Full Circle: A True Story of Murder, Lies, and Vindication

by Gloria Killian, Sandra Kobrin

It began as a robbery. A man dressed as a phone repairman knocked on the door of coin collector Ed Davies. Once inside, the stranger pulled a gun on Ed and his wife, Grace, handcuffed and hogtied the couple and opened the door for his partner. After filling six suitcases with silver and gold coins, they fatally shot Davies in the head twice and his wife once, then fled. Hours later, with a bullet lodged in her head, Grace crawled out to the sidewalk where a neighbor found her.

Eventually the killers were found, tried and convicted of murder. Trying to get a reduced sentence, one told the prosecutor that a third year law student named Gloria Killian was the mastermind of the crime. The prosecutor went after her with zeal, and she was tried, convicted and sent to jail, all the while proclaiming she knew nothing of the crime. While in jail, she began advocating for the humane treatment and release of women in prison.

Ten years later, one of the defense attorneys discovered massive exculpatory evidence, hidden documents, prosecutorial misconduct and perjury. Then Gloria Killian's own fight for freedom began.

Full Circle, tells for the first time, the riveting story of a shocking murder that involves Hells Angels, misguided cops, backroom deals, profound lies and life and death sentences. Relentless, exciting and gripping, this true story shows how a life can be ruined in a split second. Finally, Full Circle makes the terrifying point that what happened to Killian can happen to anyone.

Genres: True Crime, Crime, Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published April 10, 2012

Reviews

[Esther Bradley-detally · Rating 5 out of 5]

profound; i met the author 2 weeks ago; she was innocent and swept up into a prolonged nightmare of injustice and prison. It's a ture story and its scary. Thank goodness for a few good people in her path. She is an amazng, amazing woman and now Executive Director of Action Commmittee for women in prison. It's a must book to read.

I have known 2 people in the judicial system around Sacramento, and their lives have been made horrendously difficult, suggesting there's an old boys network alive and well promoting injustice.

Sounds inflammatory - don't mean it to be but I hope everyone reads this account. We need to be aware so we can be accountable.

[Bill reilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The vast majority of the true crime books that I read deal with guilty, violent and vicious criminals and so I took a different path with Full Circle.
Gloria Killian was a thirty-something law student when she made the mistake of moving in with a lowlife coin dealer named Virgil Fletcher. The shady character was friends with a pair of criminals who robbed and killed a man. The man's wife survived but the killers were caught, and one of them, Gary Masse, made a deal to shorten his sentence and keep his spouse out of jail. He claimed that Killian had set up the robbery.
A prosecutor withheld evidence and as a result, Gloria spent seventeen years in prison based on perjured testimony. Her time there helping fellow inmates fills up a large portion of the book. Many were victims of domestic abuse.
The court system in California is mind numbingly slow and expensive. Without the financial support(over $100,000) of Sally Ride's mother Joyce, Killian would never have been released from prison for something she did not do.
Full Circle is a frightening and eye opening account of our deeply flawed legal system and one hell of a good read.

[Fastener Gal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a lot of things about the injustice of our judicial system reading this true story. The facts and details are interesting but the writing was a bit tough to get through. Happy that the author gets vindicated...but does she?

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a real page turner, and even more so because I know the author. The book left me feeling like I've been quite naive not realizing the extent of unjustice in our judicial system.