Who Shot Her 3 Kids? Uncovering the Chilling True Crime Story of Diane Downs — Transcript

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1. 0:00across the world the most affected and
2. 0:02real love we can find is from our
3. 0:03parents especially mothers
4. 0:05but what if this fact turns into a
5. 0:07horrific nightmare
6. 0:09yes it has hello and welcome to Prime
7. 0:12Time reports where we present true crime
8. 0:14stories solved unsolved and mysterious
9. 0:16cases
10. 0:17and today we are going to discuss the
11. 0:19tragic case of Diane Downs
12. 0:22Diane Downs was born in Arizona in 1955
13. 0:26the daughter of a postal worker and the
14. 0:28Homemaker as a child she was described
15. 0:31as a chronic liar and an attention
16. 0:33seeker
17. 0:34she had a troubled relationship with her
18. 0:36parents and was known to have run away
19. 0:37from home multiple times
20. 0:40in her teenage years Diane became
21. 0:42sexually active and had several
22. 0:44relationships with older men
23. 0:46she dropped out of high school and
24. 0:47eventually became a postal worker like
25. 0:49her father
26. 0:51in 1973 she married Steve Downs a man
27. 0:54she met while working at the post office
28. 0:56they had three children together Christy
29. 0:59Cheryl and Danny
30. 1:01Cheryl Downs was Diane and Steve's
31. 1:04middle child she was born in 1976 and
32. 1:07was described as a sweet and
33. 1:08affectionate child
34. 1:10Christy Downs was Diane and Steve's
35. 1:12oldest daughter she was born in 1974 and
36. 1:15was described as a bright and cheerful
37. 1:17child
38. 1:18Danny Downs was Diane and Steve's
39. 1:21youngest child he was born in 1979 and
40. 1:24was described as a happy and energetic
41. 1:26child
42. 1:27Steve Downs her husband was born in 1953
43. 1:30and grew up in Oregon
44. 1:32after graduating from high school he
45. 1:35joined the Air Force and served in
46. 1:36Vietnam
47. 1:37a truly passionate men indeed Steve met
48. 1:40Diane while working at the post office
49. 1:42by the time passed both Steve and Diane
50. 1:45got married
51. 1:46initially everything was working fine
52. 1:48they had three children and of course
53. 1:50everything seemed to be normal
54. 1:52as much as a perfect life it seems Diane
55. 1:55was not satisfied with her life as a
56. 1:57mother and wife
57. 1:58she started to have affairs with
58. 2:00multiple men and reportedly became
59. 2:02obsessed with the idea of having a child
60. 2:03with one of her lovers
61. 2:05she also had a volatile relationship
62. 2:07with Steve and they separated in 1980.
63. 2:11Downes was involved in multiple affairs
64. 2:13with married men including a co-worker
65. 2:15and a married man with whom she had a
66. 2:17child
67. 2:18it was also revealed that she had given
68. 2:20birth to three children out of wedlock
69. 2:21and had undergone multiple abortions
70. 2:24however Steve was devastated by the loss
71. 2:27of his children and the Betrayal of his
72. 2:29ex-wife
73. 2:30after being separated it was all
74. 2:33supposed to be normal again for Diane
75. 2:34but it was not up until on May 19 1983
76. 2:37when Diane arrived at Mackenzie Willem
77. 2:40at hospital with her three children all
78. 2:42suffering from gunshot wounds
79. 2:44even though the kids were brought to the
80. 2:46hospital unfortunately Cheryl died
81. 2:48shortly after arriving at the hospital
82. 2:49while Danny was left paralyzed from the
83. 2:52waist down and Christy survived despite
84. 2:54suffering a severe injury to her arm
85. 2:56at the hospital Downes told the
86. 2:58emergency room staff that a bushy-haired
87. 3:01stranger had stopped her car on a rural
88. 3:03road demanded that she give him her car
89. 3:05and Shop her and her children when she
90. 3:06refused
91. 3:08however Hospital staff found her
92. 3:10behavior to be odd in her story
93. 3:11inconsistent with the children's
94. 3:13injuries
95. 3:14the hospital informed authorities on
96. 3:16first priority but it turned out that an
97. 3:19anonymous witness had already called
98. 3:209-1-1 before the kids were taken to the
99. 3:23hospital
100. 3:24the police were contacted by a witness
101. 3:26Joanne Fawcett who had encountered downs
102. 3:29and her children shortly after the
103. 3:30shooting
104. 3:31Fawcett testified that Downes had told
105. 3:33her that she had been shot by a stranger
106. 3:35who had attempted to carjack her vehicle
107. 3:38however Fawcett noticed that Down's
108. 3:40demeanor was strangely calm and that she
109. 3:42was more concerned about the condition
110. 3:43of her car than the welfare of her
111. 3:45children
112. 3:47the investigation into the case was led
113. 3:49by Lane County District Attorney Fred
114. 3:51huge and involved multiple law
115. 3:53enforcement agencies including the FBI
116. 3:56they conducted a thorough investigation
117. 3:58as they dug deeper investigators
118. 4:00discovered that Diane had a history of
119. 4:02dishonesty and erratic Behavior
120. 4:04they learned that she had been having
121. 4:06affairs with multiple men and was
122. 4:08obsessed with one of them a married man
123. 4:10named Robert Knickerbocker she had even
124. 4:12gone so far as to tell people that she
125. 4:14was pregnant with his child though she
126. 4:16was not
127. 4:17the police also learned that Diane had
128. 4:19previously been investigated for child
129. 4:21abuse and there were concerns about her
130. 4:23Fitness as a mother
131. 4:25she had reportedly told friends that she
132. 4:27didn't love her children and had even
133. 4:29considered giving him up for adoption
134. 4:31as the investigation continued the
135. 4:33evidence against Diane mounted
136. 4:36Witnesses came forward to say that they
137. 4:38had seen her car near the scene of the
138. 4:40shooting and ballistics evidence showed
139. 4:41that the gun used in the shooting was
140. 4:43consistent with one that had been in
141. 4:44Diane's possession
142. 4:46the police also discovered that Diane
143. 4:48had purchased a book about a mother who
144. 4:50had killed her children
145. 4:51based on the evidence they gathered the
146. 4:54investigators concluded that Diane had
147. 4:56shot her children in an effort to free
148. 4:57herself from the burden of motherhood so
149. 4:59that she could pursue a relationship
150. 5:01with Knickerbocker
151. 5:03she was arrested and charged with murder
152. 5:04and attempted murder the prosecution
153. 5:07presented evidence of Diane's affair
154. 5:09with Knickerbocker her history of
155. 5:10dishonesty and her lack of concern for
156. 5:12her children's well-being
157. 5:14the defense argued that there was not
158. 5:16enough evidence to prove that Diane was
159. 5:18the shooter and that the prosecution's
160. 5:19case was based on circumstantial
161. 5:21evidence
162. 5:22in the end Diane was convicted of one
163. 5:25count of murder and two counts of
164. 5:26attempted murder and was sentenced to
165. 5:28life in prison plus 50 years despite her
166. 5:31continued claims of Innocence she
167. 5:33remains Behind Bars to this day
168. 5:36if you love to hear solved unsolved and
169. 5:38mysterious cases do subscribe to Prime
170. 5:41Time reports and comment down what you
171. 5:42think about this event and how it would
172. 5:44have been prevented