Diane Downs speaks at parole hearing — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:01[music]
2. 0:06[music]
3. 0:09First, live local. This is Fox 12 Now.
4. 0:17>> Hello everyone. This is Fox 12 now. I'm
5. 0:19Greg Nibbler. Thank you very much for
6. 0:20joining us. We are live streaming here
7. 0:21out of the Fox 12 organ newsroom. We've
8. 0:23been covering a lot of topics today. If
9. 0:25you've been following along, if this is
10. 0:26your first time watching, thanks for
11. 0:27doing so. What we're talking about right
12. 0:29now is Diane DS, a convicted murderer uh
13. 0:33who had a parole hearing today. Now, if
14. 0:35you're unfamiliar with Diane DS, she is
15. 0:36a notorious person in the Northwest uh
16. 0:39in the 80s. I believe it was 1983. Uh
17. 0:42she was found uh she attempted to
18. 0:45murder, well, she did murder her
19. 0:47daughter and attempted to murder two of
20. 0:48her other children. That was in May 19th
21. 0:50of 1983. She was convicted in ' 84. She
22. 0:53escaped uh after that for a while in
23. 0:561987. Uh briefly escaped and she has
24. 1:00been uh she was sentenced to life in
25. 1:02prison with the possibility of parole
26. 1:04after 25 years. She's been denied but
27. 1:07now today was another parole hearing. So
28. 1:09what we're going to be doing is uh
29. 1:11actually playing some of her testimony
30. 1:13at this parole hearing. I'm just going
31. 1:15to give you a little bit of context
32. 1:16here. We'll run this while we're talking
33. 1:18here so you can get a look at who we're
34. 1:19talking about. That is Diane DS from
35. 1:22back then. This was her in prison. This
36. 1:24was, I believe, a KPTV interview from
37. 1:27back then while she was cooking in
38. 1:29prison. Um, she's been there since uh
39. 1:33since her conviction, since her capture,
40. 1:35and uh today she had her chance at
41. 1:39parole again. So, we're going to run
42. 1:41this. You're going to be hearing seeing
43. 1:43a video of her speaking now in the
44. 1:46modern uh tin today. And uh we're just
45. 1:49going to run this right now. And um here
46. 1:51you go.
47. 1:52>> I am a literal person. I am a literal
48. 1:54person. I take everything literally.
49. 1:56When you say when you say what happened
50. 1:59on May 19th, what happened on May 19th
51. 2:02was we were shot literally. That was it.
52. 2:04That was But what And when people say
53. 2:09did you hurt your children? Literally no
54. 2:12I didn't. And during this life scripting
55. 2:14fast I realized that I did.
56. 2:17That eight years ago was an epiphany for
57. 2:21me and it is like the floodgates have
58. 2:23opened. I did if my children had not
59. 2:25been with me on that road. Nothing would
60. 2:28have happened to them. It I didn't I
61. 2:32didn't want somebody to shoot my
62. 2:33children. I did not have a gun. I did
63. 2:35not shoot my children. But if my ch if
64. 2:38my children had not been with me that
65. 2:40night, they would not be
66. 2:44they would not be dead and injured.
67. 2:47I am the reason for that.
68. 2:52I am the reason for that
69. 2:54>> and I know that but I did not understand
70. 2:56it because I am a literalist. I am a
71. 2:59literal person.
72. 3:02>> Okay.
73. 3:03>> That opened it up for me
74. 3:04>> in your narrative regarding your
75. 3:08childhood and your years living at home.
76. 3:12You say that you were just saying how
77. 3:14you felt loved and sheltered. there was
78. 3:16no trauma. Um, and I I guess I'm
79. 3:19confused because there are there are
80. 3:21reports where you say that your father
81. 3:24sexually abused you and then you later
82. 3:28recant those claims. So I I what is
83. 3:32that? I mean did your father sexually
84. 3:35abuse you? And if he did not why did you
85. 3:38tell people he had? So, can you talk
86. 3:42about how this fits into the life
87. 3:44scripting work that you did?
88. 3:46>> I can. My dad did not abuse me. He did
89. 3:50not abuse anybody in my family. When my
90. 3:54husband When my husband and I divorced
91. 3:58after I was in Oregon, my children and
92. 4:02my children were shot. My husband, my
93. 4:04ex-husband came to Oregon. He knew that
94. 4:08the only way that he would have
95. 4:11hooks in me is if he had custody of the
96. 4:14kids. He said, "I want my children to
97. 4:17come home with me to Arizona.
98. 4:20That would force me to go back to
99. 4:22Arizona because he knew I would follow
100. 4:24them." The de the detectives at that
101. 4:27time said, "No, they have grandparents
102. 4:29here in Oregon and they need medical
103. 4:30attention. So, if anybody gets custody,
104. 4:33it will be the grandparents."
105. 4:35Steve lied in order to diminish their
106. 4:39ability to
107. 4:41take custody and said, "Oh, well, you
108. 4:44can't do that. Diane's dad is a
109. 4:48molester."
110. 4:50I did not know that Steve said this
111. 4:51until
112. 4:53June. It was probably the middle of
113. 4:55June. The shooting was in May. So, a
114. 4:57month later, my attorney said, "Susan
115. 5:00Stafle of Children's Services wants to
116. 5:02talk to you about the molestation?" And
117. 5:05I said, "What molestation?"
118. 5:08He said, Steve said to Susan Stafle that
119. 5:11you were molested. I said, "I was not."
120. 5:14He says, "Well, you're going to have to
121. 5:15address that." And I said, "That's easy.
122. 5:17It didn't happen." He said, "You can't
123. 5:20just tell Susan Stafle you weren't
124. 5:22molested because then it sounds like I
125. 5:25didn't have a gun. I didn't do the
126. 5:27shooting. I didn't get molested. I
127. 5:29didn't didn't.
128. 5:31You have to admit something. That way
129. 5:34when you say I didn't, then you're more
130. 5:37believable. I said, "But none of it is
131. 5:39true. I didn't have a gun. I didn't
132. 5:41shoot my children. I love my children
133. 5:44and I wasn't molested." He goes, "I'm
134. 5:48not going to let you tell her that. You
135. 5:49have to admit that you were." I said,
136. 5:53"But it's a lie." So Susan Stafle. So
137. 5:56and then he put me in the room with
138. 5:57Susan Stafle and she goes, "So I want to
139. 5:59talk about the the fact that your dad
140. 6:01molested you." I said nothing. She goes,
141. 6:05"So what do you have to say about it?" I
142. 6:07said nothing.
143. 6:10He would not let me. Then he put me on
144. 6:12the witness stand and [laughter]
145. 6:15he bamboozled me. Nobody else talked
146. 6:17about this. My attorney is the one who
147. 6:19brought it up and said, "Now, how do you
148. 6:22feel about being molested?"
149. 6:25Oh my goodness. And I was angry. He
150. 6:29goes, "You're angry about that?" I said,
151. 6:30"I'm angry because he knew it was a lie
152. 6:33and yet he's the one that put it on the
153. 6:35record."
154. 6:37And it wasn't true. And when it came
155. 6:39time to talk to the uh pre-sentence
156. 6:41investigator, I told her, "It's not
157. 6:43true. It is not true. My dad should not
158. 6:46have to wear that ugly badge for
159. 6:48something that he didn't do simply
160. 6:50because my ex-husband was trying to
161. 6:52manipulate the state because he wanted
162. 6:54to get custody of my children because he
163. 6:56knew I would follow him back to Oregon
164. 6:58if he had custody. That is what
165. 7:00happened. And and there you go. There's
166. 7:04nothing more I can say about that. The
167. 7:06truth is the truth.
168. 7:08>> So, okay. I I just have a couple
169. 7:11clarifying questions. So,
170. 7:14what you're saying is that this was made
171. 7:18up by Steve in order to try to
172. 7:20manipulate you to return with him to
173. 7:24>> Arizona,
174. 7:26>> right? Okay. At one point you said
175. 7:27Oregon, but I assume you meant Arizona,
176. 7:29right?
177. 7:29>> Oh, I did. Yeah.
178. 7:31>> Okay.
179. 7:33So, and then it's your you're saying
180. 7:36that your defense lawyer told you to lie
181. 7:39about this to make you look more
182. 7:42credible. Is that what I'm
183. 7:43understanding?
184. 7:45>> Yes.
185. 7:47>> Okay.
186. 7:47>> I would not have said it that way, but
187. 7:49yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. To to to put it
188. 7:51in a nutshell. Yes.
189. 7:53>> Okay. And so
190. 7:56when you met with Susan
191. 7:59Stafle, you did not deny it. You just
192. 8:03said nothing.
193. 8:04>> I said nothing.
194. 8:06>> And when you were on the witness stand,
195. 8:09you said you were angry, but didn't
196. 8:13clarify it or
197. 8:16>> Oh, no. He No, he made me say that it
198. 8:19happened. He made me say, if you read my
199. 8:23transcript, and I'm sure you have, you
200. 8:25will see that Jim Jagger testified and I
201. 8:27was just the one saying, "Uhhuh. No,
202. 8:30yes, no." Jim Jagger testified during He
203. 8:33was the one who testified during my my
204. 8:35trial. And when that was happening, it
205. 8:38was because he knew I was not going to
206. 8:42say what he wanted me to say. And so, he
207. 8:44testified. Now, isn't it true that your
208. 8:46dad molested you? Oh, yeah.
209. 8:50Well, you could have said no, right?
210. 8:52>> I could have said no and I should have
211. 8:54said no, but he said if you don't,
212. 8:59what he told me was Susan Stapple, if
213. 9:01you don't say this happened and then you
214. 9:04look vulnerable and then when you say no
215. 9:08that you didn't do the shooting, you're
216. 9:10more believable. Yes. So, yes, he he he
217. 9:14was absolutely convinced that this
218. 9:16needed to be said even though it was a
219. 9:18lie. And I told him, "It's not fair. Why
220. 9:20are you gonna do this to my dad?" He
221. 9:22goes, "Well, this isn't about your dad.
222. 9:24It's about you." And I said, "No,
223. 9:25because now you're turning my dad into
224. 9:27some kind of a monster, and he's not."
225. 9:31>> Okay.
226. 9:32>> It still makes me angry. It still makes
227. 9:34me angry.
228. 9:36>> Okay. You understood though that you
229. 9:38were under oath and you were sworn to
230. 9:41tell the truth.
231. 9:43>> Yeah.
232. 9:44>> And that you lied under oath.
233. 9:46>> Yes.
234. 9:48>> Okay.
235. 9:48For the record, you're saying your
236. 9:50attorney suborned perjury by asking you
237. 9:53to introduce information that he knew
238. 9:55was false. That is that correct?
239. 9:58>> Wow. I I never thought of it that way
240. 10:01because Yeah, that's that's exactly what
241. 10:04he did. Let me write that down. I'll be
242. 10:06right back.
243. 10:10>> Okay. So, he could lose his bar license
244. 10:12for doing. But that's what you're saying
245. 10:14he did during your trial, correct?
246. 10:17He has already resigned and um so he as
247. 10:21far as I know he doesn't even have a
248. 10:22license anymore. I mean when you resign
249. 10:24you I think you have to re-up it. I
250. 10:27don't know. I don't know. I'm not out
251. 10:28there. All I can tell you is I did not
252. 10:31shoot my children. My attorney should
253. 10:34have represented me to the best of his
254. 10:36ability.
255. 10:38And I don't know that he did or that he
256. 10:40didn't. I don't know what his abilities
257. 10:41were. But I can tell you I did not shoot
258. 10:44my children. We have DNA evidence that
259. 10:46were was found at the scene that my
260. 10:48attorney is going to be introducing.
261. 10:50>> And And so what would you if you had a
262. 10:52counselor that believed you
263. 10:54wholeheartedly, what would you work on
264. 10:56with them then? Like what are the things
265. 10:58that you have identified in yourself
266. 11:00that you need to work on with this
267. 11:02counselor?
268. 11:06>> Wow. I I I I don't even know because
269. 11:10most of it I I've talked with Dr. Rossi
270. 11:13and Dr. show. So they actually whether
271. 11:16or not they believed in me they sure
272. 11:18they gave the appearance of believing in
273. 11:20me and so that was healing but even then
274. 11:24I didn't delve deep into I think what it
275. 11:26would be is my own I can tell you one
276. 11:30thing
277. 11:32the thing that makes me cry
278. 11:34the only thing about all of this that
279. 11:37makes me cry gut hard cry is knowing
280. 11:39that it was my fault that's what I would
281. 11:42want to deal with I need to
282. 11:45have somebody that I could talk to that
283. 11:47would listen to me and would accept the
284. 11:50fact number one that I'm I'm innocent of
285. 11:53shooting but that I am guilty
286. 11:57of putting my children in danger
287. 12:01that I have never reconciled ever not
288. 12:04through all the classes I've never
289. 12:06reconciled that I can't there because
290. 12:08there's no excuse for it there's no
291. 12:11there's no changing it there's no going
292. 12:13back for it. There's
293. 12:16and there's no forgiveness for that.
294. 12:20So, I don't I don't want to forgive
295. 12:22myself, but I I I don't know that that's
296. 12:24the only thing that sticks. That's the
297. 12:27only thing that sticks that if I was to
298. 12:29ever have a counselor.
299. 12:31And like I said, Dr. McNeel has
300. 12:33graciously offered to counsel me when I
301. 12:35get out. That would be my thing is
302. 12:39coming to terms when I'm alone in my
303. 12:43shower because that's the only place
304. 12:44you're alone in here. That is the only
305. 12:48thing that I really really struggle
306. 12:49with. Everything else I have
307. 12:54come to come to grips with
308. 12:59but not that because it can never be
309. 13:01changed.
310. 13:03No matter how much we talk, no matter
311. 13:05how many questions I'm asked, no matter
312. 13:07how many times I sit before the board,
313. 13:09that night is never going to change.
314. 13:12And so therefore, in my soul, it never
315. 13:17goes away. It never gets reconciled. I
316. 13:20don't even know that it can. Even if I
317. 13:22had a psych, I'm not even sure that it
318. 13:24could be because
319. 13:31>> All right. All right. So, there we go.
320. 13:32Diane DS speaking
321. 13:36um her side of the story. Okay. Thank
322. 13:38you everybody for joining us. I'm going
323. 13:40to go ahead and Excuse me. Apologies.
324. 13:42Apologies. We're getting pulled up here.
325. 13:44We're going to go ahead and take a
326. 13:45break. Uh we will be back if there's
327. 13:47anything that happens between now and 4
328. 13:48p.m. I appreciate everybody joining us
329. 13:50and being a part of the show. We've been
330. 13:52covering a lot here today uh non-stop.
331. 13:54We're here every weekday from 1 p.m. to
332. 13:564 p.m. We're also here from 11:00 a.m.
333. 13:57to noon. Uh, so if anything's going on
334. 14:00breaking news-wise or otherwise, we'll
335. 14:02bring that to you directly. But we're
336. 14:03going to go ahead and take a break now.
337. 14:06Most likely we won't be back, but our 4
338. 14:07p.m. news is coming up. We'll have
339. 14:08updates on what's going on there with
340. 14:10the court case regarding the potential
341. 14:13National Guard deployment to the city of
342. 14:14Portland and whether that is legal or
343. 14:16not. So, we'll have all those details
344. 14:18for you at 4. But, uh, unless, uh,
345. 14:20something happens between now and then,
346. 14:21I will talk to you tomorrow. I've