1st, you came back from a trip? Local police alerted the public to be on the lookout for a dangerous man with a gun as the toll of the attack on Downs and her children became clear: seven-year-old Cheryl was dead; three-year-old Danny was permanently paralyzed from the waist down; and eight-year-old Christie was clinging to life, having suffered a stroke because her blood pressure was so low. BUT the babies were put in Foster Care before any allegations were made Family has defended and backed Diane for her Innocence clearly from day one The state took them away from all family because family was and is the enemy Even if they say that she did not get involved in rehabilitation programs, she did participate, but obviously did not admit to killing her daughter and injuring the others. Click here to read the complaint. This is a fascinating and informative article that has answered some questions I had, and prompted others: 1. When she resisted, he shot her kids and struggled with her. The fact that Dianes injury was way more serious than they tried to pretend? There were days she was unhappy to see the staff and her family because she was very ill. That poor girl had a lot of bad moments where she would cry constantly or trigger the machines and to have defined this single incident as one of terror instead of excitement over seeing her mom was biased and self-serving. If you had commented on one of the elements contained in the blog, it might have been enlightening. In reply to Nick. Susan, I dont know if there ever was a lawsuit against Ann Rule from the Fredericksons family. I will talk to Dianes brother. In December 1979, she gave birth to her son Danny. Lise,,,,, yes you did. Saying that I seem to be doing what I accuse Ann Rule of doing is kind of ironic because the point of this blog is to try to stay away from innuendo and fantasies like unicorns and songs that might have been playing or not during a tragic murder. Her lover and former husband testified against her but it did not represent evidence but character assassination. Movie scene alleging that Christie was scared. http://www.glamour.com/story/i-found-out-my-mother-was-a-killer-the-rebecca-babcock-story. The presence or absence of records for any individual is not a guarantee of any kind. To listen to Christies taped conversation, click below. The whole case is crazy. According to Rule and the court, the unicorn was a memorial to her children that she purchased after premeditating their murder. Whether or not Steve Downs was in some way behind the shooting, the man who fired the weapon was a stranger to Diane. The fact that she drove there and it saved the life of two of her children should give anyone pause. You fail to mention what her daughter actually said about her communication with Diane, like Diane telling her that a very powerful person, a secret man, has been watching her, and that if she loved her son she would move away or else her son will grow up to be a murderer. Or that the sketch did not resemble the suspect enough? She was harshly judged because of her demeanor. Christie was born in October of 1974 and Cheryl Lynn in January of 1976. I can make out I will ask you to take a good look at the people in your life. But her behavior became the most important factor in the investigation that followed. Not right at all. He hired Jim Jagger on the 1st of June 1983, 11 days after the shooting. Robert was a married man in Arizona with whom Diane had been having an affair, back when she was still living there. Some basic help and starters when you have to write a tribute to someone you love. All smoke and mirrors to fit a certain scenario. Her quest for love had landed her into an unstable and loveless marriage. Diane needs some serious spiritual advancement and atonement before she ever will have or deserve peace. You can believe what you like. 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. Late Tom Billings had been the first who openly questioned Diane Downs guilt. If you read the blog, you will see many examples of media hype and character assassination. The point is our trials need to be conducted fairly and based on evidence. Everything I outlined should be public knowledge. Moreover, he apparently told her that he did not want children and this statement alone would seal Dianes fate. Mr. Jagger failed to challenge that competency. Page 40 of Case History. 80% MARRIED 80% of these people are married, and 20% are single. The tape is real and probably not admissible, but it seems to indicate that her testimony was coerced. They were tons of witnesses that saw him at work. In fact, what investigator Tracy had written in his notes is that the heart monitor jumped because of excitement or intense fear. The car was splattered with blood, but Diane had none on her. But, after she had moved to Oregon for her job with the U.S. postal service, Roger reconciled with his wife. The detective said if Diane would just testify against Steve Downs, she and her children could go home and try to put their lives back together. But in the case of DD, there were a lot of elements missing. On May 30, 1983, the McKenzie-Willamette Hospital Chaplain told Dianes father to hire an attorney because the State was going to take his grandchildren away. Being a patient of the doctor who saved the childrens lives has nothing to do with the facts of a case. View the profiles of people named Robert Knickerbocker. I understand that the authorities were afraid to leave the two remaining children under her care if they thought she was guilty, but they could have been released to the grandparents or other blood relatives with supervised visits from their mom considering that she was not charged with any crime. that you told Diane to tell steve that she was Knicks The towel and a girl who had a stroke, was separated from her family and was constantly questioned without being recorded or accompanied by a loved one and testifying to facts that do not match the testimony of the forensic expert is not being reduced to conjecture? Blood spatter is not an exact science, and is interpreted differently by experts. Evidence continued to pile up against Diane Downs. Blood, cuts, limo driver who saw him come in, the shoe print, the blood in the car and on the socks in his bedroom. No services are scheduled at this time. Insulting a woman in prison since 30 years instead of debating the inconsistencies of this case is pretty pathetic. Plus, Diane could have never cleaned her clothes and her hair to remove blood and gun powder. It is because she is a high profile person. It could be argued that he developed a relationship with the children and genuinely wanted them to join his family. I mean, yeah, I can see the no contact order with Diane. What mother takes her kids out at night and then stops for a stranger with her kids in the car? 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.. I do not have to put any statement advising people that I am about to present the neglected aspects of the trial. But, Diane also claimed that Robert had told her that he was planning on leaving his wife and moving to Oregon to be with her. They had him micromanaged, and with the testimony of little Christie they were in business. To plant trees in memory, please visit the. Yes, I had to go and sign the lease, yes, sir. If Hugi got attached to the children, why did he wait 2 years when little Christie was starting to say she had no clue who shot them? Even put in different hospitals. My question is: why is she still locked up? Find census, military, and other historical records.*. What I believe doesnt matter at all. She is supposed to be locked up for murder, etc. Robert L Knickerbocker, 63. 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. Say Her Name - But Spell It Right - The Tale of Breonna Taylor, Scott Peterson Was not Entitled to a Perfect Trial, but he Was Entitled to a Fair One He Received Neither. A 1951 graduate of Johnson City High School and retired after 20 years from the United Sta Forensics or lack thereof and blood splatter? They never tried to reunite them with family. Most get through it fine, maybe some complications or pain, maybe even some post pardum. Some 287 errors and falsehoods were documented by Liysa and verified by official sources. Jeff, you mention being harsh as if there was a justification for it. woman quot~ unquote, do you remember anything like that? I still remember my mother picking up the paper and seeing the headline. No matter how much Ive read, or how many of her constant at the time interviews I watch on YouTube, the things that come from her brain to her mouth never cease to amaze me. The blog tries to bring balance and more objectivity to a case that was TOTALLY one sided and still is. They now throw people in prison in the US for debts. Downs herself had been shot in the left forearm. This is what Mrs Downs had to say about the situation. In what world is that O.K. Again thats opinion, and neither balanced nor objective. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. This same witness corroborated that Diane did not stop to do something suspicious or dispose of the gun. It became more about despising Diane Downs than investigating fairly. She was also shot twice andifshe had been sitting up, the seats would have been covered with blood spatter as well as the shooter. She goes on to say that she has deep regret and mourns the loss and death of her children. They now have social media arenas reminiscent of the Romans cheering at the sight of a thumb down meaning there will be a bloodshed. Not in this case. The case was so one sided that it is about time some of us bring up the other side. I was also stunned that she took the reports of all of Dianes ( mostly married) ex lovers as absolute truth and never once questioned that they might have been lying and retrospectively minimising their feelings for Diane to protect themselves. It was obvious to the cops and the prosecution because they proceeded to get her daughter to testify against her because they had nothing to prove she was the shooter. Also on old footage of the trial, as there was no cameras aloud, the drawing of Christie Downs from court artist also complies with the testimony given in the book, as far as her pain and crying. They should have left her alone. Her arm was severely damaged, so shattered that she needed a graft from a hip bone. Knickerbocker, Robert C.Robert C. Knickerbocker, age 82 of Tucson, AZ, passed away on May 15, 2015 in Tucson. I agree in both cases they were high profile cases. For some people, the best send-off is one that they would have loved to attendthemselves: a big party. What about the facts of the case? The jurors had doubts. The jury verdict was guilty on all counts, but there was a mixture of votes. Anything less is a conflict of interest. There is her story, the prosecution case and the defense arguments. Imagine knowing that your adoptive dad was responsible for putting your natural mom in the slammer? It is my hope that Leslie Van Houten and Diane Downs are never paroled. They did not like her attitude and she did not behave the way they expected a grieving mother to act. In the end, it is scary how media becomes some kind of Roman circus where people is thrown in order to become a source of business. ..it is quite possible if she was tried in todays world, with the evidence they hadquite possible it would of went differently we been living in a society that pretty much demand 100% pure forensic evidence proven. Rule sued the Seattle Weekly after they published the article titled Ann Rules Sloppy Storytelling, but she lost and had to make restitution. So it would be logical to conclude that it would have left residues if anyone had shot at least 6 times. We found 5 phone numbers and email addresses. Dianes brother, James, sat in court one day andnoticed Foote looking at Hugi before ruling on an objection. To find out which of Robert De Niro's films stand out among the rest, Stacker found his top 50 movies based on IMDb user ratings. The price of celebrity for her was losing her freedom and her children for life. This case needed to be examined more thoroughly, but the mob mentality didnt allow it. I know several foster parents and social workers. I recently found your website and have enjoyed it a lot. I do not know what happened on Old Mohawk Road on that dark evening, but I know that they did not have enough evidence totry andconvict Diane Downs. They never found the gun and she showed no signs of having fired one. Why does the blogger not clarify this? The next day, on June 16, 1983, CSD terminated Dianes visitations with her children altogether. Page 10 of Case History. And these men in black perceived this as an act of war, and proceeded to go after them with every legal or illegal means at their disposal. 1) Gunshot residue/blood splatter. I appreciate the way you dont try to determine guilt or innocence in your blogs but instead focus on due process and the right of all to a fair trial. Most were married because Diane had no desire to remarry. I especially loved reading everyones comments. In my opinion, the investigation was too hasty and only focused on Diane. Instead, it is Diane who fought to keep her children. It was writtenrepeatedly in the daily notes that the children were happy to see their mom and asked for her. But the high profile nature of the case might hinder the process. I am interested in the truth. While these are all good questions, (and were maybe all asked in the jury room during deliberations) I doubt the answers even matter anymore. I bet the records are and always have been sealed regarding this aspect of the case. Likewise, Charlene had no intention of letting Knick divorce her (Appendix 81, page 1518, line 15). Speculative? Run Bambi Run! This whole case is flawed. How could they expect a normal mother/daughter reunion between a beaten inmate whose mental health had degraded and a daughter trapped in this insanity? 1. How was DD able to get away from CK and get the keys back into the ignition without there being more attempts on her life? This blogger thinks that if you had bothered reading the blogs that you just mentioned, you would know that I do not call anyone innocent. Now if the shooter was this James Haynes guy, someone who apparently Diane Downs knew from buying drugs, then that would explain why she stopped in the middle of that road. 6. No matter how horrible people think she is. No gun, no blood or gun residue on her and if she shot them, these elements should have been there. When I hear some people say that they would have liked to smack that smirk off Dianes face when she interacted with the cops or the media, I sayreadthis to understand accounts of people laughing at the wrong time and how it is related to their personality disorder. The underlying basis of this article. It was faulty. Plus, you do not let a newly appointed judge to criminal cases, preside over a high profile murder case when he has no experience whatsoever and has already prejudged the defendant dangerous to her children. It is normally done (in fact in many jurisdictions, can ONLY be done) by going through the process in a different state or county then the one the applicant works with. But for what it is worth, I believe she tried to kill her 3 kids. Important factor in the US for debts man who fired the weapon was a mixture of votes shot! 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