Downs children
Victims
Christie Downs, 8 (survived)
Cheryl Ann Downs, 7
Danny Downs, 3 (survived, but paralyzed)
The story of Diane Downs and how she shot 3 of her children still mesmerizes people, 25 years later. The story is best told by author Ann Rule, who wrote Small Sacrifices, one of the best true crime books ever published. It is a sad and heinous story of a mother who killed one daughter and tried to kill her other son and daughter, all because they were in the way of her life at the time. She was in love with a married man who did not want to be a father. Rather than find a man who would love her children, she chose to get them out of the way. Today, she is still in prison, where she belongs. And hopefully she will never step foot in the free world again. She is in the Women’s Correctional Facility in Chowchilla, CA.
Ann Rule update
Ann Rule’s Diane Downs Sequel: The Daughter
Downs girl says mom fired shots
Defendant’s ex-husband tells of stormy marriage
The Diane Downs’ Case Was No Small Sacrifice
Vintage Oprah
Habeas Corpus (about 1/2 way down)
Mommy Murderess (about 1/4 way down)
Elizabeth Diane Downs: The Oregon Trial
Diane’s Latest Published Appeal
The Diane Downs Story: 1983 Murder Case Focuses on Mom
Becky Babcock: A Girl’s Fight to Escape her Mother’s Crimes
New twist revealed in Diane Downs case
Diane Downs, a cruel mother killed kids for love
Diane Downs
Sicko mom shoots three children and rushes them to hospital as sign of love
Diane Downs’ 1988 Prison Interview
Father of Diane Downs Remains Vigilant After 30 Years
Notorious Child Killer Diane Downs Must Wait 10 More Years Before She Applies For Parole Again
Murderpedia: Elizabeth Diane Downs
Breaking News: Diane Downs denied parole
Big Surprise! Child killer Diane Downs denied parole again!
Man who hid convicted child killer Diane Downs after prison escape: ‘I should’ve turned her in’
Notorious convicted killer Diane Downs believes coronavirus swept through her prison, compares it to gothic horror story
Diane Downs Now: Her Failed Attempts to Get Parole
Diane Downs arrest
Rebecca Babcock (the daughter Diane gave birth to during the trial and gave up for adoption)
“I Found Out My Mother Was a Killer”: The Rebecca Babcock Story
‘I ran from the fact that I was her daughter’: Youngest child of Diane Downs who shot her three kids, killing one, breaks her silence
Books
Small Sacrifices (Excellent book!)
Diane Downs: Best Kept Secrets
Killer Mom : The True Story of Diane Downs
Movies/Documentaries
Small Sacrifices
Diane Downs prison mug 2018
Filed under: crime, high profile, Monsters Among Us, Mothers From Hell, murder, murder in the 20th Century | Tagged: 1983, crimes against children, Family/Domestic Violence, homicide, Mothers From Hell, mothers who kill, Movies Based on True Crimes, Oregon, Rebecca Babcock, shooting |
Bonnie's Blog of Crime 
I see no evidence that supports Diane’s claim and assertion that she is innocent. She is clearly a sick person who fails to admit her guilt and therefore shows and displays a lack of remorse for committing such a horrific crime.
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I agree with Steve Miller, after all didn’t her own daughter testify against her. I mean wouldn’t you remember you’re mother shooting you?
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She did remember her mother shooting her, but regardless, memory loss right before a tramautic event is very common. She was exhibiting signs of extreme distress whenever her mother came into her hospital room the day after the shooting, so obviously she knew her mother had shot her- shed have no reason to be so afraid of her at that point. Also, Dianne Downs is a manipulative liar who will tell anyone anything to get her way, and it wouldve been so easy for her to manipulate her daughter into keeping quiet. It seems like common sense that thats what she did. I cant believe people are actually putting a mountain of evidence up against the fact that a little girl didnt want to speak out against her mother who had shot her and probably threatened her afterward. Ridiculous. If anyone thinks theres even a chance she”s innocent, I think theyre either badly misinformed or just completely naive. I know no matter how much evidence there is in a case, someone will always think that person is innocent, but with this worthless murderer, the facts are so overwhelming, its hard to believe anyone with a rational mind could think anyone else did this.
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In reading the book, Small Sacrifices, I have found that this woman is undoubtedely insane. I am a mother of two and there are times that it gets hairy, but for the love of GOD! Why kill your children? She is sadistic and twisted! It is a shame that the death penalty was not available for this woman. If it were in the state that I live in, she could have easily been given the death penalty. The woman has no scruples and seeing her sneer at the cameras makes me sick! How could you smile after killing your child and trying to kill the others? NO man is worth that! I hope she rots!!
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You know, I received a letter from Diane Downs several yeears ago. It made me chuckle because she honestly believes her own lies and hype. She swore she would be getting out of prison in just a little while! And that was like 10 years ago!
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Bump, I would’ve returned that letter unopened
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I am doing a research paper/case study on Diane Downs for a class. If anyone has any other information they would like to share beyond Ann Rule’s book, I would be more than interested in it. My email is shannipoo714@yahoo.com
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i am doing a term paper at my college and i need some more info on tbe Diane Downs story. if you have any ideas please e-mail me at isabel1370@hotmail.com. thanks
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Shannon, read Ann rule’s book. She’s very credible. I even had email contact w/ Ann yrs ago. I didnt realize she’s legally blind & asked mem2 plz enlarge my font so she can read it. I did test emails asking if it was ok now. It took 2 tries b4 we finally got it 2 Ann’s readability. Ann’s a real cool person. Sadly, we lost touch after she got real busy according 2 her son who answered an email I wrote 2 Ann. I hope Ann’s ok, I since got an iPad & been thru several email addresses over the yrs, & wonder how Ann’s doing
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I think she did it but she will never admit to it and those poor kids one day they had a life and next day they end up having problems. i feel for the kids. The woman needs to admit her guilt.
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Tammy, neither did my abusers ever admit 2 their guilt, NOR did they ever apologize or make any effort 2 right the many yrs of wrongs
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I.only.hope.and.pray.that.she.NEVER.gets.out!!!..I.will.leave.Chandler.
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Read http://www.oregontrial.org.uk/.
An excellent read which questions the validity and legality of the entire Downs case.
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Deb,
Actually, on the issue of Diane saying she did not interview with Ann Rule, there is proof of it in the prison logs, where Ann had to sign in to go in. Much of this website has been disputed in the past. I will try to find where I read about that.
But when her own children testified against her, willingly and still stand by their statements, I believe she is right where she belongs.
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I just finished the book by Ann Rule and am immensely interested in Diane Downs and any more I can read on this amazingly horrible story. If you can point me in the right direction, I’d appreciate it.
Sincerely
LynByard
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The oregontrial.org website has been set up by a ‘fan’ of Diane downs. As its quite well written people get fooled by this. Read the trial transcripts, look at the REAL evidence and you will be able to see the website is full of lies. Its quite frighteneing that this woman can correspond with somebody with a walnut for a brain and fool them to believe she is innocent. Diane Downs shot a gun in Arizona. This bullet was later dug up and it was a perfect match for the gun that shot her kids! Coincidence? I think not. She is guilty, she is so insane that she probably even believes her own lies now. Her poor children will probably never find peace from this. That oregontrial website has been set up by someone in the UK. Im in the UK and the case wasnt aired over here, the website owner is going solely of what rubbish she has fed him. She shows no remorse. Instead of people worrying about Diane maybe we should be appealing for the retrail of Darlie Routier. Now there is real evidence to support her innocence
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To Sarah: honey, Darlie Routier and Darrin Routier both together, killed the boys…
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For those of you looking for information about Diane Downs online, there isn’t much out there. The links on this page are pretty much all I was ever able to dig up. I even emailed a librarian from Oregon once who supposedly had a copy of a short documentary that someone made on Diane 20 years ago, but never heard back. Chances are, if Ann Rule didn’t write it, it doesn’t exist.
As for the website defending her, all I have to say is – wow. The website’s author doesn’t stop at claiming that one or two legal procedures were improper or unfair – no, virtually every single employee of the state of Oregon was in on this “plot” to frame Diane Downs. Although this over-the-top approach makes it clear that the website is a complete fraud, I can see why it’s so exaggerated. For one thing, Diane was diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, so I’m sure she believes she is important enough to be the focus of a conspiracy. And for another thing, there was a huge amount of circumstantial evidence in this case, so anyone defending Diane has to account for all of it.
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I am doing a case study on diane downs. Ihave read the book and seen the movie but I cannot find any other information on her.I want to really get a look at her personality and I cannot find her interviews with Ann Bradley Jaeger (NBC Oregon 1983) or the trial transcripts or anything. I can’t find any crime scene photos other than what was shown in the book. Does anyone know where to look? email me at mrsb1981@yahoo.com
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I would like to know how to reach her just to talk to her and see if her frame of mind has changed ove rthe last several years, if any one knows how to reach here please let em know
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I have read hear books and saw the movie and really just want to hear her side of things
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babymeja@comcast,net
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I dont blame her kids, I wouldnt have any contact with her either. I have kids and I just cant imagine doing something like that. Just the thought of losing one of my kids puts me in tears and sends me into a panic attack.
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Amy, I don’t blame the kids either. I won’t even have any contact w/ my abusers either, so NO, I DON’T blame them
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I recently read that her parole date is now 2009. I live in Eugene and if this had happened in July when we have the
“Country Fair” (not County), which is a big hippie festival/reunion attracting thousands – no one would have doubted her story for a minute. I myself look like a “bushy headed stranger”, and you should see all of the transients that come through this area.
I’m glad I’m wasn’t on the jury. While I’m guessing she’s probably guilty, I hope that her conviction wasn’t based on the fact that she’s weird – but I have a feeling that was a lot of it. That’s a condition that affects most of us up here in the Pacific Northwest.
Her daughter’s testimony was damning, but then I know a girl of that age who testified her father for molesting her and it later turned out to be totally false. She was just saying what she thought her mother – his ex-wife wanted her to say.
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The jury absolutely did not convict her because shes “weird”- there was physical and circumstantial evidence up the wazzoo, but if by “weird” you mean smiling during the trial and showing no sadness or remorse for the daughter that was murdered (by her), then yeah, perhaps that something to do with it. But Id say the fact that the bullets that killed and paralyzed her children came from her gun may override her personality JUST a little bit. Duh.
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I have been following this since I saw Ann Rule on Opera. Is Diane out yet?
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Geez, what a Mom! Oprah has stuff on her website about her, she interviewed her and Ann Rule.
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I too read “small sacrafices”. I also saw the movie. This woman wanted ALL her children dead. It just didn’t happen that way. She should never get out of jail. She’s crazy.
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I have seen the movie and looked at the Oregon Trial website. I don’t know if I believe she did it or not. What I do believe is that I was in a car accident in 1985 and stilll don’t remember all of it. I told the nurses in the emergency room my name was Solo, I was drinking, I was driving, and that I had a two year old son. The only part of that story that was true was the son part. After a traumatic incident like a shooting, I don’t believe that she would remember, nor would her daughter remember. If her daughter were given possible scenarios, she may have remembered the incident incorrectly. In the movie, I thought the prosecutor was leading the daughter in her testimony.
I also believe that the media and hollywood portray things as they would like people to believe; things that get them ratings and make them money. We cannot know the truth of the situation by watching the movie.
If she is guilty, then see deserved the strictest of penalties the state would allow.
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What you believe & what is fact is a different story…Too much hard evidence to say otherwise & after everything she loved her mother she was not pressured in giving evidence but it did help the case..ps you talk out of your ass…
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Anyone who doubts Diane Downs shot her children is just
as psychotic as Diane. Some physical evidence can be
questionable in criminal cases, ( i don’t believe it is in this case) the direct testimony of her own daughter is the ultimate telling factor. A child can be coached in many areas,
however; does anyone really believe a child this age could be convinced their mother committed such an evil act if it were not true. COME ON!!!!!
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I read Ann Rule’s book and Ann tells the truth every time she writes.That is her passion to write true crime stories.Diane (CRAZY) Downs will never get out, believe me.Her judgment day is yet to come.Thank God for the prosecutor.He and his wife adopting those beautiful children.I hope they never, ever see their murderer and I use this word lightly mom again.
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Ann does NOT write the truth every time she writes! She writes her interpretation of the truth and sometimes those two things are not close together. I have lived through two tragedies that she ended up turning into story books. as far as DD is concerned, she absolutely did it, the other tragedy I refer to she was so far off base her book should be another crime.
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diane is still in prison and has no relationship with her children . her son and daughter are both grown and college grads . christie works with children . i am not sure what danny does but he was very athletic in college even though being wheel chair bound.
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DD was is and was one sick person I hope she rots where she is, she is just is bad as Susan Smith another sico who didn’t deserve to be a mother.
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Faith,
I am glad that those two kids have done well for themselves. It is wonderful to know that they didnt let their mom break there spirit. So many kids end up taking the wrong road when they go through something so tragic and they didnt. God Bless both of them.
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I have a mother with the same diagnosis as Diane Downs. Even though I have seen her only once in the last 20 years, I am still just as afraid of her as I always was, and I’m 59 years old. I have never been able to get over her “mothering”. She wants a chance at my grandchildren and we are all in hiding. Yet every couple of years she finds me. She doesn’t know my children’s married names or she would find them too. She drove into my driveway 4 years ago and sent my niece to the door to talk to me about letting her come in to visit. I had a panic attack and still feel terrified right now just thinking of it. I didn’t let them in the door, but just knowing she was in my driveway, that she knew where I was, left me in a panic for a couple of weeks. I have since moved. You can’t look at people like her and assume they are as nice and normal as they look or that it isn’t possible for a mother to really hurt her children like that. A counselor I went to told me that they appear to those who don’t “really” know them to be okay, but they destroy their children and leave them with so much destruction they can never recover. I can testify that he was right!
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I just finished the book. It was something I picked up at a garage sale for .25. Ann Rule writes a great crime book. It has become all consuming, i’ve been going to all of these website, most against her, a few for her. Her dad or mom started one.
I can’t believe the strength of her kids, they are both awesome.
Does anyone know when she will be getting out?
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I just sas the movie and am wondering, what ever happened to the baby that she was pregnant with at the time of trial? Does anone know?
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I just saw the movie and am wondering, what ever happened to the baby that she was pregnant with at the time of trial? Does anyone know?
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The baby, Amy as she named her, was put up for adoption after being born. Diane tried to get the father to take responsibility for it and to look after her until she got out, but he said that he didn’t think it was his. That’s why he signed the birth certificate only after it had been changed to “I believe this child could be mine.”
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Here is some information for anyone who wants to read up more on Diane Downs and the trial and investigation into the crime. Pretty interesting information and insight into everything that happened from the time of the shooting up until her conviction.
http://www.oregontrial.org.uk/index.htm
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Judith,
Come on girlfriend!! Her OWN daughter testified that she shot her and her siblings in COLD BLOOD. Now I can see your point about children being led on. But the emotional pain her daughter showed while on the stand, her SOUL was hurting. She couldn’t believe her own mother wanted her dead. I think that was the hardest part for her. Not her mother actually shooting her, but knowing her mother had NO INTENTIONS OF HER SURVIVING. She had to live with the harsh, stark truth that her mother didn’t give a damn about her. The physical pain leaves, but she has scars on her soul.
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Judith, as an abuse survivor myself, I KNOW when kids r abused, especially almost 2 the point of death, they rarely lie about it. Yes, some do lie, which is later comes out in the wash. Yes, a few exceptions, but usually kids don’t lie about something this serious.
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Does anyone know the real name of Lew (I take it from something Ann mentioned on her blog that she did not use LL’s true name) and if there are any pics of him or Fred Hugi on the internet, there were not in the book. I did find a pic of Mrs. Hugi but not Fred.
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Karla,
Scroll up to my previous post and there is a link to a site. The original names are on that site.
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I was really into this story years ago. I watched Oprah Winfrey give her an interview with Ann Rule. It was very good that’s where I first saw her. She blew me away how nonchalant she was about shooting her children. Go to Google and type “Oprah interview with Diane Downs” lots of stuff there, you can read the whole transcript. If you didn’t already it’s pretty good.
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Her baby she was pregnant with in jail who she called “Amy” was adopted by a family. I believe her boyfriends name was “Robert Bertolucini” (Bert).
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Brenda she is up for parole in 2009. Barb: you can reach her
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sorry I hit enter at “Valley State Prison for Women” in Chowchilla, Ca.
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She’s up fpr parole??? By the end of that year, she’ll be pregnant again. Sick!!!
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She won’t get out. She got life plus 65 years. Supposedly when you don’t show remorse it doesn’t look to good. Diane Downs thinks she did nothing wrong. She is always right. They won’t let her out. Not by a long shot.
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Check it out and get your head out of the sand
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Go to http://www.dianedowns.com and see for yourself
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Wesley,
I checked out your site and I have a hard time believing any of it. None of the documents look like officical court or police records, which means that they are probably just drawn up by an individual to make it look official. And until I hear Christie say all of that, in court or in front of a Judge, I will not believe it.
What is your connection to Diane?
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all of the documents on http://www.dianedowns.com ARE court documents and police records 100% of them you must not have really read it if you want proof james@jamesfre.com I will email them to you
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mylifeofcrime,
I checked out the site as well and I agree with you. First off I have never seen court papers without a judges signature on them and second if any of this were true then there would be someone from the innocence project trying to help overturn her conviction.
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What a sad story…
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There’s a new website that might open your eyes. Take a look at http://www.dianedowns.com and see the light.
Wesley
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I have read the book by Ann Rule and totally believe everything she has written. Diane Downs was as guilty as sin. I hope she rots in hell for what she did to her children. As for the oregontrial site its a load of rubbish and I don’t believe anything in it.
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I have followed this story from the beginning – I have read Ann’s book (3 times) and have a taped copy of the movie at home. I live in Salem, which is about an hour from where this occured, it is also the town of where the Women’s Prison used to be that Diane escaped from.
She shot her children, period! Any website that claims her to be railroaded by the state of Oregon is just plain BS!!
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Well I don’t know if she is guilty or not. However it was very wrong and inappropriate for the prosecuting attorney to adopt her children. That in itself makes me wonder about things. Conflict of interest, even after the trial. But I don’t really see anything ever said about that. Also wrong for the grandparents to be kept from them. I do know that where I live the prosecutor would never be aloud to adopt the children. Maybe he wanted to adopt the children so that he could continue to manipulate them. I mean it isn’t like this kind of thing hasn’t happened before with children. We all know that it has. We just don’t like to think about it.
I’m not saying that is what happened here. But that is exactly why things like that should not be aloud to happen. To me it makes things look a little fishy.
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Rick said in an earlier comment,
“does anyone really believe a child this age could be convinced their mother committed such an evil act if it were not true. COME ON!!!!!”
Well apparently Rick has not seen “Just ask my Children”. Their children were brainwashed by the state to believe their parents did something horrible that wasn’t true!!!!
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Joyce,
I am not saying she didnt do this but you have a good point. A child is naive and can be programmed to believe what ever you want them to believe. It happens in occults all the time.
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For those of you who don’t know it, “Wesley” is Diane Downs father, who has the website telling of the railroading of Diane. He is just as nutty as she is.
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I do believe that Diane Downs is guilty of of the crimes she was convicted. Hopefully the parole people will heed Judge Footes words and never let her be free. I hope that Christie and Danny are happy with their lives.
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I have always believed that Diane is guilty. I read the appalling Oregontrial website, which had a lot of misconstrued facts and untruths. I read her father’s website and wondered about some things he brought up. Then, I took Small Sacrifices off my bookshelf and began reading it again. Diane’s dad says that she wasn’t obsessed with her Arizona playmate. However, in the book, it mentions a diary full of “letters” Diane wrote to him. She had a tattoo with his name. And, on her TV, she had his photos. If she was finished with him, why would she be displaying his photos prominently in her living room? Instead of trying beat a dead horse about Diane’s alleged innocence, why don’t these people take a look at truly innocent people like Darlie Routier and the Ramseys?
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I was a very mature child at 8 and 9. If one of my parents had shot me and I saw them do it, you bet I could have testified to that truth.
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As for Dilantin altering Christie’s level of conciousness, I know two people who have taken Dilantin for an extended period. Except for putting them to sleep for at least an hour right after taking it, their LOC was never altered. When a relative of mine first started on Dilantin while in an ICU, it was administered via injection. It had to be done slowly as it was extremely painful. The nurses told me that they could actually feel it through the syringe. If Christie was given it in this form, I’m sure she’d have been wide awake.
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Incidentally, I agree with Joyce that the prosecutor adopting the kids creates a serious conflict of interest. I wrote Ann Rule that some years ago and she responded that the kids would otherwise never have received that kind of loving home.
I don’t remember all the details of the case by heart, but it was my conclusion when I read the book that the case was not proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
The overall likelihood is that Diane is guilty, but there is not proof that meets the standard for conviction in a criminal trial. Of course, since then she has escaped for awhile and done other things to annoy people, so I doubt she will ever get out.
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If Diane Downs is not guilty, who then shot the children.? The bushy haired man she saw on the road and stopped to help.? She got out of her car so she could conveniently explain that he shoot the children.? That’s what she says she did, leave her car with her kids sleepy and quite unprotected. And why shoot the kids when the car the stranger supposedly wanted was left unattended by her.?
Who is stupid here: her for her bad judgement or the public for believing her grotesque story.?
Diane Downs wanted to get rid of her children so she could get the man she was lusting for. She is a hateful, vulgar criminal who should stay in prison for the rest of her life. She is still a dangerous criminal and she must pay for her horrible crime.
Anne Brewbaker – Dallas
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i had an expat assignment in sweden last year and the apartment buidling i was staying in had community bookshelves in the hallway… anne rules’ “small sacrifices” was one of the few books in english i found (and the biography of germany’s ww2 general erwin “the desert fox” rommel). with no TV, crappy food, a brutal winter and a creepy jail cell-like apartment, the story of diane downs was the most unnerving thing i’d ever read.
although the paperback was 80’s vintage, musty and appropriately yellowed, her twisted personality jumped out of that book like she was in the room with me.
i hope she never get’s out…
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I just hope Christie and Danny are happy in their own lives.
Their ‘mother’ if you can call her that, is as guilty as hell.
Hopefully, the parole board will NEVER let this woman outside the prison walls.
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Since 1999, I have been facinated with Diane Downs from the moment I picked up Ann Rule’s Small Sacrifices in an airport bookstore. I knew nothing about her at the time and was compelled to know more. Here is all that I have found.
For those who want to write to Diane Downs:
http://www.vspw-ifc.com/Mail.html
You must have her CDC#:
http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Reports_Research/howtocontact.html
If you want to see portions of the Jaeger Interviews, see the following link for the documentary “Diane Downs: Circle of Abuse”:
http://www.jackhamann.com/documentaries.html
The most current info I have found for Diane, Christy and Danny:
http://www.annrules.com/news3.htm
If you are curious what an older Diane looks like:
http://www.manipulatedtrial.de/
(I don’t know her age when this photo was taken but she is 52 years old now)
If you want to read her book “Best Kept Secrets”:
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I’m astounded that so many people are SURE DD is guilty, even though none of them were there that night. Just because she has an unpleasant personality and the media lambasted her so much, and Christie was coached to testify against her, doesn’t mean she is in fact guilty.
Yes, I too believed she did it. But then, I wasn’t there. I didn’t see her do it. I have no trouble believing she did it, but I don’t believe it was actually proven, either forensically or practically. Juries are notoriously ill-informed and highly impressionable (like the rest of us).
I have followed this case from the beginning, since I lived right down the street from DD. Christie is now not sure if her mother did it or not. Since I have personal experience with false memories of horrific events, I’m skeptical that her original testimony was the truth. I think people shouldn’t be so quick to jump to conclusions based only on what they read. After all, the news is wrong more often than not.
Read “Best Kept Secrets”. DD comes across as very narcissistic and irritatingly smug; nevertheless, the evidence and testimony during the trial WAS misconstrued and misrepresented. This is the fact of the matter. Read the trial transcripts.
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That whore is guilty. How can you people not see that. Her OWN CHILD says she tried to kill her. You people are sending the wrong message. Because she was a child when this happened, does this mean we are not to believe her?? Come onnnnn!! I don’t know of any child personally who would accuse their mother of such a crime if it were not true. A child that young can be easily mislead by authority, but I believe with all my heart that she was telling the truth. And if Diane is so innocent, where the hell are the real culprits?? Come on guys. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck………..
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I’ve read quite a bit on the Diane Downs story. The bottom line is that she is guilty. Regardless of any websites intentions to dispute this Diane Downs is guilty guilty guilty as charged. Sure I can take excerpts from testimony and throw it on a webpage. However, keep in mind, there may be testimony later in the trial which disputes these portions of what they may have on their website. Hello, there is direct and cross testimony. I can say one thing if someone shot me and my kids were dying in the car; I would not have the time to perfectly fold a towel and wrap it around my arm. No i don’t think so….
Diane Downs is a cold blooded killer. I recall watching the interview on Oprah. She has absolutely no remorse. It literally made me sick. She killed her one of her children and left the other two to live their lives knowing their mother tried to kill them.
May God bless them and I am thankful there were kind hearted people who took them in and raised them. There is nothing inappropriate about this as one website published.
Finally, I can only hope and pray that her upcoming parole hearing will keep Diane Downs in prison for the rest of her life. Whichever way it goes, she will have to answer to HIM.
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This women is sick I spent three years in prison with her and she just looks evil she walks around there like she did nothing most inmates were there for using drugs or something minor and she wakled around as though she was just there for a lil while her eyes were percing
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It is highly likely that Diane did harm / kill her children, however i agree that no one can know this for a fact as we were not there that night, also children can get confused. And the fact remains that the children’s upbringing wasnt that great ( or so its made to be seen In Small Sacrifices ) so it is possible that this child believed the worst and or was coached. Again before anyone takes offence i am saying Diane probably did do this however, as i wasnt there i can only give my opinion. Frankly just because she “looks evil” doesnt necessarily mean anything other than she looks evil, as for others being in prison along side her for “minor” things wasnt she in ( isnt she in really ) a maximum security prison??
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Ren’ee,
Of course no one was there and saw her do it! Why do you think she drove to a secluded part of town late at night? Who else would want to kill her children but her? How come she was left alive? Why would her child lie on her? Where are the real killers????
Once those questions are answered, I jave a bunch more I’d like to ask.
You people need to stop giving these cold-blooded killers the benefit of the doubt. How about giving it to the victims???
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We are always so hell bent on believing the worst – i mean ook at Lindy Chamberlain = she SWORE the dingo took her baby but hey, cos she came across as cold and unfeeling in court wow what happened?? she was sentenced to prison for the murder of her child……… only to find out that she did in fact NOT kill her child. My point being is dont believe the hype. Just cos everyone else is doing it why the hell should u / me / whomever? NOONE will ever know but all we can do as humans is judge. As for her being left alive, who knows? your not a) Diane b) the so called lunatic that did it. You’ll never know nor will i unless she confesses and frankly she believes she isnt going to confess to something she “feels” she didnt do. As for the child lying to her well, come on, a fragile, scared child who is led to believe her mum did it can be coerced into most things. We dont know her mind wasnt “blank” ( as it states it WAS initially ) and we dont know others helped Christie along with the story. you must realise, there are generally 3 sides to a story and we all have our opinion like it or not. I am NOT a diane fanatic, however i cannot condemn a person whom i am not 100% is guilty. As forthe real killer well hello? it could be anymore right?? as for your “bunch of questions ” please, feel free to ask me more of what i think if thats what u r alluding to – but i stress its my OPINION.
Shauncey, how on gods earth do yu know for sure that she did it?? you know, theres not much in life thats black and white, well go over this one more time u have the right yo your opinion and i have the right to remain in the middle somewhat as i refuse, refuse to condemn a person when i WASNT there. Say what you will, and u know what?? theres a MASSIVE part of me that believes she did it and believes she believes shes smart enough to escape justice……fraid not. BUT i cannot completely judge this person for i believe she’s judged enough. If she did it theres clearly something wrong with her. Anyway, she belives her own story even if u believe its a lie. me?? …………. il take the info as it comes and deduct from there. Nothing is that simple Shauncey no matter what u believe or how hard you want to tear me to shreds. I look forward to our next talk.
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I think its so terrible that a mother could shoot her own children, I am 14 years old and i have been studing up on this story for almost 3 years now. It all started when i was in the liebary and i had to find a book for a project. I came across a book of diane’s story.
If I could say one thing a 5 year old could be a better mother then her.
im looking forward to find more things out
well thanks for the chance
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i could never bealive a mother of three children could do such a horibble thing as such.
I am 14 years old and have been studying up on this story, I think its a mothers instink that a mother should protect her choldren. If i could say anything to her iwould say that i could do a better job in parenting then she ever did, and im only 14 shocker..
i hope that god will forgive her sins and that she confeses them. I also think that god gave her so maney chances in life she dint have to pull out that gun, she dint have to pull over, and she dint have to harm her own children and lead to death for one of them. god has given her so many chances and i think she has on more chance in life and that is confesesing her sins.
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I have to agree with alsiha, i am also 14 and i go to school with her, alsiha has worked so hard to find more and more facts. If you were to ask her the story about diane downs, she would be able to tell you word by word. But alisha thinks that there is more to what she has read. Alisha says when she grows up she is going to go and interfiew diane beacuse she thin ks there is an untold story that knowone knows. ALisha is decated to find one thing she has been on this story for at least 4 years ever sance 6th grade. Alisha has inspired the whole english class too put your mind to anything, And i bealive that one day Alisha s going to be a book writter, and a very good one at that…………
I think Diane was a cold hearted women who deserves everything she got and more but we all think something els.
Alisha bealives in secount chances and forgivesness…
~lisa~
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Re’nee,
The woman has been locked up for this crime. Let me ask you something. If you were a child, and your mom tried to kill you (shot you but you didn’t die) and you told the police this, would you want them to believe you? She tried to kill her kids because her boyfriend was going to leave her. Use your common sense.
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Seems to me some of you are simply ‘following the pack’ and many of you sound like slavish followers of Ann Rule. I read the book twice and wasn’t quite convinced of a ‘reasonable doubt’. I also found it disturbing to say the least that out of all those families wanting to adopt, the Prosecutor adopted the children of a woman he put in prison!. I have also heard that Christie married the son of one of the detectives on the case but can’t confirm that. I know that Dr Jamison did indeed write to the judge and Prosecutor about the lie that the Prosecutor told jury regarding her diagnosis of Downs. Someone I got to know a few years ago used to live and work as a professional in the Springfield area and they told me they got out because of the corrupt authorities there. Having dug out all what I can find on the possibility of an ‘alternative’ view. I don’t think I am as gullible or naive as some here. What I couldn’t find anywhere was any of these ‘players’ from the prosecution, investigation etc, showing how they discredit the claims against them. Ann Rule says the website supporting Downs is full of misinformation but does not say ‘how’. I am reminded of some very serious convictions overturned because of DNA and also corrupt authorities in recent history but that apart, I think this case stinks.
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Alec I agree with you. I am trying to find an interview that supposedly took place between Christie and Oprah where she tells Oprah she doesn’t know shot her. Have you read it or does anyone know where it is? I will keep googling it until I find it.
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DD IS PURE EVIL. SHE’S A SOCIOPATH WHO CARED ONLY ABOUT GETTING LAID! SHE DIDNT GIVE A RATS ASS ABOUT HER CHILDREN. THEY WERE ONLY IN THE WAY OF HER WHORING. SHE SLEPT WITH ALL THOSE MARRIED MEN, WRECKED MARRIAGES AND ALL BECAUSE SHE DIDNT GIVE A RATS ASS ABOUT ANYONE ELSES FEELINGS. SHE DELIBERATLY TRIED TO KILL ALL HER KIDS BECAUSE THEY WERE IN THE WAY. I SAY GOD BLESS TO THE HUGI FAMILY FOR GIVING CHRISTY AND DANNY A NEW LIFE AND TO CHERYL’REST IN PEACE DEAR SWEET CHILD’ TO THOSE OF U WHO THINK DD IS INNOCENT, I SAY THAT U NEED TO OPEN YOUR EYES AND LOOK AT THE WHOLE PICTURE.I BELIEVE THAT IF CHRISTY HAD BEEN TUTORED TO SAY HER MOTHER SHOT HE, THAT SHE WOULD HAVE TOLD THE TRUE STORY AS AN ADULT. THAT WONT HAPPEN THO BECAUSE HER MOTHER DID SHOOT ALL OF THEM. SHE IS SO GUILTY AND SHOULD NEVER BE FREE TO SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY AGAIN. IN FACT SHES A WASTE OF SPACE AND TAXPAYERS MONEY AND MAYBE “THE SHAGGY HAIRED STRANGER”SHOULD PAY HER A VISIT……….
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Since some of you think she’s so innocent, why aren’t you out lobbying for her release. I believe she tried to kill ALL her children, just didn’t quite succeed. To those of you who believes she’s innocent, thank God you weren’t on the jury for the Menendez brothers! They’d be chillin at Starbuck’s right now.
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The testimony of Christie Downs is unfortunately totally unreliable. It’s comparable with the testimony of Alicia Wade against her father in a rape case after she had 13 months of therapy where the therapist constantly told her her father had done it.
In that case DNA evidence on the clothes of Alicia proved that Raymond Carder, convicted of 4 other attacks on young girls, had done it and not her father even though Alicia testified “Daddy did it!”
I don’t know if Diane Downs shot her children but the testimony of Christie Downs, after a long period of therapy, is totally irrelevant.
The most disturbing thing about this case is the adoption of those children by the prosecutor of the case. This is simply unacceptable and should never have happened.
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FYI
The children were in foster care for some time before adoption, not sure its realistic of all the above to see something sinister about the adoption. The foster fam & the prosecutor were not in cahoots and the family law court wasn’t either.
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Why is that unacceptable? Someone put you in charge and forgot to tell them? I think it is wonderful that they loved enough to adopt.
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I believe this woman killed her child in cold blood and attempted to do the same to her other two children. Diane Downs is a heartless bitch, allowed to bring new life to this earth, like a slap in the face! She minipulates men and all other’s around her. We all need to ask ourselves this question? A jury of her peers listened to both sides of the story, Diane’s stone- cold face in the courtroom, her lack of cooperation with police and investigators, etc….. She was found guilty! She needs to remain behind bars forever. If she were my mother….trust me I’d be very frightened if she gets parolled in 2009 (Even with Christy being a 33 yr. old woman) Shame on a society that believe in “the shaggy- haired stranger” Take a good look around in the northwest- every man living in this area is best descibed as such.
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I love Ann Rule’s books, but she has a bad habit of describing people as “handsome” and “beautiful” when they are not.
What did all these men SEE in Diane Downs? She looks like a horse – a real butter face (great body, but her face?).
I guess they hung around her because she was so EASY.
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“The most disturbing thing about this case is the adoption of those children by the prosecutor of the case. This is simply unacceptable and should never have happened.”
Why? They are loved by their adoptive parents. Their own “mother” never loved them.
You don’t know what you are talking about!
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I also found it disturbing to say the least that out of all those families wanting to adopt, the Prosecutor adopted the children of a woman he put in prison!. I have also heard that Christie married the son of one of the detectives on the case”
So what? How is that YOUR business?
If you think this psycho bitch is innocent, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.
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I’ve noticed on this message board as well as others I read today, there seems to be a lack of research on the part of those thinking there is ‘reasonable’ doubt that Diane is innocent. I’m not being critical, or challenging your opinions, but if your basing your opinion of ‘possible’ innocence on the two named sites posted above (the oreogon trial, and the father’s site), and not researching other sites and books…and I don’t mean glancing at or reading parts, you need to read it from cover to cover, articles of interviews she gave., from top to bottom.
I was 10 when this happened, and my family watched a lot of the coverage, if you could of seen the way she was when giving interviews to the press (susan smith was very convincing in comparison) and I know we all gotta remember that winner ^…….anyways how you ‘act’ in a tragedy should not convict you of it, but I can see why red flags went up from the start. I beleive she was found rightly so ‘guilty”, based on everything I have researched on her and this case for the last 8 years since I read that book, and saw the movie. Best way to to turn your ‘maybes’ and ‘what if’s’ is to go through each allegation named on those sites above and research …example= the one about the gun powder residue, look up, ‘can you get this on your person if you shoot bent over in a car or small space, would it be left on gloves, and not get on your hands’?….ect, I mean if you want to be sure of your opinion, that’s what I would do.
personally hated Diane used oneof my fav. songs to play as she shot her kids….anyone remember what it was?
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Gina,
The song was “Hungry Like the Wolf” by Duran Duran. I can’t listen to it myself.
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mylife,
same here , its such a good song, yet it got tainted by this crime.
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My aunt is also named Dianne Downs after this happened people started to make fun of her. she has two boys and one girl but she thought about changing her name after this happened. I just could not beleive a mother could shoot her own children. it seems to be happening a lot more these days.
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Christena,
ewwwww that so had to suck for her. Hope she doesn’t do much online, people hunting imfo on the diane downs, may come across something on her (classmates, myspace ect..)
They rarely do any programs or documentarys on diane downs, you think they would (on news media type programs) based on other cases that pop up that are simular to hers ?
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hi i was just wondering if anyone new where i could find pictures of the crime scene where they were acturly shot!
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Alec,
Yes, the two surviving children were adopted by prosecutor Hugi. And there are many people waiting to adopt children. But how many are willing to adopt two children suffering from significant physical and psychological damages as these two children were? They both required a lot of physical therapy, and Danny is wheelchair-bound to this day. These were not the cute little problem-free babies that most adoptive parents are hoping for.
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I applaud the prosecutor for adopting these children who suffered so much for no reason other than their mother’s selfishiness. I don’t understand what the problem is. None of you people disputing the adoption offered to take the children in your homes and lives. I can’t stand it when people with nothing better to do try and down something positive.
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I never understood why the ex-husband of Diane Downs and the father of the two surviving children never came forward to claim his children and raise them.
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I was incarcerated with diane downs I was housed in the same building ,even worked on the yard crew with her..I have a lot of info on her and I also heard some storys from women that were roommates with her….
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and by the way…she is 100% guilty …..
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you wouldnt believe the crimes that some of the women commited that are being housed at Valley state prison for women…alittle F.Y.I..the correctional officers make copies of the prisoners bio’s that they keep on file and they pass them out to the othr prisoners so they know exactly what the women’s convictions are when they come in from sentencing….
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Liz,
Well thank goodness you made it out of there. Please don’t go back. Careful. So, I always FELT in my bones that Diane was guilty. Her actions when she was in court for this crime was totally disgusting. No remorse, none whatsoever. Tell me, did you at least get to kick her ass?
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ha ha ;0) unfortunately I was praying everday would quickly pass so I could get my behind out of there…but there was other prisoners who I had heard fought her before for what she had did…I do know she has slept with a few of the c.o’s there at vallet state…and from a very close source there is ever a video that was filmed of her doing some nasty things to herself for a c.o that she was involved with I was actually in another room working…
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i could write a book myself
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I bet that tape would be worth a lot of money ..I happen to still talk to the person that was behind that camera….he was a vocational instructor there at valley state..his best friend was the c.o that diane downs was having an affair with and who also was the c.o incharge of the yard crew that diane downs worked on….
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Liz,
Glad you did what you had to do to get outta there. That’s sad that Diane the tramp STILL can’t keep her legs closed. Let me know if you DO write something about her, anything. I’m definately buying! God bless you.
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She was my mail lady prior to her arrest in Cottage Grove, OR just south of Eugene. I also ran into her at her lawyer’s office.
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I firmly believe that DD is 100 per cent guilty. I just cannot believe that she did not do it. Lucky for the kids that they got adopted by the Hugi family & have had happy & successful lives up til now. I would like to point out that Fred Hugi abandoned the Downs case after adopting the children so that there would be no conflict of interest. To the person , Deb maybe, who believed the Oregon site, well Diane sure found someone that she could pull the wool over their eyes. To the person that wanted to mail DD, if you do a Google search & look through the first page or 2, you will find an e-mail address where she can be contacted, & it appears that she does answer, but, don’t expect the truth. If anyone is interested, DD father also has a web site defending her, also that is a load of bull. She is still in prison & I hope she stays there for the rest of her life. She is dangerous, she has no empathy for anyone except herself, & the only thing I can say is thank got she is too old to have any more children (or will be when she gets out)
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If you have not read it yet….read Small Sacrifices. Fred Hugi decided to dedicate his life to these 2 kids after watching DD’s daughter fighting for her life in hospital. I find it pathetic that for some people this is “unacceptable”. Should they have been put in an institution for disabled kids????, Hugi fell in love with these kids & has spent the last 25 years protecting them has never issued any kind of declaration regarding this. He & his wife were childless by choice due to their careers & if this tragic situation never hapened would probably have remained childless, but, have dedicated everything to these kids, put there lives & plans on hold & for this should certainly not be critisised but applauded. Pity that there are not more people like them
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Sorry Irwin if you are offended……………but you are an IDIOT. I also have a great bridge to sell you!
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I’ve read Small Sacrifices a dozen times. I’ve also read many of Ann Rule’s true crime books and believe she is an accomplished writer who checks her facts carefully.
That being said, I visited Diane Downs’ father’s site out of curiosity. There was one question regarding the “true murderer” he names that begs to be answered.
Directly after the shootings, Diane worked with a police sketch artist to create the composite of the “stranger” who shot them.
But in the open letter (on her father’s website) Mr. Downs writes to this man, he describes a party Diane and this man both attended prior to the murders. The letter even describes a brief conversation Diane and this man held.
If this man is the culprit, and if Diane did meet him at this party (as her father was told by “friends” of the suspect) then why did she not recognize him the night of the shooting?
I understand it was night, and the road was not well lighted.
But, her headlights would have been on him as she approached, and she would have been standing relatively close to him during the shootings, and the subsequent physical contact – the fight over the keys and when he shot her.
I would think it might spark even the smallest amount of recognition. Most likely when she looked at the police sketch after completion.
True, she may have been using drugs at the party. That’s the only valid reason I can think of to explain this question.
Even though I have always believed Diane was guilty, I tried to keep an open mind when reading her father’s website. To me, the court transcripts, her interviews and Ann’s book are more valid.
I think she is guilty and I think she should stay right where she is.
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Interesting blog – like most of the other commenters I 1st learned about this case when I discovered the book “Small Sacrifices” and have been fascinated with it since. I note that DD’s father has posted his website link here several times. I realize he IS her father but even so, he needs to face facts – Christie is in her 30’s now and Danny in his late 20’s. IF they wanted to get in touch with him they could have easily done so. Even back when they were minors, my guess is that the Hugis would not have stopped them from contacting their biological grandparents – if that’s what they wanted to do. Obviously, they have chosen not to do so, and who could blame them? If I was Christie and I had seen the DD.com website set up by her dad, I would NOT want to contact him either. I am blown away by the fact that this man who is claiming that he ‘loves’ Christie and Danny is basically using as ‘evidence’ that Christie lied on the stand the deposition of a woman (Dena Reinhardt) who phoned Christie (still a child) without her parents’ knowledge and hounded her into what they call a ‘confession’. Basically – harassment. I find it interesting that her dad does not seem to go into Diane’s allegations that she was sexually abused by him as a child. The oregontrial website is loaded with contradictions and fabrications – the one that stands out the most is the page showing the drawing that Christie made of ‘the killer’ with a note that says “notice the short shag hair cut with bang (sic) and the gun in his (sic) left hand. Diane’s hair was long with no bangs and she is right-handed.” I’m guessing either DD’s father or the website owner wrote those comments in – apparently ignorant of the fact that the photo section of Small Sacrifices has many photos of DD – one of which was taken after the murder (Diane poses for a police photo to show where she suffered a gunshot wound to her left arm). Guess what – short SHAG cut with BANGS almost identical to Christie’s drawing. There is also a photo of DD with her parents going to a Juvenile Court hearing with her arm in a sling. Again, short shag haircut and bangs. Perhaps Ann Rule might have taken SOME liberties in her prose (I don’t really believe she did) but those photos do not lie. The oregontrial and dianedowns site both do. If they can fib about something so easy to disprove, and ENDORSE the phone harassment of a young teenager who has been through SO MUCH already, I have no sympathy whatsoever for DD, her father, or any of these ‘fans’ who have apparently been sucked in by DD. But you know – most famous murders/felons have their fan bases of deluded people (Charles Manson and Scott Peterson being two classic examples) who waste their lives on these criminal’s behalfs trying to ‘prove’ their innocence. Perhaps DD’s father should get together for coffee with Scott Peterson’s mother so they can compare notes on their two ‘innocent’ children.
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yet another discrepancy from the oregontrial website on the “attorney’s” (sic) page regarding DD’s attorney Jim Jagger whom the website author accuses as being in cahoots with the prosecution:
“Rather than keep the Court second-guessing the reason Defense Counsel deferred to the opinions of the Lane County Prosecutor, who was supposed to be his adversary. It should be revealed that Defense Attorney James Jagger was a Prosecutor for Lane County for three years prior to entering into private practice in Lane County (App 33, p. 25). Unfortunately Diane didn’t learn this until October, 1990…too late to affect her ability to judge Mr. Jagger’s merit in 1983.”
She wasn’t aware until 1990? Even though she admitted to reading Small Sacrifices where it CLEARLY states (page 197, Signet paperback) that Jagger “had been a deputy prosecutor in both Coos and Lane counties and in private practice since 1975”? Seems to me that someone is practicing a bit of selective memory, esp since DD seems to imagine herself as more intelligent than pretty much everyone else on the face of the earth.
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anyone know where I can find old footage and interviews of Diane Downs or how to get o copy of the documentay about her called “Circle of abuse”
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Also why are there so few pictures around of Diane and all others involved in this case other than what is shown in “Small Sacrifices?”
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being a mother myself it makes me sick that diane downs has a parole hearing coming up. it was not a craxy man in the road that night it was only her. she was wanting to kill her childern so she could be with a man. not even animals in the wild are like her. I am glad her other kid’s are finally living a somewhat normal life but what about the child who is dead any parole board who would let that crazy animal out on the street is crazy and should be locked up along with her. who’s to say she would not try to hurt one of our children???? diane downs has not learned a damn thing since she has been in prison she makes it sound like she is the victim trying to take the attention away from her poor defencless children. Im glad her children dont talk to her. her daughter did not say she did it because of drugs from the hospital her daughter said she shot her because she really did shoot her…..
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diane downs should be left to rot right where she is at. put her in a dark hole and leave her there foreverf for all i care.
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usually the parent is the one who love’s there children so much they are willing to die for them if it means saving there life. is’nt it amazing that some crazy man in the road was shooting her children and all she got was a gun shot in the arm. she wrapped it up preety damn good for being in such a rush to get her children to the hospital because they were dying huh??????? and what happened to the man??? that’s right there was no man because she is a cold hearted souless liar and killer. she should have gotten the death penalty.
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Diane downs is a monster
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Just checked out the Dad’s web site. It is hard to believe, that after all this time someone else is responsible for this crime.
The bushy haired stranger prevails? I think not. Diane Downs is guilty and should remain in prison forever.
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This case was a sham. She had no reason to kill her children, and the daughter was coerced into incriminating her. The daughter later admitted that fact.
You people are incredibly myopic, and frighteningly biased toward the establishment.
You should all pray that you are never unjustly accused.
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No one ever “has a reason” to kill their children. IT STILL HAPPENS ALL THE TIME!
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Long before anyone in authority was able to question or “brainwash” Christie, her fear of her mother was undoubtedly present. ‘The first time her mother entered her hospital room Christie s heart rate rose to 104 beats per min When her mom took her hand it skyrocketed to 147 beats per minute it took a long time afterward to drop to the normal 80 beats per minute after her mom left the room’, of course this is according to one of the ‘corrupt individuals” working on the case ~ right?
As far as a conflict of interest in adopting the children, where would they be right now if they were put into an already overcrowded system? Diane’s father has never denied her accusations of abuse so are you suggesting the children be placed with a potentially abusive grandparent? Obviously the fathers had no issue with the adoption, they gave up their parental rights so why should anyone else? The adoption did not take place during the investigation or trial. The reality is People who adopt children don’t want the responsibility that came with these two children they would have bounced around in foster care and God only knows where they would be right now. Keeping them together, loving them and accepting the responsibility of putting their shattered lives back together is admirable.
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Hi , i first heard about this when i was about 11. im now 13 and i still think about those poor kids and what they went through. i know they have become intelligent people now and thank god. i hope that Diane is rottin in hell with aload of people smacking her face in . i find what she done is sickening. i cant beleive what she done. they were her flesh and blood and yet she shot them for a bloke. what a total evil person would do that. if diane reda this . i want her to know that no amount of love could make up for what you done to your own kids. my mum gets angry with me and my siblins but never has she threatend us or hit us. i just wish diane went through what her kids went through, even then she wouldnt know just how hurtful it is to know your mother would kill you for a man. YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO THE WORLD AND ONE DAY I HOPE YOU WILL ROT IN HELL!!!!!
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I have devoured Ann Rule’s book, and like some of you, have looked online for updates to find VERY little. I wonder why Oprah’s site doesn’t still show her interview with DD? Also, a 30-minute documentary was done on DD (by Jack Hamann), and there’s apparently no way to view it.
I am fascinated by sociopaths and others who “cross the line” from typical behavior to deviant. I am a born-again Christian, and a mom of 2 special-needs kids. Even though Diane Downs seems to be guilty of this terrible crime, I believe that nobody is outside the scope of God’s love and forgiveness. I am so grateful that the Hugis have raised the Downs kids in a loving home, and that Diane’s last baby was adopted by someone outside the Downs family.
I just hope that God works a miracle in her, and that she confesses before she dies. But sadly, after all this time, she probably believes her own lies/stories.
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Jerry,
Whatever. I just thank God you weren’t on the jury, she probably would’ve walked. You’d have to be a damn fool to even consider believing her story. It was all just too convenient for Diane. Late night, side of the road, bearded man, etc…Come on, it’s like a horrible movie, not written well at all. I’m just glad the jury didn’t believe the “producer” Diane.
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People should have a right to their opinion without others ripping them to shreds people.
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Ren’ee,
I agree. My opinion is that that whore Diane Downs is guilty. She tried to murder all her children, but thank God she didn’t succeed. I hope she NEVER gets out of jail, she doesn’t deserve to see the light of day.
Just my opinion though…..
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Hi, I am another who has been intrigued by this case, and as a mother of four, I find it incomprehensible that DD could commit such an act against her own flesh and blood. I do believe that she is guilty, and that she is where she belongs. Her reasons for shooting those precious children are obvious to us all,and it seems that other parents have been just as evil….Jeffrey MacDonald/Susan Smith and Darlie Routier to name three. It hgas been mentioned by some of you that the case against DD wasn’t foolproof, but this isn’t true either as you would see if you looked at it objectively.
I also do not see anything wrong with the two surviving children being adopted by Fred and Joanne Hugi. After being convicted of attempting to murder them, she lost her right to give her permission for them to be adopted. I do think that it’s sad that their Grandparents were never allowed to visit with them thougth.
Somebody asked about Lew Lewistons real name, well From what I’ve read and found out, it is Robert Knickerbocker, and Diane called him “Nick”. In fact Anne Rulr thanks him and his wife Charlene at the front of her book.
Shauncey, I must admit that I agree with most of your posts, and thank you for the laugh I got from you “Menendes Brothers” jury remark.
Peace
ASTRA
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My name is Amy and I have something to say. Molesting a child and shooting a child are two different things Derald Grimwood. I think that she did it for several reasons. One she is crazy, two she had no remorse, threee all she cared about was her car once she got her children to the hospital, three she wanted to go to work the next day, four she was upset that one of the bullets missed her son dan’s heart. I was born a year after this happened. Im 24 years old now and I have seen the movie and I have looked her up and I read the website that her dad made, http://www.dianedowns.com. I think that she is crazy and I definitely believe that she did it. A child can be pursuaded to say that her father molested her but I pretty sure that a child cannot be pursuaded into saying that her mother shot her, I believe that Christie saw her mother shoot her and her sibilings. Molestation is totally different than shooting your children.
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Well said Amy
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Jerry Says:
August 16, 2008 at 8:51 am
———-
Are you her dad?
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Amy,
Right on!! Loved your comment.
Astra,
Your welcome. God bless.
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Okay. For those of you who don’t believe that diane downs shot her children, ya’ll are all crazy. She did it. Christie’s testamony is not irrelavent. She saw her mother shoot her and her sibilings. Look If I was shot by my mother I would def tell the truth. I saw the movie and I recorded it. I don’t believe that she was coached at all. She was so upset when she got on that stand. She new her mother had shot her and her sibilings and she didn’t want to tell on her but what choice did she have. She was scared of her mother and that should have been enough, and her testifying should have been enough, but no one cares. everyone seems to think that she was coached and that she just said it cause they told her too. LIKE I SAID BEFORE BEING MOLESTED AND GETTING SHOT ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS!!! I agree with all the people who believe she is guilty. She is a crazy bitch who should rot in prison. I also agree that the people who don’t believe she shot her children should keep reading and read between the lines. As for the people who aren’t sure and who say that we probably shouldn’t believe she didn’t do it cause we were not there that night, I understand where your coming from, but its hard not to believe she didn’t do it when she had no remorse, still doesn’t to this day and when all she cared about when it did happen was her car and going to work the next day.
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As you all know I think she is guilty. Yes there are people out there who think she’s not, including her dad. I was born the same year her baby girl amy was born and ironically my name is Amy. I was born in 1984 the year after she shot her children. I have seen the movie and read all this stuff on my blog that I saved onto my myspace page, which is http://www.myspace.com/crazycajan and I still believe she did it and for several reasons. One she didn’t care about her children when they got to the hospital she just wanted to know if her car was okay and if she could go to work the next day. Two she was very upset that one of the bullets missed her son danny’s heart, Three she had no remorse whatsoever, and four she was only shot in the arm. Im sorry but if I had children and they were being shot at I would have jumped infront of the gun and I would probably be dead while my children would be safe, She didn’t do that she is still here! Either she hired this shaggy haired stranger to kill them or she shot them herself just like the book, the movie and to people who testified against her. I mean her own daughter, Christie testified against her, that should mean something right? The people who don’t believe she shot her children think that Christie downs was coached into saying that her mother shot her, but I find that very hard to believe. If my mother shot me I’d be telling the world no matter how much it hurt me to tell. Im sure that when she did tell it broke her heart, but don’t you think that it broke christie’s heart even more to know that her mother wanted her and her sibilings dead all because her married boyfriend didn’t want children?
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okay people are saying that christie is lying cause she is a child and cause she was coached, who was it that said that they watched the movie and in the movie she was coached? Well whoever it was, I got news for you she wasn’t coached. I have been coached and brainwashed, she wasn’t. Being choached and brainwashed is when someone tells a person over and over again she did this or he did this or they did this. Being brainwashed is when someone tells you that I love you, no one else can love you like I can, or your family doesn’t want you, or even that your worthless, etc… They weren’t saying your mama did it your mama did it your mama did it over and over again to her in the movie they where helping her heal and giving her time to talk whenever she wanted to and whenever she was ready. Now before ya’ll all keep saying that children are coached and brainwashed very easily, remember that charles manson brainwashed so many people, especially women that they even killed for him and went to prison with him. So the next time the one’s who don’t believe that diane shot her children and that christie was coached and brainwashed, just remember that adults can be coached and brainwashed just as easily too.
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I have read diane’s dad’s website about her innocence, and he’s saying that christie was asleep when she got shot right??? Well inside of a car that shot can sound like a cannon. Now christie says that she heard the first shot woke up and saw her mother shoot her sister and her brother, so whose to say that it isn’t true, I mean I would wake up if I heard a gun shot. I would also wake up if I new that the car had stopped and I heard the front car door open and close and the trunk to the car open and shut. With all those loud noises whose to say that christie didn’t see her mother shoot her sibilings and then lean over the back seat like she said after her mother shot her brother and then shot christie? I agree with most the people on here; The one’s who don’t believe she did it need to read the whole thing, and then take into considerration that christie did see her mother do this, cause I know that if I heard my car stop, then saw my mom get out the car go to the trunk open, close it then come back with something in her hand and then hear loud bangs that I would def be awake. So before the people who don’t believe that diane shot her children keep calling christie and liar and saying that she was coached and brainwashed, ya’ll need to think about the fact that she was woken up by the fact that the car pulled over to a stop and the fact that she heard a loud bang and then saw her mother shoot her and her sibilings in cold blood…
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I live near the town where this happened and I read the “small sacrifices” book. I have also read other stories on it and although I lean more towards the fact that she did do it. I still have doubt in the back of my mind. There are some things that just dont add up. If u read the website that DD dads set up he pints out lots of inconsistancies. I dont know but her parole is coming up on the 9th of DEC.. I hope that she is not let out for her kids sake.
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shes guilty as sin….and worst of all, what tears at my heart strings is what her eldest daughter said, christie…’she never said she was sorry’. i lost my 9yr old son, my pride and joy, my best friend, my angel, my life may 4, 2007. i could not have loved that boy anymore than i did. i was in a car wreck in which i was at fault and will never get over this….ive almost lost everything i have due to the depths of depression i went through and am just now coming out of. i cant believe God would bless her with precious angels like that but in the end you have to find the positive. Although they are both paralyzed to various degrees they are no longer leading an unstable, abusive life now that the prosecutor and his wife adopted them. they now have a safe, normal life that they deserve its just ashame that cheryl didnt make it however shes in heaven now and will be reunited with her brother and sister soon. God rest her soul and God bless those children and I thank God that they are now in loving, secure hands. My heart goes out to the Hugis and their generous kindness and love that they have for these kids.
when the doctor informed me in the er that my son had passed i simply lost it, screaming , crying, begging him to do anything to save my baby, i went crazy. her reactions in the hospital that night are a dead give away…regardless of her past…heck, my own biological mother began to hate, not dislike, hate me around the age of 12 but that never carried over into my love for my three sons. if shes telling the truth about her childhood, of course i feel sorry for her but im sorry, this is simply not a reason for her to become the monster that she did. i hate her, she had a choice, i did not, i lost my son in an automobile accident within minutes and after a year and 8mths, im just now coming out of my depression and will beginning counseling shortly. it just infuriates me the choices people make, especially when they decide that they can end their own children’s lives. her composite sketches of the killer kept changing throughout the investigation….she got what she deserved…..actually, it should have been an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth.
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Thank God she was denied parole. She is a very dangerous person. I pray she is never free again.
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Amy, of course her father wants to believe she didn’t do this. Her child told what she saw her own Mother do. She wouldn’t lie, she was scared to death.
My heart aches with memories of this case along with the discovery of Caylee’s remains and the fact that another Mother wanted her freedom so much she had to murder her child.
I have tried to put myself in the shoes of Diane’s parents. I only know one true thing. If my grandchild got on the stand and pointed to her Mother and said she shot them, how can you not believe that? Diane’s father is in denial, maybe that gives him comfort? Thinking it impossible his daughter is a killer.
We can only Pray that justice is served and neither sees the light of day again.
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You know, I have this weird addiction to reading books on true crime. Most of the time I stick with serial killers, but I stumbled upon Ann Rule’s book in a used book store and it seemed like a story that was too sad to be true. While I like to study the traits and characteristics of murderers, it’s the trials that really get me hooked. To my knowledge from the book and many websites dedicated to this tragedy I found some flaws that if I was on the jury would not find her guilty BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT. But sometimes you gotta say F our court system cause this lady- whether completely guilty or not, has put her children in harms way so many times that she is ultimately guilty of being a horribly unfit mother. And for that she should be locked up and be protected from harming any more children’s lives.
I have never heard this story before picking up the book. But I started reading it and told my boyfriend a little about it. I barely got out that it was about a women that shot her kids (that’s right not convicted, cause I really do feel she did it), and he said “Did this happen in Oregon?” I said yes. Turns out that he had actually had contact with the Downs children, I don’t know the exact extent of them being playmates but he had said he played with the girls. Sent shivers down my spine. This story that has summoned many tears out of my eyes is now being related from a personal point from my boyfriend.
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First I’d like to discredit her dad’s website saying that she is not guilty and that some man did it, because she probably hired the man to shoot her children, did you ever think about that? I mean he said that he knew diane downs and that she owed him money, maybe him shooting her kids was her payment, but people who think she isn’t guilty probably think that he shot her kids, because she owed him money and stuff, but thats just the story that the guy gave to the police, or the first story. The second story was that he didn’t know diane downs and that he shot her kids cause he wanted her car. I don’t know, but I believe that she hired him and then he disposed of the gun and thats why the police couldn’t find it. Either way she is guilty, she shot her kids. I believe Christie, she had to of her those shots and thats why she woke up and she saw her mother shoot her sister her brother and then diane shot christie. Gun shots are really loud and if anyone tells me that a child wouldn’t wake up to the sound of a gun going off in the car is and idiot! Everyone just wants to discredit christie, because no one wants to believe that a mother could ever harm their child in anyway, much less kill to be free of their children. The woman was crazy and wanted the christie, her sister and her brother gone, cause the love of her life didn’t want to be a daddy. The thing that I think is funny, is that I have the same name as the baby that diane downs gave birth to in 1984 just before she went to prison. I wonder if Amy has talked to christie or diane and I wonder what Amy thinks about the fact that her birth mother diane downs shot her children? Anyone who believes that diane downs is not guilty is completely crazy not to believe that she is not guilty. That website that her dad made, is probably the real story turned around into what he believes or wants to believe. SHE SHOT HER KIDS, but only diane downs and christie downs knows what really happend the night of May 19 1983, but diane knows more and she’ll probably take it to her grave.
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amy
Shut up!! your like a broken record, say something new that you havent already posted your taking up space.
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Note from blog owner:
Please remember to read my comment policy before commenting. If your comment is in ALL CAPS, it will not be approved. It is rude to type in ALL CAPS and I will not allow people to post comments yelling at all of the readers.
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Agree with ” Just Me”
Amy , you just keep saying the same thing over and over again…. i am pretty sure we read it the first time around, then the second…..then possibly the third and so forth.
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Does anyone out there have any information about the interviews that the police had with the man who Wes Fredrickson says committed the murder? I seem to remember at the time that there was a statement put out that said that he had only been bragging to scare people after someone said he looked like the drawing. I can’t find anything about it and don’t know who to contact to find out.
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Dartha:
You can’t find anything about it because it’s not true, it’s all been fabricated – I even wonder if it’s really Wes — did you look at the e-mail address. None-the-less, you can go and get copies of transcripts and so forth — I believe you will find Dianne is guilty after going through all the evidence that the jury went through.
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There was an interview on the Leeza show years back, maybe 1999 or 2000, and the poor guy looked like a deer caught in the headlights. A couple of disgruntled members of his white trash family (who looked like meth addicts) said they heard him confess to them back in 1983. He vehemently denied it.
I don’t know if transcripts of the show are available, but in the show, Diane said she never formally met this man. In her “new and improved story”, he was a drug dealer that she saw commit some stupid crime. It’s all a bunch of crap.
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Even if it the website is actually run by Frederickson then he is only doing what any normal parent would do. He is standing by his daughter, trying to help her. He is what she is not a PARENT!! She is a psycho period. As for the man who apparently confessed and he asked why would someone confess to such horrendous crimes?? the answer is simple an attention seeking nutjob like Keith Jesperson a convicted “happy face” murderer who confessed to hundreds of other crimes that he did not commit!
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I have just finished Ann Rule’s book on Diane Downs, and I tell you what im so UNSURE if she did it! I agree that she was a strange character of a woman , but that does not make someone a killer. Right through out the book you see how obsesed she is by children, the constant want to have them, so I dont see how that ties in to her then attempting to kill them. I dont think she did it for “Lew” because as she says he does not like complications. I don’t understand why she would get pregnant again with another baby right away if she was going to depose of the others. You very rearly hear her speak of hurting her children, instead prefering not to mention them at all. I dont know, there were things that just did not click for me to find her ‘without a doubt” guilty. Even with poor Chrisities testimony. Im really at a loss with this one and feel almost haunted by my indecision. She certainly didn’t act like a mother who has lost a child and witnessed the others shot, but this really could just be a coping thing for a very emotionally unstable woman. I truely hope that if she did it then she is in the right place, but if she didn’t that one day she will be set free. In New Zealand David Bain was sent to prison for life when he was a teenager for the murder of this family. They like this case, had holes in the evidence but she was sentanced anyway, now finally after all these years he is having a re-trial tp prove that his father was the murder before turning the gun on himself and leaving Bain to take the rap.
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I’m sorry that I sound a broken record. I just have a hard time believing that people out there believe that she’s not guilty. I have a hard time to this day hearing stories about mother’s killing their own children. I just don’t understand how something so wonderful could ever be something that is just in the way of whatever the mother wants? I believe christie, because Im pretty sure I’d wake up to a loud pop in a car and saw someone shooting at me. It breaks my heart to know that it was her mother. I sometimes still hope that maybe they were wrong and that this misterious man was the one who shot her kids. I also wonder if christie and danny have found some way to forgive their mother as well. Maybe one day we will find out the truth, whether it turns out she is guilty or not I hope that her and her children can find some peace and maybe one day find some kind of middle ground.
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Please give it a rest, not everyone share the same opinion in this world, understand that, you can’t change that, you don’t have to agree but at least respect others opinions even though they may not agree with yours!
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Wow, how do I begin to say this? First of all, I am so surprised by how many people are so sure D.D. committed the crimes she was convicted of. You see, I’m her ex-sister-in-law and I’m not sure one way or the other. This much I know because after it happened I traveled to Oregon to be with the family- I did not see any fear in Christie when we walked into her hospital room. I did sleep on a bench at the hospital with Diane while she watched over her children. I was there when Diane visited Danny and saw nothing unusual between them. I never saw Diane’s children abused, dirty or hungry. I know Diane was raised in a family where showing emotion was frowned upon. If you had a problem, you sucked it up, put on a face and carried on. Her non-emotional state in public was normal for her. She and her family where looked upon with suspicion very early in the case, the first few days the children were in the hospital. She and her family were forbidden contact also very early on. Was her father abusive? I’ll be honest- he had problems with losing his temper with his children when they were young. I do not believe he ever sexually abused Diane. I was sexually abused by several men, but Wes Frederickson never said, did, or even suggested anything inappropriate in the 4 years I knew him or the months I lived in his home as his son’s wife. ( from the time I was 14-19) As far as poor Christie’s testimony- as I said, was molested many times as a child- one of which was by the teenage son of my mother’s boyfriend when I was 7.I made the mistake of telling my grandmother who then told the boy’s father. The boy, of course, denied it. I was made to stand in the middle of the room and threatened with a spanking if I didn’t “tell the truth” that the boy didn’t do it. Faced with punishment, I caved and said he didn’t do it. I have always wondered if Christie was told that she would get to go home with her mom if she only “told the truth”. And you bet, she would know what they wanted “the truth” to be. And how could she possibly ever recant when she was being raised by the prosecutor and his wife? Just a few reasons why I’m not sure.
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I have read both books on this case (pro and con) And the websites. I can’t honestly say that I think there is no reasonable doubt. The fact that the gun was never found even though there was proof that she went right to the hospital, and there was a witness to the time (Mr Inman) I also read testimony from someone that talked with Christie when she was in High School that said that she really did not remember he mom shooting her and that is what “they” believed happed and wanted her to say. I believe that if she is guilty, she is exactly where she is supposed to be, if she is not than there has been a huge miscarriage of justice. As far as the kids not wanting to see thier grandparents, that is not true, Hugi sent Diane’s parents a letter threatening them with legal action if they tried to contact the kids because “they were not thier grandchildren”.
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if she shot her children! why would she drive them to the hospital?
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She had to make it look good. Plus, it gave her attention.
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Who are YOU to Diane Downs? You seem mighty interested.
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I do not know her, nor am I related to her in any way. Never have met her. I am a crime blogger. I do not know everyone I have written about, victim or offender.
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Right on. I’m a crime blogger too. I feel sorry for her, she is obviously a very sick women. She needs some intensive psych meds.
Take care!
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This is a very interesting website, it’s good to see free speech truly at work. I have read the book, seen the interviews and watched the movie. I think what’s being forgotten here is she was tried by a jury of her peers. Therefore, she is guilty. If you decide that she is not guilty then you are questioning your own legal system, that in itself is anarchistic, not ‘freedome of speech’. DD is guilty, she was found guilty by her peers and she remains in prison after being refused parole because of her ‘continuous changes to her original statement’. Now instead of one man, she claims two men were involved. Question, by all means, what she has done, but don’t question your own legal system.
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Questions toward the legal system just may be required, or are they unfailable…unfamiliar with grace and mercy? My question is, has anyone been in touch with Doug Harcleroad, who retired as the DA in 01-01-09? He was said to be making a transfer to some victims assistance program in the State of Oregon however when I call the courts there is no forwarding address??? I could use his assistance and council and times arrow, times cycle.
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She drove her children to the hospital at 5-7 mph, according to a car who came up behind her that night. He was behind Diane’s car for several minutes until the road straightened out enough for him to pass her. She was going 5-7 mph the entire time. In my opinion she was waiting for her children to die, or at least to be close enough to death so that they could not be saved. Any mother out there knows that if you have an injured child in your car you would drive like a bat out of hell to get to an emergency room. Anyway, she couldn’t exactly wait until they were all dead and in rigor mortis or something, that would have blown her story from the start. She is guilty, end of story. My opinion (and most every logical human who is familiar with the case.)
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I agree Jenny.
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i have looked at alot of web pages, news paper clippings, books ect & i cant make up my mind at all. i started looking at the DD story for a paper i am writing at uni and am stuck. if any one could send me anything of any use please do i also have seen looking back through this that some people have asked contact details for DD and would much appreciate it that if any body has them could they pass them on to me. my email is samanddannii@yahoo.co.uk. i will write more when i know more. thanks.
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I just can’t understand how anyone can read the evidence against Diane and still think she ‘might’ be innocent! This lady deserves more than the prison sentence she was given.I just finished reading the book “Small Sacrifices” and then I read some of the garbage her dad posted about her ‘innocence’…I was shocked at his gullibility! I guess it’s easier for him to live in denial! How can anyone treat their children the way she did! One particular phrase from the book still haunts me…it was her 3 year old son holding his hand in the shape of a gun, making a shooting noise, and saying ” Pshow! You’ve been a bad boy!”
what an evil evil woman she is to torture her babies this way.
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I would have to agree with most of the people here. I think the evidence is clear and concise. There will be “holes” and “things that just don’t add up”. You will have that in most criminal cases. Rarely is there ever a case that is so neat and tidy that there is little room for doubt. But she was found guilty beyond a “reasonable doubt” by a jury of her peers. I also have read the book and seen the movie, read articles and transcripts. I have read the testimony given by her children, her inlaws, spouse and other family members. We want to believe that no one in our family could ever harm their own children let alone shoot and kill them. God love them for believing in her. God bless her children for their pure and honest testimony that sent her away. Please let us not forget about Susan Smith who drowned her two little boys and won the sympathy of the world as we all searched for them. She was very convincing as well…. Diane Downs is where she belongs
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[…] not the first time it has happened, nor will it be the last, I am sure. There was Felecia Williams, Diane Downs, Brooklyn Holcomb, Nixzmary Brown, Shelby Andrews, Crystal Figueroa and so many many more. All of […]
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i believe diane downs tried to kill all her children !! if a man was trying to steal her car he would have shot her first and not in the arm,all these children was shot in places meaning to kill them.one died ,and thanks to some great doctors the other two survived,i read somewhere when the nurse or doctor told her of the child who died diane didnt even shed a tear,this woman is a cold blooded killer and deserves to spend the rest of her life in prison just like susan atkins had to do till she died.this is a horrible murder and i hope diane will never be paroled for her crimes.
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Diane’s surviving children are grown up now. I believe Christie Ann would be in her thirties. She has a career and is married and has a child of her own.
If her mother were innocent, wouldn’t she speak out? She’s not a “scared little girl” anymore.
I saw a video of Ms. Downs’ parole hearing. That woman is a nut. She expects people to believe her just because “she said it.” And her story has become even MORE bizarre. It’s a full blown conspiracy theory involving undercover agents and all.
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I do believe this woman is guilty. Anytime somebody keeps changing their story they’re lying if you’re telling the truth there is no need to change your story. In one of her interviews she was talking about the worst part of that night was seeing the blood gushing out of Christies mouth and how that memory bothered her most of all then she put on this big smirk on her face right at the end. I know you can’t judge a book by it’s cover but she just looks evil I see the devil when I look into her eyes. She also said that she didn’t feel very lucky because she got shot in the arm I mean c’mon Cheryl died, Christie almost died, and her son is stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of his life and she’s saying that she doesn’t feel very lucky just because she couldn’t tie her shoes for two months. That right there is a dead giveaway that she has absolutely no care in the world for anything or anybody it’s all about her and I hope she never gets out. I really wonder if you put her in a cage with bear and threatened her to confess to her crimes before the bear tore her to shreds if she would come clean or not. Unfortunately our justice system doesn’t work that way but if I were in her shoes you bet any amount of money I would confess before a bear tore me to pieces. She probably actually would get out someday if she confessed and showed some remorse but since she doesn’t she’s going to rot in a jail cell for the rest of her life. I must say there are a few things that are fishy though number one what she did with the gun since it was never found, two why she wasn’t covered with blood spatter, and 3 how she passed that sheet metal test. She is in on it no matter how you cut it I’m just wondering if there’s a slight chance that she might have hired somebody to do it. There is one person she will have to answer to and that’s God. He’s the only one that can answer for her.
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seems like diane came prepared when she shot her kids ,maybe she wore gloves on her hands when she shot her pistol,and maybe she brought along some extra clothes to change in after the shootings.to remove blood splatter from her clothes during the crime,i dont know but i hope she never walks out of prison !!!!what was bad was she had a child dead and two fighting for their lives and diane went out and got pregnant again just to save her from death row if convicted .they should put pictures of the child she murdered in her cell so she could look in the eyes of this precious little girl she murdered. she showed her children no mercy and i hope no parole board will ever show her mercy in the future
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Oregon does not have the death penalty so your reasonsing behind her having another child are not founded.
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take that back, they do have the death penalty but I do not believe that is why she became pregnant again.
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She got pregnant again for a couple of reasons. One, she loved the attention she got when pregnant. Two, I think she thought it would help her beat the case and she would have a baby to “care” for when she got out. She has Narcissistic Personality Disorder and wants it all to be about her. She believes the world revolves around her. In fact, she still believes she will be approved for parole and released. I doubt that will happen due to the heinous nature of the crime alone, but also because she has to take responsibility for her crimes, which she will never do. It is never her fault, people are always against her, blah blah blah She is where she belongs.
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She was shooting from a distance for the most part, except for the near contact 2nd shot at Cheryl. And it seems that most of that blood spattered against the car because of the angle she was shot. Poor little girl.
Her parole hearing in Dec. was nothing more then demented. She’s a sick pup.
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You’re right Jeff. And not only did she say she didn’t feel lucky, but she said she thought her kids WERE lucky, because she didn’t die. One child dead, one paralyzed, and one disabled, and she (who healed from her wound in no time) is the unluckiest one of them all.
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Diane’s father’s website offers a 50k reward for information leading to her freedom. He also says he answered an ad in a newspaper selling a 22 Ruger. He replies to the ad, and guess what? The serial number is the same as the one her husband owned! That is where the trail goes cold. Why doesn’t he use some of that reward money to purchase the gun and find out the truth? Also, concerning the trigectory of the bullets into Christie, wouldn’t you guess that if you just witnessed your brother and sister shot, you would just sit there and look ahead? Who knows what type of contortions her body went into in an attempt to defend herself? Perhaps Diane’s big mistake was leaving her for last. My convincing proof in point was the lenght of time it took her to get to the hospital. She was in quite a dilemna .. she had to drive slow enough so they would die, but not too slow to make it look that way. Thank God for the guy who was following her travelling at 6 mph. Such luck for the prosecution.
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I also think it is terrible that her father posted Christie’s wounds in the hospital just to blabber on about a ridiculous supposition.
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And – may I ask what all these men saw in Diane -besides the fact she was easy?
She looks like a horse.
Always has.
“Butter Face” – everything great but her face.
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How can ANY mother put some MAN over her CHILDREN???
Nick/Lew didn’t even WANT her!
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Can someone give me any further information about Diane Downs?I’m doing a research paper on Diane Downs for my english class. Thanks a lot!
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What more information are you looking for?
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There’s always someone claiming to be a student who is looking for “more info” on Diane Downs. Hey…students…why don’t you write to her? I’m sure she would be glad to hear from you.
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You know it’s really amazing in the movie Small Sacrificies the attorney talked about how the public was with Diane and all the sympathy for her nobody back then would have suspected any mother of doing this to her own children. I saw the movie when it first got released on TV back in 1989 when I was 10 and at the beginning I believed in Diane’s story that some crazy guy had stopped her on the road and attacked her and the kids. I was only 4 when this case took place so I knew nothing of it and I remember my mom saying that this was a movie about a mother who shot her kids. And I was like, “No mom that man on the road did it.” So then my mom had to explain the story to me I just thought that was interesting how I got sucked into believing it at first like a lot of other people did.
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Well Jeff, what 10 year old wants to believe that a mother would shoot her own children? What SANE grown person would want to believe that? But sadly, as adults, we know it happens.
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Interesting website. Has anybody else noticed the pictures in the “Small Sacrifices” book? On one page there is a picture of Diane showing her bullet wound, on the opposite page is a revised picture of the “shaggy-haired stranger”. Do they look a bit alike? People suffering from blackouts sometimes have mutiple-personality disorder. If Diane shot her children, as most of us believe, she could have done it while a “male” personality was dominate. If that is the case, she could have done the shooting and had little or no memory of the incident. I am NOT excusing her behavior, it is simply an idea. Many women who suffer from sexual abuse as children hate men and yet would like to be one, because being a child and/or female is painful and humiliating. Hense the male personalities that sometimes occur. Just some food for thought.
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I honestly can’t find any taped footage of ANY interviews of Diane Downs. Weird. Not even Oprah.
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Go to Oprah 2010 Diane Downs she’s all over just type in Diane Downs ..
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Just for your information Tonya, Diane was never sexually abused or molested she just made that up in court as a cover for her psychotic behavior and after she got locked up her father denied the allegations and Diane admitted that it never happened.
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After reading all of these posts dated as far back as 2007. I am amazed at all the guessing going on about Diane.
I met Diane when she lived in Phoenix and was 7 mos. pregnant with her son. Her sister Kathy and I were very good friends. And I knew both her daughters very well.
The short amount of time I spent with Diane I will always remember. She was a very strange person. Acting as if she was having problems with her pregnancy just to get sympothy, and attention.
Christy and Cheryl were very sweet young girls and I spent time with them when they were with their Aunt Kathy.
I have no doubt in my mind that Diane did this.
It sickens me to know that she took the life of such a sweet girl.
People need to stop guessing and wondering about her guilt. SHE IS GUILTY.
If this story is going to kept alive and questions asked. Why not keep the memory of the sweet life she stole alive. And let the monster Diane get no more attention.
BECAUSE, TRUST ME SHE IS A ATTENTION WHORE.
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Amy.. all’s i’m hearing from you is ” i watched the movie ” good on you. You always believe movies are 100% right? i’m not saying she did not kill ( and or try and kill) her children but seriously…..” i saw the movie ” does not cut it.
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I can’t believe so many of the responses are littered with criticisms of the Hugi family adopting the children.
I am only new to this case, I have just finished reading Rule’s book. The fact that Fred Hugi adopted the children was something that stood out as a total positive for me.
If you remember, Hugi was extremely apprehensive about having direct contact with the children without someone else being present throughout the investigation.
During the trial phase, he coached Christie on dealing with a court situation, along with her doctors and other law enforcement personnnel. This is standard for a case like this. Have you seen the way defence attorney’s attack victims on the stand?
It wasn’t a subversive attempt to gang up on Diane. She seemed perfectly able to crucify herself just by opening her mouth. Why her defence attorney seemed to allow her to testify on her own behalf unfettered is beyond me.
The Hugi’s also didn’t adopt the children straight after the case. They were with the Slaven’s for a long time.
Over and above the trail and the crime, the three children sounded like they had a horrible life prior to the incident. Their mother was narcissistic, neglectful and according to many, abusive.
She flouted a court order to stay away from Christie. She told everyone that Danny could walk again if he was “loved enough”. She got pregnant at the drop of a hat.
She has little to no respect or empathy for anyone beyond herself.
And for the poster who said “what about the grandparents?” what the hell are you smoking? If half of what Diane said was true about what went on in her house, how can you possibly think that was a safe environment for two psychologically fragile children?
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Em,
I agree completely with you!
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Well said.
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she is guilty as sin..
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I can’t believe that Diane was only 27 at this time this crime happened she looks like she’s at least 40. But if you drink the bar dry and do drugs which are a couple allegations that I’ve read about her lifestyle that will definitely age you because her latest mugshot she’s 54 but looks like she’s 65. I just can’t believe that she got so much sexual activity with how scary and ugly she is I wouldn’t have touched her with a 50 foot pole. She must have been really good in bed or looked really great after a 6 pack of beer or a bottle of whiskey. It’s not just her face I don’t see anything in her that I would like I’ve never seen her behind but she has hardly any boobs and has absolutely no meat on her bones. I bet all the guys that ever went to bed with her were pretty freaked out that she was this time of person. And she claimed in her parole hearing that she was only a couple points short of a genius on her IQ test and not that I would have wanted to see all 3 of her kids killed at all it’s unfortunate that she killed her one daughter but don’t you think common sense would tell you that if you wanted to kill somebody by shooting them the best way to do that is to shoot them in the head. But that just proves that there is a God and he was watching over those children that night and it sounds like besides the injuries they were left with they went on to lead very normal happy lives. It is just so scary to know that this woman was once free and on the streets and nobody would have ever known she was capable of this. Sometimes people like this could be your neighbor, family member, friend, co-worker, or even a lover but we don’t think for one second that person is crazy.
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I knew Diane when I lived in Junction City Oregon and saw her the day of the shooting.If any of you people really knew her then you wouldn’t be shooting your mouth off. She had stayed at my house off and on for 4 months along with all 3 of her children. She loved her kids with all her heart. Just because the DA couldn’t have kids of his own shouldn’t have been her problem. I feel that he railroaded her so he could give his wife kids that she wanted. Maybe he should of been a man and had kids of his own. After the kids where shot, she hid at my house for 5-6 days because of people like you. You should know someone before you cast the first stone. I did know her and still look at her as a friend.
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Del,
It is good that you look at her as a friend still, however, the evidence shows that she shot her children. The DA did not just choose her for her children and decide that she did it so he could adopt her children. That is irrational at the least. Her own daughter witnessed her shoot them. Could you live with that memory of your mother. Obviously you do not care about Diane’s children, as you only mentioned her, not the actual victims of the crime.
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I really thinks she should have gotten the death sentence!!!!!…….what kind of mother does that to her own kids!
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As far as I’m concerned, people who harm kids {and make NO mistake-this slut harmed her kids} should be fed feet first into a wood chipper/shredder.
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It seems highly unusual that the prosecutor and wife adopted the children in question and seems to indicate a possible conflict of interest being violated and/or controlled here. I would hope the the US Attorney General would look into such matters.
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A Omega,
You do know that the adoption did not happen until AFTER the conviction right?
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what the name of the movie and books
if anybody know just email me at
punk4hardy@gmail.com
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Are you kidding me? That information is on the post you supposedly read.
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What ever happened to Steve Downs? Wasn’t he CHristie’s father? Why didn’t he want his daughter? I read that he was not Danny’s father but what ever happened to Russ Phillips? Wasn’t he Danny’s father?
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I agree with mylifeofcrime. Not one time did so-called-friend Del F., mention those poor children. They were the victims. She was a fool to put any man before her kids. I am a divorced mother of three and we all come as a package. If any guy tell me he don’t my children in the relationship, I’ll just chalk him up as a mistake waiting to occur. There are plenty of cookies in the cookie jar.
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I’ve never read the book, but I heard a few stories from people that have. I’ve seen the movie. I’m just curious about this website dad’s got going. Why is he so adamant about her not being guilty?!!!! She lied about him sexually abusing her. WOW!!!, if that ain’t a father loving his daughter til the end, I don’t know what it is! How wierd!!!!! Now, her telling that lie, I’m sure made him look like a monster. I’m sure it’s attention she wanted and she got it. I don’t know how she grew up or what went on in their household, but to tell the world that your father sexually abused you when it never happened, something is diffently wrong. I don’t know if I could go out of my way to try and prove her not guilty, that it was a shaggy haired man.
And why was she on that dark desolate road anyway with three little children? That should have shot curiousity all over the place! Nick/Lew, would have been another paged turned.
Not excusing what she did, but everybody don’t think the same. I’m sure she had a very low self-esteem in order to off her children for a damn man. She’s really gonna have to have GOD in her life or she will surely die and it won’t be in GOD’S NAME.
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[…] Damn her! via MylifeofCrime […]
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i was 10 when DD shoot her kids and now im a mother of 2 iwould never hurt my kids like that i just hop she rot in hell and she is guile
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i have not read the book but my mother mayed us see the move and my moher cry when the kids got shoot i did not under stand at the time but my mom said tha i talke to her DD all he time when the mail is her from that day i now under sand the move of DD how can she do that to the kids she say se love she is guilt
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Does anyone know where the kids are now? i’ve read some about Amy, but I’m really interested to know more about the kids who really knew her, namely Christie. How are they? What happened to them and where are they now? My heart just breaks for her and poor Cheryl… imagine watching your sister die at the hands of your mother. How would you ever move past that?
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um, Google it..
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There are a slew of sites proclaiming Diane Downs’ innocence, but they all have the same wild and shifting stories of a grand conspiracy to set Downs up: someone was running a drug ring, someone was witnessed at a drug party, someone liked to rape little girls, and somehow this meant Downs had to be gotten out of the way. These sites insist that the evidence was fabricated, that Christie was manipulated and has since recanted her accusation, that a man is wandering around out there claiming that he shot the Downs children, and nobody is doing anything about it.
Never mind that, if it were so important to keep Downs quiet, she’d have been the one killed that night. The real problem is that, no matter how many sites spring up telling yet more variations on these themes, the source for these claims is always Downs, and there is no evidence backing up any of these claims. No independent source has claimed that evidence was fabricated: it’s always sites tied with Downs, and their claims are frequently at odds with the actual testimony and trial transcripts. Christie has not come forward and recanted her story–Down claims to have heard from someone who heard from someone else that Christie changed her story. To hear Diane say this for yourself, look up her parole interview on Youtube.
No one has seen the ‘numerous affadavits’ or talked to the numerous people who supposedly swear that a man confessed to shooting the Downs children–the claim that these people said it, that they’ve sworn to it, is repeated verbatim across a number of Downs-related sites, but there’s no independent source for it, and no independent account of the individuals. Downs’ sites suggest the kids are being manipulated, and that’s why the prosecutor adopted them, but in her parole interview (available on Youtube), she suggested that mid courtroom re-enactment, he realized she was innocent and adopted the kids to keep them safe from the real killer. The daughter put up for adoption has said she cut off contact because of the wild and shifting stories Downs started to write her, grand conspiracies in which people were watching the daughter…
Anyone can make a website. Anyone can type a sentence on a sheet of paper. Downs has a proven history of telling tall tales. Before you take anything she says (herself, through her supporters or through her father) as truth, dig a little deeper for actual independent proof.
And, finally, please remember that the movie is not the trial. You can’t assume the kids were manipulated or led in their testimony by the performance of an actor playing a prosecutor, or an actress playing the daughter, or the amount of time the film devoted to the kids’ emotional healing.
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How sad. How true.
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email me directly at james@jamesfre.com it is odd that you think a 8 year old girl that was taken away from her family cannot be manipulated Diane never held or fired a gun how do you shoot somebody if you never hold or fire a gun???
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I am in awe of what you just said, downs supporter. Downs never shot a gun?! Are you insane? First of all, even if the only evidence of that was Dianne herself saying she never shot a gun, we still would assume she was lying because the piece of trash is a manipulative liar and a sadistic murderer, but in addition, Dianne has held a gun on her ex husband AND shot a bullet into the floor of her own house which was a solid piece of evidence against her seeing as it came from the gun it proved to be the same one that shot her kids! You’re either misinformed, brainwashed by the lunatic killer herself or totally unintelligent to expect people to believe a statement because a convicted murderer said so. You have to be just as insane as Dianne herself to turn a blind eye to the mountain of solid forensic and circumstantial PROOF that the woman you’re supporting is 100% guilty of premeditated murder and attempted murder. Your argument is akin to saying “how can you think Dianne is guilty?! She said she didn’t do it!” yeah we will just forget about all that evidence and the fact that every psychology professional that’s come within ten yards of her come away positive she is a narcissistic, insane, manipulative sack of crap. If you’re a family member of hers, way to defend a murderer that took your granddaughter, etc, from you! How about acting like her little girls life means something? Because diannes life sure doesn’t mean anything to anyone with half a brain. I’m sorry to be so harsh, but you’ve allowed yourself to be brainwashed by psychotic, incoherent savings of a full blown lunatic and you are disgracing a dead childs memory and that makes me incredibly angry!!
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I agree with you Brit. I have not read the book, but I’ve seen the movie as well as the documentaries that I found on the internet. What I’ll never forget was the part discussing how the daughter’s heart rate raced and portraying a look of absolute terror. If a mother was ‘protecting’ her children like she claimed she was trying to do, that child would not be scared to death to see her mother right after the incident. To the doubters that feel this sicko is innocent, just remember that this same little girl had to face her mother in court and tell her story giving her paralyzed brother, herself that was in critical care and close to death many times, and her deceased sister justice. Who knows, maybe Diane’s fans will tell us that Charles Mason and Jim Jones were innocent as well.
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Diane Downs is very very sick and should never b let go…She and Jodi arias r so much alike no remorse. they constantly lie they have no emotions no expressions of symphany there eyes r dark Nothing no soul …Best said there the Devil..Pure Heartless and Evil.
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Those that believe she’s innocent are all in denial or didnt do their homework. So basically you are saying that all the women that killed their child(ren) and you see it on the news are all innocent. Get the F*** outta here with that stupidity, acting like she was the only person in the world to commit a senseless act all for love, you mf are sick yourself. Children are smart…not at all dumb. “Listen to the children.”
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I lived around the corner from the Downs family. Cheryl was a year older then me. We found out when the newspaper came the next morning, then the phone rang because the teachers and PTA members had all been called to the school because they were going were to have to tell the students were what happened. My mom said: the teachers just stood there stunned, they didn’t know how to do it.
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The photo labeled “Rebecca Babcock” is NOT that individual. It is a photo of Louisville KY music teacher Diane Downs, who is not related to any of these people or this case in any way. Her photo has been reversed for some reason, perhaps to disguise the fact that is was intentionally mislabeled? Please remove it from this blog immediately.
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How Much Was Her Bail At Her Arraignment?
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