She met Robert "Nick" Knickerbocker and started having a relationship with him earlier. I try to bring up the elements that were totally ignored. Are we to believe that Proctors second gun was stolen with the bill and ID from the first gun that remained listed at the gun store? The point is our trials need to be conducted fairly and based on evidence. It was far fetched, unfoundedand convenientlyrelayedby Rule to boost the sales of her book. Sad situation. You wondered at times, which side he was working for. "I knew within 30 minutes of talking with that woman that she was guilty": Surgeon who helped save one of Diane Downs' kids in 1983 after she shot her recalls chilling interaction. They both fainted when they saw their dead child, but it did not count. Yes, like many Americans, I think that the US system is barbaric. She talked to Diane for 15 minutes, there was thebizarre and partialOprah interview that was basically a lets bash Diane event and she wrote to Diane in jail to ask her what she thought of Hugi adopting her children. Too bad she did not interview Diane or her family. Copyright 2023 Distractify. This is a more common route for children with parents who are incarcerated for what looks to be the entire childhood of the children. What about the son saying that man and nurses noting that. So it would be logical to conclude that it would have left residues if anyone had shot at least 6 times. Nobody had any reason for a conspiracy of this magnitude over a literal nobody. It was pitch black outside. Inside, outside, top to bottom. 3. That disinformation was alleged by Mr. Hugi the third day into Jim Jaggers defense and it was never objected to by Mr. Jagger . In one of them, he knew her name and in another one, she had answered a call and been told to meet someone. Without her daughters testimony and the lies about the gun, they could not have found her guilty in a fair trial. In hindsight Im sure the grandparents wish they had pursued visitation more aggressively. It opened a huge can of worms regarding the real identity of the heart full of lies in this case. They should have had ongoing contact and been placed with family as soon as they were out of the hospital and they never should have been interviewed without their own attorney (Guardian ad Litem) present. The courts were divided in the 80s, family court, traffic court, criminal court, juvenile court I dont believe they ran out of judges to preside over them all. In fact, Diane had consulted a psychologist after the tragedy and after months of consultation, she was never diagnosed as a sociopath. She did it. I hope she is granted parole. The whole case is crazy. Cheryl Lynn followed in 1976, and Stephen Daniel was born in 1979. I changed the sites email recently to thetroublewithjustice@hotmail.com Your prayers were answered. It goes on and on. Now in hindsight, seeing footage on youtube, especially the interview she did with the reporter Anne Jagger, the things she says and facial expression is exactly described in the bookhad to find the section in the book, but on that note, Anne rule did site that interview correctly. I agree with your comment. And of course, she added her own brand of paranoia, which is to be expected considering her personality disorder and what she went through. 2 years in foster care waiting to be legally free for adoption is not that uncommon even today. she flat out says, they are saying Duran Duran made her shoot her kids!..Im like HUHOkay now this is my favorite groupstill is at 44yrs old.I had to investigate this. Yep, Downs who was found guilty in 1984, escaped successfully from the Oregon Womens Correctional Center in 1987 and was transferred to Jersey afterwards. Not our place to decide. Like in their movies. This unexpected proposal took Diane by surprise at a large family gathering. He was instead a result of an affair Diane had with a married man. This is to avoid the conflict of interest that we read about above. You simply are a rude individual looking for a reaction. Brewer freely declared that Diane Downs would never have been convicted except that he believed the lie Jim Jagger permitted Fred Hugi to enter into the record. Her atrocities made national news, but one person that everyone has been wondering about is Diane Down's ex-husband. It can safely be presumed, other children told their parents, and that some of those parents reported the disturbing revelation to states Attorney, Prosecutor Fred Hugi. 3) You have a photo of Diane before the parole board. We had a thoughtful jury that examined the evidence over four days. The photo of Hugi I used is the one you find when you do a search online for Fred Hugi who prosecuted Diane Downs. Its more boring to tell the truth and the readers might not have flocked to read a fair story without no real heroes and villains. Here's everything you need to know. It took months to get Christie to say that her mother was the culprit and that is when they arrested Diane. It does not contradict what I said, but what they said. Same with her brother. Diane had met all the requirements to be paroled. I cant believe that it was allowed to happen, actually. why didn't steve downs get custody. It deserved as much attention as a Unicorn, a song or all the other hearsay floating around because at least, they came from real people signing official documents. I am a strong believer that pregnancy can do serious harm to some women. That is the way she was brought up,especially at the demand of her rigid but verydedicated father. I write about cases where due process is in question and important aspects were ignored or twisted. That hurt our family deeply. So either way, it would not be so far fetched that someone said he was the shooter.A little investigation would not hurt. If you had, you would clearly know that I do not claim her guilt or innocence. Within a few weeks, a judge had placed the surviving kids, Christie and Danny, in protective custody. Diane wanted to wait for her daughter to feel better, be accompanied by an expert and have the meetings taped? The last time I checked, it is my website and if you find it tiresome, no one is inviting you to stay or read the content; which you evidently did not read anyway. The court can just do an APR, Assignment of Parental Rights. According to Detective Welch, Steve Downs followed Diane to Oregon, they fought and Steves rage took the last step on the path hed been treading for a long time. If you use this mixed water, you can lift off a gunpowder stain.. A. That doesnt make it true. 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. They lied about the ballistics. Christie and Danny have no contact with their father, and they have completed their education. As far as Hugi is concerned, it was a total conflict of interest. 2) You mention her youngest daughter, and how Ann made sure she only heard negative information about Diane. The definition of deviant sociopath does not even exist in the DSM-HI, which is the official psychiatric diagnostic manual. After six weeks in Oregon where the children were happily spending time with their grandparents while Diane worked her postal route, the incident happened on a dark road that led to Diane being accused of murder and attempted murder. I can make out I will ask you to take a good look at the people in your life. The tape is real and probably not admissible, but it seems to indicate that her testimony was coerced. 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 care about the experts reports written about Diane because they know her situation and mental state. I agree on many points with your comment. The following article hopes to help you make more suitable choices and get more useful information The two mental disorders that cause excessive talking are Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia. I know several people who know or knew both of the surviving children as well as Diane. If you think you would have more influence arguing for better relationships with Mexico at a Donald Trump rally in Mexico, why bother? The goal is always to keep family ties intact. He should have let someone else handle the case or let someone else adopt the kids. Children under the age of twelve may cognitively grasp the concept of truth and lie, but lack the conscience which compels people to apply the concept to their lives, or the strength to maintain the truth when adults coerce her to lie. Hugi did not want that. Instead, there is blood splatter on the ceiling of the car. Police witness reports of strangers and confessions were suppressed or not pursued. A sick kid who had a stroke and traumatized being pressured for weeks to remember her mother killing her? Here's what we know. statement regarding the effects of the childrens medications while in hospital should acknowledge where the blogger obtained information about the side effects.). I care about what was said at trial. And if you claim your innocence, it obviously creates a vicious circle of not showing contrition. This video has Dianes attorney, Jim Jagger, at 1 minutes and 20 seconds that might have some good shots. But Diane couldnt do that. Then feel free to correct the facts and to provide evidence to support them. Reasonable doubt is most certainly lacking. One of the important pieces of evidence was the absence of all but a trace of gunshot residue. I then question how she would not have blood splatter if she shot them inside the car at close range. But you sure did comment like a true asshole, huh? In addition to treating brain cancer, he works toward health equity. I feel sorry for Diane too. I am also engaged in other wrongful convictions that have taken place within the US. And the flat affect and sometimes inappropriate smiling would come with the territory so you cannot judge her actions without taking into account that she might not have been acting according to the norms. It was positive only on a small portion of her upper hand where she said the gun touched her when she wrestled with the attacker (a detail she had mentioned before they did the test). Christie NEVER said she didnt know who did it she was just unwilling or afraid to tell on her mother. The bushy haired stranger that police had gotten a lead on worked at the country club he was at work at that time and had a sever speech impediment. According to your own experience Lori, dont they try to give grandparents custody or at least access in cases comparable to this one? It is not a run of the mill case. Or that they are not even curious about it. 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 role of Diane Downs was played by none other than Farrah Fawcett and her lover was played by Ryan ONeal who had been Farrahs love interest in real life. I read the letter they sent to the Downs when they were fighting to see their grandchildren. A prosecutor inventing a new psychiatric category in court and labeling the accused is kind of unsettling. It seems like Steve and Diane were meant to be together. Diane was 18 years old at the time and had run away from home to get married. I do not post rude comments. Probably a 911 button. I appreciate the way you dont try to determine guilt or innocence in your blogs but instead focus on due process and the right of all to a fair trial. A fact strongly denied by Diane and by the nurses reports. She waseighteen and soon realized that she had jumped from the fire into the frying pan. It could be argued that he developed a relationship with the children and genuinely wanted them to join his family. After graduating high school, Steve went on to join the Navy, and Diane, having a strict religious background, was sent to the Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College. The case NEVER made sense to me. She felt fulfilled when she was pregnant because she believedit was the road to unconditional love. If I feel that due process was violated, I will go there anyway. You have a photo of Diane before the parole board. After all, Cheryl Downs is basically serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole for her mothers crime. Distractify is a registered trademark. Q. I do not know what happened on Old Mohawk Road on that dark evening, but I know that they did not have enough evidence totry andconvict Diane Downs. They often argued about their financial issues and fought over infidelities. I go fishing with a jurors husband. Ive been trying to decipher her handwriting on the couple of pages she wrote to her daughter (misquoted on here somewhere is a highlighted If you love your little boy, youll take him far away from here- why is this being taken as a threat and not a warning?!). 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 lawsuit against Ann Rule was thrown out as unfounded because after reading her book they could find no inconsistencies She sat thru the entire trial AND used actual court transcripts. My beef is with the interference by the media, TV shows and Ann Rule How was DD able to get away from CK and get the keys back into the ignition without there being more attempts on her life? The child was adopted and was later named Rebecca. I can only imagine to absolute horror of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca during their horrific murders. Speculative? Search within r/halo . Dianes parents had high hopes for her future, a future that didnt involve Steve, so they disapproved of their relationship. Additionally, homicide or assault victims shot by someone else can test positive for GSR. I also found it interesting that when he had visited Diane in prison, he had remarked a strange air about her; which did not mean guilt. Many individuals associated with the the child welfare system, for one reason or another, choose to adopt children. This is an extremely tragic case and her children at the very least deserve justice. The casing from the bullets exactly matched, just like a fingerprint, the bullets that Diane had in her home from her own gun which was never found. But Im on track and Im really happy with the way life is.. This is not the reason she is still locked up. It took a lot of time to research this case and present the other side of the coin. I do not discuss her guilt or innocence because this is not what the blog is about, but I personally hope she is released one day. If not from her high profile status, she would already be out. An earlier commenter wrote that it doesnt matter that the trail or the investigation was faultyWHAT !? At first I thought she did it, now I made further research and I dont know what to think. How interesting. He hired Jim Jagger on the 1st of June 1983, 11 days after the shooting. The case is old and the blog dated, but it is never too late to respond. 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. Or that the sketch did not resemble the suspect enough? It simply states the facts of the case. She complained about it, but that does not mean she did not suffer for her kids. In what world is that O.K. What about the terror of being interrogated by strangers and separated from her family? It sounds pretty fair to me. So the hell with no gun, no GSR, no blood and no witnesses except a sick child who denied knowing who shot them until she could not anymore and happened to be adopted by the prosecutor; making it look like she could never change her mind and reveal that she has no memory of the shooting and maybe have the case reversed. Yes, I had filed for divorce and then I canceled it. Fred Hugi looks nothing like Jim Jagger. 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. Diane, 18, had run away from home to do so. If the answer is, to keep the public safe, then I call BS. She was a first time offender who has shown no violent tendencies and is afflicted with a mental illness.