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1983: How can a mother shoot her own children?
Killer Mom : The True Story of Diane Downs
What you need to know before your trail
At 22.48pm on May 19th, 1983, a young, single mother pulled up outside McKenzie-Willamette Hospital in Springfield, Oregon, in a blood-spattered Nissan Pulsar, repeatedly shouting that someone had shot her children. Hospital staff rushed to the car and found three children slumped inside. The mother, Diane Downs, had herself been shot in the left arm, which was wrapped in a blood-soaked towel. As medics frantically tried to save the lives of the little ones, Diane told police that a man had flagged her down on the Old Mohawk Road, and demanded her car. When she had refused, he had leant into the car and shot her three children. According to Diane, she had struggled with the man who had then shot her in the arm. Pretending to throw the car keys into a field, she managed to distract the man long enough to get in her car and drive away, in a desperate bid to get the children to the hospital in time to save them. Tragically, 7-year-old Cheryl was already dead, and, although still alive, 3-year-old Danny and 8-year-old Christie were in a critical condition. The bone in Diane’s arm was shattered. While the people of Oregon, and the wider community, reeled in shock at this heinous crime and fearful of the bushy haired killer whom Diane had described, and who was still at large, the police were turning their attention to someone closer to home – the mother herself, Diane Downs.
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Springfield Oregon
The true and shocking story of how one woman, a mother, shot her three children on a remote country road.
She then drove them to McKenzie-Willamette Hospital claiming that a big hairy stranger had flagged down the car late at night and on stopping, the man tried to steal the keys. When Diane resisted, he shot the children and then ran off into the night.
On arriving at the hospital, Cheryl was already dead, Danny was paralyzed from the waist down, and Christie had suffered a stroke. Downs herself had been shot in the left forearm but apart from that, was unhurt.
Police were immediately suspicious of the story and the way in which Downs seemed very calm and even telephoned her married lover from the hospital.
Forensic evidence proved Diane had indeed committed the crime herself. It is believed she wanted rid of her children as her married lover was not interested in being a father to them.
Diane was arrested and is in prison.
The surviving two children were adopted by the lead prosecutor on the case and his wife.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Killer Mom : The True Story of Diane Downs
Destination : Springfield Author/Guide: Barbara Daley Departure Time: 1983
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