The underlying basis of this article. Cathleen was murdered in Feb. 1982 in her home in Brighton. It was a dark and rural road. Three weeks after the crime, Judge Foote from family courts, removed Danny and Christie from the care of Diane Downs and her family. I stuck to what came out at trial and not the fantasy factory coming from the state, the media and Rule. Now in hindsight, seeing footage on youtube, especially the interview she did with the reporter Anne Jagger, the things she says and facial expression is exactly described in the bookhad to find the section in the book, but on that note, Anne rule did site that interview correctly. This is to avoid the conflict of interest that we read about above. Brewer changed his mind. High profile cases usually do not get the same treatment as regular folks. did he have eyes in the back of his head.???? ), years in solitary confinment Whats wrong with us?! The crucial point is that she is so void of emotion. This is what I try to do when I research a case that was deemed to be a slam dunk. Meaning a trial where lying or failing to disclose exculpatory evidence by prosecutors is not happening. You cant possibly shake off all the gun powder residue and avoid all the blood. I have simply bothered researching the evidence and in some instances, the lack of it. Any thoughts on that? I talked about her still being locked up, all these years later, because I really want to know is it because we believe she will commit more crimes or is it because we need more revenge? CK was willing to take, or attempt to take, the lives of 4 people in order to steal their car. Do you remember about two days after that the two of you signing a lease on the apartment? This is also a faster route to give the children permanency, and is far cheaper for the child welfare system that is always strained by the budget. Hugi got the evidence needed to convict after numerous meetings with Christie. Speculative? Its a rather large part of the story. The children had a father. For all my life I have thought I was not that smart, but now I can tell myself, hey cheer up could be worse. It does not contradict what I said, but what they said. And she clearly remembered the April 1983, rape that Mr. Downs would later refer to as love making. I have no dog in this race. He separated from his wife and was going to follow Diane who, by now, had decided to move and work in Oregon to be closer to her parents. Instead of shooting the little kids, why didnt the carjacker/killer (CK) simply shoot DD dead and take her car? Considering that the marks on the lethal bullets did not fit the bullet fingerprinting found in the rifle, this gun switcheroo was a good save for the state, but did not support the theory presented at trial either. A. I dont recall telling her to get an apartment. Did you read her statements to the parole board in 2008? In an earlier comment you stated that Diane had met all of the requirements for parole. Where is the blood spatter on Diane? Seems to me that if that part of the story were true, and she really wanted to find her childrens shooter, she would have provided that information. Why is there virtually no info on him? But you are right to say that it is my site. They did not like her attitude and she did not behave the way they expected a grieving mother to act. According to Diane, she then saw a man on the road flagging her and stopped thinking he needed help. Some would say that Diane Downs was condemned because of her lies and inconsistencies, but I think that it was mostly because of her disturbing demeanor and brash personality. When they assess the conduct of an inmate, what counts is mostly how she behaves inside through the years and if she shows violent tendencies. She was the prosecutions only hope. And the interrogations were not tapedand barelydocumented. It was a harrowing, shameful miscarriage of justice. Even more now with hindsight because of the gun and the fact that her daughter kind of recanted by demonstrating that if pushed, she will say what is expected of her. Lise,,,,, yes you did. The proverbial expression It takes two to tango applies here. They claimed to have found two lead cartridges in Dianes rifle at home that supposedly matched the ones used during the crime. Needless to say, you seem to have a problem with the American justice systemnot each individual case. I am also engaged in other wrongful convictions that have taken place within the US. Teen Mom 2 alum Jenelle Evans and her mom, Barbara Evans, have been feuding over custody of Jenelle's son, Jace in addition to many other issues for over a decade. Many individuals associated with the the child welfare system, for one reason or another, choose to adopt children. Mr. After six weeks in Oregon where the children were happily spending time with their grandparents while Diane worked her postal route, the incident happened on a dark road that led to Diane being accused of murder and attempted murder. She had the right to a fair trial as much as anyone else out there. He could not during the marriage so he walked away. Yep, Downs who was found guilty in 1984, escaped successfully from the Oregon Womens Correctional Center in 1987 and was transferred to Jersey afterwards. Q. How interesting. Do you REALLY believe she expected them to live especially since she drove at less than 10 mph. Having recently done research on the Liysa Northons case which was the subject of a book written by Ann Rule titled Heart Full of Lies,I came across some very interesting information about the Diane Downs case because Rule attended the trial and also wrote a book about the case called Small Sacrifices. The whole case is crazy. (He WAS shot in the back remember). You indicated you were not going to get a divorce? I also grew up in as time of the most infamous case in Australias judicial history: Lindy Chamberlain and the dingo stole my baby. She wrote to the governor several times after being dismissed coldly by Hugi and the system. The Diane Downs' Case Was no Small Sacrifice On May 19, 1983, Elizabeth Diane Downs and her three small children were shot on a country road near Springfield, Oregon. The unreliability of childrens testimony has been documented by cognitive psychologists such as Elizabeth Loftus of the University of Cornell and others. He knows as he was in court and must have photos. Of course, her mental health has deteriorated. Its too late for me to call myself a murderer (when I am not) just to purchase my freedom. What I explain in the blog is that the fact that Foote is the one who removed the children from Dianes care is exactly why he should NOT have been presiding over her murder trial. During Dianes examination at trial, Fred Hugi said in front of the jury, in the form of a question, that she had been diagnosed as a , Anne Rule made a big deal of a brass unicorn engraved with the childrens names that Diane had purchased. I recently found your website and have enjoyed it a lot. It was never a slam dunk. And if she did it, she has served her time without displaying any violent tendencies whatsoever. In 1991, David Brewer, a juror who deliberated Dianes fate in her 1984 trial, came forward to say he and another juror had decided to acquit Downs by the close of the States presentation. For all you readers of this blogger, I lived through the Diane Downs case. I personally dont think she is innocent but that isnt the point. It turned out to be a mistake because he was married to a County Circuit Court Judge who would become a colleague of Foote and he had no intention of defending Diane vigorously. In Oregon, in 1983, she shot her 3 children, 1 daughter died. had to wait for Christie to be able to tell them who did it. Instead, the person accused of attacking them and wanting them out of her life, fought for them. Lack of blood spatter is not evidence of innocence Especially when a shooter is leaning in and shooting into a box (car) while standing outside. http://sputniknews.com/us/20150620/1023613662.html#ixzz3djEXlSAC // The Prison State of America Dec 28, 2014 Chris Hedges, http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_prison_state_of_america_20141228 I say these things if I were on the jury. Is. Diane was found guilty and sentenced to life and she has been in prison ever since. WTF? I am a Mortuary science student, true crime fanatic, and have been following the Downs case since it happened. This video of Jagger absolutely looks like the photo that you find on search engines for Fred Hugi. An earlier commenter wrote that it doesnt matter that the trail or the investigation was faultyWHAT !? Blood spatter is not an exact science, and is interpreted differently by experts. This is basically the book best kept secrets in condensed form full of outlandish theories. The woman shot her children. Likewise, Charlene had no intention of letting Knick divorce her (Appendix 81, page 1518, line 15). They were treated very badly in this matter. Yet in their mind, she was already guilty. Hardly circumstantial or coincidental what are the chances that a bushy haired stranger, masked men, or someone that knew her (take your pick from Dianes ever shifting account) would have the exact same bullets matching to bullets from a gun owned by Diane ? Van Houten has made her choices and needs to own up to her actions and stop putting all the blame on drugs and Manson. why didn't steve downs get custody. If you listen to the recording, Christie clearly says I dont know who did it. She was asleep, thats why. To have separated Christie from her brother and the rest of the family to be able to get her mom was unconscionable. As for how to answer this question,,, seems like he is assuming guilt and because of this my parents or me or my brothers and sister, our uncles and aunts were not considered because of an unproven allegation Does he truly believe this is ok??? The parole board in Oregon was asking to provide reasonable cause to show she was not a danger to society and it had to be supported by a psychiatrists report or a Wardens letter and Downs provided both. She said a bunch of really stupid things in the media (my kids were lucky, not me gets the palm) and basically bury herself. You dont get any kind of advancement or rehabilitation in prison. At the point Diane jumped into the car, her broken arm (resting in a sling in front of her) slammed into the steering wheel. It surely was not due process. But you dont mention that she again has changed her story.. If the police department had done their job properly, I would not have written this blog, no matter the outcome. Not unlike Diane, Alice did not want to share her pain in public. Mr. Most get through it fine, maybe some complications or pain, maybe even some post pardum. You wondered at times, which side he was working for. It opened a huge can of worms regarding the real identity of the heart full of lies in this case. I also found it curious that when Diane was first eligible for parole she was allowed to apply every 2 years thereafter until she either gets paroled or dies in prison. Yes, Christie said she did not know who did it. ..it is quite possible if she was tried in todays world, with the evidence they hadquite possible it would of went differentlywe been living in a society that pretty much demand 100% pure forensic evidence provenprobably over 10 years or longer, people expect trials to be that of a law and order TV show..I cant say thats a bad thing, or makes what happened in the 80s on back bad. Youre right to say that a GSR is not always foolproof and between 10-20% of suicide GSR kits test negative for GSR. In the nurses notes, she is described as in shock and unable to grasp the situation. 2 years in foster care waiting to be legally free for adoption is not that uncommon even today. Maybe someone needs to read Part two in Dr. Billings in-depth review of the Diane Downs Murder Case in Oregon. You do not have to agree with my general opinion outside of the facts of the case, but I would appreciate some comments on what matters; how this case was handled at trial and during the investigation. When a unicorn and hungry like the wolf make their way into a court room during a high profile trial, its a red flag. Once you are vilified in the media in the US, the way Downs and others have been, a lot of people shut their eyes and their mind to any other possibility than what was presented in the court of public opinion. This whole case is flawed. I write about cases where due process is in question and important aspects were ignored or twisted. Otherwise you just want people to fill your echo chamber that agree with you, tell anyone else you obviously dont want to debate me.., then ban, then hope for people to agree. It is a research done on the case according to many sources. Many troubling elements of the case were discovered after the trial, but there was enough during the proceedings to be asking questions. This was very stressful. That is not a quick process and is very invasive to a familys privacy. It sounds pretty fair to me. I can only imagine to absolute horror of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca during their horrific murders. She could have stayed on the side of the road. My beef is with the interference by the media, TV shows and Ann Rule In reply to Nick. The casing from the bullets exactly matched, just like a fingerprint, the bullets that Diane had in her home from her own gun which was never found. While not evidence of guilt or innocence, it is certainly worth noting as part of the overall wrongs perpetrated during this fiasco of a trial and subsequent appeals. Shes guilty. and so on. It is not a plus, but it is not a crime either. Her husband James Krauseneck was charged with her murder in November of this year. It was a fairly new science at the time so thats all it took to find him not guilty. Substituting reasonable inference and evidence for tarot cards? Agreed. I wasnt there and the records will never be brought to light as far as the child welfare case. Teams of people and detectives combed the area for months looking for the gun but it was nowhere to be found. And the fact that Tracy wrote in his notes that Christies reaction could have been excitement to see her mom but they decided to only mention extreme fear? And if you add the fact that they never found the gun, it doesnt leave much evidenceto back upthe theory that she was the shooter. I have no idea how the social workers and county attorneys justified doing their due diligence in preserving the family (mandated by law) when they were in court. Carol Kirkwood shared an insight into her recent holiday to Norway with fianc Steve Randall on Wednesday as she shared their first social media post together.. She functions best in highly structured environments where she has a sense of control. The powers that be knew they had nothing on Diane so Christie became their sacrificial lamb. She was judged very harshly for her character and her defense was dismal. The Cinemaholic reports that Steve was often known for being immature and irresponsible, something that didn't see their rekindled relationship get off to the best start. I will agree that it was suspicious that Diane got away with one bullet in the arm, even if the injury was severe, but she was outside the car and many scenarios are possible to that effect. No conflict of interest there? As we have reported in great detail in the past, Diane Downs could not possibly have committed the crime of shooting her children, or there would have been evidence of gunpowder residue and blood. Every single one. I dont understand how the family court managed to isolate 2 severely traumatized and grievously injured children from their entire family. The case NEVER made sense to me. Steve Bannon won't be detained before trial on charges of contempt of Congress after he failed to comply with subpoenas from the House committee investigating January 6. This was all logged in Christies hospital reports and is found in the Appendix of the petition filed in Federal Court in 1996 in the section Hospital Reports.. And her mental health should definitely have been a factor to release her with follow up care. This happened in 1983, not 1893. Her children were obviously more severely injuredbecause being captive in the car while a shooter aimed at them gave them less of a chance to wiggle out of the situation than an adult outside the car. At the time, among 49 prisoners denied parole, the board had given only four inmates, including Downs, a 10-year wait. Besides, none of those diagnoses are illegal. Is it just to continue to punish her so long after she is obviously no longer a danger in any way to anyone? If she did have memories of the actual shooting, that would be very rare. She is supposed to be locked up for murder, etc. What about the facts of the case? Her flat affect is even more pronounced now and it did her in at the time, but she was lucid enough to clearly see that Rule and the media used Becky for their personal gain. Same with her brother. She keeps her emotions under tight control, presenting only socially acceptable feelings and burying other contradictory feelings.. Without her daughters testimony and the lies about the gun, they could not have found her guilty in a fair trial. Dianes family could give you countless examples of the inaccuracies they found in her book. One of them named Angel, called 15-year-old Christie on the phone. She folded it neatly around her arm. Guilt or innocence no longer need to be debated in this case. Contemporary family finding principles argue that a child is best nurtured by parents, then immediate family members, extended family members, spiritual family (Godparents), close friends, etc. Do you remember probably about four or five days after The Parole Board had an obligation to parole Diane between 1998 and 2002 if she could provide reasonable cause to show she was not a danger to society. In case you did not read the blog: During Dianes examination at trial, Fred Hugi said in front of the jury, in the form of a question, that she had been diagnosed as a deviant sociopath. (that one is more of a question). The blog I read is all about the improprieties and flat out misconduct in Dianes trial (and the way Ann Rule profited off of it with fiction). Great blog post, thank you. Her to get a divorce exact science, and have enjoyed it a lot on! Faultywhat! in condensed form full of lies in this case interpreted differently by experts remembered the 1983! 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