It kinda scared me, the thought that mommy could shoot me, like this mommy did. 6. Instead, it is Diane who fought to keep her children. Either way he could NOT have seen who shot him unless he has eyes in the back of his head. The authorities wanted to see them mourn and fall apart. To have separated Christie from her brother and the rest of the family to be able to get her mom was unconscionable. Maybe I'm dramatic but I no longer want to watch it . But my beef is with the interference by the media, TV shows and Ann Rule. Maybe someone needs to read Part two in Dr. Billings in-depth review of the Diane Downs Murder Case in Oregon. I recently found your website and have enjoyed it a lot. At the time, among 49 prisoners denied parole, the board had given only four inmates, including Downs, a 10-year wait. Nice to see this blog is still active in 2017, being a lot of groupsmessage boards and such, on subjects like this has no activity for years. Plus, Diane could have never cleaned her clothes and her hair to remove blood and gun powder. Their goal was to make Dian look crazy, because sane people dont shoot their children. Page 6 of Case History. It is said that their union was loveless and that Steve was a player who was also quite irresponsible and immature from time to time. Why did CK shoot the kids multiple times and DD once? Someone found guilty of a crime should have a sentence that can be served and not one that is contingent on the remorse shown. Instead of grieving, Alice went partying and had sex. Mainly because she is being kept caged due to her name recognition at this point, not her offense. She even became a surrogate mother to make money and provide two parents the opportunity to have a child. This is also a faster route to give the children permanency, and is far cheaper for the child welfare system that is always strained by the budget. There isnt a whole lot known about where Steve Downs is these days. Diane now had the title of dangerous offender. In reply to Nick. I mention in my blog that when her adoptive dad said that she was coerced and thats why she said she did not know who shot them, that of course she was because this is what she does when under pressure. It took months to get Christie to say that her mother was the culprit and that is when they arrested Diane. She met Robert "Nick" Knickerbocker and started having a relationship with him earlier. Teams of people and detectives combed the area for months looking for the gun but it was nowhere to be found. It is a research done on the case according to many sources. The detectives took Diane to the crime scene and were able to retrieve shell cases on the ground where the incident happened. Why is there virtually no info on him? You make an interesting observation when you say: Anyways. Im not arguing the facts of the trial, and Im not about to. The circumstances surrounding the case were not enough to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Steve knew Danny was not his biological child and left Downs. Diane Downs and Alice Crummins were considered sluts and cold-blooded women and were judged on their unusual character. Hugi got the evidence needed to convict after numerous meetings with Christie. She was found guilty. I wanted to ask you something on this case. She also underwent a gun residue test that same evening that revealed no trace of gun powder on her hands. I appreciate this whole blog just want to give you a heads up. Knick had NOT signed the premarital agreement, but that didnt stay his pursuit of Diane, knowing she was moving 1200 miles away. And the fact that Tracy wrote in his notes that Christies reaction could have been excitement to see her mom but they decided to only mention extreme fear? According to the state, the shooter was well inside the car and would have had gun powder on its clothing, body or hair if 3 people were shot in the car at close distance. But there were discrepancies; the tool marks did not matchand the detective lied on the stand about it. Melvin Belli How things could have been different. At first I thought she did it, now I made further research and I dont know what to think. Dianes story does not contradict that. The fact that the children were in no way protected by Child Protection Services is undeniable. What about the terror of being interrogated by strangers and separated from her family? What would have been the conclusion to have drawn without this hate campaign? During closing arguments, Fred Hugi said that the murder weapon used by Diane was a Ruger, and the state had the model number and the bill of sale. Here's everything you need to know. Brewer changed his mind. I do not have to state anything at the beginning of the blog. I still dont buy her story. Tracy, I never said she was in the car. So, why didn't Steve Downs get custody? I am not saying she is innocent. It sounds pretty fair to me. According to the State, ballistics evidence proved that Diane Downs was guilty. The woman shot her children. A long long time ago. Diane asked for proof that her ex husband was behind the shooting. The way this investigation and the trial were conducted only left me with doubts. Child Protective Services takes confidentiality to the extreme (warranted in most cases). She was still trying to extricate herself from a bad relationship with Steve Downs and was in no hurry to repeat the mistake. Were they involved in the plot too?? According to The Cinemaholic, Steve was found to not be a good fit to care for his kids who would need specialized care and had been through a very traumatic event. After each of the kids was shot multiple times on that fateful day in 1983, Steve cooperated with the police completely. Dianes parents had high hopes for her future, a future that didnt involve Steve, so they disapproved of their relationship. There is no way that a jury would convict Diane today, based on the clearly coached testimony of Christie. And she laughed at it by saying it was healthy to want to join the free world, especially if you proclaim your innocence. In 1984, Diane Downs was convicted of shooting her three children, 3-year-old Danny, 7-year-old Cheryl, and 8-year-old Christie. But the fact that the prosecutor called her a deviant sociopath in court without any assessment became another nail in her coffin. Late one May night in 1983, Diane Downs sped into an emergency room dropoff in Springfield, Ore., with a horrifying story to tell. Clickhere to read about faulty ballistics.. The Case of Liysa Northon Who Said True Crime Does not Pay? Once again, Diane said a lot of things. Libby, I quoted what Diane said. The parole board in Oregon was asking to provide reasonable cause to show she was not a danger to society and it had to be supported by a psychiatrists report or a Wardens letter and Downs provided both. I was also stunned that she took the reports of all of Dianes ( mostly married) ex lovers as absolute truth and never once questioned that they might have been lying and retrospectively minimising their feelings for Diane to protect themselves. They had high hopes for Dianes future and this bad boy was not part of it. I care about the experts reports written about Diane because they know her situation and mental state. Isnt is odd how something we are exposed to as children can stick in our memory? They seem to say she was like that from the very beginning so in my opinion, it should represent a mitigating circumstance instead of a longer sentence. I am a Mortuary science student, true crime fanatic, and have been following the Downs case since it happened. The american system often reminds me of what Charles Dickens talked about in his novels. That conflict of interest alone would incline Christie to testify against her mother. Everything matters in a trial and investigation. I am all for reviewing facts and getting a decision overturned in cases of corrupt decisions, and many people are on your side and find these cases totally worth their time. Steve Bannon won't be detained before trial on charges of contempt of Congress after he failed to comply with subpoenas from the House committee investigating January 6. In reality,the whole caseturned out to beno small sacrifice for Diane Downs, but it was a huge victory for the State, the media anda very lucrative deal for theQueen of crime fiction herself; Ann Rule. Their first child, Christie Ann, was born in 1974. Two of the kids survived the shooting with life altering injuries, and one of the children died. I dont understand how the family court managed to isolate 2 severely traumatized and grievously injured children from their entire family. How do you expect the daughter to have any fair understanding of the situation or any decent contact with Dianes family when the people who have been calling her mother a murderer and a monster are dragging her in the media spotlight in the hope of writing another book or getting a new scoop, but all one sided. According to Rule and the court, the unicorn was a memorial to her children that she purchased after premeditating their murder. Britney Spears's ex Kevin Federline gets increased custody of sons Is it too late to respond to this? Or that the sketch did not resemble the suspect enough? Everything I outlined should be public knowledge. And what happened to her little daughter is beyond unethical. The prosecutor and his wife adopted both children that survived and although the boy is paralyzed and in a wheelchair, they trived with their new parents. 4. No other shooter involved in her case. The underlying basis of this article. That single fact collaborated by a witness, convicts her for me. Diane has not been deemed an ongoing public threat that I am aware of. Unfortunately couldnt really do anything at that point, as the movie was not VHS yet, it only aired that oncein late 89. As a married man, the ball was in his court and he decided togo forit. In fact, with her continuing to deny committing the crime or expressing remorse, she may never get out. It was very unfair to raise them away from their grandparents and other blood relatives. More reason to have investigated the case more thoroughly. Also, he has never given television interviews about his family or ex-wife, who is now serving time in prison. As we have reported in great detail in the past, Diane Downs could not possibly have committed the crime of shooting her children, or there would have been evidence of gunpowder residue and blood. But you would know that if you had read the blog or info about the case. This was ridiculed countless times in the media, but frankly, it can be a very honorable endeavor, depending onhow you want to look at it. Without her daughters testimony and the lies about the gun, they could not have found her guilty in a fair trial. I am not her advocate, but I think she did not get due process. And Ann Rule said that the unicorn that was omnipresent in court was part of the premeditation. I was curious as to what these requirements were, as I have not seen these online. It would never happen todaynever. Theybrought out the big guns to unload on the public, their idea of the truth: Diane Downs was a horrible creature and a jilted lover who shot her three children in cold blood to be free to pursue a relationship with the man she was obsessed with. She has been denied parole 2x and is up again in 2020. They hated her attitude and thought she was promiscuous and showed no sorrow or remorse. Police witness reports of strangers and confessions were suppressed or not pursued. All the reports and even the warden thought she was not a threat anymore. Steve Howey, Sarah Shahi's Relationship Timeline: Photos The Pros and Cons of Getting Sole Legal Custody - Verywell Family Is there any update? According to Oregon law, this would have to be supported by a psychiatrists report or a Wardens letter and Diane provided both. Lets also remember that this is the US of A and we dont lock people up for being narcissistic, antisocial histrionic individuals. There is a court sketch artists rendering of him in this video. GSR can easily fall off just by brushing your hand against a surface. Glamour reported that Danny was paralyzed from the chest down as a result of the shooting and Cheryl suffered a major stroke as a result of the attack that left her with a lifelong speech impediment. You can click here to read about the case of Alice Crimmins during which the lead detective was heard telling the other cops before the bodies of the children were ever found:You take the husband, Ill take the bitch.. Take your smugness elsewhere, at long last. Christie Downs was eight-years old when she was injured and nine-years old when she testified. Her flat affect is even more pronounced now and it did her in at the time, but she was lucid enough to clearly see that Rule and the media used Becky for their personal gain. One of them named Angel, called 15-year-old Christie on the phone. RAISING THE BAR BUT CERTAINLY NOT IN ARIZONA, http://www.glamour.com/story/i-found-out-my-mother-was-a-killer-the-rebecca-babcock-story, http://www.manipulatedtrial.de/oregon_s_small_sacrifices_1603.pdf, http://www.salem-news.com/articles/july152013/midnight-med-tb-2.php, http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n364/a03.html, http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20080910_Prison-happy_U_S__must_reconsider_use_of_mercy.html, http://sputniknews.com/us/20150620/1023613662.html#ixzz3djEXlSAC, http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_prison_state_of_america_20141228, https://www.google.com/search?q=diane+downs+with+christie+cheryl+and+danny&sxsrf=ACYBGNQDEM3XNQjZXlqNQpYLhZCn7ic5iw:1576689995166&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjNuNT427_mAhUcJTQIHbveBMIQ_AUoAXoECA4QAw&biw=1024&bih=462#imgrc=gQkU10UxNhHn_M, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPLkIcSzftE&ab_channel=DianeDownsArchives, Say Her Name But Spell It Right The Tale of Breonna Taylor, And Justice For All The Watts Family Murders, Babe in the Woods & Big Country The Murder of Nicole Vanderheyden, Colonel Russell Williams Where Have You Been? The definition of deviant sociopath does not even exist in the DSM-HI, which is the official psychiatric diagnostic manual. Those cases shouldnt have been in the same court let alone presided over by the same judge.