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Diane Downs: Trial, A Daughter’s Testimony & The Hearing That Could Set Her Free - Part 2 — Transcript

by Danelle Hallan · 16,447 words · 2,272 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:07Nick said he did not want to be a father
0:09he especially didn't want to be a father
0:11to someone else's kids and Diane had
0:14three kids and wanted to be a surrogate
0:17and have more children and so that was
0:19not going to work out for them Nick was
0:21actually very startled by kind of the
0:24nonchalant Outlook Diane had about her
0:27kids and about these Affairs he was
0:29startled that she typically had affairs
0:31while the kids were witnessed to it all
0:33with this rotating door of men and he
0:36was not comfortable with any part of
0:38that and so Nick wouldn't see her unless
0:41the kids were with a babysitter like he
0:42would show up to the house and if the
0:44kids were there he would leave and so
0:45Diane kind of started to realize she had
0:48to do something with the kids in order
0:50to be with Nick so in her talks of
0:52marriage and a future together with Nick
0:55she had drawn up plans for a home that
0:57she envisioned building a home where the
0:59kids rooms would be on the opposite side
1:01of the house allowing Nick to rarely see
1:04them she also promised that when the
1:06kids were home she would have a nanny
1:08that would take care of them essentially
1:11she made plans to live out a fairy tale
1:14love story with Nick while pretending
1:16that her children didn't exist and that
1:18right there shows the kind of links
1:20Diane was willing to go to to make sure
1:23she could be with Nick even from the
1:26get-go she was willing to not see her
1:28children put them with a Danny full-time
1:31and legitimately build a house from the
1:33ground up designed specifically to keep
1:35them away she continued on with this
1:37plan of building this house she was
1:39going to have a second surrogacy and use
1:41that money to build this home and in the
1:44meantime she secured an apartment for
1:46her and Nick to share Nick did stay
1:48there but only a handful of times but
1:51even then she took it a step further and
1:52got his name with a rose tattooed on her
1:55shoulder she really seemed to want to
1:57show him how invested was in their
2:00relationship and she so desperately
2:03wanted him to reciprocate these same
2:06things she begged him to get a matching
2:08one it was like she was not going to be
2:10satisfied until there was some permanent
2:12reminder that he belonged to her and
2:15when things didn't go her way she would
2:17show up with whiskey get her male
2:19suitors drunk and take advantage of them
2:21she did this time and time again it was
2:23like her personal Affair emo so Nick
2:26ended up drunk and with a tattoo of a r
2:30and her name which woo that's a lot and
2:33you know I won't deny that Nick played a
2:35part in this you know he seemed to enjoy
2:37the thrill to some extent obviously he
2:39kept on going with it manipulation a
2:42huge Factor but it he did seem to like
2:45playing with fire however he also had
2:47his limits and eventually he had had
2:50enough Diane just kept pushing and
2:52pushing and pushing and telling him to
2:54leave his wife and telling him to be
2:56with her and it just got so overwhelming
2:58for him and it didn't matter matter what
3:00he said she would not accept that that
3:02wasn't going to happen and so finally
3:04Nick fully ended things with her and she
3:08retaliated again a pattern that she has
3:10shown throughout all of her years of
3:12life when someone did something that was
3:14so absolute and she couldn't change it
3:16she did something to hurt them right
3:19back she told Nick that she had an STD
3:22forcing him to come clean to his wife
3:23about the affair on his birthday she
3:26just kind of dropped this bomb and
3:29disappeared because right as she decided
3:31to do this she had hopped on a plane STD
3:34and all heading to become a surrogate
3:36mom for the second time now when Diane
3:38returned the pregnancy hadn't taken
3:41which I'm sure was a huge blow to her
3:43which was followed by another blow
3:45because her plan to end Nick's marriage
3:48didn't work out if anything his
3:50relationship with his wife was even
3:52stronger now that she kind of knew what
3:54was going on that there had been an
3:55affair which by the way she already knew
3:57everything about that she had actually
3:59kept like an entire um track of all the
4:02times that she thought Nick was out
4:04having an affair and Diane also kept a
4:07calendar where she marked all the times
4:08they were together as well so like there
4:10was so much information to kind of
4:11corroborate all of these stories they
4:13both kind of figured out this is not
4:15what we want we want to have our
4:16marriage work out we're going to move
4:18forward and Diane just like could not
4:20comprehend that someone would want to do
4:22that and so she became irritated and
4:24kind of started to Target his wife now
4:27she was writing letters to his wife she
4:29would call his home several times a day
4:32and then each time his wife would pick
4:33up and she would hang up it seemed like
4:35she was hoping to scare his wife enough
4:38that she would just leave Nick like she
4:40was so dedicated and unwavering in her
4:42efforts to get what she wanted that she
4:44knew she didn't care how long it took
4:46eventually she would wear somebody down
4:48and so frustration just grew when her
4:50tactics didn't seem to be working and so
4:53one day Diane cornered Nick and she
4:56asked him who Do You Love choose one of
4:59us and he didn't choose her and so in a
5:03fit of rage Diane followed him home and
5:06proceeded to bang on his doors for hours
5:09throughout the night she was so upset
5:12after this that she actually went to
5:14Steve had a huge argument with him where
5:16she threatened to kill him and then get
5:18rid of herself and she actually took the
5:2122 Ruger handgun in question into the
5:25bathroom of her trailer and shot a hole
5:28through the floor so she clearly became
5:30incredibly emotionally distressed when
5:33she felt like she lost when she felt
5:35like she didn't get what she wanted
5:37which again plays a huge part in this
5:40case now Nick and his wife eventually
5:42left for Arizona to get away from Diane
5:45for a bit she was just Relentless in her
5:47Pursuit and unfortunately Diane found
5:50the number of the home he was staying at
5:52and proceeded to harass him there as
5:54well and so at this point he is
5:56irritated his wife is so irritated
5:58they're done with it and so I think she
6:00realized that she would have to do
6:02something drastic she needed him to feel
6:05as though he had completely lost her
6:07because she believed it would bring him
6:09running back and so in April of 1983 she
6:13decided to move to Oregon with her
6:15parents according to Diane's own diary
6:19despite being met with a harsh rejection
6:21from Nick during this time and even his
6:23wife his wife literally yelled at her to
6:25f off and slam the door in her face
6:28Diane fell deeper into her delusion that
6:30this was all just a show she was like
6:33nope he's just doing this so that you
6:34know the divorce goes well and he can be
6:36with me like this is all for me which is
6:38just some unhinged Behavior authorities
6:41read her Diaries from this time period
6:44right when she moved to Oregon and the
6:47entire time she was still very steadily
6:50expressing her love for Nick and her
6:52excitement for him to eventually moved
6:53to Oregon with her she was settling into
6:56her new life she was fantasizing about
6:58all of the things that Nick would love
7:00there and what they would do together
7:02she was incredibly excited but she still
7:05hadn't really given up her old ways at
7:07all the moment she hit the ground of
7:10Oregon and got this job with USPS she
7:12started having another affair with a
7:14married man there um so this just seemed
7:17to be a cycle she could not break
7:18herself from but even with this man she
7:21was having an affair with she still
7:22spoke about Nick to this guy saying oh
7:25yeah he's going to come and marry me she
7:27was telling this to her co-workers she
7:28was talking about him like he was
7:30actively someone she was seeing rather
7:32than an old flame that had literally
7:34just like ran to another state to get
7:36away from her however a few weeks after
7:38moving to Oregon it seemed like she kind
7:40of began to regain some sense of reality
7:44that she could no longer keep pretending
7:46things were going the way she hoped they
7:48would um and face what's actually
7:51happening she called Nick every single
7:53day and got no answer and so when that
7:55didn't work she started to make daily
7:57calls to the post office at 7 a.m.
8:01trying to reach him which Nick refused
8:03to respond he told everyone at the
8:05office if she calls for me I'm not there
8:08so when that didn't work she started to
8:11send letters and when those letters went
8:14unanswered she started to send packages
8:16and flowers and when those were returned
8:18to her she left them to rot in the trunk
8:21of her car and made a 24-hour trip to
8:23Arizona clearly something had clicked
8:26that he doesn't want to talk to me he
8:28doesn't want these things and it felt
8:30like she thought maybe seeing him in
8:31person was going to change that so she
8:34left her kids Behind hopped on a flight
8:36stayed with Steve of all people and went
8:39to go see Nick she claimed in her diary
8:42that Nick had given her a necklace out
8:43of love it was a promise a necklace that
8:46was so special to him and he told her
8:48that he never took it off his neck ever
8:50and the next time it would go on his
8:52neck was when he came to Oregon to be
8:54with her it sounded like a beautiful
8:56love story something out of a Nicholas
8:58Sparks movie
8:59however Nick spoke about the exact same
9:02moment in a very different way he told
9:05police that he had given Dian this
9:07necklace as collateral for $500 that she
9:10lent him before he moved so once again
9:14we've got these two entirely different
9:16perspectives and stories but that just
9:18seems to be typical with Diane so she
9:21went back when he stopped replying to
9:23her followed him on his route and
9:26approached him in the street to return
9:28his necklace to him in her diary she
9:31continued on writing that they spoke
9:33during this time and expressed their
9:35love for each other that they continued
9:37to make promises to each other to
9:39eventually be together in Oregon but
9:42again Nick said that that's not at all
9:44what happened he was horrified to see
9:47her he said that when she moved away
9:50when she decided to go to Oregon the
9:52moment he knew that she had crossed
9:53state lines it was like a weight was
9:56lifted off of his shoulders and he could
9:57breathe again so when she suddenly
9:59popped up of all places following him on
10:02his work route he was terrified and said
10:04that he barely said all but 20 words to
10:08her he had thought it was finally over
10:10and hoped that getting that necklace
10:11back was her also agreeing with that but
10:13her diary showed that's not at all how
10:15she viewed the situation Nick continued
10:18to tell the authorities that he never
10:20intended to go to Oregon that was never
10:22anything that I guess he had planned or
10:23said to her he had been trying to find a
10:26way for quite some time to permanently
10:28distance himself from her she just
10:30wasn't getting the memo and around May
10:335th just before the attack Diane's diary
10:36entries took a significant turn this was
10:38around the time she had returned the
10:40necklace when she really I think
10:41realized Nick was not going to be there
10:43Nick was not flying up he was not
10:45leaving his wife it was over the police
10:48noted that she started to fluctuate
10:50between still professing her love for
10:52Nick to questioning what went wrong she
10:55blamed his wife for ruining their
10:57relationship and then sometimes she
10:59would write diary entries acting as if
11:01she was so done with him like it was not
11:03a big deal for diary entries read quote
11:05well sweetie I love talking to you but I
11:07have my own life here I have three
11:09beautiful children that I love more than
11:11anyone else I think I even love them
11:13more than you now they stand by me no
11:15matter what and again just another
11:17example of the priorities that Diane had
11:20and for the first time ever Diane began
11:23to focus her diary entries on her kids
11:26she wrote about their trips that they
11:27took she described each 's personality
11:30and Rule said it perfectly that it
11:32seemed like she was noticing her
11:34children for the first time ever her
11:37co-workers also told authorities that
11:39they observed a shift during this time
11:40as well Diane went from being happy and
11:43bubbly and so excited that Nick was
11:44coming to now she was depressed and she
11:46seemed stuck in her thoughts and all of
11:49this was literally within 2 weeks of the
11:52shooting then on May 12th the behavior
11:54in her journal continued to just become
11:57even stranger on the 12th itself Diane
12:00mentioned that she had gone out to buy a
12:02golden unicorn for her children and she
12:06for some reason kept stressing in the
12:08diary that she had to engrave it with
12:11the date of May 13th like not the day
12:13that she bought it but for the following
12:15day and authorities could not figure out
12:17why she would want to do that what was
12:19the significance of the 13th and so they
12:21went to her journal entry for the 13th
12:24Diane had written a very lengthy entry
12:27detailing how she took her kids out
12:30legitimately from sun up to Beyond sun
12:33down which does not seem like something
12:36they normally did together they went to
12:39the beach I think it took like hours to
12:41drive there and then they came back home
12:43and they visited a handful of parks she
12:45kept taking them from one park to
12:47another to the river to another Park and
12:49she even noted in her diary that
12:50although the kids were tired and hungry
12:52she refused to take them home and so
12:55authorities raised the question why did
12:57she keep them out for so long why was
12:59she just bouncing them around again and
13:01again and again and so at this point
13:03authorities speculated that Diane may
13:06have been documenting a premeditated
13:09plan to harm her children this bizarre
13:12pattern continued day after day after
13:15the 13th up until the day of the
13:17shootings every single Diary account she
13:19took the kids out late into the night to
13:21different Parks different Rivers
13:23different isolated areas again it was
13:26almost as if she was kind of tumbling
13:28the idea around in her head of doing
13:30something drastic but she couldn't quite
13:32stick to doing it however on the 19th
13:36there was an Abrupt change there was no
13:38diary entry at all for the first time
13:41ever day of the shooting all that was
13:43there was the date and Dian never wrote
13:46anything else so all of this work helped
13:48paint an actual picture of Diane's life
13:51of what happened in the year leading up
13:54to the shootings and the week leading up
13:55to the shootings and it detailed a
13:58history history of Diane's own awful
14:01childhood her own abusive and neglectful
14:04Behavior towards towards her children
14:06the choices she made repeatedly to put
14:08her own desires and needs in front of
14:11her kids and now they also had forensic
14:14evidence to consider the forensic
14:16examination of the car did not support
14:20Diane's story that she had given
14:22authorities there was high velocity
14:24backspatter found on the outside of the
14:26car just beneath the passenger side door
14:29on the rocker panel now if you remember
14:32Diane claimed that everyone was asleep
14:34in the car and she was outside of the
14:36car on the driver side how would blood
14:38have gotten on the rocker panel on the
14:40outside of the car on the passenger side
14:43so high velocity back spatter occurs
14:46when blood is expelled from a wound and
14:48it kind of goes directly towards
14:51whatever caused the injury so in this
14:53case the gun and this indicated that
14:57Cheryl someone had been shot by the
14:59attacker who was inside of the car while
15:02the victim was outside and when they did
15:05blood testing which they didn't have
15:07like DNA testing at the time they were
15:09able to confirm that this Blood matched
15:12Cheryl's it was the same blood type
15:14which was interesting because Cheryl had
15:16been shot in the back two times now
15:19further testing revealed that the victim
15:21had to have been at ground level when
15:24they were shot outside of the car
15:26because the spatter was just inches off
15:28of the ground I I think 9 in was the
15:30highest it went and so police started to
15:32theorize that Cheryl had tried to get
15:34away that she had turned to get out of
15:36the car and was shot once in the back
15:38she managed to open the door and kind of
15:41fell out of the car and then she was
15:43shot again in the back while on the
15:45ground so obviously that completely
15:49changes the story because Diane never
15:51mentioned any of the kids being outside
15:53of the car or that she had to physically
15:55pick up any of her children to put them
15:58back inside of the car additionally
16:00investigators noted that despite Diane
16:02having been shot there weren't really
16:04any smears of Blood on the steering
16:06wheel or in any area on the driver's
16:08side of the car and even in her own Reen
16:11action she shows that she kicks the
16:13person out of the way pushes them jumps
16:16in the car and immediately puts the keys
16:18in and grabs the steering wheel to go
16:20and so she was bleeding down her arm
16:23like that would have gotten all over the
16:24steering wheel all over these places but
16:26it didn't and so this suggested to
16:29authorities that she had possibly
16:30prepared to cover her arm and clean
16:33herself up with that towel before
16:35getting into the car to drive away and
16:37if there was an active person shooting
16:40your family shooting you you're not
16:42going to be like Oh I'm jumping in the
16:43car and before I touch anything I'm
16:45going to grab my towel and like wipe
16:47myself off clean my hands cover my arm
16:49and then I'll drive away like it becomes
16:51a very frantic immediate thing and then
16:54there were the bullets authorities
16:57searched endlessly for the gun they had
16:59chased down leads in Arizona and
17:01California they crawled under her old
17:04trailer where she shot that hole through
17:05the floor trying to find like a 22
17:08caliber casing that had come out of that
17:10specific gun believed to possibly be
17:12involved to compare it and they just
17:14couldn't find it and it was actually a
17:16really frustrating situation because
17:17they had to go back to the person that
17:20gave Steve the gun in order to get the
17:23serial number and so this man gave them
17:25the number and it actually turned up in
17:27Paris California and so detectives went
17:29there thinking finally we've got the gun
17:32but then when they compared things
17:34nothing was matching and so when they
17:36went back to the guy to be like you know
17:37we just want to confirm this is the
17:39right gun the man that gave the gun to
17:41Steve actually came back and said that
17:42he had purchased two rugers two 22
17:45handguns in the same time period over
17:47like a couple of days and he believed he
17:50actually gave the other one to Steve and
17:52not the one just found in Paris
17:53California and so he then went and got
17:55all of his documentation proving there
17:57was this second gun what the new serial
17:59number was and gave all that information
18:01to authorities so again they were back
18:03at square one and that entire time they
18:05had been searching for this one gun and
18:06now it was proven to be something
18:08different so they decided to look at
18:09what they already have and obviously the
18:1122 rifle had not been shot it was filled
18:14with dust like all the way down the
18:15barrel and the 38 was the exact same way
18:18plus it didn't match the caliber of
18:19weapon used but they noticed that there
18:21were two unfired rounds inside of the 22
18:24rifle but when they looked at them
18:26closer those two rounds had been worked
18:30through a gun before and it wasn't the
18:3222 rifle that they were in and so they
18:35decided to look at the markings that are
18:37unique to each gun that they've been
18:39worked through and compare that to the
18:43casings and things that they found from
18:45the car from the scene on old Mohawk
18:48Road because they did find some casings
18:50and things there and they ended up
18:52finding that those unfired rounds and
18:53the 22 rifle in Diane's home matched the
18:57markings on those from from the crime
18:59scene they had been worked through the
19:01same gun and the only way that's
19:03possible is if those two unfired rounds
19:06in the 22 rifle had at some point been
19:09in the gun used to shoot the children
19:12the 22 that Steve and now several others
19:15in Arizona including Nick said that
19:17Diane had Nick had made it very clear to
19:19authorities that just the day before she
19:21left he saw her and in her trunk was a
19:2522 Ruger handgun the same one he knew
19:28her to have so obviously she had that
19:31gun it was something she was planning on
19:33taking to Oregon with her and throughout
19:35the entirety of the investigation they
19:38actually ended up getting Nick to record
19:40phone calls with Diane thinking that
19:42maybe he would be able to get her to
19:45release some sort of information and in
19:47the book small sacrifices there's some
19:48excerpt from some of their conversations
19:51and Nick confronted her saying I S like
19:54I saw that 22 Ruger in the back of your
19:56trunk and the verbiage that she uses
19:59when she responds to him is so wildly
20:02and obviously manipulative she's like no
20:05you remember what you actually saw is
20:08XYZ no what you actually remember is a
20:11week prior like every time she would be
20:13approached with information from someone
20:15who had seen it personally she would try
20:18to alter their memories of it it's so
20:20creepy hearing her talk to them the way
20:23that she did where were you when the
20:24shooting was going on by the back the
20:26little wing the little triangle shaped
20:30Wing why weren't you kicking the boy in
20:32the balls or
20:34something because I was
20:36frozen well okay that's a good enough
20:38answer I'm sorry and I'm ashamed of it
20:41but I just I saw him I knew he was mad
20:45at me and I just never assumed anybody
20:47would hurt the kids and I saw him reach
20:50towards the car and my first thought was
20:52to look at the kids cuz they're part of
20:55me and I saw christe get shot and I just
20:58Thro I just my mind completely
21:00locked until he swung around towards me
21:03again and that's when he hit my hand
21:05with a
21:06gun well when uh you told me the first
21:09time you called something I mean when
21:11you called me at the post office
21:13something
21:14about throwing your keys or pretending
21:16to throw you CES or some [ __ ] when did
21:19that happen
21:21it oh
21:24okay but I had to give a good reason
21:26that I got away I couldn't just tell
21:28that I that he walked away from me well
21:31why not because that's the truth and the
21:34guy said I better not tell the
21:37truth the guy that did the shooting yeah
21:40Dian you better go talk to the police at
21:43this point authorities were starting to
21:45build a pretty solid case and to Diane's
21:47shock and horror everything around her
21:50was starting to crumble she wasn't sure
21:52exactly what evidence the police had
21:55there had still been no arrest not even
21:57of her seemed to her that she felt it
21:58was coming the media and others began to
22:01question her story as well and one
22:04Infamous interview in particular kind of
22:06showed just how unsettling her behavior
22:09was and I find it very interesting this
22:11was done by an joerger and she was a
22:13very young journalist and the interview
22:16was so drawing even an did not expect it
22:18it was pre-recorded that she decided to
22:21not release it like she said morally she
22:23couldn't do it because some really
22:25horrific things were said and Diane
22:27would have absolutely no no chance at
22:29receiving a fair trial which innocent
22:31till proven guilty everyone deserves a
22:33fair trial it's not really fair to put
22:34that kind of information out there and
22:36so it wasn't released until after a jury
22:39had already been picked and we told to
22:41not look at any of the news and in this
22:44interview she says that everyone calls
22:47her lucky everybody says you sure were
22:50lucky well I don't feel very lucky I
22:52couldn't tie my damn shoes for about two
22:55months it is very painful it is still
22:57painful I have a plate in my arm I will
22:59for a year and a half the the scar is
23:02going to be there forever I'm going to
23:03remember that night for the rest of my
23:05life whether I want to or not I don't
23:06think I was very lucky I think my kids
23:09were lucky if I had been shot the way
23:11they were we all would have died the the
23:13thing that really really haunts me the
23:14most is not even the sight and the sound
23:17I mean the the sound and the smell are
23:19fading but at night when I close my eyes
23:21I can see Christy reaching her hand out
23:23to me while I'm driving and the blood
23:26just keep coming out of her mouth and
23:27that maybe it'll fade too with time but
23:30I I don't think so that haunts me the
23:37most an joerger went on to say in a 2020
23:40episode that was more recently released
23:42in ironically 2020 that this was such a
23:46disturbing interview for her to film she
23:49said that the way that Diane so like
23:52gresly and nonchalantly spoke about her
23:55children's wounds and blood gushing from
23:58their mouth mouth and just the way she
24:00described things showing not an a single
24:02ounce of emotion meanwhile an Yer had to
24:05ask her to stop because she was about to
24:07vomit on set she was so upset and
24:09Disturbed there was such a clear
24:11disconnect and so detectives brought
24:13Diane in for another interview they were
24:15armed with new information and it was
24:17going to be an interesting ride because
24:18being who she was she either hated the
24:20cops completely because they were men um
24:23or she would at times seduce them like
24:25she tried to get real close to one of
24:26the investigators trying to meet him in
24:28private uh she always felt like she had
24:31this upper hand she had even tried to
24:33kind of exert that control over the
24:35people overlooking the case but this
24:37interview was not going to go how she
24:39expected the investigators pushed hard
24:42they were demanding answers to the
24:45difficult questions and they were
24:46explaining to her you know why these
24:48things weren't adding up they're like
24:49look this is what you said this is the
24:52evidence we found it does not support
24:54anything you're saying something's got
24:55to give and Diane was mad she was
24:58absolutely Spitting Fire again you can
25:00listen to portions of the interview on
25:03the 2020 episode they offered her
25:05several chances within her rights to
25:07leave they're like look you don't have
25:09to be here if this is frustrating you if
25:10you don't want to answer these questions
25:12go it's recorded several times
25:14throughout the interview but each time
25:16she didn't want to she wanted to argue
25:18she wanted to keep going they had gotten
25:21her started at this point and it was
25:22bound to end with something coming out
25:25and sure enough she changed the story
25:28now now this was not the first time she
25:30changed the story and had actually been
25:32going on for months at this point all of
25:34a sudden it transforms from a
25:36bushy-haired stranger that she didn't
25:37recognize to announce two people with
25:39ski masks and they both know me by name
25:41and they even knew about my tattoo I
25:43mean she claimed these people knew
25:45specific details about her life she
25:47claimed that one of these two men was
25:49pacing far away while the other was
25:50sitting close up just staring at her um
25:53she said that she ripped a ski mask from
25:55one of their faces I mean it went from
25:57this was so quick to now she's like
25:59sitting here having like arguments with
26:01these people and they're trying to
26:03figure out what to do and her kids are
26:04just lying bleeding in the car she also
26:06started to say that the people that had
26:08attacked her had threatened to harm her
26:10if she told she even went on to say at
26:12times that this was someone hired by
26:14Steve that these people suggested that
26:16if Steve couldn't have her and couldn't
26:18have the kids then nobody would like
26:20they had been hired other times she said
26:22she was unsure who they were why they
26:24targeted her her favorite thing seemed
26:26to be coming out with just this
26:28bombshell information that she had been
26:31harboring forever and then she would
26:33twist it and try to say she had been
26:34harboring it because she had her own
26:36reasons but she never ever got specific
26:39she gave them just enough information to
26:41seemingly throw the entire investigation
26:43but could never come up with any proof
26:45for it and finally she ended the
26:47interview in a fit of rage when she had
26:51finally been confronted with every
26:53single inconsistency she claimed all of
26:56the sudden to know who the attack was
26:59come on Diane it's your turn at back
27:02since you guys seem to think that I
27:03should have brought the Guan with me I
27:05will get him myself cuz I know who did
27:07it you do know who did it yes I do I
27:09damn sure do you know him by name yes I
27:13yes I do you s you kid yeah it's pretty
27:16important and I saw him grab my arm and
27:18yank my arm out and shoot my arm and say
27:20now try to get away with
27:22it and I'm leaving cuz I know who did it
27:26bye the time is now
27:301746 and Diane is just Departed the
27:34office we're concluding the table why
27:38why would Diane use her knowledge of who
27:40the attacker is as a defense against
27:43detectives accusing her of being
27:45involved it literally does not matter
27:47which way you look at it it does not
27:49make sense first and foremost that
27:52information could have been her ticket
27:54to freedom she was so worried about them
27:56focusing on her wrong flea and that they
27:58weren't doing the right thing they
27:59weren't going after the wrong guy yet
28:01she's now claiming she's known this guy
28:03the entire time and is now refusing to
28:05share that information and she can't sit
28:07there and say she's scared of him
28:08because if she was genuinely scared of
28:10this guy she wouldn't have been sitting
28:11on the news talking about how she wanted
28:13him caught she wouldn't be blatantly
28:15dangling how much she can't stand him in
28:16front of his face knowing he could come
28:18and harm her there is not a shred of
28:21logic in what she did and that seemed to
28:25really just be enough to seal the deal
28:27for everybody and and during this time
28:29the sheriff's department actually was
28:31working alongside Pierce Brooks and that
28:34should be a name a lot of you guys
28:35probably recognize he was the lead
28:37homicide investigator in The Onion Field
28:40investigation and he also was the first
28:43person to Pioneer the profiling and
28:46tracking of serial killers like finding
28:48out how these people work and the
28:50psychology behind it and what they might
28:52do next and all of these things and so
28:55he looked at all of the information and
28:57was like you definitely got your person
28:59so as authorities were working to button
29:01up their investigation Diane continued
29:03fighting with her attorney to gain
29:05custody of her children but the evidence
29:07against her was still just mounting her
29:10portrayal as a good mother seemed at
29:12this point to be nothing more than a
29:14publicity stunt she would take her kids
29:16cakes and presents every birthday and
29:19holiday but always with the presentence
29:22of several news stations that she asked
29:24to be there she'd be like hey guess what
29:25I'm taking my kid a birthday cake meet
29:27me at the bakery and she would make sure
29:29someone was there when she picked up the
29:30cake and then make sure someone was
29:31there when she dropped it off and make
29:33sure they got the perfect shots of her
29:35upset that she wasn't able to be with
29:36her children I mean it was such a
29:40diabolical plan that she seemed to have
29:43in place but of all this evidence that
29:46they were collecting the most damning
29:48evidence yet was christe christe had
29:50been released from the hospital on June
29:5322nd to a well-known and well-loved
29:55Foster family in the area she worked
29:58worked hard with therapists and other
30:00Specialists to regain Her speech and
30:02build her confidence and Trust which was
30:04going to take a long time because she
30:06didn't trust anyone at this point
30:08understandably psychologists and those
30:11that interacted with her in this time
30:12frame had made notes that she very much
30:15seemed like a little mom like she had no
30:18idea how to be anything other than
30:20someone that takes care of somebody else
30:22and at just 8 years old that's so
30:24incredibly devastating her foster mom
30:27noted that she also seemed to be so
30:30worried that this foster mom was going
30:32somewhere and every morning and in the
30:34middle of the night in random times
30:36Christy would come and check to make
30:38sure her foster mom was still there you
30:40could just see all the ways that the
30:42trauma in her life had gone on to so
30:44horribly affect her and all the fears
30:46that she had even if they were unspoken
30:48they were so obviously there now just
30:51before leaving the hospital christe was
30:53actually able to speak for the first
30:55time she spoke for the first time on
30:57June 16th which I personally find very
31:00interesting because the last time her
31:02mother was able to see her before her
31:05custody and everything was taken away
31:06was June 15th so I find it interesting
31:09that christe finally was able to speak
31:11for the first time after her mom was no
31:14longer able to see her anymore and even
31:17though it wasn't a massive statement she
31:19was still you know recovering from a
31:21stroke it was very small words and yes
31:24no and things like that it was still a
31:26very significant statement because she
31:28indicated that her mom told her not to
31:32tell anyone what happened it was clear
31:34to everyone involved that something had
31:36occurred involving Diane and Christy was
31:39not at all comfortable talking about it
31:41she didn't even want to talk about her
31:43mom she didn't say her name she didn't
31:45express any interest in seeing her mom
31:47after she left the hospital they noted
31:50that any mention of her mom would pretty
31:52much shut her down completely she would
31:55entirely stop communicating however she
31:57Gra gradually began to let people in she
32:00mentioned slowly but surely that no one
32:03but her family was in or around the car
32:06the night of the shooting and while
32:08speaking to her therapist she even began
32:10to write down who attacked her on a
32:12piece of paper and they didn't want to
32:15force her into giving this information
32:17and so her therapist said look if you
32:19want to write this down on a piece of
32:20paper just to get it off your chest like
32:22just to have a moment to be free from it
32:25you can do that and he was like I'm not
32:27going to look at it you can throw it in
32:29the fire before you leave and it can be
32:31kept as your secret until you're ready
32:33to share it and so christe did that
32:36after every session every session she
32:38would write down something and then at
32:40the end of the session she'd throw it in
32:41the fire and then go on about her time
32:44but this just confirmed them even more
32:46that she was very well aware of who shot
32:48her they also created anatomically
32:50correct dolls and dress them in the
32:53children's clothing so it was something
32:54recognizable and Christy immediately
32:57gravitated toward Cheryl's which broke
32:59my heart to hear and during this time
33:01she was asked to act out what happened
33:03in the car during one of her therapy
33:05sessions and so she literally assembled
33:08the entire living room into a replica of
33:13the car using chairs and the couch and
33:15she placed each doll exactly where the
33:18children had been and then they asked
33:20her to play her mother to play Diane
33:24however none of what Christy did next
33:26matched her mother's recorded
33:29reenactment instead Christy went to what
33:32would be the trunk of her imaginary car
33:35and grabbed something that based on her
33:38gestures resembled a gun she walked to
33:41the driver's seat ducking her head
33:44underneath again the imaginary door
33:46frame and she pointed her finger at the
33:48dolls and she said bang at the same time
33:52christe made the choice to no longer
33:55throw away her neatly folded paper in
33:57the fire
33:58instead she allowed them to look at it
34:00and inside of that little paper Christy
34:03had written my mom Fred hugi had been
34:07put through the ringer by his own
34:09sheriff's department and Diane and her
34:12attorney and the public and the media
34:15why haven't you made an arrest yet if
34:17you thought I was guilty then why
34:18haven't I been arrested like there was
34:20just all of this noise and he knew that
34:23his patience would eventually pay off he
34:26didn't know if he would ever find the
34:27gun he didn't know if christe would ever
34:29talk again he just knew that if he stuck
34:31to it and continued investigating and
34:33the sheriff's department continued
34:35working they would either eventually
34:37have what they needed to proceed with
34:38charges against Diane or whoever was
34:41involved or unfortunately this would end
34:43up being a devastating Cold Case for the
34:46state of Oregon but Christie had just
34:49cracked it wide open this significant
34:52Revelation made so many things neatly
34:55fall into place all of these questions
34:57that they have they were now able to
34:58answer a witness had come forward saying
35:01that he had actually been driving on old
35:03Mohawk Road the night of the shootings
35:05at 10:15 so we're talking about
35:07immediately in the emergent time frame
35:10of when this shooting occurred and when
35:12Diane said she was flying down that road
35:14to get her children help this man said
35:16that he pulled up behind Christy's red
35:18Nissan Pulsar at 10:15 and he remembered
35:21it so vividly because her car was going
35:23so slow that it wouldn't even register
35:26on his speedometer so they were going 5
35:29to 6 mil hour down this back Country
35:32Road he said that he followed her car
35:34for about 2 minutes before turning off
35:36in a different direction and that entire
35:38time he heard no screams for help Diane
35:41didn't yell that her kids had been shot
35:43she wasn't in a hurry at all so despite
35:46her claims that she was driving fast
35:48this witness and the coagulated blood
35:50and the missing time were all starting
35:52to make sense it seemed like Diane was
35:55waiting for all of her kids to die or at
35:57least get close enough to death to make
35:59it look like she had brought them in for
36:01help look like she had done the right
36:03thing but knowing that it was already
36:05too late they weren't going to survive
36:07it seemed like she hadn't accounted for
36:09christe literally dying coming back to
36:12life having a stroke losing her voice
36:14and then working so hard to regain it
36:16and so some of her behavior when christe
36:19ended up being okay again kind of made
36:21authorities feel like she was trying to
36:23do things to keep christe quiet the
36:25first time when she was able to see her
36:27children she didn't go to Dany first she
36:29went immediately to christe she grabbed
36:32Christy's hand and stared into her eyes
36:34was she trying to convey some sort of
36:37threat is that why Christy's heart rate
36:39absolutely skyrocketed when her mom
36:41walked in in her own interviews Diane
36:44said that Christy would be the only one
36:46able to save her but this was when it
36:48was not guaranteed she was ever going to
36:50talk again they didn't know if she would
36:52ever be able to speak and say what had
36:54happened again it seemed like her
36:56planting a seed so when future
36:57information came out everyone else were
37:00the ones that sounded crazy this also
37:02explained why she didn't want that
37:03amazing woman there comforting her
37:06children why she didn't want security
37:07Personnel therapists detectives anyone
37:10that was talking to her children
37:11presented an opportunity for Christy to
37:13say what had actually happened and that
37:15enraged her enough to make her want to
37:17literally take her children relying on
37:19hospital equipment away from the
37:21hospital it also made them even more
37:23upset about something that had actually
37:24happened in secret Diane had
37:28somehow when this investigation was
37:30ongoing tricked Steve into allowing her
37:32to see their kids her custody had been
37:35taken and that was like the first blow
37:37and when her behavior continued to be
37:39threatening they took away her
37:41visitation rights as well and but Steve
37:43on the other hand he was able to see the
37:45kids and eventually was granted the
37:47ability to take them from the foster
37:49home and spend time with them outside
37:52and so she played on his heartstrings
37:54and he let christe leave with Dian
37:58alone why just Christie why not Christy
38:01and Danny so again that same question
38:03Steve said he didn't feel threatened at
38:05all initially that he still didn't
38:06believe Diane would do anything to her
38:08kids but when Diane failed to bring
38:10Christie back at the promised time
38:13something in him said hey these people
38:15might not be joking she may have done
38:17something and he was about to call the
38:19police like about ready to send himself
38:21to jail for violating an order but in
38:24that same moment Diane pulled into the
38:26parking lot Chris was finally returned
38:29and she didn't say a word no one did and
38:31so those that cared for her the doctors
38:33her foster parents couldn't understand
38:35why all of a sudden she seemed to
38:37regress so into her previous state where
38:40she didn't want to talk she didn't want
38:42to be open she was extremely withdrawn
38:44did she just want to take christe to
38:47again tell her not to tell anyone what
38:50really happened and the most Twisted
38:52part of the story that again gives you
38:54some insight into Diane's mind after she
38:56convinced Steve to to letting her see
38:58her kids Steve decided he wanted to try
39:00to gain full custody of the children and
39:03this infuriated her so in retaliation
39:06which I said earlier is a pattern for
39:07her she decided to come up with this
39:10convoluted method of letting authorities
39:13find out what Steve had done and letting
39:16her see the kids and this was not the
39:18first time she had done something like
39:19this I think when Steve told authorities
39:22that she had a 22 Ruger in retaliation
39:24she called Arizona police and let them
39:27in on an arson he was involved in it was
39:29actually the arson of her trailer it was
39:31something that she planned but she was
39:33so mad she called the police and pinned
39:35him for it and so this was absolutely no
39:39different and she legitimately admits to
39:41doing this in interviews she ended up
39:43writing a letter to Nick and she said
39:46that he had been ignoring her letters
39:48which we all already know and so she
39:50knew she had to get his attention some
39:52way so she started to call the Post
39:54Office obsessively pretending to be in a
39:57panic about the letter she sent him
39:58insisting them that they warn him not to
40:01open it at any cost naturally he opened
40:04it and inside she revealed her secret
40:07meeting with Christie and Nick horrified
40:11gave all of that information to the
40:13police and guess who was the one who got
40:15in trouble for that Diane is such a
40:18diabolical woman but all of these things
40:20were kind of just clicking into place
40:22like a perfectly fit puzzle piece of why
40:25Diane was doing the thing she did why
40:26she was acting the way she was why she
40:28was hyperfocused on Christie because
40:30christe had seen what actually happened
40:33and christe bravely shared her story
40:36during all of those months when they
40:38were hearing all this information from
40:39chrisy there was also a grand jury that
40:42was occurring in regard to Diane and
40:44what happened to her children and so one
40:47by one every single person that was in
40:50Diane's life was summoned to speak to
40:52the grand jury the testimony is secret
40:55which we all know but it essenti was
40:57filled with all of the things that
40:58authorities had already found from all
41:00of the people who went to testify her
41:02own sister had even told authorities
41:05that her initial thought when hearing
41:06that the kids had been shot and Diane
41:08was shot she believed that Diane was
41:10responsible and she stuck by that I
41:12don't know if she still does I'm not
41:14going to speak for her but at one point
41:15she immediately thought Diane did this
41:17to her children and with all of that
41:19they decided that it was time to make an
41:22arrest and on February 28th 1984 Diane
41:26DS was arrested on on her way to work
41:29and they said that it was so obvious she
41:31knew it was coming she just kind of
41:33smirked at authorities and went about
41:36her way Diane was charged with one count
41:38of murder and two counts of attempted
41:40murder against her own children and
41:42there were I believe a few other counts
41:44of aggravated assault however Diane had
41:47another trick up her sleeve Diane's
41:49trial just like the entire investigation
41:51so far was highly publicized it was
41:54expected to last for quite a few weeks
41:56and there were two very distinct camps
41:58foring there were the hardcore
41:59supporters of Diane and those who wanted
42:01her imprisoned as soon as possible so
42:03everyone was sitting and waiting on pins
42:05and needles to see you know how Diane
42:07was going to be when she came into the
42:09hearing everyone was so aware of how she
42:12portrayed herself because she was on the
42:14news so often that they were just
42:16interested to see like how the change
42:18was going to be when she got there but
42:20she brought something even more
42:21surprising she showed up to her trial
42:23pregnant what which I guess technically
42:25is probably not all that surprising when
42:27she was in her downward spiral when
42:30people were starting to question her
42:32involvement people in town were no
42:34longer really talking to her none of the
42:37men in town showed any interest in her
42:39she got that itch again she needed that
42:42happiness to fill that void that just
42:44never ever went away and so she very
42:48specifically targeted a man on her
42:51postal route just as she always had she
42:54showed up with that whiskey she showed
42:56up with some weed and she was ready for
42:58a good time this man was very hesitant
43:02according to interviews that he did for
43:04the book by Anne rule um he didn't want
43:08people to think weird things because he
43:09was with Diane DS who half the
43:11population believed had shot her
43:13children but he also couldn't help but
43:15kind of give to the way that Diane
43:17seduced men and so they started having
43:20this risky fling that turned into the
43:22exact same game that Diane had played
43:24with Nick he didn't expect it to be more
43:26than a a one-time thing but Diane would
43:29not stop she showed up at his house
43:31Uninvited and unexpectedly she knew
43:33where he worked she knew his favorite
43:35places to hang out there was no escaping
43:37Diane every moment that he thought she
43:39finally was gone she would all of a
43:41sudden literally be at his doorstep with
43:43food welcoming herself inside the house
43:45that was Diane's way of getting what she
43:47wanted was by never even giving you a
43:49chance to say no to begin with and then
43:51one night she wrote in her diary that
43:53she had an idea I got pregnant because I
43:57miss chrisy and I miss Danny and I miss
43:59Cheryl so much I'm never going to see
44:00Cheryl on Earth again and I just you
44:05can't replace children but you can
44:07replace the effect that they give you
44:09and they give me love they give me
44:11satisfaction they give me stability they
44:12give me a reason to live and a reason to
44:14be happy and and that's gone they took
44:17it from me but children are so easy to
44:21conceive obviously everyone is curious
44:23who the father is and I know you
44:25probably don't want to talk about that
44:26does the father know who he is oh yeah
44:29yeah and that's why I won't talk about
44:30it because he feels as privately about
44:32this child as I do what would you do
44:35given this current situation if they
44:37said they took if they took away your
44:39kids and then they went one step further
44:41and said we think you're an unfit mother
44:43we're going to take away this one I
44:45don't know how they're going to do it
44:47what if the I I'd like to see them try
44:49to take this baby from me
44:51and how how could they do it they're
44:54going to have to wait a long time to do
44:56it hopefully this thing will be cleared
44:58up by then my children are my children
45:01always have been and having children is
45:03I think being a mother is the most
45:06wonderful job that that any woman could
45:09perform because it's like I said it's
45:12it's not a a full replacement you can
45:13never replace a child I tried to do that
45:16with Dany Dany was a replacement for a
45:18child that I had aborted many many years
45:21ago when I was quite young and foolish
45:22and and I found at that time when when
45:25Danny was born that he is a person in
45:27himself you you cannot replace a child
45:29with a child they are individuals and
45:31this child is not to replace Sher never
45:33Cheryl's always going to be with me how
45:35could I replace her she's still here but
45:38it's somebody to keep me company until
45:40Chris and Dan come home half the things
45:43that came out of Diane Down's mouth I
45:45don't think I would ever have the balls
45:47to say in the entirety of my life okay
45:49but her statements do nothing but show
45:52you everything you need to know about
45:54her and about how she feels in
45:56motherhood children are there for her
45:58and nothing more they exist to provide
46:01her with satisfaction to fulfill her
46:04needs to make her not feel alone Diane
46:06only knew how to take from people she
46:09never learned how to give her children's
46:11lives revolved around ensuring their
46:14mother's happiness or else their lives
46:16were a living hell or she just made a
46:19new baby to start all over again to many
46:22this was a clear manipulation tactic
46:24showing up to her trial where she's
46:27accused of murdering um and attempting
46:28to murder her children pregnant she knew
46:31that it was going to elicit sympathy
46:32from jurors similar to how she had
46:34previously used her pregnancies to kind
46:36of gain attention and support and at
46:38this time obviously crimes did occur but
46:41it was a very different landscape and
46:44you didn't see mothers killing their
46:46children as often as you see it now and
46:48so people really could not grasp that
46:51this was even a possibility now this
46:53trial was significant they did not allow
46:55any recordings there were people lined
46:58up for a chance to get inside the
47:01defense spent the entirety of their
47:03argument pretty much grasping at any
47:05holes they could find in the case and
47:07they were trying their hardest to
47:09portray Diane as a woman who had lived a
47:11life full of trauma of abuse and neglect
47:15I guess to kind of explain why she was
47:18the way she was and how you couldn't
47:20kind of compare her and her reactions
47:22and all these things people were
47:24nitpicking her on because of what she
47:26had been through through and the stories
47:27she shared were absolutely horrific but
47:30unfortunately they also kind of
47:32reflected Diane's tendency to twist the
47:34truth and so with Diane there's really
47:36no telling what is real and what isn't
47:39I've seen that she allegedly recanted
47:41her claims at some point against her
47:43father but even that story bounces back
47:46and forth and I'm not here to judge what
47:48did or didn't happen I obviously cannot
47:50say how her life unfolded but even if
47:53all of her claims about her life were
47:55true she still committed the actions
47:58that she did against her children and no
48:00matter how much they tried to say that
48:02Diane was a great mother and you know
48:05say that was history her you know she
48:07knew all the things not to do as a
48:09mother there was just overwhelming
48:11information from people that had been
48:14surrounding her knowing her personally
48:16or just witnessing it as a neighbor that
48:18said that that was not at all the case
48:21and so obviously people are probably
48:24going to believe that Diane is not
48:25telling the truth the defense also tried
48:27to argue that the whole situation was
48:30just a plot against her that this was
48:32some giant scheme to pin her for the
48:35murder and the attempted murder of her
48:37children this was actually something
48:38Diane had suggested several times
48:40throughout several different scenarios
48:43the entirety of the investigation she
48:45had already told the media that she felt
48:47that she was being framed and sometimes
48:50it was by whoever committed the crime
48:52sometimes it was by the government
48:53sometimes it was by you know the
48:55specific Sheriff's apartment and she'
48:58also mentioned it in her final interview
48:59with the police that big Hardball
49:01interview that she had she told them
49:04that these men grabbed her arm and shot
49:06it and then said good luck trying to get
49:08away with it now I guess implying that
49:10they wanted to frame her and that was
49:13their way of doing it and honestly I
49:14feel like this is one of the most
49:16obvious moments where she's just
49:17absolutely full of crap because it was
49:20already kind of unbelievable to
49:22authorities and others looking from the
49:24outside in that her children would be
49:26shot so horrifically and she would only
49:28be shot in the arm but now she's trying
49:31to get people to believe that these
49:33attackers were like you know what we're
49:34going to do to frame her for this crime
49:36we're going to shoot her in her forearm
49:38like it's just like each time her
49:40scenarios just get more and more hard to
49:42believe and ridiculous and I don't even
49:44think she realized it at this point and
49:46then along the same lines that this was
49:47just a big setup her defense argued that
49:49the ballistics everything that had been
49:51found in her home was planted by
49:54authorities and that makes little sense
49:57to me because they didn't even have the
49:59murder weapon that would be suggesting
50:01that the officers that went to her home
50:04within like a couple hours of the crime
50:06somehow planted ballistics there that uh
50:10matched a gun they still have yet to
50:12find like how how would that have
50:13happened you know I mean the amount of
50:15effort that would go into planting that
50:18and somehow recreating the grooves from
50:21those unfired rounds to perfectly match
50:24the ones from the scene I mean really
50:25sit and think about for a minute why
50:27would they go to this much effort to try
50:29to frame Diane a woman they don't even
50:32know like I just am not understanding it
50:35and they even claimed that christe's
50:37confession was coercion all of the times
50:40where Diane said she was trying to get
50:42the therapist away and all these things
50:44was because she believed her children
50:47were being brainwashed she was saying it
50:49wasn't because she had anything to hide
50:51and that she didn't want christe to talk
50:53it was because they were telling her
50:55that she needed needed to blame this on
50:58her mom the defense attorney went on to
51:00single out and intimidate the detectives
51:03questioning their ethics and protocols
51:06after Decades of what was exemplary work
51:08from what I can see anywhere there was a
51:10weak spot he obviously went for it he
51:13also pointed out how there was no
51:14gunshot residue on Diane's hands and he
51:17also pointed out that Diane was not
51:20covered in her children's blood like
51:22there I guess was no blood evidence
51:24found on Diane however I not really seen
51:27anything about blood evidence mentioned
51:28anywhere I didn't see it in the 2020
51:30episode or in the book um I can't find
51:33it on Diane Down's own website which
51:35they have a lot of the you know testing
51:37forensic testing and information up
51:39there and so I don't know about that but
51:41I digress he also argued that the blood
51:44found outside of the car came from
51:46pulling Cheryl out at the hospital or
51:49from the doctors and nurses stepping and
51:51pulled blood outside of the car and the
51:53chaos of it all and so I mean he did
51:55bring forward a handful of of good
51:56points that I would have questions about
51:58too and then he tried to dissect the
52:01timeline and it just became that much
52:03more unbelievable like I already didn't
52:05believe what she was saying happened
52:07that night because who goes sightseeing
52:08in the dark in the middle of the country
52:11um but he added even more unbelievable
52:13elements to what she did trying to
52:15account for some of the time saying that
52:16she pulled over again in the dark on the
52:19side of the road only a few minutes from
52:20home like 5 minutes from home to balance
52:23her checkbook like no one does that like
52:26that is such a a load of absolute crap
52:28and like everyone knows it everyone
52:30knows that that's absolute crap and then
52:31he proceeded to add minutes here and
52:35there trying to make up for those 25
52:37missing minutes that were unaccounted
52:39for like he was adding a few minutes
52:41here to when you know Witnesses saw her
52:43arrive at Heathers so she actually
52:44arrived later than she said and then she
52:46left later than she said and then she
52:48arrived to the hospital earlier than she
52:50said I mean there was not a single shred
52:54of evidence to support any of what he
52:56was suggesting he literally was just
52:58hoping to sprinkle in minutes here and
53:00there hoping it would close the gaps in
53:01the timeline and convince the jury and
53:04then Diane herself took the stand Diane
53:07spoke endlessly about how challenging
53:09her life had been pretty much repeating
53:11the same things that she had already
53:12told everyone in far more detail she
53:15spoke about how men had harmed her um
53:17all of the horrible things that had
53:18happened to her she talked about how
53:20happy having children made her that she
53:23would never dream about harming them
53:26that they were the best thing that
53:27happened in her life and if they weren't
53:30she wouldn't have repeatedly had
53:32children she also claimed that she
53:34didn't love Nick I mean she was really
53:36trying to step in and say this whole
53:38idea that Nick not wanting children was
53:41the motive for this crime she was trying
53:43to put a stop to it she said that this
53:45affair with him was blown out of
53:46proportion it wasn't anywhere near as
53:48serious enough for her to ever consider
53:51killing her children for him she went on
53:53to say that her other Affairs proved
53:55that that you know there was no special
53:58connection to him yet during
54:00cross-examination she couldn't help but
54:03contradict herself Fred hugi would
54:05repeatedly flaunt in front of her the
54:08fact that Steve had told him over and
54:11over again he never wanted to be with
54:12Diane and you could just see it like
54:15bring this reaction out of her she got
54:17so angry she was jealous she was
54:20speaking poorly of his wife like the
54:22moment Fred hugi introduced back to her
54:25all the things things that had enraged
54:27her before she couldn't help but become
54:29enraged again but pretty quickly she
54:30would like roll herself back in and keep
54:33on moving and then obviously there was
54:35no way to get around her own handwritten
54:38diaries that made it clear exactly how
54:41she really felt for Nick and there is no
54:43way for her to say that these Diaries
54:44are a facade that they were you know
54:46fictional she had said in several
54:49interviews that these Diaries were so
54:51important to her it was her way of you
54:53know coping with her life and figuring
54:55out her emot ions and that she never
54:57ever thought it would be public
54:59information so obviously this was the
55:02truth behind Diane but the prosecution
55:04stepped in and they really started to
55:06present an overwhelming amount of
55:08evidence they showcased a near-perfect
55:10replica of the car they used the dolls
55:13to represent the children I mean they
55:15examined the trajectory of the bullets
55:17additionally they presented a side
55:19by-side comparison of the bullets
55:21comparing the ones from the car from the
55:24crime to the ones found in the to rifle
55:27and the alignment was so precise that
55:30you couldn't even tell where one image
55:32ended and the other began several tests
55:35were conducted as well using blood in an
55:38attempt to replicate the spatter that
55:40was discovered on the outside of the
55:41passenger side of the car and this was
55:43something that Diane's attorney had
55:45heavily argued that this was easily put
55:48there by pulling Cheryl and christe's
55:50body out of the car but despite their
55:52efforts that included stomping in the
55:53blood and dragging bodies out of the
55:55vehicle like the whole nine yards none
55:57of these methods ever produced the same
56:00pattern the only result that matched was
56:03from High Velocity spatter I feel like
56:05looking at the photographs it's obvious
56:07to tell that none of them got there from
56:09anyone being picked up and taken out of
56:11the car because that portion of the car
56:13goes in at an angle and so anything that
56:17fell from above is not going to drip on
56:19it but if something splashed Up From
56:21Below absolutely so again High Velocity
56:25backspatter it was from Cheryl being
56:27shot in the back they had also done
56:29tests on GSR staying on someone's hands
56:32and they were not ever able to make any
56:35conclusive result GSR can already be
56:37very unreliable because you can get
56:39false positives you can get false
56:41negatives and things like touching
56:43different objects even like your
56:45clothing or a door handle depending on
56:47how much is on your hand can give you a
56:49negative result even if you just held a
56:51gun and so there was no real way to
56:54definitively use that test test result
56:56to say if Diane had held the gun or not
57:00it didn't support either way they also
57:03presented the towel that had been found
57:04wrapped around Diane's arm and she
57:07seemed to really focus in on this towel
57:10and I don't know why she did it in all
57:11of her interviews and I kept thinking
57:13even before I got this information I'm
57:14like she's hyper fixating again like
57:16there's something about this towel that
57:18she doesn't want people to know because
57:20she kept saying I don't even know how
57:21the towel got on my arm and for months
57:23after the towel had been collected they
57:25struggled to decipher the strange
57:28pattern of Blood on the towel but Fred
57:30hugi had finally cracked the code he
57:32presented to the jury fold after precise
57:35fold aligning all of the blood stains
57:38until the towel was transformed into a
57:40perfectly folded triangle Diane's claim
57:43that she just grabbed this towel
57:45haphazardly during the drive and it got
57:47on her arm already had been questionable
57:50given the lack of blood all around the
57:52driver's seat but now that they have
57:53found how this towel was folded this
57:56seemed to suggest that she had it
57:58pre-folded ready to stop her arm from
58:00bleeding immediately additionally there
58:02was a witness who spoke to Cheryl just
58:04days before the shooting a neighbor
58:06living near willine and West had spoken
58:08to Cheryl about details of her life she
58:11just came like walking up to the house
58:12and wanted to talk to someone and she
58:14revealed to this woman that her parents
58:16were divorced and she admitted that her
58:18mom scared her she went on to tell this
58:21woman a story that happened the night
58:23before which was the 13th the same day
58:25the golden unicorn was dated to um and
58:28the same day authorities believed she
58:30initially planned to kill her children
58:33Cheryl proceeded to tell this woman that
58:34her mother took them to the park at
58:36night which we already knew from the
58:38Diaries but she said that her mom was
58:40acting strange and then suddenly jumped
58:42out at her from behind a tree like she
58:44had been hiding from her and it scared
58:46the crap out of Cheryl and so the
58:47neighbor tried to reassure Cheryl that
58:50they were probably just playing
58:51hideand-seek but Cheryl's face suggested
58:54otherwise Cheryl seemed to know
58:57something was wrong and the neighbor
58:58regretted not speaking up about their
59:01conversation the prosecution also
59:03brought forward a psychiatrist that
59:05testified diagnosing Diane with
59:07narcissism and histrionic personality
59:10disorder as well as antisocial
59:12personality disorder and I'm I was
59:15particularly interested in the
59:17histrionic personality disorder because
59:19I had never in my whole entire life
59:21heard of that before but when I look it
59:23up immediately the NIH says quote it's a
59:26chronic enduring psychiatric condition
59:29characterized by a consistent pattern of
59:31pervasive attention-seeking behaviors
59:33and exaggerated emotional displays it
59:36goes on to further say that a person
59:38with histrionic personality disorder
59:40seeks attention talks dramatically with
59:42strong opinions is easily influenced has
59:45rapidly changing emotions and thinks
59:47relationships are closer than they are
59:50and because it's a personality disorder
59:52there is no like treatment that cures it
59:55you can just just you know work on
59:58managing it and so many people believe
1:00:00that she was just wrongfully diagnosed
1:00:02through all the psych evaluations and
1:00:03that she just has an abrasive
1:00:05personality and that made it seem like
1:00:08she was guilty of harming her kids that
1:00:10she just doesn't cry and that doesn't
1:00:12mean she did anything wrong which I can
1:00:14get that sentiment but also when you
1:00:16look at every single detail several
1:00:19things that she did throughout her life
1:00:22several several things all showed that
1:00:24she had a huge huge tendency and pattern
1:00:27of prioritizing her relationship with
1:00:29others particularly men ahead of her
1:00:31children she wanted to be the center of
1:00:33attention she made it abundantly clear
1:00:36who she prioritized and that was herself
1:00:39it was what she wanted what she thought
1:00:40would benefit her the most and then
1:00:42finally the prosecution brought Christy
1:00:45to the stand it was an incredibly it was
1:00:47a very difficult moment her foster
1:00:50family was there they brought one of her
1:00:53foster siblings that she had really
1:00:55closely formed a relationship with to
1:00:57try to help her feel comfortable but
1:00:59there was not a dry eye throughout the
1:01:01entire courtroom it was so difficult to
1:01:05hear this little girl sitting on the
1:01:07stand talking about the time where she
1:01:09was shot how she watched her siblings
1:01:12get shot and then ultimately say that it
1:01:15was her mom it was her mom that shot
1:01:17them all in June of 1984 Diane was found
1:01:21guilty on all charges and when she left
1:01:25the courtroom N9 months pregnant she had
1:01:27a smirk on her face and reporters asked
1:01:30her you know how do you feel and she
1:01:32just kind of smiled and replied what is
1:01:35there to say after her conviction she
1:01:37gave birth to a baby girl who she tried
1:01:40to name after herself her full name is
1:01:42Elizabeth Diane DS she named her baby
1:01:44Amy Elizabeth but after a few hours of
1:01:46holding her baby that child was whisked
1:01:48away to adoptive parents who renamed her
1:01:50Rebecca and Diane was taken right back
1:01:53to jail she went on to go to her
1:01:56sentencing and she received life in
1:01:58prison for the murder of Cheryl plus 50
1:02:01years for the attempted murder of
1:02:02christe and Dany she showed not a single
1:02:05ounce of emotion yet again from that
1:02:07point on Christy and Dany continued to
1:02:10live with their foster parents and
1:02:12everyone who had been in their lives
1:02:13before seemed to be gone and it's really
1:02:17hard to tell if that was a choice made
1:02:20by the foster parents or by the courts
1:02:23or how exactly it worked I know that
1:02:25there grandparents Wes and willine did
1:02:27try to send things to them tried to
1:02:29reach out tried to be in their life um
1:02:31but all of those things were denied the
1:02:33foster parents sent everything back to
1:02:35them and also a lot of it might have to
1:02:37do with the fact that Diane's family at
1:02:39this point strongly started to fight for
1:02:41her release and pushed that she was
1:02:44innocent there have been doubts from a
1:02:45few family members and I know that at
1:02:47least her dad at this point claimed that
1:02:50he no longer believed that she could
1:02:52have anything to do with it and he
1:02:53wanted to get his daughter released
1:02:55Danny as I said was paralyzed from the
1:02:58chest down and he learned to navigate
1:03:00life in a wheelchair meanwhile Christy
1:03:02with a heart of gold stuck by his side
1:03:05cared for him and loved him helping him
1:03:07begin to heal but she also kind of like
1:03:10reemed how to be a kid Christy realized
1:03:13it was okay to play to have fun and to
1:03:15love and she understood at that point
1:03:17that pain and torture didn't have to be
1:03:20and wasn't a normal or regular part of
1:03:23life and that people who love you do not
1:03:25treat you the way that she had been
1:03:27treated and in the end Fred hugi the
1:03:29prosecutor and his wife ended up
1:03:31adopting Dany and Christie which a lot
1:03:35of people who are in support of Diane
1:03:38think was a strategic move but given
1:03:40Fred's involvement from the first moment
1:03:43he saw those kids on and it can be
1:03:45vouched for by several people this was a
1:03:47hard man this was a man that realized he
1:03:50could never have kids he loved his job
1:03:52too much he stood in front of those kids
1:03:54for the first time and died and so I
1:03:57feel like he just had this connection
1:03:59with them and he had made that promise
1:04:00to protect them and he fully intended on
1:04:03keeping it but unfortunately Diane was
1:04:05like a splinter that no one could
1:04:07extract a few years had passed and
1:04:09everyone was trying to find a new normal
1:04:11when she escaped from prison on July
1:04:1411th 1987 a Saturday Diane typically
1:04:17spent her morning sleeping and instead
1:04:20she was awake and waiting for the
1:04:22recreation yard to open at 8:30 a.m. and
1:04:24what they didn't know was that she had
1:04:26put on several layers of clothing
1:04:27several bras pants underwear shirts to
1:04:31help her scale the 18t Raisor wire fence
1:04:35there were actually two fences an
1:04:37interior one and an exterior one and the
1:04:40first one had a really nasty habit of
1:04:42being overly sensitive so it was setting
1:04:44off alarms from even a gust of wind and
1:04:46unfortunately that meant that 99% of the
1:04:49time it was just turned off and chocked
1:04:51up to being nothing no one actually
1:04:53became concerned when it went off and so
1:04:56Diane was aware of this she knew that
1:04:57pattern she watched the pattern of the
1:04:59guards she learned everyone's routine
1:05:01and by 8:40 a.m. she was gone the alarm
1:05:04did in fact go off when she made it over
1:05:06the first fence but that lack of urgency
1:05:08again worked in her favor so I believe
1:05:10two staff at the prison kind of like
1:05:13just looked out peaked out of a door
1:05:14didn't see anything so they turned it
1:05:16off for the next 20 minutes no one had
1:05:18any idea that Diane was gone except for
1:05:20two inmates that were friends of hers
1:05:22that watched her scale this wall and
1:05:24then finally at around 9 a.m. a nurse
1:05:26pulled into the parking lot and noticed
1:05:28there was someone lying underneath a
1:05:30truck and obviously when you work at a
1:05:31prison you probably want to pay
1:05:33attention to that so she watched as this
1:05:35person then crawled out left behind some
1:05:38clothing and headed off into the woods
1:05:40immediately she ran inside and said
1:05:42Diane DS just escaped sure enough their
1:05:45check of the entire prison couldn't find
1:05:48Diane anywhere and the shirt that was
1:05:50left behind was actually a shirt that
1:05:52she had worn in one of her most infamous
1:05:54interviews officers began searching the
1:05:56surrounding area known as felony Flats
1:05:59which had halfway houses inmates on
1:06:01parole and families with loved ones in
1:06:04prison and so they were really concerned
1:06:06that these people are probably going to
1:06:08be more likely to cover for an escapee
1:06:11than the average person and so they
1:06:13weren't sure they were going to find her
1:06:15so they started going house to house
1:06:17they were doing all these searches and
1:06:18all of a sudden A call came in a family
1:06:20reported that they had picked up someone
1:06:23they believed was Diane DS but they were
1:06:25real confused because they thought she
1:06:27was in prison this family said they were
1:06:28returning from a camping trip when a
1:06:31distressed woman jumped in front of
1:06:32their car and the irony of this by the
1:06:34way is not lost on me she didn't give
1:06:37them a chance to say anything which is
1:06:39her typical Mo instead she just got into
1:06:42their car she began to ramble about a
1:06:44boyfriend of hers who was hurt and she
1:06:46kept giving off random locations in the
1:06:48area for them to drop her off at and so
1:06:50ultimately they dropped her off at 24th
1:06:52and state which is just blocks away from
1:06:55the prison
1:06:56but they never saw a man she just kind
1:06:57of ran off alone they realized that she
1:07:00looked familiar and they were thinking
1:07:01it could be Diane but they couldn't be
1:07:03sure so once they got home and flipped
1:07:05through I think a magazine that had
1:07:07photos of her in it and interviews they
1:07:09knew for a fact it was her who they had
1:07:11held for the next 10 days it was all
1:07:13hands on deck the surrogate parents
1:07:16adoptive parents Fred hugi Steve Nick
1:07:18all of them had to be warned that Diane
1:07:21was out and had reason to come after
1:07:23each one of them because just days
1:07:25before her release she had given an
1:07:27interview and she said that the first
1:07:28thing she was doing when she was
1:07:30released from prison was showing up on
1:07:32Fred hui's doorstep Rebecca her youngest
1:07:35child that had been adopted when she was
1:07:38being sentenced had so far been living a
1:07:41life of anonymity she was in preschool
1:07:43and her family had done everything they
1:07:45could to protect her from the realities
1:07:47of how she was born all of the details
1:07:50but now they were in a position where
1:07:52they had to let people know who she was
1:07:54so that others could protect her as well
1:07:56a choice that should never be forced on
1:07:59them Fred hugi upon hearing this
1:08:00information grabbed his rifle grabbed
1:08:02his chair and posted up at the front
1:08:04door of his home ready to protect
1:08:05Christy and Dany at any cost he
1:08:07literally refused to sleep night after
1:08:10night he sat in that chair just in case
1:08:12Diane showed up recognize it to be a
1:08:14Shir belonging to Diane DS convicted
1:08:18murderer Diane DS left behind her ripped
1:08:20blouse evidence of her struggle to break
1:08:22out of the maximum security facility
1:08:25prison officials say D's walked into the
1:08:26unsupervised prison Recreation yard
1:08:28early this morning apparently she scaled
1:08:31this 18t fence maneuvered her way over
1:08:33the rolls of Razor ribbon and jump to
1:08:35Freedom bounds ran along the prison
1:08:37Gates and hid under this truck moments
1:08:39later a prison nurse arriving to work
1:08:41spotted downs and reported it to prison
1:08:43officials Salem Maran County and state
1:08:45police officers joined forces combing
1:08:47the downtown area for Downs State Police
1:08:50dispatched Air Patrol as well officers
1:08:52say the Escape was not well planned and
1:08:54downs could be headed to to a number of
1:08:55locations they're currently checking
1:08:57prison visiting lists and patrolling the
1:08:59areas where most of her friends live
1:09:01officers are also stationed near the
1:09:02home of her two children who were
1:09:04adopted last year by Lan County district
1:09:06attorney police say DS is considered to
1:09:08be dangerous I certainly would advise
1:09:12anyone in the area that she would have
1:09:13to consider her dangerous because uh
1:09:16it's pretty common knowledge that she is
1:09:17serving time for murder and attempted
1:09:20murder authorities were worried that she
1:09:22might try to leave the area altogether
1:09:24if she didn't go to all these places
1:09:25she'd been practicing Spanish maybe she
1:09:27was going to Mexico or maybe she went to
1:09:29the Canadian border and headed that way
1:09:31and then they found her in the craziest
1:09:33way investigators decided to go to her
1:09:36room uh to see if there were any clues
1:09:38there and they discovered there was a
1:09:39notepad and it was very obvious on the
1:09:41notepad that something had been written
1:09:43on the top paper and then that paper was
1:09:45torn off and indentations from whatever
1:09:47was written were still visible on the
1:09:49paper below and so they took this and
1:09:51used special forensics to redraw those
1:09:54markings and it revealed a map there was
1:09:56the prison on the map and then a
1:09:58straight line to State Street which is
1:10:00legitimately exactly where she had
1:10:02pretty much been dropped off and even
1:10:04better there was an address and you're
1:10:07never going to believe where she was at
1:10:09she was just blocks away that entire
1:10:12time at the home of another inmate's
1:10:16husband named Wayne I mean how more on
1:10:18brand could she get she really couldn't
1:10:20she really couldn't unless she got
1:10:21pregnant when authorities arrived she
1:10:23was very triumphantly and very proud of
1:10:25her self escorted back to the prison
1:10:27wearing Wayne's boxers and shirt and the
1:10:29media was everywhere she loved it she
1:10:32was smiling she was having the time of
1:10:34her life Diana shown up at Wayne's home
1:10:36the day she escaped naked and in need of
1:10:38a place to stay which he apparently
1:10:40thought was just great okay they spent
1:10:42the next 11 days falling in love with
1:10:44each other meanwhile Wayne's wife was
1:10:47devastated okay she's watching her
1:10:49husband confess his love for Diane on
1:10:51the news Diane was literally a friend of
1:10:53hers in prison I think they had even
1:10:54been Ates at one point and Diane was
1:10:57flaunting this new relationship as well
1:10:59I mean they were talking about getting
1:11:00married this was like some love story
1:11:02fairy tale for them and so she was so
1:11:05mad that she decided to come forward to
1:11:07tell authorities what really happened
1:11:09Wayne's wife apparently had been talking
1:11:11about her marriage and how she felt it
1:11:12was failing and so of course Diane perks
1:11:15up because that's like her favorite
1:11:17topic is other women's husbands and so
1:11:19after feeling sorry for this woman for a
1:11:21while she started to say that she needed
1:11:23someone to connect her with a place to
1:11:26stay outside of prison after she
1:11:28attempted her inevitable escape and so
1:11:31Diane offered this woman a split of
1:11:34$33,000 and a promise not to sleep with
1:11:36her husband if she could convince him to
1:11:39house her and she's like oh yeah I'll
1:11:40tell him all these great things about
1:11:42you whatever it was a done deal instead
1:11:45Diane showed up naked for no reason and
1:11:48seduced This Woman's husband and then
1:11:49spent the next 11 days having some weird
1:11:52I don't know I'm not going to get into
1:11:53the details what an absolute freaking
1:11:56nightmare Diane ended up claiming that
1:11:57she had not escaped to reach her kids
1:12:00which had been everyone's fear she
1:12:02actually was planning on going to find
1:12:04the real killer that she claimed was in
1:12:06California she said that she had revenge
1:12:09on her mind at the time and that was the
1:12:11plan but I guess you know seducing a man
1:12:14and falling in love with him is a lot
1:12:16more fun so in those 11 days I guess
1:12:19Wayne decided he loved her enough to pay
1:12:21for two private investigators to find
1:12:23this person that she claimed shot her
1:12:25kids and he went on to like profess his
1:12:28love for her all over the media saying
1:12:30that she was the most honest person he
1:12:32had ever met oh boy she came over and
1:12:35said that she just got out of prison and
1:12:38jym let her in and I said fine I was
1:12:42asleep woke up asked for me which is
1:12:46kind of
1:12:47strange I said she can stay she just got
1:12:50out of prison she can you know spend a
1:12:52couple nights I thought she was the most
1:12:53honest girl I'd ever talked to in my
1:12:55life doesn't that sound weird maybe not
1:12:58we downstairs I don't know she was
1:13:00pulling the the roll over my
1:13:02eyes it was a good track as you can
1:13:05imagine their love did not last long as
1:13:07it was purely transactional and Diane
1:13:10received an additional 5 years added to
1:13:12her sentence for her escape and this man
1:13:14talked on the 2020 episode and to this
1:13:16day he's like oh yeah that was fun I
1:13:18didn't give her up because I didn't want
1:13:19to we had the time of our lives and he
1:13:21still seems to believe she's the most
1:13:23honest person ever so I think he may be
1:13:26the only person legitimately in the
1:13:27world that feels that way but knowing
1:13:29how serious this situation could have
1:13:31been Fred hugi petitioned to have Diane
1:13:33moved because if she had escaped once
1:13:35she could probably do it again and
1:13:37nothing was stopping her from going the
1:13:3966 miles to his house to come and get
1:13:41her children and so to her dismay She
1:13:43was transferred to Clinton correctional
1:13:45facility for women in New Jersey and she
1:13:49didn't escape again she has bounced
1:13:51around I do believe she's in California
1:13:53now but throughout her time in prison
1:13:55she was in and out of relationships that
1:13:57she swore would end in marriage I mean
1:13:59that was still her like top priority was
1:14:00being with men most of the time these
1:14:03relationships were with other inmates
1:14:05who had charges ranging from murder to
1:14:08sa she even came close to marrying the
1:14:11I5 killer at one point or at least she
1:14:13assumed that it was her he was talking
1:14:15about when he announced that he was
1:14:17getting married she also pursued an
1:14:19education I do believe she earned a
1:14:21diploma of some kind but she spent most
1:14:24of her time trying to get out not
1:14:27escaping but the right way like going
1:14:29through the appeals process but her
1:14:31behavior was just as odd than as well I
1:14:33mean she had her attorneys send her the
1:14:35photos of Cheryl's autopsy and she
1:14:37according to people at the prison
1:14:40literally stared at them for hours on it
1:14:42just like sat there looking at pictures
1:14:43of her dead child and then she proceeded
1:14:47to demand everyone else look at them and
1:14:50was like forcefully flashing these
1:14:52photos in front of unexpecting people
1:14:54causing all sorts of horrific reactions
1:14:56around the prison but she went on to
1:14:58work on her appeals and she exhausted
1:15:00all her appeals at every single level
1:15:03she including a habius corpus every
1:15:05single thing was denied but she
1:15:07continued from prison giving interviews
1:15:09and maintaining her innocence Diane was
1:15:12first eligible for parole in 2008 and I
1:15:15found it interesting watching all of the
1:15:17recordings of this original parole
1:15:19hearing because she stuck to the same
1:15:22original story she told about the one
1:15:25singular shaggy-haired bushy-haired
1:15:27stranger but she still decades later
1:15:30used the exact same verbage like it's
1:15:33still hasn't changed at all almost like
1:15:36it is a script that has been permanently
1:15:39written into her brain typically when I
1:15:41see someone maintain their innocence
1:15:43like that it gives me pause I'm like
1:15:45okay well if they are not giving in or
1:15:48at least saying they don't care anymore
1:15:50you know this needs to be looked further
1:15:52into but I feel like Diane is just so
1:15:54obsessed with winning so obsessed with
1:15:57having control that she will do this
1:15:59till the day she dies even if it's all
1:16:02completely false she was up for plle
1:16:04again in 2010 but that request was
1:16:07denied as well and at this point Oregon
1:16:09law had stated once Perl eligibility
1:16:11begins inmates can reapply every 2 years
1:16:14however it was changed to every 10 years
1:16:16so she was not eligible again until
1:16:1820120 and she did apply for PE again and
1:16:22again was denied and every single time
1:16:25she claimed she had never changed her
1:16:27story but each time they told her that
1:16:30she had she had changed her story
1:16:32several times and according to psych
1:16:35vals the only thing that hadn't changed
1:16:38was her her psychological evaluations
1:16:40stated that most people in circumstances
1:16:43like hers after spending decades in
1:16:45prison would start to engage at some
1:16:48point and self-reflection seek treatment
1:16:50strive to heal and improve themselves
1:16:53and instead Diane just continue to dig
1:16:56her heels deeper and deeper they said
1:16:59that in all of the Decades that she had
1:17:01been sitting in prison she had done not
1:17:03a single thing to consider what she did
1:17:05was wrong to even entertain her guilt
1:17:09and how she ended up in prison to begin
1:17:11with she had not changed and they didn't
1:17:13think she ever would so it was really
1:17:16looking like Diane was never going to
1:17:18get out of prison meanwhile christe and
1:17:20Dany Grew From kids to adults they
1:17:23continued to live fulfilling lives
1:17:25choosing to keep their lives private for
1:17:27good reason they went on to have their
1:17:29own families they just want to be left
1:17:31alone and Rebecca the daughter that
1:17:33Diane was pregnant with during her trial
1:17:35eventually discovered who her mother was
1:17:37on her own her family had tried to
1:17:39protect her but naturally she was just
1:17:42curious and learning about Diane
1:17:44terrified her she worried that sharing
1:17:46the same blood meant she could end up
1:17:48like Diane and so a whole new story
1:17:51within this gigantic case began because
1:17:54that fear sent Rebecca spiraling as a
1:17:57teenager she had never even met Diane
1:17:59face to face she didn't even know what
1:18:01she looked like until she saw a picture
1:18:03and small sacrifices and that was all it
1:18:05took for her life to be changed she was
1:18:08having a huge identity crisis she was
1:18:11scared for her future and her past and
1:18:13eventually reached out to Diane hoping
1:18:15to find a connection a sense of humanity
1:18:18just something that would ground her and
1:18:19offer reassurance and at first Diane
1:18:22played along but when she realized that
1:18:24she wasn't getting anything from this
1:18:25relationship she began to say awful
1:18:28things she told Rebecca that Rebecca
1:18:29wasn't actually her child she called her
1:18:32a liar she accused her of being a part
1:18:33of some plot against her this whole
1:18:35framing thing and so Diane had yet again
1:18:38traumatized and victimized another one
1:18:40of her children so just more evidence to
1:18:43show that so much time had passed
1:18:45decades had passed and Diane had not
1:18:47changed at all she was following the
1:18:49exact same patterns and to those who
1:18:52wonder you know why I'm covering such a
1:18:54well-known case it's because of them
1:18:57because of Christy and Danny and Rebecca
1:19:00and Cheryl as well as all of their
1:19:01children Diane's grandchildren because
1:19:04they have spent decades trying to move
1:19:06forward knowing the monster of their
1:19:08past knowing she's behind bars the
1:19:10horrors that she committed having to
1:19:13navigate all of these different parole
1:19:15hearings and appeals and I feel like
1:19:17most people would think that after this
1:19:19amount of time that it would be over but
1:19:22with the recent updates they are now
1:19:24having to face the very real possibility
1:19:27that Diane could reenter their lives
1:19:30certain jurisdictions not many have
1:19:32previously allowed non-unanimous
1:19:34verdicts so not all juries would need to
1:19:37agree to reach a verdict on someone's
1:19:39guilt and a criminal trial and that is
1:19:41what happened to Diane in her case and
1:19:44so it was allowed in Oregon when she was
1:19:46tried in 1984 and as of 2020 only two
1:19:49states still allowed non-unanimous
1:19:51verdicts which included Louisiana and
1:19:54Oregon also in 2020 the US Supreme Court
1:19:58reversed that practice through the case
1:20:00of Ramos vers Louisiana so apparently
1:20:03the defendant Ramos had been convicted
1:20:05of aiding and abetting attempted murder
1:20:07among other serious charges and anywhere
1:20:10else would have called this a mistrial
1:20:12it was like 10 to2 or something like
1:20:14that and he was sentenced anyway to life
1:20:17without parole and so he contended that
1:20:20his conviction by a non-unanimous jury
1:20:23violated his Sixth Amendment right which
1:20:26guarantees the right to a trial by an
1:20:28impartial jury and one of the
1:20:30requirements underneath that amendment
1:20:32is that the jury's decision has to be
1:20:34unanimous so how non-unanimous juries
1:20:37were even allowed when it's a
1:20:39constitutional right that it has to be
1:20:41unanimous is beyond me so obviously
1:20:43seeing the huge flaw in the justice
1:20:46system they ruled in his favor but that
1:20:48also meant a huge change for inmates in
1:20:52both Louisiana and Oregon and Diane and
1:20:55her attorney saw this and believed that
1:20:57this decision presented an opportunity
1:20:59for her case to be reconsidered and so
1:21:02Oregon Supreme Court when this change
1:21:05occurred stated that quote new trials
1:21:07would be required to cure constitutional
1:21:09errors in Oregon cases affected by
1:21:11non-unanimous jury verdicts Diane and
1:21:14her attorney have filed as of November
1:21:162024 a petition requesting relief from
1:21:19what they see and are calling a wrongful
1:21:22conviction the only unanimous verdict in
1:21:25Diane's trial was the first count which
1:21:28was the murder of Cheryl all of the
1:21:31other charges it was a non-unanimous
1:21:34jury and so all of those if this is
1:21:37accepted could be overturned but because
1:21:40Oregon specifically stated that there
1:21:43would need to be retrials for these
1:21:46cases with non-unanimous juries she
1:21:48might get a retrial just all together
1:21:51and while all of her appeals and
1:21:53applications for parole have been
1:21:55immediately turned down this one hasn't
1:21:58which makes sense because constitutional
1:22:01rights regardless of how you feel about
1:22:02this case specifically they can't be
1:22:05messed with like that and so a judge is
1:22:07giving her attorney an extension to put
1:22:10together evidence and there is another
1:22:12hearing expected in April I think it was
1:22:15like April 15th or April 16th and so a
1:22:19couple months from now there is such a
1:22:21huge chance that at the very least a few
1:22:25of her counts can be reversed or they
1:22:28could just say f it to the whole thing
1:22:30and ask for a retrial and honestly I'm
1:22:33not really sure how to think and the
1:22:34scariest part about this is how
1:22:37seriously and deeply this case affected
1:22:40so many people and this is not in the
1:22:43news literally anywhere like I had such
1:22:45a challenging time finding information
1:22:48on this and this is what happens when
1:22:51you have cases that sit for decades
1:22:53people think that there's nothing else
1:22:54going on these once sensationalized
1:22:56cases become quiet and no one follows
1:22:59them anymore and then all of a sudden
1:23:00this person's released and everyone's
1:23:02like wait a minute hold on we didn't
1:23:03know that was going to happen majority
1:23:05of people including a jury several
1:23:07appeals federal courts believe that she
1:23:10received proper conviction and
1:23:11sentencing they believe that she
1:23:13committed this crime and she is properly
1:23:15serving the time for it however there
1:23:17are still lots of individuals who
1:23:19strongly believe she is innocent her
1:23:21family has a website um among other
1:23:24initi to fight for her release I believe
1:23:26her father passed away in 2017 and that
1:23:29entire time he did nothing but run this
1:23:32website and collect evidence and analyze
1:23:34and all of these things and they claim
1:23:36that this is all again a botched
1:23:39investigation Diane was framed they've
1:23:42claimed that evidence was withheld
1:23:43they've identified a person they believe
1:23:45is resp responsible asserting that he
1:23:47confessed um and they've also
1:23:49scrutinized Christy's testimony
1:23:51questioning what she saw and saying she
1:23:53was coerced and that she was lying which
1:23:56is just devastating because it feels
1:23:58like her family is victimizing her all
1:24:00over again and I feel like after decades
1:24:03and decades having grown into an adult
1:24:06that if something had been wrong with
1:24:08her testimony if she had been pushed in
1:24:10a corner that she would have come
1:24:11forward and said hey I was a kid I was
1:24:15horribly mistreated and forced to do
1:24:18something that I didn't want to do none
1:24:19of this is real but it's just not
1:24:22happened Diane did stay in one of her
1:24:25parole hearings that christe I guess had
1:24:27recanted to two of her friends that were
1:24:29siblings in school one time that it
1:24:32wasn't her mom that shot her but again
1:24:35it's kind of hard to look at that one
1:24:37instance and negate 40 some years that
1:24:39she's failed to say that ever again
1:24:41failed to come forward as an adult after
1:24:44reading some of her appeal documents
1:24:45it's also pretty clear that a lot of the
1:24:47concerns raised by her family a lot of
1:24:49these things that they feel prove she's
1:24:51not responsible have already been
1:24:53addressed through the appeals process
1:24:55particularly her habus Corpus however
1:24:58every single time it seems that there
1:24:59has never been enough evidential backing
1:25:02presented for any judge at any level to
1:25:04consider an appeal or Grant parole so
1:25:07right now it just doesn't seem there's
1:25:09anything there to prove these things are
1:25:11true the Innocence Project also refused
1:25:13to take the case and they love a big
1:25:15sensationalized case to try to turn on
1:25:18its head so I also just feel like they
1:25:20wouldn't have turned this down unless
1:25:22they truly thought there wasn't anything
1:25:24there there to grasp onto I ultimately
1:25:27just don't see Diane ending her fight
1:25:28anytime soon and their current efforts
1:25:31really show that and things might
1:25:33drastically change in the next few
1:25:36months I'm interested to hear what your
1:25:38thoughts are on this case I want to know
1:25:40if any of you guys strongly feel like
1:25:42she's actually not guilty like she was
1:25:44framed and I want to hear exactly why
1:25:46you think that there's just so much that
1:25:48goes into this and our our judicial
1:25:50system and our forensics and everything
1:25:52changes so rapidly and so looking at a
1:25:55case from all the way back in 1984 and
1:25:57seeing how things were handled then how
1:25:59they could have been handled now
1:26:01honestly it just makes me appreciative
1:26:02of advancements in technology and I'll
1:26:04update you with what happens from here
1:26:06thank you guys so much for taking the
1:26:07time to listen to this absolutely
1:26:09Twisted long detailed story and if you
1:26:12haven't already go ahead and hit the
1:26:13Subscribe button down below to become a
1:26:15part of the Howen fam so we can bring
1:26:16them home together or bring them Justice
1:26:18together and I will see you guys in my
1:26:20next video bye

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