TRUE CRIME | The Diane Downs Story | Jessica Anne — Transcript

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1. 0:07[Music]
2. 0:09hi you guys how are you
3. 0:11my name is jessica and welcome back to
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11. 0:23and let's get into today's case today we
12. 0:26are going to be discussing the story of
13. 0:28diane downs elizabeth diane frederickson
14. 0:31was born in phoenix arizona on august
15. 0:337th
16. 0:331955 to her parents wes and willardeen
17. 0:37frederickson
18. 0:38wes and willadeen weren't overly loving
19. 0:40or affectionate with elizabeth they were
20. 0:42actually pretty strict they had really
21. 0:44conservative values and they
22. 0:46expected her to adhere to them and at
23. 0:48first she did
24. 0:50however when she was about 14 things
25. 0:52really started to
26. 0:54shift with her she really wanted to fit
27. 0:56in and be noticed and she really wanted
28. 0:58to be popular so her attitude started to
29. 1:00change she started acting out and she
30. 1:02just became more rebellious
31. 1:04it really seemed like she was trying to
32. 1:06reinvent herself altogether
33. 1:08she bleached her hair she changed up her
34. 1:10wardrobe and she
35. 1:11ended up making the decision that she no
36. 1:12longer wanted to go by elizabeth and
37. 1:15instead she'd prefer to go by diane
38. 1:17which was her middle name and is the
39. 1:18name that we all know her by to this day
40. 1:21while attending moon valley high school
41. 1:23in phoenix arizona
42. 1:24diane met a boy by the name of steve
43. 1:26downs and the two really hit it off
44. 1:29and started dating there were issues in
45. 1:30their relationship pretty much right
46. 1:32from the start
47. 1:33diane's parents really did not want them
48. 1:36dating and they were pretty adamant that
49. 1:38she end things with steve but she didn't
50. 1:39give a
51. 1:40[ __ ] what her parents wanted she was
52. 1:42tired of feeling controlled and she was
53. 1:44gonna do
54. 1:44what she wanted to and no one was going
55. 1:47to stand in her way you'll see that this
56. 1:49attitude really
57. 1:50starts to become a way of life for diane
58. 1:52despite her parents wishes she and steve
59. 1:54continued to date throughout
60. 1:55their entire high school career after
61. 1:57the two graduated steve enlisted in the
62. 1:59navy
63. 2:00and diane enrolled in the pacific coast
64. 2:02baptist bible college they agreed that
65. 2:04they'd continued their relationship long
66. 2:05distance
67. 2:06but diane um struggled with this
68. 2:10she was not exactly a faithful
69. 2:12girlfriend
70. 2:13so much so that she was expelled within
71. 2:15a year from her college due to her lewd
72. 2:18behavior and
73. 2:18promiscuity once her college career was
74. 2:21cut short she
75. 2:22didn't really have anywhere else to go
76. 2:24so she went back to live with wes and
77. 2:26willidine
78. 2:27but this didn't last long either because
79. 2:29despite the constant infidelity in their
80. 2:32relationship
81. 2:32diane and steve tied the knot on
82. 2:34november 13th 1973.
83. 2:37the honeymoon phase of the marriage uh
84. 2:40crumbled pretty quick steve could not
85. 2:42support diane's hobbies of adultery
86. 2:44and spending all of their money so just
87. 2:46a few months into their marriage diane
88. 2:48actually decided she was done
89. 2:50she packed up her things and she moved
90. 2:52back in with her parents again but
91. 2:53shortly after she returned she realized
92. 2:56that she had not
93. 2:57come back alone no you see she was
94. 2:59pregnant with her and steve's first
95. 3:01child so they reconciled and their
96. 3:03daughter christy
97. 3:04was born on october 7th 1974 and less
98. 3:07than a year later
99. 3:08diane would become pregnant again with
100. 3:10their second daughter
101. 3:11they named her cheryl and she was born
102. 3:13on january 10 1976.
103. 3:15following the news of diane's second
104. 3:17pregnancy steve opted to get a vasectomy
105. 3:19he didn't want any more kids and he
106. 3:21figured this would
107. 3:22prevent it but he was wrong the
108. 3:24procedure failed and dianne ended up
109. 3:26pregnant
110. 3:27a third time however this time diane
111. 3:29chose to terminate the pregnancy and
112. 3:31this is a decision that she would come
113. 3:33to regret fairly quickly
114. 3:35in 1978 steve and diane moved to mesa
115. 3:38arizona where they began working at a
116. 3:39mobile home
117. 3:40manufacturing company while working here
118. 3:42diane carried out a series of affairs
119. 3:44with
120. 3:44multiple co-workers and one of the
121. 3:46affairs resulted in her fourth pregnancy
122. 3:48her son danny was born in december of
123. 3:501979
124. 3:52and even though steve was fully aware
125. 3:54that danny was not
126. 3:55his biological child he did agree to
127. 3:58raise him as his own but uh shockingly
128. 4:01the downs marriage was
129. 4:03too far gone and they divorced in 1980.
130. 4:06the
131. 4:06aftermath of the divorce i'd assume was
132. 4:09fairly difficult for diane she bounced
133. 4:11around from man to man
134. 4:12while simultaneously trying to reconcile
135. 4:14things with steve she was just down on
136. 4:15her luck she didn't have a job she
137. 4:17didn't have money
138. 4:18and she didn't have a husband but she
139. 4:20did have tenacity
140. 4:22diane was scrappy she refused to stay
141. 4:24down
142. 4:25and eventually she got an idea she
143. 4:28decided that she would become
144. 4:30a surrogate mother not only could she
145. 4:32earn a decent chunk of money from this
146. 4:34in her mind this was also a way that she
147. 4:36could
148. 4:37make amends for the fact that she had
149. 4:39had an abortion like i said that
150. 4:41situation just never
151. 4:42ever really sat well with her
152. 4:44unfortunately for diane she failed
153. 4:46two different psychiatric exams that she
154. 4:49was required to take
155. 4:50to participate in the surrogacy program
156. 4:52the results suggested that while she was
157. 4:54highly intelligent that she was
158. 4:56also likely psychotic and that she'd
159. 4:58have issues
160. 4:59actually giving the baby to its parents
161. 5:01after birth so her dreams of surrogacy
162. 5:03seemed to be fleeting and she really
163. 5:05needed a way to support her children so
164. 5:07she took a job working as a postal
165. 5:08carrier in 1981.
166. 5:10it's reported that around this time
167. 5:13diane would leave
168. 5:13her children home alone while she went
169. 5:15to work and that her neighbors knew
170. 5:17about this and
171. 5:18felt the children were not being
172. 5:19properly cared for but nothing
173. 5:21seems to have ever come out of these
174. 5:23concerns in
175. 5:24mid to late 1981 despite the results of
176. 5:28her psychiatric testing
177. 5:29diane was offered a surrogacy job which
178. 5:31she gladly accepted and it resulted in
179. 5:33the birth of a little girl
180. 5:34in may of 1982. she did give the baby
181. 5:37back to her
182. 5:38parents from my understanding everything
183. 5:39went fairly smoothly and she felt really
184. 5:41passionately about this experience
185. 5:43she decided she wanted to open her own
186. 5:44surrogacy clinic but these dreams never
187. 5:47made it off the ground once she had
188. 5:48completed her surrogacy
189. 5:50diane started another affair with a
190. 5:53co-worker of hers this man's name was
191. 5:55nick but this
192. 5:56was not like any affair she'd ever had
193. 5:58in her life this
194. 5:59this was the affair diane was obsessed
195. 6:03with this man she begged him to divorce
196. 6:05his wife
197. 6:06from what i can gather he didn't really
198. 6:08have any interest in leaving his wife he
199. 6:09had been separated from her
200. 6:11at the beginning of his relationship
201. 6:12with diane but they eventually
202. 6:14reconciled and
203. 6:16he didn't really want to leave her and
204. 6:18he didn't want to become a father
205. 6:20to diane's children so he did choose to
206. 6:22end their relationship
207. 6:23and diane did not take this well she
208. 6:27took it hard she decided to pack up her
209. 6:30kids and
210. 6:30move to oregon so she could be closer to
211. 6:32her parents but
212. 6:34putting distance between she and nick
213. 6:35did not help her move on from him
214. 6:37in fact her obsession grew it grew
215. 6:40stronger than ever she refused to
216. 6:42believe that it was over
217. 6:43she would call him constantly and she
218. 6:45even showed up at his house once in
219. 6:47early 1983. so it's pretty safe to say
220. 6:49that diane was
221. 6:50desperate to salvage any relationship
222. 6:53she could possibly have with nick
223. 6:54which brings us to the night of may 19
224. 6:571983.
225. 6:58the evening started out nicely diane
226. 7:00took her children to visit her friend
227. 7:02her friend had just gotten a new horse
228. 7:04and she thought the children might
229. 7:04really enjoy
230. 7:05getting to see it they stayed for a
231. 7:07while and eventually left around 9 30
232. 7:09to go for a scenic drive in the middle
233. 7:12of the night
234. 7:13in the middle of nowhere but diane says
235. 7:16this was common practice for the family
236. 7:18they liked long drives they liked to
237. 7:19take back roads and they liked to go
238. 7:21sightseeing i'm pretty sure i mentioned
239. 7:22it was the middle of the night
240. 7:24so the kids started to fall asleep and
241. 7:27diane decided to head home
242. 7:29but on her way she saw a road that she
243. 7:32had
244. 7:33never driven on before and she
245. 7:36took a detour according to diane when
246. 7:38she turned onto this road
247. 7:40she saw a man who appeared to be in
248. 7:42distress in the middle of the road
249. 7:44flagging her down so being the good
250. 7:46samaritan she is she got out of the car
251. 7:48and went to see if she could help him in
252. 7:50any way he responded to her generosity
253. 7:52by demanding that she give him
254. 7:55her keys and her car now obviously she's
255. 7:58not just going to
256. 7:58hand over her car full of her children
257. 8:01to this man so she pretended to throw
258. 8:03her keys
259. 8:04hoping that he would run after them and
260. 8:06she would be able to
261. 8:07escape in theory i don't think this is a
262. 8:10bad idea i feel like we're all
263. 8:12taught some variation of this if you're
264. 8:15being robbed you throw your purse your
265. 8:16wallet your keys whatever
266. 8:18someone is trying to get from you and
267. 8:20then when they go to get it you
268. 8:22you haul ass but this strategy backfired
269. 8:25on diane all she managed to do
270. 8:27was to piss this guy off to the point
271. 8:29that he pulled out a gun
272. 8:31and shot into her car at her three
273. 8:33children before he started struggling
274. 8:35with
275. 8:35diane herself and this is how diane
276. 8:37sustained a gunshot wound
277. 8:39to the arm she was eventually able to
278. 8:41get into the car and drive herself and
279. 8:42her children to the nearest hospital
280. 8:44she said that she sped to the hospital
281. 8:46as fast as she possibly could that all
282. 8:48she cared about was getting there
283. 8:49so she could save her children but sadly
284. 8:51cheryl who was just seven years old at
285. 8:53the time was pronounced dead upon
286. 8:55arriving to mackenzie willamette
287. 8:57hospital therefore the on-call doctor's
288. 8:59attention was immediately directed to
289. 9:01christy who was eight at the time
290. 9:03he referred to her as so close to death
291. 9:05that it was
292. 9:06unbelievable said her pupils were
293. 9:08dilated her blood pressure was really
294. 9:10low
295. 9:10and she was super pale and she was
296. 9:13barely breathing she did eventually
297. 9:14suffer a stroke
298. 9:15that left her speech impaired for months
299. 9:17and after further examination of danny
300. 9:19it was discovered that he had been
301. 9:21paralyzed from the waist down police
302. 9:22didn't waste a lot of time getting their
303. 9:24investigation underway
304. 9:25they immediately interviewed diane at
305. 9:27the hospital and then
306. 9:28returned to the scene of the shooting at
307. 9:30the scene they were able to retrieve
308. 9:32shell casings but they opted out of
309. 9:34taking any pictures or any fingerprint
310. 9:36evidence
311. 9:36they also looked over diane's car and
312. 9:39aside from the blood stains inside of it
313. 9:40they didn't really
314. 9:41find any evidence at first the driver's
315. 9:44seat appeared
316. 9:44pretty clean and there was no gunpowder
317. 9:46residue that they could find diane
318. 9:48herself was also looked over
319. 9:50and she was found to have no blood
320. 9:51spatter or no gunpowder residue anywhere
321. 9:53on her person in diane's first interview
322. 9:55she recounted the story of the
323. 9:57carjacking for police insisting that a
324. 9:59bushy-haired stranger was responsible
325. 10:01for the shootings it was unfortunate for
326. 10:03diane
327. 10:04that investigators were pretty sure her
328. 10:06story was [ __ ]
329. 10:08right away she was just acting too calm
330. 10:11they didn't think that she
331. 10:12seemed like someone who had just been
332. 10:14through something so traumatic
333. 10:15it's important to note that a person's
334. 10:17reaction to trauma
335. 10:19is not a sign of guilt it should be
336. 10:20taken with a grain of salt
337. 10:22people always want to analyze tone and
338. 10:24urgency but
339. 10:25people are all different and people
340. 10:27react to trauma different
341. 10:29with that being said i cannot imagine a
342. 10:31mother
343. 10:32who would not in this situation show
344. 10:35some
345. 10:35sense of grief or sadness in my opinion
346. 10:39it seems off but investigators had their
347. 10:41work cut out for them because they
348. 10:43didn't seem to have anything on diane
349. 10:46they didn't have a gun
350. 10:47they didn't have forensic evidence they
351. 10:48didn't have a motive a witness
352. 10:50nothing at first but as they often do
353. 10:53pieces would slowly start to come
354. 10:55together
355. 10:56it started with a phone call from nick
356. 10:58you see nick was calling to
357. 11:00give police a rundown on diane not only
358. 11:03did he tell them that she had made a
359. 11:05point to reach out to him
360. 11:06from the hospital to tell him what had
361. 11:08happened to the kids but he also told
362. 11:09them about
363. 11:10how while she lived in arizona she had
364. 11:12stalked him to the point
365. 11:14that he was scared she was gonna hurt
366. 11:15his wife just to have him all to herself
367. 11:18nick was really relieved when she had
368. 11:19finally moved because he said he always
369. 11:21felt on edge when he was dealing with
370. 11:22her
371. 11:23this was just the start of the real
372. 11:25diane becoming clearer and clearer to
373. 11:27police as the case was mounting against
374. 11:29her diane was
375. 11:30banned from seeing her children but that
376. 11:32didn't really get her down
377. 11:33she took this newfound free time as an
378. 11:35opportunity to do a
379. 11:37series of weird weird tv interviews
380. 11:41she did interviews where she said that
381. 11:42the night of the shooting she'd hoped
382. 11:44that her children would die
383. 11:45so they didn't have to suffer i just
384. 11:47kept saying god do my best
385. 11:49no they gotta die let them die but don't
386. 11:51go
387. 11:52she did interviews where she said that
388. 11:53she felt that she had gotten the raw end
389. 11:56of the deal the night of the attack and
390. 11:58that she thought her
391. 11:58kids were the lucky ones but he says you
392. 12:01sure were
393. 12:02lucky well i don't feel very lucky i
394. 12:04couldn't tie my damn
395. 12:05shoes for about two months it is very
396. 12:07painful it is still painful
397. 12:09the scar is going to be there forever
398. 12:11i'm going to remember that night for the
399. 12:12rest of my life whether i want to or not
400. 12:14i don't think i was very lucky
401. 12:16i think my kids were lucky if i had been
402. 12:18shot the way they were we all would have
403. 12:20died
404. 12:20she did interviews where she said that
405. 12:22people were really stupid
406. 12:24for thinking that she had shot her
407. 12:25children because if she had shot her
408. 12:27children she would have done
409. 12:28a good job good job of it why would i
410. 12:31have taken my kids to the hospital
411. 12:33wouldn't i have made sure they were dead
412. 12:34and then cried crocodile tears that's
413. 12:36insane to think that i would do such
414. 12:38a thing and then bring the witnesses in
415. 12:40against myself that's crazy
416. 12:42at one point she did a re-enactment
417. 12:45of the night of the shooting and it was
418. 12:48a lot of
419. 12:57and left the car door shut itself this
420. 13:00is worse than
421. 13:01okay especially this part this is worse
422. 13:05than
423. 13:05okay this is worse than the ghost
424. 13:08a lot of people believe that she was
425. 13:11going to say
426. 13:12this hurt worse than when i shot myself
427. 13:14but
428. 13:15realized she was surrounded by cameras
429. 13:18and
430. 13:18that that might not be a good piece of
431. 13:20information to freely give out
432. 13:22while she was preoccupied with her 15
433. 13:24minutes of fame
434. 13:25police began digging further into her
435. 13:27personal life just trying to find
436. 13:29any leads or evidence they could to help
437. 13:32further their case
438. 13:33and they found it they found it when
439. 13:36they stumbled across diane's diary diane
440. 13:39had written
441. 13:40daily and obsessively in her diary about
442. 13:43how much she loved nick and how she
443. 13:45wanted to be with nick more than she
444. 13:46wanted anything else in the world
445. 13:48police were pretty quickly uncovering
446. 13:50what they believed to be
447. 13:51an obvious motive diane wanted to be
448. 13:54with nick
449. 13:54and only nick and she was willing to
450. 13:56eliminate anything and
451. 13:58anyone she felt complicated achieving
452. 14:00that goal during the investigation
453. 14:02diane began working for the post office
454. 14:04again as a letter carrier
455. 14:05and at some point she formulated a plan
456. 14:08diane and her grand plans she
457. 14:12zeroed in on a man that was on her
458. 14:13delivery route showed up at his house
459. 14:15one night
460. 14:16brought a bottle of whiskey a little pot
461. 14:19and
462. 14:19one thing led to another and she ended
463. 14:21up pregnant
464. 14:23again when asked about this pregnancy in
465. 14:25an interview
466. 14:26diane stated can't replace children but
467. 14:29you can replace the effect that they
468. 14:31give you
469. 14:31and they give me love they give me
470. 14:33satisfaction they give me stability they
471. 14:35give me a reason to live and a reason to
472. 14:36be happy and
473. 14:38and that's gone they took it from me but
474. 14:41children are so easy to conceive it was
475. 14:43becoming really clear to everyone
476. 14:45that diane didn't have children to love
477. 14:48them
478. 14:49dianne had children so that they could
479. 14:51love her at the start of the
480. 14:53investigation when she'd been asked by
481. 14:54police if she owned any guns
482. 14:56diane stated that she didn't however
483. 14:59steve and nick helped police determine
484. 15:02that
485. 15:02that was a lie police were able to find
486. 15:05that diane had in fact purchased a 22
487. 15:07caliber handgun while she was living in
488. 15:09arizona
489. 15:09and even though the actual weapon from
490. 15:11the shooting has never been found
491. 15:13they did find 22 caliber bullet casings
492. 15:16in diane's home that had extractor marks
493. 15:19that match the shell casings they
494. 15:21recovered from the crime scene from my
495. 15:23understanding what this proved was that
496. 15:25the bullets they had found in diane's
497. 15:27house
498. 15:28had at one point been loaded into the
499. 15:30gun used
500. 15:31to shoot her children they also decided
501. 15:33to examine the vehicle again
502. 15:35and this yielded new evidence in the
503. 15:37form of blood spatter on the outside
504. 15:39of the rear passenger side which
505. 15:42completely obliterated diane's story of
506. 15:44the children all being shot
507. 15:45inside the car and a witness who came
508. 15:48forward later
509. 15:49also chipped away at diane's story when
510. 15:51they reported that they'd been driving
511. 15:53behind her on her way to the hospital
512. 15:55and that she couldn't
513. 15:56have been driving more than like seven
514. 15:58miles an hour now diane's initial story
515. 16:00was that she had driven as
516. 16:02fast as she possibly could to the
517. 16:03hospital even potentially hitting up to
518. 16:05100 miles an hour but then this person's
519. 16:08saying that she was barely going maybe
520. 16:11seven
521. 16:12it is starting not to look good for
522. 16:14diane
523. 16:15even with all the evidence rolling in
524. 16:16police knew that their case
525. 16:18really rested heavily on christy who was
526. 16:21still unable to speak because of her
527. 16:23injuries
528. 16:23despite this sometimes you don't have to
529. 16:26use words to make a statement prior to
530. 16:28chrissy regaining her ability to speak
531. 16:30she would show involuntary signs of fear
532. 16:33whenever
533. 16:34her mother was around her heart rate
534. 16:35would spike and her breathing would
535. 16:37intensify
536. 16:38and it was pretty apparent to everyone
537. 16:40that chrissy was
538. 16:41terrified of her mother at this point
539. 16:43police are thinking that they have
540. 16:44a pretty substantial amount of evidence
541. 16:47and decided that it was time to
542. 16:48re-interview diane see where her head's
543. 16:50at they brought her in
544. 16:51and she took this opportunity to change
545. 16:54her entire story
546. 16:55is anybody else just so incredibly tired
547. 16:58of this woman
548. 16:59remember the bush he heard stranger he's
549. 17:01gone forget him there were now two
550. 17:03shooters
551. 17:04who knew diane personally because they
552. 17:06referred to her by name during the
553. 17:07attack
554. 17:07um so this was no longer a random event
555. 17:09it was personal
556. 17:11and she let them know that she knew
557. 17:12exactly who these men were
558. 17:14and since police weren't doing their
559. 17:16jobs she was going to go out and
560. 17:18she was going to bring these men to
561. 17:19justice by her damn self
562. 17:21then she left she she left the interview
563. 17:24come on if you can't lie well then don't
564. 17:27lie at all you have the right to remain
565. 17:30silent at this point everyone believed
566. 17:33that diane was the shooter and there was
567. 17:34a lot of pressure from the public for an
568. 17:36arrest
569. 17:36she had shot her children and people
570. 17:39wanted her held accountable
571. 17:40seems reasonable to me but the d.a
572. 17:42didn't want to make
573. 17:43any moves until he could speak with the
574. 17:45single most important person
575. 17:47that had yet to be formally interviewed
576. 17:49christy like this poor
577. 17:50girl i can't express the sadness i feel
578. 17:53for her
579. 17:54her sister gets shot and killed her
580. 17:56brother
581. 17:57gets sean disabled she gets shot and
582. 17:59disabled
583. 18:00and now she's got the most enormous
584. 18:02weight dropped on her shoulders she's
585. 18:04got to relive
586. 18:05the most traumatic things she'll
587. 18:07probably ever go through
588. 18:09and at the end of it she has to accuse
589. 18:11her own mother that
590. 18:13is a huge responsibility for anyone let
591. 18:15alone an eight-year-old girl
592. 18:17as she regained her ability to speak she
593. 18:19was still really scared to talk about
594. 18:21what had happened that night she had to
595. 18:22undergo extensive therapy
596. 18:24just to cope with how scared she was and
597. 18:26how traumatized she was
598. 18:28luckily she had a really patient and a
599. 18:29really good therapist
600. 18:31during one of their sessions her
601. 18:32therapist had the idea to have her
602. 18:34write down the name of the person who
603. 18:36had shot her and her siblings
604. 18:38and told her that she could put the
605. 18:39paper in an envelope and
606. 18:41throw it in the fireplace that was in
607. 18:43the office so
608. 18:44she did exactly that and this became
609. 18:46routine at their sessions christie would
610. 18:48write the name down put it in an
611. 18:50envelope and put it in the fire time
612. 18:52after time after time
613. 18:53until one day she decided that instead
614. 18:56of throwing it in the fire
615. 18:58she would rather open it and when
616. 18:59christy and her therapist opened the
617. 19:01envelope and
618. 19:02looked at the paper diane's fate was
619. 19:03sealed on that piece of paper
620. 19:05christy had written the words my mom
621. 19:08yeah the indictment came down pretty
622. 19:09quick after that diane was arrested on
623. 19:11february 28
624. 19:121984 nine months after the incident had
625. 19:15taken place
626. 19:16she was charged with murder attempted
627. 19:17murder and criminal assault and she was
628. 19:19roughly
629. 19:20five to six months pregnant at this time
630. 19:22a lot of people speculate
631. 19:24that she got pregnant as a way to garner
632. 19:26sympathy during her investigation and
633. 19:28her trial
634. 19:28the prosecution's argument against her
635. 19:30was simple they argued that diane had
636. 19:32shot her children so she could
637. 19:33continue her relationship with nick nick
638. 19:35had made it very clear that he did not
639. 19:37intend to
640. 19:38be a father to anyone's children and has
641. 19:40presented a real problem for diane
642. 19:42psychiatric testing determined that
643. 19:43diane likely suffers from histrionic
644. 19:45personality disorder
645. 19:46narcissistic personality disorder and
646. 19:48antisocial personality disorder couple
647. 19:51that with the psychiatric testing she
648. 19:52had a couple years back that yielded the
649. 19:54likely psychotic diagnosis and um
650. 19:58she's got a lot going on diane has
651. 20:00alleged that her father molested her
652. 20:01when she was 12 years old
653. 20:03it's never been proven but it was
654. 20:04speculated for a while that if it was
655. 20:06true it could be where some of her
656. 20:08mental health issues
657. 20:10kind of stemmed from but i'm pretty sure
658. 20:12that diane has since recanted that
659. 20:14accusation
660. 20:15the police had gathered a ton of
661. 20:17circumstantial evidence against diane
662. 20:19but christie's testimony was crucial
663. 20:22despite her injuries and her trauma she
664. 20:24did eventually regain
665. 20:25the ability to speak and she did take
666. 20:27the stand to recount the events that had
667. 20:29transpired that night she described in
668. 20:31detail how diane had shot her and her
669. 20:32siblings before she had shot herself in
670. 20:34the arm
671. 20:35and largely thanks to christy's
672. 20:36testimony diane was found guilty of all
673. 20:39of the charges that she was indicted for
674. 20:41the verdict came down on june 17
675. 20:431984 and she was sentenced to life in
676. 20:47prison plus 50 years
677. 20:4810 days after the guilty verdict came
678. 20:50down on july 27
679. 20:521984 diane gave birth to her fourth
680. 20:54child a little girl that she named amy
681. 20:57amy was temporarily placed in the
682. 20:58custody of the state of oregon before
683. 21:00she was later adopted and renamed as for
684. 21:02christy and danny they were formally
685. 21:04adopted in 1986
686. 21:05by the prosecutor of diane's case these
687. 21:08kids going through what they went
688. 21:10through
689. 21:10and then being adopted by the man who
690. 21:13fought for their justice can we just can
691. 21:16we just take a moment and what a great
692. 21:18guy
693. 21:18it's said that he just clicked with the
694. 21:19children right from the beginning uh
695. 21:21they had stayed with him
696. 21:22once they were released from the
697. 21:23hospital and he and his wife decided to
698. 21:26make them permanent members of their
699. 21:27family from what i've read they've grown
700. 21:29up to lead
701. 21:30relatively normal and private lives the
702. 21:32end right
703. 21:33well you would think but you'd be wrong
704. 21:36on
705. 21:36july 11 1987 diane escaped from prison
706. 21:40for
707. 21:4010 days before being recaptured while
708. 21:42she was out she stayed
709. 21:44with and engaged in a sexual
710. 21:45relationship with a fellow inmate's
711. 21:47husband this woman had actually
712. 21:49told her where to go and how to find her
713. 21:51house when she escaped through a little
714. 21:53map and everything can't imagine
715. 21:55that she expected them to get quite so
716. 21:58close
717. 21:58but i guess that's the rest you run when
718. 22:00you send diane downes to shack up with
719. 22:02your husband
720. 22:03people speculate that she was trying to
721. 22:04get pregnant while she was out which
722. 22:06i don't doubt but obviously only diane
723. 22:09knows
724. 22:09if she really was or not regardless of
725. 22:12why she
726. 22:13tried to escape she was recaptured and
727. 22:15sentenced to five additional years in
728. 22:17prison
729. 22:17but that time was to be served
730. 22:18concurrently with her active sentences
731. 22:20in 1994 diane was transferred to the
732. 22:23california department of corrections
733. 22:25where she graduated college with an
734. 22:26associate's degree in general studies
735. 22:28and in 2010 she was moved to valley
736. 22:31state prison for women where i'm pretty
737. 22:32sure she resides to this day despite her
738. 22:35conviction there are people out there
739. 22:36including diane herself that are still
740. 22:39adamant that she's
741. 22:40innocent they believe that the police
742. 22:41singled her out from day one
743. 22:43and operated their investigation with
744. 22:45tunnel vision determined to prove
745. 22:47at any length they could that diane was
746. 22:48the one who'd shot her children there's
747. 22:50rumors that christie was brainwashed and
748. 22:52coached to testify against her mother
749. 22:54and
750. 22:55that prior to them being forced to stay
751. 22:57apart the children had actually been
752. 22:59happy and willing to see their mother
753. 23:00but these reports have never been
754. 23:02substantiated and diane downs remains
755. 23:04incarcerated for these crimes
756. 23:06to this day after 25 years in prison
757. 23:08diane's first and second parole
758. 23:10applications were rejected in 2008 and
759. 23:122010. she was eligible for parole again
760. 23:15in december of 2020 and i haven't seen
761. 23:17anything
762. 23:18on if she applied or how it went if she
763. 23:20did but
764. 23:21i have to assume that if she did apply
765. 23:23it was rejected again she has
766. 23:25never expressed remorse or taken
767. 23:27responsibility for her actions and she
768. 23:29just in my personal opinion does not
769. 23:31seem like the kind of person that can be
770. 23:32reintegrated
771. 23:33safely into society there you have it
772. 23:35that is the story of
773. 23:36diane downs let me know what you guys
774. 23:38think do you think she did it do you
775. 23:40think she's innocent
776. 23:41should she ever be granted parole i'd
777. 23:43love to hear your thoughts on this case
778. 23:45down below i'd also love it if you guys
779. 23:46would leave me your case suggestions i
780. 23:48have a list of my own but i am super
781. 23:50interested to
782. 23:51see who you guys want to hear about if
783. 23:53you haven't already and you'd like to go
784. 23:54ahead and subscribe to my channel i'll
785. 23:56be covering new cases here every week
786. 23:58and i would
787. 23:59love for you to join me thank you so
788. 24:00much for watching this video and i hope
789. 24:02to see you in my next one bye guys