She said Starkweather told her his gang was holding her family hostage and they would be killed if she tried to escape. Her application said she was present when one of the victims, Robert Jensen of Bennett, was shot, and did hold the money taken from him.

“Starkweather frightened me to death … whatever (he) told me to do I did,” Fugate wrote. “I lived in constant fear for my family’s safety. Because I loved them with all my heart.”

Fugate maintained that she was convicted only because Starkweather “lied” about her involvement after she had sent him a note telling him she didn’t want to see him again. That’s when, she said, he changed his story, and told police that she had shot and murdered some of the victims.

John Stevens Berry, who co-wrote a book about Fugate and is one of the attorneys handling her pardon request, wrote in the application that she was the youngest female ever tried for first-degree murder at the time.

He added that Fugate’s personality disintegrated due to the trauma of the slayings, causing her to have a “blank” expression that people interpreted as “cold.” Since 1958, Berry wrote, much has been learned about juveniles and their lack of ability to comprehend their acts.