Diane Downs: Betrayal of Innocence
In May 1983, Diane Downs shot her three children in cold blood. To stage the scene, she turned the gun on herself, firing into her own arm to support her false claim of being attacked by a carjacker. Her story quickly unraveled under investigation, and though two of her children survived, the crime left lasting scars. But even before that horrific night, there was more to the story leading up to this gruesome act.
A photo of Diane Downs when she escaped from prison in Salem, Oregon, on July 11, 1987. She was captured on July 21, 1987. Photo Credit: ABC News/Suzanne Vlamis/AP, FILE.
Elizabeth Diane Downs (née Frederickson) was born on August 7, 1955, in Phoenix, Arizona. At first glance, it appeared that Diane had a normal childhood, but behind closed doors, she was molested by her own father, Wesley Linden, when she was 12 years old. Diane’s parents, her father, Wesley Linden, and her mother, Willadene, pretended to be conservatives. Diane attended Moon Valley High School, and when she was a freshman, she would often dress older than she was and date older guys. One of the guys she dated was Steven Downs. Diane and Steven became inseparable. The pair graduated together, but they briefly went their separate ways. Diane went to Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College in Orange, California, and Steven enlisted in the United States Navy. Diane didn’t last long at school because she was expelled after a year due to her promiscuous behavior.
Steven Downs and Diane ended up reuniting in Arizona, and they got married on November 13, 1973. Diane appeared to have a pleasant and happy life. She worked at a local thrift shop. The happiest didn’t last long, as the couple soon began experiencing problems in their marriage shortly after getting married. The couple started to have regular arguments about finances, and they also fought over alleged affairs. When the pair's marriage was struggling, their children, Christie, Cheryl Lynn, and Stephen Daniel (Danny), were born in 1974, 1976, and 1979. When Danny was born, the question of infidelity became an extreme topic because Steven felt Danny wasn’t his biological child. Instead, he accused Diane of cheating on him, and that is how Danny was conceived.
The couple was unable to save their marriage, and they divorced in 1980. Diane reportedly tried to become a surrogate, but she was twice denied because her psychiatric tests showed signs of psychosis. Diane began to neglect her children. It was reported that she started leaving her children with her parents or her ex-husband, and instead, she would rather be in the comfort of other men than her children. Diane’s children were often malnourished. Diane reportedly left her daughter, Christie, in charge of the other children. Christie was only six years old when she was left in charge of her siblings. In 1981, Diane met a man named Robert “Nick” Knickerbocker, and they became heavily involved with each other.
A picture of Diane Downs and her three children, Danny, Christie, and Cheryl. Photo Credit: ATL (All That’s Interesting).
Problems started to arise between Knickerbocker and Diane when he began having. Knickerbocker, who was married, had issues with Diane having children, stating that it was too many strings attached. He reportedly told Diane that he wasn’t interested in acting as a father to her children and decided to end the affair. Two years after this, she would try to kill all of her children to get back with Knickerbocker. Diane Downs moved to Springfield, Oregon, in April 1983, and she got a job as a postal worker. On May 19, 1983, Dianne Downs was in the car with her children on a rural road in Springfield, Oregon. She pulled over on the side of the road at around 10:00 pm, and she shot her children multiple times with a .22-caliber pistol. After Diane shot her children, she shot herself in the left arm and drove her car to the hospital at a very slow pace. A driver told the police that Diane’s pace was approximately five miles per hour after the shooting happened. The reason she was driving slowly was that she was hoping her children would bleed out. Diane also shot all three of her children at close range.
Once Diane arrived at the hospital, she told them that a “bushy-haired stranger” had assaulted her and her family during an alleged carjacking. Dr. Steven Wilhite, a general surgeon who had just arrived home, began to receive a call on his pager, and when he checked it, he said in an interview with 20/20, “The beeper goes off, and I said, ‘Get in here. ‘” We’ve got three children who had been shot.” Wilhite said, “And my whole body just tingled. And I thought to myself, ‘What am I going to do with three shot children?’” When Dr. Wilhite received the news, he rushed back to McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center. When he arrived at the hospital, Diane’s left arm was not life-threatening. The employees at the hospital stated that 7-year-old Cheryl was already presumed dead, and 8-year-old Christie and 3-year-old Danny were barely clinging to life. Dr. Wilhite began working on Christie Downs, and another doctor started trying to save Danny’s life. He said, “When I looked at Christie, I thought she was dead,” Dr. Whilhite noted, “Her pupils were dilated. Her blood pressure was nonexistent or low. She was white. She was not breathing. I mean, she is so close to death, it’s unbelievable.”
Dr. Wilhite worked hard to save Christie's life. When it was time to update Diane about how her daughter was doing, he said he was very surprised by her reaction. He said, “Not one tear. You know she just asked, ‘How is she doing?’ Not one emotional reaction,”. Dr. Wilhite became even more convinced that Diane was guilty. He said, “She says to me like, ‘Boy, this has really spoiled my vacation,’ and she also says, ‘That really ruined my new car. I got blood all over the back of it,’... I knew within 30 minutes of talking with that woman that she was guilty.”
Dr. Wilhite said he became more shocked when Diane wanted to pull the plug on Christie when she found out she was brain-dead. Dr. Wilhite said he was going to pull the plug on Christie because she was doing well. Dr. Wilhite and another doctor were appointed as guardians for Christie after obtaining a judge's approval for the order, and they were able to make medical decisions for Christie without being influenced by Diane’s demands. Dr. Wilhite stated that when Diane visited Christie, her pulse rate increased. He said that Christie was scared of Diane. Three-year-old Danny became paralyzed from the waist down, and her eight-year-old daughter Christie suffered a stroke, which caused her speech to become impaired, stopping her from speaking to the police about who had shot her.
A picture of convicted killer Diane Downs is on video speaking to the Oregon parole board on December 10, 2010, as they decided that she was still considered dangerous and would be staying in prison. Photo Credit: ABC News/Danielle Peterson/Statesman Journal via AP.
When Diane was interviewed, the detectives said her whole demeanor was odd, and her story seemed dubious. Diane told the police that she didn’t have a weapon, but a search warrant confirmed she had a gun. Diane kept a diary, in which she frequently discussed Knickerbocker, and her diary showed that she was obsessed with Knickerbocker.
Diane’s daughter, Christie, was able to speak again, and she told the investigators that her mother shot her. Diane was officially arrested on February 28, 1984, approximately 9 months after the kids were shot. Diane was charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of murder. Diane’s seven-year-old daughter, Cheryl, is dying from her injuries.
Christie Downs took physical and mental therapy for months, and she was able to take the stand and testify against her mother. Diane’s trial took off in 1984, and Christie restated that her mother had shot her. Diane was found guilty in June 1984, and she was sentenced to life in prison and 50 years. Christie and Danny were adopted by the lead prosecutor, Fred Hugi, and his wife. Christie and Danny have never spoken publicly about Dicly, and their lives have remained private. Diane gave birth to another child after the trial, a daughter who was named Amy Elizabeth. The child was renamed Rebecca Badcock after she was taken by the state and given to adoptive parents.
Three years after Diane was sentenced, she escaped from Salem’s Oregon Women’s Correctional Institution. She was found less than a mile from the prison, staying at the home of another inmate’s husband. Diane Downs is still in jail in the Central California Women’s Facility, which is a high-security prison. She has attempted to get parole in 2008 and 2010, and she has been denied each time. Diane Downs, who is now 70 years old, was reportedly diagnosed by psychiatrists with narcissistic, histrionic, and antisocial personality disorders. To this day, Diane maintains her innocence, claiming she did not shoot her children. She has been described as a “deviant sociopath”.
The case of Diane Downs remains one of the most haunting examples of maternal betrayal in American crime history, a chilling reminder that evil can hide behind even the most ordinary smile.
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