She remembers Downs' demeanor in her interviews as peculiar. 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. Her adoptive parents called her Rebecca Becky Babcock. Powered by. She provides an update on Christie and Danny today, writing on her website: Adopted by Lane County Prosecutor Fred Hugi and his wife, Joanne, in 1984, Christie and Dannywho somehow survived their gunshot woundshave no contact with Diane. While they were unable to find the weapon, they found unfired casings in her home with extractor markings from the murder weapon. The couple divorced in 1980 because Steve thought Stephen Daniel, known as Danny, was the result of an extramarital affair by Diane. I showered, slept for 4 hours, woke up and drank water, then went back to sleep for 16 more hours, she wrote. Downs had been a suspect from the beginning. "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.". "She couldn't keep her mouth shut," Welch said. She remembers Downs' demeanor in her interviews as peculiar. Late one May night in 1983, Diane Downs sped into an emergency room dropoff in Springfield, Ore., with a horrifying story to tell. I have used the term verbal vomit when talking' about Diane because she talked a lot. Prior to her sentencing, Downs gave birth to a baby girl whom she named Amy Elizabeth. [5] When Downs went to trial in May 1984, she was again pregnant. Thirty-five years ago, Diane Downs, now 64, was convicted of shooting her three children Danny, Cheryl, and Christie in Springfield, Oregon. 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. Becky Babcock was born while Diane was incarcerated. In the frantic scene, hospital employees quickly determined that Cheryl was already dead and that Christie and Danny were clinging to life. Fred Hugi, adopted the children., Famed true-crime author Ann Rule wrote about the case. [2] She has testified that her father sexually abused her when she was 12 years old. They told of her obsession with a married man who didn't want her kids around. She was required to serve twenty-five years before being considered for parole. Downs was found guilty in June, and sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years. Downs Family Diane Downs and her three children. She took a detour off of Marcola Road onto Old Mohawk Road to do some sightseeing., By this time it was dark, and the kids were sleeping. [4] On May 8, 1982, Diane gave birth to a baby girl, whom she named Jennifer, while acting as a surrogate. She also made a number of statements that both police and hospital workers considered highly inappropriate.[3]. But Im on track and Im really happy with the way life is.. But suspicions of Downs herself quickly began to surface. When police arrived at the scene, Downs, 27 at the time, told them a bizarre story of being flagged down by a bushy-haired stranger on a dark and deserted country road. The couple divorced in 1980 over Steven's insistence their son, Danny, was the result of an affair and not his biological child. After high school, she enrolled at Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College in Orange, California, but was expelled after one year for promiscuous behavior and returned to her parents' home in Arizona. She was later adopted by another family. She then ran away from home and married husband, Steven Downs, in 1973, with whom she had three children - Christie Ann, Cheryl Lynn and Stephen "Danny" Daniel. A year later, when Diane was arrested and put on trial, Christie, at just 9 years old, having just recovered her ability to speak, testified against her in court. What did she do?. It was an interesting interview. When she got out to talk to this man, he immediately demanded that she give him her car keys, Downs claimed she refused and they got into a physical altercation that resulted in him shooting her in the left arm. Diane Downs became one of the most infamous murderers in the city after she was convicted of shooting her three children, killing one of them, along a roadway in Springfield, Oregon. "They have both graduated from college. "I knew within 30 minutes of talking with that woman that she was guilty": Surgeon who helped save one of Diane Downs' kids in 1983 after she shot her recalls chilling interaction. 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. The child was adopted and was later named Rebecca. The Daughter of Diane Downs. Prosecutors laid out the evidence against Downs, all leading up to their star witness. ET) on ABC. 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. Elizabeth Diane Downs, the convicted childkiller who escaped July 11, 1987 from the women's prison in Salem, Ore., is escorted out of state police headquarters in Salem following her capture July 21, 1987. She was sentenced to life plus 50 years for the crimes. She's the biggest threat to him, not three sleeping children.". Downs then said she pretended to throw her car keys in a bush and the man went to go look for them. Her blood pressure was non-existent or very low. And Christie Downs, the only witness to the crime (her younger brother Danny was believed to have been asleep at the time), had suffered a stroke that impaired her speech and initially prevented her from telling police what she had seen. She said she had not seen a male stranger that night. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Not one tear. Most of Downs' sentence is to be served consecutively. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. In another one of her strange media appearances Downs spoke about the pregnancy. Diane Downs now: Her most recent prison photo from 2018. Police arrested Downs Feb. 28, 1984, nine months after the shootings. In 1987, just three years into her sentence, Downs escaped from the correctional facility in Oregon where she was being held. "They have grown up in a very happy home with the Hugis.. Now, as Diane Downs comes up for parole next year, her daughter speaks out. https://t.co/cPfs75obUg pic.twitter.com/uSnlFF2IRw. COVID-19 Stimulus Check: Did the HEROES Act Pass. Downs was found guilty in June 1984, and sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years. Convicted child killer Diane Downs is seen on a video as the Oregon parole board unanimously rules that she remains dangerous and must stay in prison during a hearing at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Ore., Dec. 10, 2010. "Her initial statement was that she had taken the kids out to a friend's house," said Welch. Fearing there could be a gun-wielding killer on the loose, police released information to the public to be on the lookout. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Two of the kids survived the shooting with life altering injuries, and one of the children died. Heavy is withholding that last name and the photos to protect her privacy. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. All Rights Reserved. It was scary. A judge had already placed Downs' two surviving children in protective custody. Becky Babcock is speaking out about her infamous mother, Diane Downs, who was convicted of killing her own 7-year-old child and attempting to murder her other two children, ages 8 and 3, in . Danny, a computer whiz, is still partially paralyzed from the bullet in his back, but he is living a happy and normal life. And as long as he said that he wasn't going to be a father to anyone's children, they had to go.. Diane Downs children: Where are Christie and Stephen now? On a May night in 1983, the young, divorced letter carrier drove up to the emergency room of a Springfield, Oregon, hospital. Missing baby is feared dead as police arrest aristocrat Constance Marten and boyfriend on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter: 200 officers search allotments and compost bins near where . Her three small children, Christie, 8; Cheryl, 7; and Danny, 3, were inside her blood-soaked car, shot at close range. EUGENE -- It was 27 years ago tomorrow that single mother Elizabeth Diane Downs shot her three children -- killing one and seriously injuring the other two -- on a dark, rural Lane County. Photo: September 26, 1988. ET. 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. And why are the kids fatally or near-fatally wounded, and she, being right-handed, is shot in the left arm? The . At least, that's the story Diane Downs told police. [2] Despite her parents' disapproval of their relationship, Downs continued the relationship. "You cant replace children, but you can replace the effect they give you. On Facebook, Becky wrote that she works at Pain management and went to Redmond High School. Wilhite said he and the hospital staff who worked on the Downs kids on that horrific May night were not surprised by the outcome of the case. Babcock learned who her mother was at age 11, after tricking her babysitter to divulge the name. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. It was an unthinkable, brutal killing in 1983 that terrified parents around the country. In 1984, Diane Downs was convicted of shooting her three children, 3-year-old Danny, 7-year-old Cheryl, and 8-year-old Christie. They also found a diary in which she expressed a desire to be with a married man, and the focus of the investigation shifted to Downs herself. "I got pregnant because I miss Christie and I miss Danny and I miss Cheryl so much," she said. In 1984, Diane was convicted of the death and injuries of her children, and she was sentenced to life in prison. He was instead a result of an affair Diane had with a married man. Diane Downs gave birth to four children. May 13, 2010, 7:54 AM. Within a month of the shootings, with her two surviving children still in the hospital, Downs began giving a series of bizarre interviews to the media. READ MORE: abcn.ws/2W9dzyC In 1983, Diane Downs. She's doing well. A 27-year-old divorced postal service worker, Downs claimed a bushy-haired stranger had shot them and maintains her innocence to this day. "And it grew dark and upon their return home she decided to -- to do some sightseeing. Downs' sentence meant she could not be considered for parole until 2009. After Babcock found out about her notorious mother, she decided to make contact. He worked quickly and eventually was able to revive Christie. Email us atexclusive@the-sun.comor call212 416 4552. Danny was permanently paralyzed from the waist down as a result of his injuries. she said in an interview. Downs had picked someone on her postal route to seduce prior to the start of her trial. After months of physical and mental therapy, Christie Downs was finally able to take the stand and tell what happened to her that horrible night. Diane graduated from Moon Valley High School in Phoenix, where she met Steve Downs. 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. She says things to me like, Boy, this has really spoiled my vacation, and she also says, That really ruined my new car. madame bovary moral lesson, proposition of fact, value and policy, mayor of luton email address, After babcock found out about her notorious mother, she decided to make contact was being.. 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