house. According to Marcia, detectives never found physical evidence. They had to rely on witnesses … but there were none.
Detectives, Marcia said, “started pushing out to all their informants.” A man named Baxter Shorter gave them their first real lead, which led to the defendants, including Barbara.
In 1953, “this was their trial of the century,” Marcia said. “This was their big case, and it was their OJ. They had nationwide coverage. It was all print coverage and of course, still cameras. But it was very big news.”
Marcia watched the movie produced, I Want to Live, starring Susan Hayward (who won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance), and then started to read up on the case. Only, she couldn’t find anything written without a slant. She wanted to present a more well-rounded account of what happened, but knew she needed sources to tell the truth about the case.
Finding sources wasn’t easy—there was no one left to talk to or interview, so Marcia had to hope for archives, writings, documents, and court paperwork. Reporter transcripts were the most important, because they’re factual accounts of what happened in court.
Eventually, she received a box of state archives. When she opened it, she found it contained 4,000 pages of reporters’ transcripts.
During her research, Marcia found information no one has written about, ever, in regards to Barbara Graham. And, the prosecutor was very famous at the time, and might have stepped over the line during the trial, taking a “get them at all costs” mentality.
“He went after her in ways that were so beyond the pale.”
At the time of this writing, Trial by Ambush ranked #1 in Amazon’s Biographies & Memoirs of Criminals and Heists & Robberies Biographies and Memoirs categories, and #2 in Crime & Criminal Biographies.
Kim asked her why she thinks so many women enjoy true crime shows and books.
“It’s a puzzle,” Marcia said. “It’s a puzzle about what humans do … and especially when people go to the extreme of committing something as serious as this. Then the ‘why’ of it all gets us.”
“It all goes to the human condition and the state of mind of people and the lengths to which they’ll go for a variety of reasons. And I think those things are fascinating to us.”
“There is such a thing as truth,” Marcia said. “Things can be misreported for sure, and misleading. Yes, there is such a thing as misinformation, disinformation, or whatever you want to call it. You know, people can get things wrong … You just have to work a little harder to see what else there is to know about something if you really want to get to the truth of it.”
During the episode, Marcia also discussed her experience as the prosecutor in the OJ Simpson trial, her research into the Casey Anthony case, and her role as a court-appointed appeals lawyer (an “error catcher”) for the indigent.
Marcia Clark is a bestselling author of nine legal thrillers and one memoir. Her books include the Rachel Knight Series, optioned by TNT for a pilot starring Julia Stiles. Her latest series follows criminal defense attorney Samantha Brinkman, and her recent standalone thriller, The Fall Girl, was released in September 2022. A criminal lawyer since 1979, Marcia was a prosecutor in high-profile cases like the OJ Simpson trial and the conviction of Robert Bardo. Her 1997 memoir Without a Doubt became a #1 New York Times bestseller and was re-released in 2016.
The Kim Gravel Show is a top women’s lifestyle podcast where Kim shares her message of confidence and encouragement with a side of laughter and fun. The show features inspiring, topical conversations with thought leaders, CEOs, and celebrities tailored to give listeners the insight they need to help them discover their purpose, find their confidence, and love who they are. On each episode Kim tackles the topics that women care about in a way that will make you laugh, make you think, and help you see your life in a new, more positive way.
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