“She Shot Her Kids and Blamed a Stranger — The Shocking Story of Diane Downs (1981)” — Transcript

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1. 0:00It began with a sound no one should ever
2. 0:02have to hear. The desperate cry of a
3. 0:03child fading in the dark. It was a quiet
4. 0:06night in Springfield, Oregon. May 19th,
5. 0:091983. The rain had stopped hours ago and
6. 0:12the streets were empty. Then suddenly,
7. 0:14the hospital doors burst open and a
8. 0:16woman stumbled inside covered in blood,
9. 0:18screaming for help. Her name was Diane
10. 0:20DS. In her car were her three children,
11. 0:228-year-old Christy, 7-year-old Cheryl,
12. 0:25and three-year-old Danny. One was dead,
13. 0:27two were clinging to life. All of them
14. 0:29had been shot at point blank range.
15. 0:31Through tears, Diane told police what
16. 0:34happened. She said a man, a stranger
17. 0:36with bushy hair, flagged her down on a
18. 0:38rural road. Demanded her car and opened
19. 0:41fire when she refused. To the nurses who
20. 0:43saw her that night. It sounded like a
21. 0:45nightmare. A mother attacked. Her
22. 0:47children ambushed. A monster on the
23. 0:49loose. But as the night went on,
24. 0:51something about Diane's story didn't
25. 0:53feel right. Not her tone, not her calm,
26. 0:56not the way her eyes glimmered, not with
27. 0:57grief, but with something colder. And
28. 0:59before long, investigators would uncover
29. 1:02the truth that the stranger Diane D
30. 1:03spoke of never existed. Inside the
31. 1:06hospital, chaos unfolded. Doctors and
32. 1:08nurses fought to save the two surviving
33. 1:10children. Christiey's heartbeat was
34. 1:11famed. Dy's spine was shattered, but
35. 1:14Diane, their mother, stood in the
36. 1:16hallway, quiet, composed. When she was
37. 1:19told her daughter Cheryl had died, she
38. 1:21didn't collapse. She didn't scream. She
39. 1:24asked instead when she could see Nick.
40. 1:26>> Nick wasn't her husband. He was her
41. 1:28lover. A man she was obsessed with. A
42. 1:30man who had told her he didn't want
43. 1:32children. A nurse later recalled she
44. 1:34didn't cry. Not once. She looked almost
45. 1:37peaceful. And when the police asked to
46. 1:40photograph her for their report, she
47. 1:42smiled. That haunting image of a faint
48. 1:44grin on the face of a bloodstained
49. 1:46mother would become one of the most
50. 1:49infamous photos in true crime history.
51. 1:51The police drove out to Old Mohawk Road,
52. 1:54the place where Diane claimed the
53. 1:55shooting happened. It was desolate. No
54. 1:58traffic, no street lights, no houses,
55. 2:01tire tracks, shell casings. There was
56. 2:04nothing. Her story was falling apart.
57. 2:07And investigators noticed something
58. 2:09strange. It had taken her over 20
59. 2:12minutes to reach the hospital. On a
60. 2:14drive that should have taken less than
61. 2:1610. If her children were dying in the
62. 2:19back seat, why didn't she rush? The more
63. 2:21police questioned her, the more she
64. 2:23smiled. And with every retelling, her
65. 2:26story changed just slightly. Details
66. 2:28slipped. Emotions never came. It was as
67. 2:31if she were describing a movie she'd
68. 2:33seen, not a night she'd lived. Behind
69. 2:35Dian's calm exterior was a woman living
70. 2:38in two worlds. At home, she was a mother
71. 2:40of three. At work, a male carrier is in
72. 2:44love with a married man named Robert
73. 2:45Nick Nicaboka. Their affair was intense.
74. 2:48Diane wrote pages of letters to him,
75. 2:50obsessive, pleading, filled with
76. 2:53fantasy. But Nick wanted out. He didn't
77. 2:56want her kids. He wanted freedom. And
78. 2:59Diane couldn't accept that. She told a
79. 3:01coworker once, "If my kids ever got in
80. 3:04the way of my happiness, I'd have to do
81. 3:06something about it." No one believed she
82. 3:09meant it. Weeks later, Christy Diane's
83. 3:11eldest woke up in her hospital bed. Her
84. 3:14voice was weak. Her memory fractured.
85. 3:17Detectives sat beside her, careful not
86. 3:19to push too hard. Christy, one of them,
87. 3:21asked softly, "Do you remember who hurt
88. 3:24you?" She hesitated. Her lips trembled,
89. 3:27and then through tears, she whispered
90. 3:29one word, "Mom!" The room fell silent.
91. 3:32That small voice from a child who had
92. 3:34watched her own mother shoot her
93. 3:36siblings would change the entire case.
94. 3:38Police now had motive, testimony, and a
95. 3:41growing mountain of evidence. Ballistics
96. 3:43confirmed that the bullets came from a
97. 3:45point to22 caliber handgun registered to
98. 3:48Diane DS when she conveniently reported
99. 3:50missing. They found no trace of a
100. 3:52stranger, no corroborating witness, and
101. 3:55then there were the letters, stacks of
102. 3:57them written in Dian's handwriting,
103. 3:59professing her undying love for Nick and
104. 4:01her desire for a fresh start, a start
105. 4:04without her children. Even in her
106. 4:06interviews, Diane's tone never changed.
107. 4:08She reenacted the shootings for
108. 4:10reporters, laughing lightly, saying,
109. 4:13"It's crazy how people think I'd do
110. 4:15that." But her words and her face told
111. 4:17two different stories. In 1984, Diane
112. 4:20Down stood trial for murder, attempted
113. 4:23murder, and assault. The courtroom was
114. 4:25packed everyday locals, journalists,
115. 4:28psychologists, all trying to understand
116. 4:30the woman who shot her own children.
117. 4:32When the little girl took the stand, the
118. 4:34jury held its breath. She pointed to her
119. 4:37mother and said simply, "She's the one
120. 4:39who shot us." That was all it took.
121. 4:41>> On June 17th, 1984, Diane DS was found
122. 4:45guilty on all counts. She was sentenced
123. 4:47to life in prison plus 50 years. Even as
124. 4:50the verdict was read, she showed no
125. 4:52emotion, only a faint knowing smile.
126. 4:54Months later, while awaiting transfer to
127. 4:56prison, Diane became pregnant again. She
128. 4:59told reporters it was proof of her faith
129. 5:01and love. But the public saw it for what
130. 5:03it was and other manipulation. Her baby,
131. 5:06a daughter, was taken from her and
132. 5:07placed for adoption. That child years
133. 5:10later would learn who her mother was.
134. 5:12Through a true crime documentary,
135. 5:14Christy and Danny, the surviving
136. 5:15children, were adopted by the
137. 5:16prosecutor, Brett Hugi, and his wife.
138. 5:19They grew up quietly, far away from the
139. 5:21headlines, carrying the scars of a night
140. 5:23they could never forget. Diane DS
141. 5:25remains behind bars today, still
142. 5:27claiming innocence, still blaming the
143. 5:29imaginary stranger. But for
144. 5:31investigators, for survivors, and for
145. 5:33anyone who's ever seen a photo of her
146. 5:35smiling in that interrogation room, the
147. 5:37truth has long been clear. Evil doesn't
148. 5:39always look like a monster. Sometimes it
149. 5:42wears a mother's smile. To Cheryl,
150. 5:44Christy, and Dany, your names remind the
151. 5:46world that love twisted by obsession can
152. 5:49destroy everything it touches. The story
153. 5:51of Diane DS is not just a crime. It's a
154. 5:54warning that sometimes the darkest place
155. 5:56on earth can be the passenger seat of
156. 5:58your mother's