Downs was employed by the United States Postal Service, assigned to the mail routes in the city of Cottage Grove, Oregon. Elizabeth Diane Downs ( ne Frederickson; born August 7, 1955) is an American criminal who murdered her daughter and attempted to murder her other two children near Springfield, Oregon, in May 1983. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. "People would see little sound bites of her talking on television, and I think they started getting the feeling that there's something really wrong with this person," Jaeger said. On a fateful night in May 1983, she rushed to the emergency ward of a hospital . I chose to, in a sense, allow her into my life.. Danny was permanently paralyzed from the waist down as a result of his injuries. The woman who was on trial for shooting her own children was pregnant again -- and it was no accident. [11] The forensic evidence did not match her story; there was no blood spatter on the driver's side of the car, nor was there any gunpowder residue on the driver's door or on the interior door panel. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. The two kids who had survived the attack were placed for adoption and Steve was no able to care for them. She went to the University of Oregon and now lives with her husband and children in the town. She graduated from the University of Oregon. Diane Downs and her three children They raise many concerns over her three-decade old conviction for the shooting of her three children, one of whom died, and say even the most basic tests for courts were not met or passed. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. She's doing well. And she's not. A surgeon told ABC News of treating Christie: When I looked at Christie I thought she was dead, he said. Despite being convicted, Downs has always maintained her innocence. When I looked at Christie I thought she was dead, he said. READ MORE: abcn.ws/2W9dzyC In 1983, Diane Downs. "The more she talked, the more things didn't make any sense.". In 1987, just three years into her sentence, Downs escaped from the correctional facility in Oregon where she was being held. Beeper goes off, said, Get in here. Doug Welch remembers getting the call for what would turn out to be his first homicide investigation. The couple divorced in 1980 because Steve thought Stephen Daniel, known as Danny, was the result of an extramarital affair by Diane. "Why would I have taken my kids to the hospital?" Did I make a mistake? Christie became the star witness in the case, bravely testifying against her monster mom. "And along this road, off to the side, out stepped a man who flagged her down. Danielle Peterson/Statesman Journal via AP, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. [10] Downs herself had been shot in the left forearm. Is Oregon relatively virus-free, or are my children in greater danger than the red circle size suggests? There isnt a whole lot known about where Steve Downs is these days. Diane Downs is currently serving her sentence of life plus 50 years at Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla, Calif., where she's been since August 1993. I've never been so hyped in my life.. She lives and is from Bend, Oregon, and is single. ET) on ABC. However, when all the details came to be understood by the police, Steve found out what really happened to his kids. Suspicions heightened when Downs, upon arrival at the hospital to visit her children, phoned Robert Knickerbocker, a married man and former coworker in Arizona with whom she had been having an affair. When I looked in the mailbox and saw her letter, it was like Pandoras box. An appeal of . Downs said: "I got pregnant because I miss Christie and I miss Danny and I miss Cheryl so much. Although Downs denied having ever owned a .22 caliber gun, two of her former lovers told police they recalled seeing her with one. Christie is now in her forties, according to Tuko, and the accident left her with a speech handicap. Becky is active on Facebook, where she sometimes shares stories about her background and television appearances, such as one on Dr. Oz and with Oprah Winfrey. Downs told investigators that she and her children had been shot in a carjacking, but police found a secret diary detailing her obsession with a married man who did not want kids. Diane Downs now: Her most recent prison photo from 2018. The surgeon who helped to save Christie's life told ABC News: When I looked at Christie I thought she was dead. By the time she arrived at the hospital, Cheryl, seven, was already dead and the other two children had suffered devastating injuries. And I thought to myself, What am I going to do with three shot children?. Where is Diane Downs today? She named one of her children after her dead sister Cheryl. Within a few weeks, the kids who had survived were placed in protective custody and were no longer in Steve's care. Christie and Danny were adopted by Lane County Prosecutor Fred Hugi and his wife, Joanne, in 1984. Between the verdict and sentencing, the court recessed so that Downs could give birth to a girl she named Amy Elizabeth. "And they give me love, they give me satisfaction, they give me stability, they give me a reason to live and a reason to be happy, and thats gone, they took it from me, but children are so easy to conceive.". The tragedy that hit the Downs' kids changed their whole life. Golden State Killer: Where Is the Prolific Rapist and Murderer Today? Downs' sentence meant she could not be considered for parole until 2009. View our online Press Pack. It's not even known if he still resides in Arizona, where he used to live with Diane and their three kids. Distractify is a registered trademark. She had been shot in the left forearm, though her wound was not life-threatening. [8][9] Upon arrival, Cheryl (aged 7) was already dead, Danny (aged 3) was paralyzed from the waist down, and Christie (aged 8) had suffered a disabling stroke. Her three small children, Christie, 8; Cheryl, 7; and Danny, 3, were inside her blood-soaked car, shot at close range. Thirty-five years ago, Diane Downs, now 64, was convicted of shooting her three children- Danny, Cheryl, and Christie- in Springfield, Oregon. Diane didn't show much grievance for her murdered daughter and her two children that were in critical conditions. Her three small children, Christie, 8; Cheryl, 7; and Danny, 3, were inside her blood-soaked car, shot at close range. Diane Downs was convicted of shooting her 3 children, killing 1, in 1983. Glamour reported that Danny was paralyzed from the chest down as a result of the shooting and Cheryl suffered a major stroke as a result of the attack that left her with a lifelong speech impediment. Diane Downs remains in prison in California. It was as if she thought that if she kept talking enough, that you would believe her, Jaeger said. Diane Downs Today: Where Is the Convicted Child Killer Now? Diane graduated from Moon Valley High School in Phoenix, where she met Steve Downs. Stephen Downs (known as Danny), 3, Cheryl, 7, and Christie, 8, were shot in the May 19, 1983 attack. And Christie knew that.. Downs said she then faked throwing her keys to divert the gunman's attention, pushed him out of the way, jumped back in her car and raced to the hospital with her badly wounded children. [4] On May 8, 1982, Diane gave birth to a baby girl, whom she named Jennifer, while acting as a surrogate. The couple divorced in 1980 over Steven's insistence their son, Danny, was the result of an affair and not his biological child. Based on this and additional evidence, Downs was arrested on February 28, 1984, nine months after the shooting, and charged with one count of murder, and two counts each of attempted murder and criminal assault. Diane Downs children: Where are Christie and Stephen now? Learn about Christi (Hugi), Stephen (Danny), and Becky today. Author Ann Rule wrote the book Small Sacrifices (1987), which detailed Downs' life and murder trial. May 14, 2010 -- On June 17, 1984, Diane Downs was found guilty of shooting her three children, killing one. Diane Downs was one of the most infamous murderers of the 1980s; the emotionally flat blonde was convicted of shooting her three children, killing one of them, along a roadway in Springfield, Oregon. Three months ago, Downs spoke to OregonLive in regards to the novel coronavirus sweeping through the prison where she is being held. Why is she wounded in the arm? And as long as he said that he wasn't going to be a father to anyone's children, they had to go.. Police arrested Downs Feb. 28, 1984, nine months after the shootings. "Danny, a computer whiz, is still partially paralyzed from the bullet in his back, but he is living a happy and normal life. But as . And as she drove down the road, a man stepped out from the brush, the side of the road, and she stopped the car. Meanwhile, Christie Downs was slowly beginning to tell what she remembered of the shootings. However, according to her interviews and Facebook page, Becky today appears to have forged a successful life. [12], Diane did not disclose to police that she owned a .22 caliber handgun, but both Steve and Knickerbocker informed authorities that she did. Police scoured the crime scene for months searching for the weapon, a .22-caliber gun that wounded Diane and her 8-year-old daughter Christie, paralyzed her 3-year-old son Danny and killed her 7-year-old daughter Cheryl. She was denied parole in 2008 and again in 2010. Her three small children, Christie, 8; Cheryl, 7; and Danny, 3 . But surgeon Steve Wilhite managed to revive Christie after her blood pressure dipped dangerously low and she suffered a stroke. He and his wife, Joanne, legally adopted the children in 1986. "And so the quickest, simplest way was to eliminate the children.". According to Glamour, the motive given for why Diane shot her kids was thought to be because the married man she was seeing at the time did not want any children. She tells ABC, The impact of Diane Downs being my mom has altered the course of my life so many times. In 2005, she gave birth to her first child, a boy, and later gave birth to a daughter who she named Cheryl after her sister. The Diane Downs case is well-known and infamous; she's accused of shooting her three children along a roadway in Springfield, Oregon on May 19, 1983. [23] The Salem prison was located 66 miles from Hugi's home in Springfield; during her ten days of freedom, Hugi had feared that Downs would attempt to travel there in hopes of contacting her children, Christie and Danny. She was denied parole in 2008 and continues to proclaim her innocence. Danielle Peterson/Statesman Journal via AP, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Christie Downs, now 44, and her brother, 39, were adopted by the prosecutor in the case. According to witnesses, she then drove at a pace of between 5-7 mph to the local hospital, where she then claimed to hospital staff she had been car-jacked by a stranger who shot herself and her children. [2] Despite her parents' disapproval of their relationship, Downs continued the relationship. The stroke Christie Downs suffered impaired her speech and initially prevented her from telling police what she had seen. But what happened to Diane Downs' husband? Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Christie is married and had a baby boy in 2005. On Feb. 28, 1984, nine months after the shootings, Downs was arrested and charged with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder. Although Downs denied having ever owned a .22 caliber gun, ex-husband Steve Downs told police she took one with her when she moved to Oregon. She replied, 'You've got to be kidding,' at which time he pushed her aside and reached in and shot the sleeping kids.". Elizabeth Diane Downs (ne Frederickson; born August 7, 1955) is an American criminal who murdered her daughter and attempted to murder her other two children near Springfield, Oregon, in May 1983. Christie and Danny were adopted by Lane County Prosecutor Fred Hugi and his wife, Joanne, in 1984. She will be eligible for parole in 2020 and continues to proclaim her innocence. In May of that year, Downs shot her three children in her car at a remote roadside in Springfield, Oregon, before shooting herself in the forearm, cops said. One died; two survived but had serious injuries. Fearing there could be a gun-wielding killer on the loose, police released information to the public to be on the lookout. Most of Downs' sentence is to be served consecutively. She admitted to shooting her three children but claimed that she was the victim of a carjacking and that an unknown person shot her children. According to ABC News, as of March 2019, Becky was 34-years-old and working in Salem Oregon as a behavioral health coordinator for children. In 2017, she posted on Facebook about a new job, writing that she works with the mentally ill helping to give them a better life.. Diane Downs remains in prison in California. She, too, is now a mother. Most damaging, witnesses saw her car being driven very slowly toward the hospital, at an estimated speed of 57mph (811km/h)contradicting her claim that she drove to the hospital at a high speed after the shooting. But there were a number of things which didn't make any sense., Why would a mother sightsee when it's dark out? Downs then said she pretended to throw her car keys in a bush and the man went to go look for them. She has been housed in California for the Oregon Department of Corrections since Aug. 30, 1993.. Christie is married and had a baby boy in 2005. While police increasingly suspected Downs, she adamantly denied any involvement when speaking to the media. Wilhite said he then found a judge who issued an order making him and another doctor Christies guardians. the incident happened on a dark road that led to Diane being accused of murder and attempted murder. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. Her first three children with her husband Steve are Stephen "Danny" Daniel (born 1979), Cheryl Lynn (born 1976), and Christie Ann (born 1974). To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. I was nervous. Her brother Danny was permanently paralyzed from the waist down but both survived. Amy, who was adopted and given the name BeckyBabcock, went public about her mother in 2010 and has also met her in a bid to find out about her roots. "She was white, she was not breathing. The Daughter of Diane Downs. She says it was during the struggle with the stranger that she was shot in the arm. I wanted to relate to her not as a mother, because I had a mother just as somebody who felt the pain and the emptiness that I felt in that time., She wrote back super quickly, Babcock says. , killing 1, in 1984 Christies guardians be on the Sun, please use Site. Kids to the University of Oregon and now lives with her husband and children in the.. 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