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Diane Downs (The devil)
Elizabeth Diane Downs (née Frederickson; born August 7, 1955) is an American criminal who murdered her daughter and attempted to murder her other two children in May 1983.
Following the crimes, she told police a man had attempted to carjack her and had shot the children.
She was convicted in 1984 and sentenced to life in prison plus fifty years.
Downs briefly escaped in 1987 and was recaptured.
She is the subject of a book by Ann Rule and a made-for-TV movie based upon it, both called Small Sacrifices.
She was denied parole in December 2008 and again in December 2010; her next hearing is set for 2021
Early life
Diane Downs was born in Phoenix, Arizona, on August 7, 1955, to parents Wesley Linden and Willadene Frederickson.
She has testified that her father sexually abused her when she was 12 years old.
Diane graduated from Moon Valley High School in Phoenix where she met her husband, Steve Downs.
After high school, she enrolled at Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College in Orange, California, but was expelled after one year for promiscuous
behavior, and soon returned to her parents' home in Arizona.
On November 13, 1973, Diane married Steve Downs after running away from home. Their first child, Christie Ann, was born in 1974.
Cheryl Lynn followed in 1976, with Stephen Daniel being born in 1979. The couple divorced in 1980 because Steve thought Stephen Daniel, known as Danny, was the result of an affair Diane had.
On May 8, 1982, Downs gave birth to a daughter through surrogacy. She named the child Jennifer before turning her over to her intended parents.
Prior to her arrest, Downs was employed by the United States Postal Service, assigned to the mail routes in the city of Cottage Grove, Oregon.
Cheryl Lynn, shortly before her death, reportedly told a neighbor of her grandparents that she was afraid of her mother.
Shootings
On May 19, 1983, Downs shot her three children and drove them in a blood-spattered car to McKenzie-Willamette Hospital.
Upon arrival, Cheryl (aged 7) was already dead, Danny (aged 3) was paralyzed from the waist down, and Christie (aged 8) had suffered a disabling stroke.
Downs herself had been shot in the left forearm. She claimed she was carjacked on a rural road near Springfield, Oregon, by a strange man who shot her and the children.
However, investigators and hospital workers became suspicious because they decided her manner was too calm for a person who had experienced such a traumatic event.
She also made a number of statements that both police and hospital workers considered highly inappropriate.
Suspicions heightened when Downs, upon arrival at the hospital to visit her children, phoned Robert Knickerbocker, a married man and former coworker in Arizona with whom she had been having an extramarital affair.
The forensic evidence did not match her story; there was no blood spatter on the driver's side of the car, nor was there any gunpowder residue on the driver's door or on the interior door panel.
Knickerbocker also reported to police that Downs had stalked him and seemed willing to kill his wife if it meant that she could have him to herself; he stated that he was relieved that she had left for Oregon and that he was able to reconcile with his wife.
Downs did not disclose to police that she owned a .22 caliber handgun, but both Steve Downs and Knickerbocker informed them that she did.
Investigators later discovered Downs bought the handgun in Arizona. While they were unable to find the actual weapon, they found unfired casings in her home with extractor markings from the murder weapon.
Most damaging, witnesses saw her car being driven very slowly toward the hospital at an estimated speed of 5–7 mph (8–11 km/h), contradicting her claim that she drove to the hospital at high speed after the shooting.
Based on this and additional evidence, Downs was arrested on February 28, 1984, nine months after the shooting, and charged with one count of murder and two counts each of attempted murder and criminal assault.
Prosecution
Prosecutors argued that Downs shot her children to be free of them so she could continue her affair with Knickerbocker, as she claimed that he let it be known that he did not want children in his life.
Much of the case against her rested on the testimony of her surviving daughter, Christie, who, once she recovered her ability to speak, described how her mother shot all three children while parked at the side of the road and then shot herself in the arm.
Downs was convicted on all charges on June 17, 1984, and sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years.
She was required to serve 25 years before being considered for parole.
Psychiatrists diagnosed her with narcissistic, histrionic, and antisocial personality disorders, labeling her as a “deviant sociopath”.
Most of her sentence is to be served consecutively
The judge made it clear that he did not intend for Downs to ever be free again.
Aftermath
Downs' two surviving children eventually went to live with the lead prosecutor on the case, Fred Hugi.
He and his wife Joanne adopted them in 1986.
Prior to her arrest, Downs became pregnant with a fourth child and gave birth to a girl, whom she named Amy Elizabeth, a month after her 1984 trial.
Ten days before Downs' sentencing, Amy was seized by the State of Oregon and adopted by Chris and Jackie Babcock, who named her Rebecca.
As an adult, Rebecca appeared on The Oprah Winfrey
Show and ABC's 20/20 discussing how she feels about her biological mother. She wrote to Downs in her younger years and has stated that she regrets it, regarding her mother as "a monster."
for example this story 👇
If parents focus on their children during adolescence,they will destroy themselves without realizing about life.
......🖊🌹.......
💔🌹.
© kikiadri
Following the crimes, she told police a man had attempted to carjack her and had shot the children.
She was convicted in 1984 and sentenced to life in prison plus fifty years.
Downs briefly escaped in 1987 and was recaptured.
She is the subject of a book by Ann Rule and a made-for-TV movie based upon it, both called Small Sacrifices.
She was denied parole in December 2008 and again in December 2010; her next hearing is set for 2021
Early life
Diane Downs was born in Phoenix, Arizona, on August 7, 1955, to parents Wesley Linden and Willadene Frederickson.
She has testified that her father sexually abused her when she was 12 years old.
Diane graduated from Moon Valley High School in Phoenix where she met her husband, Steve Downs.
After high school, she enrolled at Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College in Orange, California, but was expelled after one year for promiscuous
behavior, and soon returned to her parents' home in Arizona.
On November 13, 1973, Diane married Steve Downs after running away from home. Their first child, Christie Ann, was born in 1974.
Cheryl Lynn followed in 1976, with Stephen Daniel being born in 1979. The couple divorced in 1980 because Steve thought Stephen Daniel, known as Danny, was the result of an affair Diane had.
On May 8, 1982, Downs gave birth to a daughter through surrogacy. She named the child Jennifer before turning her over to her intended parents.
Prior to her arrest, Downs was employed by the United States Postal Service, assigned to the mail routes in the city of Cottage Grove, Oregon.
Cheryl Lynn, shortly before her death, reportedly told a neighbor of her grandparents that she was afraid of her mother.
Shootings
On May 19, 1983, Downs shot her three children and drove them in a blood-spattered car to McKenzie-Willamette Hospital.
Upon arrival, Cheryl (aged 7) was already dead, Danny (aged 3) was paralyzed from the waist down, and Christie (aged 8) had suffered a disabling stroke.
Downs herself had been shot in the left forearm. She claimed she was carjacked on a rural road near Springfield, Oregon, by a strange man who shot her and the children.
However, investigators and hospital workers became suspicious because they decided her manner was too calm for a person who had experienced such a traumatic event.
She also made a number of statements that both police and hospital workers considered highly inappropriate.
Suspicions heightened when Downs, upon arrival at the hospital to visit her children, phoned Robert Knickerbocker, a married man and former coworker in Arizona with whom she had been having an extramarital affair.
The forensic evidence did not match her story; there was no blood spatter on the driver's side of the car, nor was there any gunpowder residue on the driver's door or on the interior door panel.
Knickerbocker also reported to police that Downs had stalked him and seemed willing to kill his wife if it meant that she could have him to herself; he stated that he was relieved that she had left for Oregon and that he was able to reconcile with his wife.
Downs did not disclose to police that she owned a .22 caliber handgun, but both Steve Downs and Knickerbocker informed them that she did.
Investigators later discovered Downs bought the handgun in Arizona. While they were unable to find the actual weapon, they found unfired casings in her home with extractor markings from the murder weapon.
Most damaging, witnesses saw her car being driven very slowly toward the hospital at an estimated speed of 5–7 mph (8–11 km/h), contradicting her claim that she drove to the hospital at high speed after the shooting.
Based on this and additional evidence, Downs was arrested on February 28, 1984, nine months after the shooting, and charged with one count of murder and two counts each of attempted murder and criminal assault.
Prosecution
Prosecutors argued that Downs shot her children to be free of them so she could continue her affair with Knickerbocker, as she claimed that he let it be known that he did not want children in his life.
Much of the case against her rested on the testimony of her surviving daughter, Christie, who, once she recovered her ability to speak, described how her mother shot all three children while parked at the side of the road and then shot herself in the arm.
Downs was convicted on all charges on June 17, 1984, and sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years.
She was required to serve 25 years before being considered for parole.
Psychiatrists diagnosed her with narcissistic, histrionic, and antisocial personality disorders, labeling her as a “deviant sociopath”.
Most of her sentence is to be served consecutively
The judge made it clear that he did not intend for Downs to ever be free again.
Aftermath
Downs' two surviving children eventually went to live with the lead prosecutor on the case, Fred Hugi.
He and his wife Joanne adopted them in 1986.
Prior to her arrest, Downs became pregnant with a fourth child and gave birth to a girl, whom she named Amy Elizabeth, a month after her 1984 trial.
Ten days before Downs' sentencing, Amy was seized by the State of Oregon and adopted by Chris and Jackie Babcock, who named her Rebecca.
As an adult, Rebecca appeared on The Oprah Winfrey
Show and ABC's 20/20 discussing how she feels about her biological mother. She wrote to Downs in her younger years and has stated that she regrets it, regarding her mother as "a monster."
for example this story 👇
If parents focus on their children during adolescence,they will destroy themselves without realizing about life.
......🖊🌹.......
💔🌹.
© kikiadri
