A demonstration in court strongly suggested that the shooter had to be left-handed to have been able to shoot in the car at the right angle. Diane Downs and Alice Crummins were considered sluts and cold-blooded women and were judged on their unusual character. It was a harrowing, shameful miscarriage of justice. Check your inbox to be the first to know the hottest news. more on crime HEARTBREAKING FIND The Office star's sister-in-law found dead 11 days after going missing 'DISGUSTING' Just like Rule though, your blog is extremely biased, and reads almost as though she told you exactly what to write at times. Speculative? Steve and Diane were married from 1973 to 1980, and during this time, they had three children. The detective said if Diane would just testify against Steve Downs, she and her children could go home and try to put their lives back together. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Evidence or not, they were going to do their best to put her away for life. Nowadays, this insanity would never be tolerated. that you told Diane to tell steve that she was Knicks I am posting Jamesanswer: Yes the allegations were said and you cannot take back what was saideven if retracted Just a thought. Transgender CeCe McDonald Out of Prison but Not Out of the Woods. In 2008, a psych evaluation by L. Williams, Ph.D., Chief of Mental Health at Valley State Prison for Women, explained Dianes lack of emotions and its relationship to her case. One of the important pieces of evidence was the absence of all but a trace of gunshot residue. 4. The Halo TV show stars Orange is the New Black's Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief, with Californication's Natascha McElhone as Dr. Halsey. Take your smugness elsewhere, at long last. 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? To this day, his record is mixed; his law license was suspended for 6 months in 2011, and there was also talk of a suspension in 2015. If you read the blog, you will see examples of his lack of dedication. Jen Taylor . A reader told me that I should have a website with all the comments. Christie was understandably all over the place and I agree that the way in which her statements were procured were very odd and seemed to be very coached. I do not post rude comments. It took a lot of time to research this case and present the other side of the coin. Hed left his first wife to co-habitate with (and later marry) Charlene. If it doesnt matter to you, it should. The first two children were Diane's kids with her ex husband Steve Downs. I do not have to state anything at the beginning of the blog. And that Ann Rule took advantage of the situation to sell her book. 1. Not giving you free reign here. CK allowed DD to drive away despite the fact she could identify him and he had a gun? Even Ann Rule in her book, keeps mentioning that they only had a few months to get Christie to talk, otherwise they could not keep her away from her mother any longer. And Im really not on the fence the little girl was coachedI believe the ex husband , his freinds, and her lovers were invalid either way. What I believe doesnt matter at all. 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. (LOL!! You can check this link and go online to see her picture with Cheryl and the rest of the family. He didn't indicate whether Downs would appeal. Diane Downs' Children Now: Christie, Danny & Becky Today I dont disagree, I just think it is another example of flaws in our justice system. As far as her innocence goes and the possibility of being paroled if she admitted her crime, Diane strongly maintains her innocence. I found nothing. Why on earth would anyone recommend leaving the kids with the grandparents? The fact that the judge who presided over the child welfare case and the criminal case was the same individual is absolutely a conflict of interest. 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.. Diane found with him,the kind of relationship she had never known before: there was actually care and intimacy involved. The reason Im harsh is because Ive detected that youve paid for this site and therefore cant be wrong. The incident left Cheryl dead, Danny paralyzed from the waist down, and Christie suffering from a stroke that affected her speech. Fred Hugi is a man of the highest integrity and I hope that Dianes surviving two children finally found the love and stability they had been denied by their natural mother. The whole family were co-conspirators and involved in the crime? Spiritual advancement and atonement? It is documented in the blog where I give the source In the 1996 Federal Petition, you can find the Anatomy of Brainwashing that can answer any question on this subject. There were good reasons to look at this mother, but the detective admitted on the stand that they stopped looking at anyone else after two weeks and the stranger on the road became a joke. But there is forensic evidence pointing to Diane Downs. It is not because a defendant is found guilty or disliked that it is acceptable to bend the rules. Who is Diane Downs' ex-husband Steve and where is he now? I saw footage of Diane herself laughing during the re-enactment of the crime. They came up with an explanation as to why this was the wrong gun but the jig was up. Q. The guy should have walked away from the case or from adopting them. Whats wrong with the system is whats wrong with us. A prosecutor inventing a new psychiatric category in court and labeling the accused is kind of unsettling. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. And Robert Knickerbocker became one of her lovers. Where to begin? The kind of TV series that they produce on high profile crimes will make sure to turn public opinion. The authorities believed that the children's father was not a good fit to look after the children after what they had endured when their mother tried to murder them. More reason to have investigated the case more thoroughly. I have plans to go hunting with the husband of one of the alternates.. They removed them and proceeded to interrogate the poor girl until she gave them what they needed. When you hear her in interviews she sounds more concerned with herself than her kids. Cheryl was shot twice in the back and one of the bullets ended up on the floorboard. I will post it when I get it. More often than not, Christie was interviewed by State Agents (Paula Krogdahl, Paul Alton, Steve Downs and Dick Tracy) within half an hour of having her Dilantin increased. Im all for justice, reviewing facts and overturning corrupt decisions. Was that Annes fault as well? Diane had consulted a psychologist after the tragedy and after months of consultation, she was never diagnosed as a sociopath. Diane was found guilty and sentenced to life and she has been in prison ever since. It was a fairly new science at the time so thats all it took to find him not guilty. He needed, now more than ever, to vacate the area asap. Her husband turned out to be a player and a very irresponsible guy who did not really love her. But there were discrepancies; the tool marks did not matchand the detective lied on the stand about it. They lied about the ballistics. Q. As soon as Diane was found guilty, Hugi demanded that Diane be evaluated by a psychiatrist before sentencing so they could declare her a dangerous offender and give her a stiffer sentence. I am quite bothered by what happened in that courtroom and in the media. Imagine the ones there for years. Strangely enough, a woman who was seen for 8 months by a psychologist and declared to be in shock and suffering from a mood disorder, would now be assessed by the State hired psychiatrist to confirm the label Hugi conveniently made up during trial. lol. I would like to raise the numerous issues with this blog. Become TUKO.co.ke ambassador get a branded T-shirt, hoodie or water bottle at our TUKO Shop! It really doesnt matter that much of the trial and due process was faulty, because its so obvious that Diane is the one who did it and that justice was served. .well yay for youtubelol..is when I first heard her in old interviews. Steve was among the few individuals who saw Elizabeth Diane as a beautiful young lady rather than an outsider. It is possible that he still resides in Arizona, but exactly where he is or what he does, we dont know. Right after the shooting, little Danny would ask the nurses, , Even Ann Rule in her book, keeps mentioning that, Every time, she said she did not know, they told her to think again and made suggestions. And she clearly remembered the April 1983, rape that Mr. Downs would later refer to as love making. From the very beginning, the DAs office had their ducks in a row because in an unprecedented move, Judge Gregory Foote who had denied access to the children by all blood relatives and given their care over to the State, was promoted from juvenile to senior judge to preside over the trial of Diane Downs. It does not get any bigger than this. 2.Diane herself has stated that the shooter was outside the car and shot THROUGH the window, no blood spatter. We had a thoughtful jury that examined the evidence over four days. 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. Danny said several times that a bad man shot them and it was written in the nurses notes, but never that his mother shot him. Common sense will tell this Court, when Diane accidently slammed her mangled arm into the steering wheel of Detective Tracys car, it was ANYTHING but a laughing matter. Her attorney, James Jagger, did a poor job for Diane. It does seem time has done worse to her. You say she made more of a fuss about her arm than about the injuries her children sustained. Search within r/halo . Ask them what they did to a good man. They met for the first time in Moon Valley High School in Phoenix, Arizona. You indicated you were not going to get a divorce? You paint a picture that is actually inaccurate and misleading. That doesnt make it true. (her family confirmed that she had a mood disorder, possibly bipolar 2), So when Dr. George Suckow from the Oregon State Hospital in Salem was called as a States rebuttal witness and he made a professional diagnosis of Diane as histrionics, antisocial and narcissistic, he openly said in court that he interviewed Diane for 1 hour and read evidence presented by the state to make his diagnosis.. I was curious as to what these requirements were, as I have not seen these online. Lise,,,,, yes you did. I then question how she would not have blood splatter if she shot them inside the car at close range. But he overestimated the kind of people that would go along with this soap opera. The prescribed normal dosage for a full grown man is 30 milligrams per day. These are no facts its partial truths and conjecture. From what we know about Becky, she had chosen a difficult path and Diane was trying to warn her. Its a fact. I have no idea whether or not she was guilty of the crime. They made her out to be a monster, but in Beckys case, it becomes redeemable. You have a photo of Diane before the parole board. #corrupt. 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. Even put in different hospitals. Only in Hollywood and in Ann Rules books, would you find such fantasy: Relevance? Growing up, Diane had felt like an outsider and kids had been cruel towards her because of her real or imagined ugly duckling looks and demeanor. Mr. The jury verdict was guilty on all counts, but there was a mixture of votes. A. Every single one of these questions matter. Nobody had any reason for a conspiracy of this magnitude over a literal nobody. If you read the blog, you will see many examples of media hype and character assassination. Where is Diane Downs' husband now? time it was the situation was down. As a result, joint legal custody which means parents share in the decision-making 1 is becoming the default decision in many family court systems. But she suffered from mental illness and the circumstances were traumatic. Diane Downs was one of the most infamous murderers of the 1980s; the emotionally flat blonde was convicted of shooting her three children, killing one of them, along a roadway in Springfield,. If Diane was bipolar, the non-stop chatter would have been inherent to the situation: bipolar wasnt a diagnosable condition at the time of her first trial. I cant believe that it was allowed to happen, actually. Exactly Libby why did they say during the trial that he saw his mom? This blogger believes in the presumption of innocence and in the possibility of redemption. When Diane had failed to mention it herself, he even informed them that she had bought a .22 caliber shotgun in Arizona, just before she had left for Oregon. Let me tell you, it wasnt just the investigators and the prosecution that didnt believe herwe, Oregonians, (who ACTUALLY live here and watched what was happening) believe she is guilty. It was omnipresent in the courtroom as well as the Duran Duran song, The judge instructed them to continue on to force a verdict. Lets not take that lightly. The towel and a girl who had a stroke, was separated from her family and was constantly questioned without being recorded or accompanied by a loved one and testifying to facts that do not match the testimony of the forensic expert is not being reduced to conjecture? What happened to Diane Downs ex-husband? Saudi Princesses in Captivity for More Than a Thousand and One Nights Are Tweeting the Blues, Having recently done research on the Liysa Northons case which was the subject of a book written by Ann Rule titled, Some 287 errors and falsehoods were documented by Liysa and verified by official sources. 4. The case is old and the blog dated, but it is never too late to respond. Yet in their mind, she was already guilty. I think it would give the blog more integrity and transparency. It did not matter that they had no evidence; they did not like her attitude and she was going to pay for it: opinion, not fact Not meaning to sound disrespectful, but you seem to be doing what you accuse Ann Rule of doing. He said all the police needed was for Diane to bear witness against her ex-husband. Her 7-year old daughter Cheryl died but her 3-year old son Danny and her 8-year old daughter Christie survived. I lived in Eugene, Oregon for years. Speculative. If thats what you want then dont pretend its anything but. Youre right to say that a GSR is not always foolproof and between 10-20% of suicide GSR kits test negative for GSR. She was harshly judged because of her demeanor. Why didnt they mention that he said a bad man and whatever else in his condition when they knew it was not possible? I never read the Ann Rule book, but saw Small Sacrifices as a kid and have had an interest in this case ever since. On May 19, 1983, Diane and her kids visited a friend to look at her new horse, and then went for a drive; not at all unusual for this family not living according to middle class rules. That conflict of interest alone would incline Christie to testify against her mother. It was not unlike brainwashing. The innocence project gets so many requests and they have limited resources. You seem to forget that even a few jurors started by voting not guilty on some of the charges. After all, Cheryl Downs is basically serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole for her mothers crime. Steven and Diane married on November 13, 1973. Without her daughters testimony and the lies about the gun, they could not have found her guilty in a fair trial. 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. Instead, it is Diane who fought to keep her children. Its as if they cant control it. An earlier commenter wrote that it doesnt matter that the trail or the investigation was faultyWHAT !? In addition, the children were suffering life-changing physical and mental trauma, which would take years to heal. It could have been very different at almost any other time or with any other attorneys or juries too. I had visited Dr. Billings site several times and it is too bad that it was removed. Spending 35 years incarcerated with time in isolation and often as a target is not going to improve mental health. Nevertheless, Steve and Diane tied the knot on November 13, 1973. The authorities believed that the children's father was not a good fit to look after the children after what they had endured when their mother tried to murder them. And if she did it, she has served her time without displaying any violent tendencies whatsoever. They never tried to reunite them with family. One of them named Angel, called 15-year-old Christie on the phone. I see that Downs had a parole hearing in late 2020 but I cant see the outcome. Maybe dad relinquished, it sounds like he may have. Not an easy situation for him as I would imagine. It will not make me popular, but I dont mind. Accused of her side of the story what the state says how would it be possible for her to do what they presumed. I do not care if the bushy haired stranger made no sense or if they could not explain the why of the tragedy, I do not care if she was madly in love with a guy because all that counts is proof and evidence in a court of law, and there was definitely a reasonable doubt. 0. Even if they say that she did not get involved in rehabilitation programs, she did participate, but obviously did not admit to killing her daughter and injuring the others. A conviction founded on lies is no conviction at all. Page 50 of Case History Be the first to get hottest news from our Editor-in-Chief, Check your email and confirm your subscription. What happened to Diane Downs' husband? The blogger continues, I am not one sided. HUGE conflict of interest. Seems to me that if that part of the story were true, and she really wanted to find her childrens shooter, she would have provided that information. Distractify is a registered trademark. Regardless of the facts you point out, there is no doubt in my mind that Diane Downs is guilty. Christie was it though. ), years in solitary confinment Whats wrong with us?! The US is a very strange bird when it comes to crime and punishment. She wrote to the governor several times after being dismissed coldly by Hugi and the system. I worked for county child welfare services in Colorado for a decade. The discovery that he wasnt his biological child made him leave the relationship. Oh 1 more thing I see a lot of comments on pro Diane web sights that say well she drove them to the hospital. Probably a 911 button. Interesting that the article has one of the same elements that Diane perpetrated when she drove to the hospital the night of the murders she made more of a fuss about her arm injury than she did about one of her kids dying and two of them being gravely and permanently wounded. He should have let someone else handle the case or let someone else adopt the kids. They never found the gun and she showed no signs of having fired one. Mr. But Im on track and Im really happy with the way life is.. It was demonstrated at trial that the shooter shot the kids at close range. You fail to mention what her daughter actually said about her communication with Diane, like Diane telling her that a very powerful person, a secret man, has been watching her, and that if she loved her son she would move away or else her son will grow up to be a murderer. I remember when Diane shot her kids and there are some facts Id like to correct from your blog. Just similar stuff.and that I guess, makes it easy for me to see how that song could of fueled her up.never underestimate the power if a song..what feels intense and exciting to you, may not to another, but shoot, anytime I hear pink floyd run like hell.takes me right back 1991 in the heat of my chase..for me, I got the answers I wanted from 89 when my friend said that about the Duran song and it involved in that case. The character of the accused is not the main ingredient, especially that in this case, there was a lot of bashing going on in the media and in court. Within three weeks, Diane had lost custody of her remaining wounded children and had become the number one suspect in the eyes of the police department and District Attorneys office. Doing it without witnesses when she was so sick is underhanded. After completing high school, Steve Downs went to join the Navy while Elizabeth Diane attended the Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College.