RAW VIDEO: Diane Downs testifies at parole hearing — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00you still maintain that you did not
2. 0:01commit these murders or the the murder
3. 0:03and the other crimes you were convicted
4. 0:06of absolutely I didn't commit them and I
5. 0:09still maintain my innocence the night
6. 0:12you took your children to the hospital
7. 0:14in Springfield Will you describe the
8. 0:16events of that
9. 0:17evening
10. 0:19yes my kids and I were sitting at home
11. 0:22watching TV where were watching Helen
12. 0:24Keller the Helen Keller story I received
13. 0:27a phone call from someone who said that
14. 0:30he wanted me to come pick up some
15. 0:31photographs for my boyfriend not of my
16. 0:34boyfriend but for my boyfriend
17. 0:37Rick Rick is a guy that I'd been dating
18. 0:39for about six weeks and he claimed to be
19. 0:43an fbia agent whether or not he was I
20. 0:47don't know I certainly never called him
21. 0:51at work or showed up or made him prove
22. 0:53it or show a badge it didn't matter to
23. 0:55me I
24. 0:57wasn't to me it was just all
25. 1:00it was just
26. 1:01dating but I received a phone call about
27. 1:059:15 from someone who said I needed to
28. 1:07come pick some photographs up for
29. 1:11Rick I piled the kids in the car we went
30. 1:14out to go meet this person to pick up
31. 1:16the
32. 1:17photographs I stopped by
33. 1:20Heather wow I can't remember Heather's
34. 1:23last name now I stopped by Heather's
35. 1:24house because I'd been I told Heather on
36. 1:27the phone a few days earlier that I had
37. 1:29a a newspaper ad for her so she had been
38. 1:33wanting to buy a horse and this was a
39. 1:35newspaper ad that would allow her to
40. 1:38adopt a horse so I had told her that I
41. 1:41had that I had a newspaper clipping for
42. 1:44her that I'd found it work so as long as
43. 1:47we were going out to meet this guy to
44. 1:48pick up photographs we went by Heather's
45. 1:50house Heather said I already got a horse
46. 1:53just the other day so we went to see the
47. 1:56horse we got back in the car we left I
48. 1:59went to meet this guy somebody in the
49. 2:02road flagged us down I stopped and got
50. 2:05out of the got out of my car and he said
51. 2:09something to the effect of I want your
52. 2:11car and I laughed at him and I said
53. 2:14you've got to be kidding because in my
54. 2:16mind those kinds of things don't happen
55. 2:19in Arizona those things don't happen I
56. 2:21don't know about Oregon but in Arizona
57. 2:23those things don't happen and so he
58. 2:27jumped into the car leaned into the car
59. 2:30and started firing the weapon and it
60. 2:32happened so quickly that by the time he
61. 2:35stood up and faced
62. 2:38me it was over I mean it was just that
63. 2:42fast I he said something about the car
64. 2:44again and I struggled with him the gun
65. 2:47discharged he fell back I jumped in the
66. 2:50car put the keys in the ignition and
67. 2:53took off the car door shut by itself
68. 2:56that's it and I went to the
69. 2:58hospital Christie and Dan uh Christy and
70. 3:00Danny were in the backseat when we got
71. 3:02to the hospital they were still crying
72. 3:05um the nurses reported that they were
73. 3:07still
74. 3:09crying the state says I that I was the
75. 3:13one that shot them and that I wanted
76. 3:14them dead if that was the case I would
77. 3:16not have taken to the hospital still
78. 3:18crying there are so many other ways
79. 3:22to accomplish such a horrific deed if I
80. 3:25was going to do it I'm certainly bright
81. 3:27enough to figure out another way besid
82. 3:30some way that looks so absolutely insane
83. 3:32and hokey that nobody would believe it
84. 3:36I'm not
85. 3:41dumb ultimately you told several
86. 3:44different versions of the story when
87. 3:46when law enforcement investigated this
88. 3:49correct when you were when you talk
89. 3:51correct ultimately well what h i I
90. 3:53understood that um you told law
91. 3:57enforcement that uh This was done by two
92. 3:59men with ski
93. 4:02masks this is what somebody told
94. 4:05me this it how do I explain
95. 4:10this after my children and I were
96. 4:13attacked the police kept saying Diane
97. 4:15you must have lapses in your memory
98. 4:16because there's holes in this you could
99. 4:18drive a semi- through none of this makes
100. 4:21sense um you're forgetting something I
101. 4:24believed because I'd never had any
102. 4:27dealings with authorities and I believed
103. 4:28the authorities and and so I thought
104. 4:30they
105. 4:31did that I had lapses of memory I can't
106. 4:35tell you how the towel got around my
107. 4:36arms so I know from my own personal
108. 4:38experience that I did have at least that
109. 4:41much of a lapse of memory I don't know
110. 4:42how the towel got around my
111. 4:44arm so when I I would have what people
112. 4:47would call me up and people would say I
113. 4:51know so and so and he said such and such
114. 4:55um I have a na another guy would call
115. 4:57and say I have a neighbor and he has a c
116. 4:59that just looks just like that and he's
117. 5:01been talking these kinds of things were
118. 5:04being said to me either by phone people
119. 5:07would stop me on my mail route they
120. 5:09would I worked in Cottage Grove and
121. 5:10people would drive all the way to
122. 5:12Cottage Grove just to meet me on my mail
123. 5:14route and tell me these kinds of things
124. 5:17so I would call the police or I would go
125. 5:19to the police and I would say these I
126. 5:21would say this is what's being told to
127. 5:24me those are the kinds of things they
128. 5:26would say that I changed my story I
129. 5:28wasn't changing my story I was trying to
130. 5:30help the police kept saying I had lapses
131. 5:32of memory people were calling me and
132. 5:35telling me things that I thought well
133. 5:37maybe this is what happened that I don't
134. 5:39know and so I would tell the police
135. 5:40believing that I was helping them
136. 5:42investigate they didn't tell anybody
137. 5:45that these are reports that I was giving
138. 5:47them reports from other people they
139. 5:49would simply say Diane came in and said
140. 5:51such and such the one about the ski mask
141. 5:53was dreams that I was having and they
142. 5:55kept saying well maybe you forgot
143. 5:58something so when I would have a dream
144. 5:59dream and I would wake up I would think
145. 6:01well maybe that's what I would forget
146. 6:03and so I the ski Mass story I didn't
147. 6:05tell the police I was talking to
148. 6:07somebody on the phone and I was trying
149. 6:10to and I was sharing this dream this
150. 6:13thought with somebody trying to
151. 6:15understand in the same way that you
152. 6:16would talk to a psychologist or a
153. 6:18psychiatrist so that you can because if
154. 6:20you talk maybe you can reach something
155. 6:23maybe you can find something that's
156. 6:24inside you that's locked off and so I
157. 6:26was sharing this with somebody else and
158. 6:29the police were tape recording those
159. 6:31phone calls and then said oh there she
160. 6:33goes she changed her story and that
161. 6:34wasn't it and they know that wasn't it
162. 6:36okay well ma'am I guess perhaps you
163. 6:38could clarify it for me because as he
164. 6:40said I I am the newest person here and
165. 6:42I'm asking you new questions but when
166. 6:44I'm reading the pr sentence
167. 6:45investigation and says subsequently
168. 6:47defendant gave a total of three
169. 6:49different versions of the shooting
170. 6:50including that it was done by two men
171. 6:52wearing ski masks and also that she knew
172. 6:54the person who shot them um did you not
173. 6:56give three different versions of the
174. 6:57story
175. 7:00the police said strangers don't shoot
176. 7:03strangers for no reason so I believe
177. 7:07this had to be somebody who knew me they
178. 7:08also at one point the last day that I
179. 7:10got to see Christie in the hospital I
180. 7:12believe it was June 15th of 83 Doug
181. 7:17Welch came to the hospital and said
182. 7:19Steve DS did this we know Steve DS did
183. 7:22this you need to give us you need to be
184. 7:24willing to testify against him I said
185. 7:26how do you know Steve Down's my
186. 7:27ex-husband how do you know know Steve DS
187. 7:30did this give me the evidence he said
188. 7:32don't worry about the evidence just be
189. 7:34willing to testify I said if you can't
190. 7:37prove to me he did it he's not the one
191. 7:39that fired the gun he said but he was
192. 7:41behind it I said I cannot testify
193. 7:45against somebody unless you can prove to
194. 7:46me that he did this I know he hates me
195. 7:48but why would he hurt the kids Doug
196. 7:51Welch said you better be willing to play
197. 7:52ball or you'll never see your kids again
198. 7:54and I said I cannot testify against
199. 7:56somebody unless you can prove to me that
200. 7:58he did it the next day when I went to
201. 8:00see my children I was not allowed to see
202. 8:02my children ever
203. 8:04again that gave me the belief that the
204. 8:07police were absolutely convinced that
205. 8:09somebody I knew did this and if the
206. 8:12police believed it then I believed it
207. 8:14now if they want to turn this all around
208. 8:16and say Diane changed her story that's
209. 8:18not what happened and you
210. 8:20guys are on the pearo board and I know
211. 8:23you work with the legal authorities you
212. 8:25work with police you work with the with
213. 8:27the district attorneys and so you know
214. 8:29how they work it's how they I know now
215. 8:32what they were trying to do they were
216. 8:34trying to scoop me into a corner so that
217. 8:37I don't know so that I would say or do
218. 8:38something that would incriminate me
219. 8:40which certainly worked but but that's
220. 8:42not what happened though what I'm
221. 8:44telling you is exactly what happened
222. 8:46Doug Welch came to the McKenzie no to
223. 8:49the the hospital in Springfield oh I
224. 8:52can't even think Mackenzie will L it no
225. 8:54anyway to the Springfield hospital he
226. 8:57sat right there he caught me when I was
227. 8:59coming through the front door he pulled
228. 9:00me into the lobby and these are the
229. 9:02things he said to me I went to see
230. 9:04christe for 15 minutes cuz that's all I
231. 9:06was allowed I left and he was standing
232. 9:09there and he goes I'm not playing Diane
233. 9:10and I said prove to me Steve did this he
234. 9:13says let us worry about the proof and I
235. 9:16said I can't testify against him unless
236. 9:18you can prove to me he did this and I
237. 9:20left the next day I did not see my
238. 9:23children ever ever again until court and
239. 9:27that was it and so I believed I believed
240. 9:31what the police I thought the police
241. 9:33believed now maybe they did believe that
242. 9:35maybe to this day they still believe it
243. 9:37because Fred hugi was another time he
244. 9:39told my attorney Jim Jagger Jim Jagger
245. 9:42Said Fred you know Diane is innocent he
246. 9:46said I know that and you know that but
247. 9:49she's covering for somebody and as long
248. 9:51as she's going to cover for somebody
249. 9:52she's going to do that person's time Jim
250. 9:55said Jim Jagger said go ahead I said so
251. 9:59was is it your is it is what you're
252. 10:01saying today is that the the prosecutor
253. 10:04in your ca the prosecutor in your case
254. 10:07knew you were innocent yet in order to
255. 10:11get someone else to convict someone else
256. 10:14for this he basically threatened to keep
257. 10:18your kids from you in order to get you
258. 10:20to make incriminating testimony against
259. 10:22somebody else is that what you're saying
260. 10:25I'm not saying I'm not saying that I'm
261. 10:27saying that Jim Jagger told told me Fred
262. 10:30hugi said this to him I don't know that
263. 10:32Fred hugi said this I have no reason to
264. 10:34believe Fred hugi said this now but
265. 10:36that's what Jim Jagger told me Fred hugi
266. 10:38said so from that point on I believed
267. 10:42should we from that point on I believed
268. 10:46that Fred hugi believed that it was
269. 10:49somebody that I knew that's what I'm
270. 10:51telling you it that is what shaped my
271. 10:53belief patterns and so when I would talk
272. 10:55to the police I spoke to the police as
273. 10:58if it was some that was familiar to me
274. 11:01not because I believe they were familiar
275. 11:03to me but because Fred hugi told Jim
276. 11:05Jagger and Jim Jagger Jim Jagger told me
277. 11:08that Fred hugi told him this I have no
278. 11:11reason to believe Fred hugi would do
279. 11:12that I don't Fred hugi adopted my
280. 11:15children I think during the trial can I
281. 11:19go ahead and jump ahead with this
282. 11:21sure okay during the trial at the very
283. 11:24end of the trial Fred hugi they brought
284. 11:27in a mockup of the car and Fred hugi got
285. 11:31a gun and he was reenacting the crime
286. 11:34and when he was going through the
287. 11:37motions of firing the gun at the Christy
288. 11:40doll and at the Cheryl doll and at the
289. 11:42Danny doll he couldn't shoot the Danny
290. 11:44doll because the Danny doll was back
291. 11:48here and he raised up and he looked at
292. 11:51me and I went like this and he went he
293. 11:55his face he had a fa a look of incredula
294. 11:58on his face and his mouth started to
295. 12:00open and I nodded my head yes and he had
296. 12:04to switch the gun to the left hand a
297. 12:06right-handed person could not have shot
298. 12:08the Danny doll it was at that time I
299. 12:10don't think any time before that did
300. 12:12Fred hugi believe that he was doing
301. 12:15anything wrong I think that he believed
302. 12:17full boore that what he was doing was
303. 12:19the right thing but and I'm not inside
304. 12:22Fred hui's head I don't have the right
305. 12:23to speak for him and I won't speak for
306. 12:25him but it was after that he adopted my
307. 12:28children and according to Christie never
308. 12:30said a bad word against me ever that was
309. 12:33out of Christy's mouth Fred hugi in all
310. 12:36the time that he raised her never spoke
311. 12:38ill of me I believe that Fred hugi knows
312. 12:41that there is a man out there that was
313. 12:43hunting my children and it wasn't until
314. 12:45after Christy told her
315. 12:48schoolmates that I she she Drew pictures
316. 12:51in school and she said this is the man
317. 12:53who shot us I didn't I lied in court
318. 12:57because they wanted me to say this and
319. 12:59they wouldn't leave me alone Dr Peters
320. 13:01she said Dr Peterson kept pressuring me
321. 13:03and he wouldn't leave me alone those
322. 13:05children the andreon told their mother
323. 13:07their mother told her the um the
324. 13:11apartment manager and the apartment
325. 13:13manager told somebody now he he didn't
326. 13:17tell my attorney until 1991 but he
327. 13:19apparently told somebody before that but
328. 13:22it was at that time when Christy was in
329. 13:24that school and classmates with the
330. 13:25andron twins that Fred hugi decided to
331. 13:28adopt adopt my children