Diane Downs; A disturbing tale of lies and murder

A mother’s love is protective and filled with affection for her children. A mother becomes possessive of her child and she does everything for them though matter the cost. A mother will give up her own life to save her child.

On May 19th, 1983, the staff at the McKenzie-Willamette Hospital had no idea that a bloody red Nissan would pull up with three children shot in the back along with a mother who sustained a gunshot wound to the hand. Cheryl, aged 7 was pronounced dead on arrival. Daniel, aged 3 sustained a gunshot wound to the back that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Christie, aged 8 was shot twice in the chest and as a result suffered a stroke. The mother's gunshot wound to her left arm was minor. She spoke of a "bushy haired stranger" who flagged her car down while she was taking her kids out for the evening. This man supposedly asked for her keys and when she refused, he shot her and her children. She left the scene as quickly as possible once she was able to escape and drove straight to the nearest hospital.

That mother was Diane Downs. According to Wikipedia, Diane Downs was born on August 7th, 1955 in Phoenix Arizona. She had three younger siblings and her parents were extremely strict. She was employed by the United States Postal Services. She began to rebel during her high school years at the Moon Valley High School and this continued when she began college. Soon after finishing her first year in college, Diane was expelled for “promiscuous behavior”. Her behavior resembled that of her high school years when she was described as being boy crazy. After being forced to return home under her parent’s strict rules once again, she ran away with her high school boyfriend, Steven Downs. They married on November, 13th 1973. Their marriage was tumultuous with constant fights and most being about Diane’s infidelity. In 1974, they had their first child, Christie Ann. Cheryl Lynn was their second child born in 1976 and Daniel, who was born in 1979 was their third. Daniel is thought to have been born allegedly from an affair. The marriage did not last and in 1980 Steven divorced Diane. His main reason being her infidelity in addition to financial issues. In 1982, Diane had another daughter. She was a surrogate and named her Jennifer before giving her to her parents.

Both the police and the hospital staff grew suspicious of Diane’s behavior. She told police that she was taking her children sight-seeing but who really takes their children sight-seeing at night? They also felt that her demeanor was too calm for someone who had experienced something of such a traumatic nature.

Daniel also made some statements that were found to be inappropriate. For instance, when she was told that the bullet hit Daniel’s spine, Diane made a remark about being surprised about it missing his heart. Dr. Steven Wilhite said, "There was not a tear in her eye," when he updated Diane on how her daughter was doing. See video below.

Instead of focusing on the grave conditions that her children were in, Diane was more worried about contacting her boyfriend Robert Knickerbocker, her co-worker. This is when suspicions grew. Robert Knickerbocker was a married man in Arizona with whom she was having an affair.

Four days after the shooting, police took Diane to the crime scene so she could re-enact what happened. In the video below, she is seen care free and at times laughs while reenacting the crime to police.

As the investigation continued, it was determined that the evidence did not add up to Diane’s account of what transpired. Police also dug into her past and made some discoveries. They found out from Steven that even though Diane loved having kids, she did not enjoy taking care of them. Even before their son Danny was born, there was another pregnancy which Diane terminated. According to the crime museum, neighbors had expressed concern about the children’s well-being in the past. They stated that “the children were often hungry, and would beg for food" and were not appropriately dressed for the cold weather. Prior to being a surrogate, she was denied the opportunity twice due to failure of a psychiatric exam. She was diagnosed as being psychotic by one of them. Diane during her subsequent interviews after the shooting made a statement to reporters after being asked if she considered herself lucky for obtaining a minor wound. She believed that her children were the lucky ones despite their injuries and one of them having passed away because of her inability to tie her shoe laces for two months.

The evidence from the car told of a different story to police. There was a lack of blood splatter and gun powder residue on the driver’s side of the car or on the interior door panel. They also found casings for a .22 caliber weapon which Diane denied owning. Her ex-husband Steven and Robert both informed the police that she did own a gun. She bought the gun in Arizona and despite the police’s inability to locate the weapon, they were able to find unfired casings and extractor markings in her home.

The home search also led to the discovery of Diane’s diary with many entries detailing how she felt towards her co-worker Robert. Robert informed police that Diane had been stalking him after he ended their relationship. He states that Diane was willing to kill his wife if that meant that they could be together. He felt a sense of relief after Diane left. When she departed Oregon, she began her new life in an apartment house and waited for Robert to divorce his wife as he had promised so they would be together. That did not occur. She then became obsessed with having him in her life and wrote him letters daily, but the letters would be returned to her unopened. When he broke things off with her, he mentioned that he was not interested in becoming a father to her children.

Diane told police that after the shooting that she sped to the hospital. An Eye witness disputed that claim as Diane’s car was seen driving very slowly; 5-7 mph (8-11 km/h). Diane changed her story two months after the shooting, which made her look even more suspicious. She was finally arrested on February 28th, 1984 and charged with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder and criminal assault.

Trial

The most damaging evidence against Diane was her daughter’s testimony. The prosecution waited until Christie had completed intensive physical therapy, which enabled her to communicate well enough to say who had shot her and her siblings. Christie recounted the details of how her mother shot all three of them while the car was parked on the road side.

The prosecution had a motive and argued that Diane wanted freedom. Freedom to continue her affair with Robert so she shot her children.

On June 17th, 1984, Diane was convicted of all charges and sentenced to life in prison with an additional 50 years. She had to serve 25 years before being considered for parole. She was diagnosed by psychiatrists with narcissistic, histrionic and antisocial personality disorders. The judge was clear when he stated that he intended on keeping Diane locked up for the rest of her life.

What happened to the children?

-Christie and Daniel were adopted by the lead prosecutor Fred Hugi and his wife Joanne in 1986.

-Diane was pregnant when she was arrested and gave birth to a 5th child, Amy Elizabeth a month after her trial. When asked why she became pregnant. Diane responded it was because she missed her children. Amy was taken away from Diane and adopted by Chris and Jackie Babcock who renamed her Rebecca. Below is a video of Diane's biological daughter Becky (Rebecca) Babcock, who became curious about her biological mother.

-On July 11th, 1988, while being incarcerated at the Oregon Women’s Correctional Center, Diane escaped by scaling the razor fence. She protected her body against the fence using clothes. She stayed in a home a few blocks away and engaged in sexual activity with the home owner who was the husband of one of the inmates at the prison. His name was Seifer and he told police that he fell in love with Diane. 14 days later she was recaptured and then transferred to the New Jersey Department of Corrections Clinton Correctional Facility for Women. Fred Hugi wanted Diane as far away from Christie and Daniel as possible after she escaped. An additional five years was added to her sentence.

-In 1994, Diane was transferred to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

-Diane has earned an Associates Degree in General Studies since her incarceration.

-Diane applied for parole in 2008. She stated “I have told you and the rest of the world that a man shot me and my children. I have never changed my story.” She blamed the shooting on Jim Haynes. According to a former friend of Haynes, Clayton Nysten, Haynes allegedly shot the children to teach Diane a lesson since she found out about his illegal drug operation. Diane's parole was denied.

In the video below, Diane speaks at her parole hearing. The video also includes footage of her daughter Rebecca.

-In 2010, Diane had her second parole hearing which was subsequently denied. She would have been eligible for another parole hearing in 2020 which has not occurred possibly due to the pandemic.

Final Thoughts

Diane has been boy crazy since her high school years. In one interview, she talks about having ten lovers in two years and states that it was not that many and less than half of them were married. She almost seemed proud. I do believe that she shot her children because she loved Robert and wanted to be with him. It seems that she was obsessed with him. Robert did not want kids and her kids were the only thing standing in her way. Therefore, her plan was to get rid of them. So much for a mother's love.

References

1. YouTube

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Downs

3. https://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/famous-murders/diane-downs/