Nov. 28, 1957
Los Angeles
Sometimes you have to wonder where newspapers get their facts–at least I do.
Here’s another take on the story of Zenobia Maddox.
A few things haven’t changed. James Bedford Burton is just as dead as
before, shot five times and beaten with three different lamps during a
home invasion robbery. But many other details are different.
The Mirror interviewed Zenobia–here’s the picture of her, with her
daughter Toni, and three very smashed lamps.
She said Burton and his partner bound
them with adhesive tape (The Times says they were tied up but alludes
cryptically to "binding tape"). Burton sent his partner outside to
wait for Zenobia’s husband, saying: "If he gives you any trouble, kill
him."
But here, the stories diverge. The Times said that Burton put his gun
down so he could light a cigarette. The Mirror says that Burton put the
gun on a bed and began going through dresser drawers. While he was
trying to adjust a watch on his wrist, Zenobia got free and grabbed the
gun, the Mirror said. (Adjusting "a" watch? Was he stealing it? The
Mirror doesn’t say).
"That won’t do you any good. It’s not loaded," Burton told Zenobia.
"I don’t know anything about guns and am scared to death of them," she
said. "But I didn’t believe him. I pointed the gun at the wall behind
him and pulled the trigger. When it fired I pulled the trigger again
and again, only I aimed right at him."
Zenobia continued: "I didn’t think he was dead, so I broke three lamps
over his head. They were brand new ceramic lamps. They even had the
price tags still on them."
She heard a car outside grinding its gears, the Mirror said. "I
guess the other man thought discretion was the better part of valor. I
locked the door to keep him out but he didn’t try to get in," she said.
If she hadn’t died in 2002, I would send Zenobia Maddox some money for a couple of new lamps. She’s awesome.
ladailymirror.com 