They told of her obsession with a married man who didn't want her kids around. Shortly before her death, Cheryl Lynn reportedly told a neighbor of her grandparents that she was afraid of her mother. I have used the term verbal vomit when talking' about Diane because she talked a lot. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. Her three small children, Christie, 8; Cheryl, 7; and Danny, 3, were inside her blood-soaked car, shot at close range. After Diane was convicted, the two living children were adopted by the prosecutor in the case and his wife, and it was Christie who ultimately pointed to her mother being responsible for the shooting. "And they give me love, they give me satisfaction, they give me stability, they give me a reason to live and a reason to be happy, and thats gone, they took it from me, but children are so easy to conceive.". 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. Her 7-year old daughter Cheryl died, but her 3-year old son Danny and her 8-year old daughter Christie survived. [15] Christie Downs, Diane Downs' first child who testified at her trial, suffers from a speech disability. Diane Downs became one of the most infamous murderers in the city after she was convicted of shooting her three children, killing one of them, along a roadway in Springfield, Oregon. Crime author Ann Rule wrote on her website: "Christie and Danny who somehow survived their gunshot wounds have no contact with Diane. But as . Stephen danny downs was the son of Diane Downs is a murderer who was convicted in the United States and is currently serving a life term for the crime she committed in 1984. Do I throw it away? The child was adopted and was later named Rebecca. Though she shot all three children, only Cheryl died Christie and Danny survived . DIANE Downs is serving a life sentence for horrific crimes she committed against her own children. [15], Psychiatrists diagnosed her with narcissistic, histrionic, and antisocial personality disorders, labeling her as a deviant sociopath.[16], Downs' two surviving children eventually went to live with the lead prosecutor on the case, Fred Hugi. She was convicted in 1984 and sentenced to life in prison plus fifty years. She then ran away from home and married husband, Steven Downs, in 1973, with whom she had three children - Christie Ann, Cheryl Lynn and Stephen "Danny" Daniel. The more she talked, and she talked a lot and frequently, the more she talked, the more things didn't make any sense. A 27-year-old divorced postal service worker, Downs claimed a bushy-haired stranger had shot them and maintains her innocence to this day. [3][14], Downs was convicted on all charges on June 17, 1984, and sentenced to life in prison plus fifty years. According to Glamour, the motive given for why Diane shot her kids was thought to be because the married man she was seeing at the time did not want any children. Despite being convicted, Downs has always maintained her innocence. May 14, 2010 -- On June 17, 1984, Diane Downs was found guilty of shooting her three children, killing one. The Queen has almost never put a foot wrong as she marks 70th year on the throne. Officers began an inquiry into her peculiar behavior, which included calling her lover from the hospital, her children claiming they were afraid of her, and Christie Ann responding in a fearful manner when her mother visited her in the hospital. Diane Downs was convicted of shooting her 3 children, killing 1, in 1983. When Downs went on trial in May of that year, she was pregnant again. He and his wife, Joanne, legally adopted the children in 1986. Elizabeth Diane Downs, the convicted childkiller who escaped July 11, 1987 from the women's prison in Salem, Ore., is escorted out of state police headquarters in Salem following her capture July 21, 1987. Anne Bradley Jaeger was a local reporter for ABC affiliate KEZI in Eugene, Ore., at the time. They have maintained private lives since and have never spoken publically about their birth mother. According to ABC News, as of March 2019, Becky was 34-years-old and working in Salem Oregon as a behavioral health coordinator for children. In 2017, she posted on Facebook about a new job, writing that she works with the mentally ill helping to give them a better life.. She graduated from the University of Oregon. I had a great family, a great life. Watch the full story on "20/20" THIS FRIDAY, March 22 at 9 p.m. "The more she talked, the more things didn't make any sense.". March 23, 2019 13:00 Impact x Nightline The Murders Before the Marathon Would love your thoughts, please comment. The child was later renamed Rebecca Babcock by her adoptive parents. She, too, is now a mother. She remembers Downs' demeanor in her interviews as peculiar. By the time she arrived at the hospital, Cheryl, seven, was already dead and the other two children had suffered devastating injuries. She told ABC, The impact of Diane Downs being my mom has altered the course of my life so many times. Christie became the star witness in the case, bravely testifying against her monster mom. Why does a mom with three sleeping children in the car stop for a stranger or anyone for that matter? And Christie Downs, the only witness to the crime (her younger brother Danny was believed to have been asleep at the time), had suffered a stroke that impaired her speech and prevented her from telling police what she had seen. I mean, she is so close to death, it's unbelievable.. Det. Diane Downs now: Her most recent prison photo from 2018. All the kids were asleep as it was past 9 o'clock pm and her children were fairly young. But what happened to her kids, Christie Ann and Stephen "Danny" Daniel? There isnt a whole lot known about where Steve Downs is these days. By the time Wilhite arrived, Downs had driven her blood-soaked car to the emergency room. Too much for her own good, Welch said. While Danny and Christie survived, Cheryl, the middle child, was killed in the attack. Not just a son, but a couple of other children as well, including a daughter, who she named after her dead sister, Cheryl. Downs had picked someone on her postal route to seduce prior to the start of her trial. What did she do?. Distractify is a registered trademark. [2], On November 13, 1973, Diane married Steve Downs after running away from home. [1], Elizabeth Diane Downs was born on August 7, 1955 in Phoenix, Arizona, to Wesley Linden (19302017) and Willadene (Engle) Frederickson. Diane Downs always wanted to be a mom, she told Inside Edition in its first-ever episode in 1989. ET) on ABC. The first two children were Dianes kids with her ex husband Steve Downs. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. What did she look like? "Danny, a computer whiz, is still partially paralyzed from the bullet in his back, but he is living a happy and normal life. On May 19, 1983, Diane Downs drove herself and her three children to an emergency room in Springfield, Oregon, saying she had been shot by a "bushy-haired ma. Conflicting reports say Downs also acted as a surrogate during her fourth pregnancy, giving birth to a daughter after her trial in 1984. [2] Despite her parents' disapproval of their relationship, Downs continued the relationship. On May 19, 1983, Diane shot the children Cheryl, 7, Christie, 8, and Danny, 3 multiple times at a close range. Doug Welch, then a detective with the Lane County Sheriff's Office, remembers getting the call for what would turn out to be his first homicide investigation. "She calculated that this would win her sympathy in her trial. 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Via an email sent through her brother, James Frederickson, Downs told OregonLive, Every time the World News shows the big red circles on the national map, I look at Oregon because thats where Christie and Daniel are Compared to other States, it appears Oregons red circle is smaller than most places. She went to the University of Oregon and now lives with her husband and children in the town. she said in an interview. A mother was driving one night down a rural road in Oregon when her three children, who were asleep in the car, were shot at point-blank range by a stranger in the dark. But suspicions of Downs herself quickly began to surface. However, according to her interviews and Facebook page, Becky today appears to have forged a successful life. She says it was during the struggle with the stranger that she was shot in the arm. 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