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 named one of her children after her dead sister Cheryl. It was exciting. [15] Christie Downs, Diane Downs' first child who testified at her trial, suffers from a speech disability. Christie Ann, born in 1974, is the eldest of the Downs children, and Stephen Daniel, known as Danny, born in 1979, is the youngest. Heavy is withholding that last name and the photos to protect her privacy. Who is Becky Babcock and where is she now? "I'm never going to see Cheryl on Earth again and I just, you can't replace children, but you can replace the effect they give you. Is She Still In Jail? The . 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. I knew my entire life that I was adopted, Babcock tells the show in an exclusive clip obtained by PEOPLE. 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 . 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. 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. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Diane_Downs&oldid=1139832541, Incarcerated; earliest possible release 2025, This page was last edited on 17 February 2023, at 03:51. I've never been so hyped in my life.. She told ABC, The impact of Diane Downs being my mom has altered the course of my life so many times. On July 11, 1987, she escaped from her cell by scaling an eighteen-foot razor wire fence. The more she talked, and she talked a lot and frequently, the more she talked, the more things didn't make any sense. Jaeger remembers worrying that Downs' pregnancy could affect the way jurors viewed her. 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. Diane Downs was convicted of shooting her 3 children, killing 1, in 1983. We found that Diane Downs was emotionally flat. On Facebook, Becky wrote that she works at Pain management and went to Redmond High School. Unlike her siblings, Becky Babcock has been very public about her mother, granting interviews over the years. The baby was taken by the state and delivered to adoptive parents. A judge had already placed Downs' two surviving children in protective custody. District Attorney Fred Hugi asked Christie if she remembered who shot her. On a May night in 1983, the young, divorced letter carrier drove up to the emergency room of a Springfield, Oregon, hospital. The revelation would shake Becky Babcock's young world and take her on a journey of self-discovery, filled with ups and downs, she said. 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. [29], Downs had parole hearings in 2010 and 2020, which were both denied. [4] On May 8, 1982, Diane gave birth to a baby girl, whom she named Jennifer, while acting as a surrogate. Babcocks exclusive interview airs on 20/20 on Friday, March 22 (9:00 11:00 p.m. Downs' launched a violent attack on three of her children, Danny, Cheryl Lynn, and Christie Anne in 1983. Meanwhile, Christie Downs was slowly beginning to tell what she remembered of the shootings. Not just a son, but a couple of other children as well, including a daughter, who she named after her dead sister, Cheryl. She loves us. Cheryl Lynn followed in 1976, with Stephen Daniel being born in 1979. In 1994, after serving ten years, Downs was transferred to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. 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. You know, she just asked, How is she doing? Not one emotional reaction, he said. I mean, she is so close to death, its unbelievable.. And got out and ask what he wanted. She was denied parole in 2008 and again in 2010. In 1983, Diane Downs' three children were brought to an Oregon hospital with gunshot wounds. Diane Downs' ex husband, Steve Downs, lost a lot in May 1983 when his ex wife shot their three children, following their divorce in 1980. In 1983, horror stuck in Oregon as a mother took it upon herself to end the life of her own children. They told of her obsession with a married man who didn't want her kids around. When she [Downs] showed up, her [Christies] pulse rate went up high and you could see terror on her face, Wilihite said. When Downs went on trial in May of that year, she was pregnant again. 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. If my story touches even one person, it was all worth it, she wrote, sharing a positive message she received from a woman whose daughter is adopted and who says Becky was brought into this life to make a difference.. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. But suspicions of Downs herself quickly began to surface. After Downs trial, Christie and Danny were adopted by Hugi and his wife. After being recaptured, she was transferred to a more secure facility. Please review our privacy policy here: https://heavy.com/privacy-policy/, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. Diane Downs attempts to murder her three young children, eight-year-old Christie, seven-year-old Cheryl, and three-year-old Danny, by faking a carjacking. "She saw the kids as a burden, they were in the way and he wasn't going to join her as long as she had the kids," Welch said. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. From their wounds, Christie suffered a stroke that left with a speech impairment, and Danny got paralyzed from the waist down. Danny, a computer whiz, is still partially paralyzed from the bullet in his back, but he is living a happy and normal life. Twitter Hospital employees determined that then-7-year-old Cheryl was already dead and that then-8-year-old Christie and then-3-year-old Danny were clinging to life. One died; two survived but had serious injuries. 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. [26] The book documented accounts by friends, acquaintances, neighbors, and her surviving daughter, Christie, who questioned the quality of her parenting. Thank you all for sharing your stories with me and reminding me why I came forward. "Wouldn't I have made sure they were dead and then cried crocodile tears? [5] When Downs went to trial in May 1984, she was again pregnant. She was required to serve twenty-five years before being considered for parole. The baby was taken by the state and delivered to adoptive parents. After her recapture, Downs was transferred to the New Jersey Department of Corrections Clinton Correctional Facility for Women after heavy lobbying from Hugi. Fred Hugi, adopted the children., Famed true-crime author Ann Rule wrote about the case. 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. California author Diane Burroughs studied writing and television production at Columbia College and is a writer and producer for sitcoms for television - Married.with Children, Murphy Brown, Martin, The Drew Carey Show, Yes, Dear, and Still Standing - a blogger at Left at 50, and a standup comedienne. Her pupils were dilated. She says it was during the struggle with the stranger that she was shot in the arm. The case of Diane Downs and her three children is one of those a horrible tragic case that people still think about 37 years later. [32], Last edited on 17 February 2023, at 03:51, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, "Diane Downs: Her Children Got in the Way of Her Love", "The True Story of Diane Downs: How a Mother Shot Her 3 Kids for Her Lover", "Woman on finding peace after learning mother is child killer Diane Downs: 'Though that's biologically my makeup, it's not who I am inside', "Woman finds peace after learning mother is convicted child killer Diane Downs", Christie Downs: Three Years Old Murder Survival of the 80s, "Becky Babcock: My Mother Was a Murderer", "Becky Babcock: A Girl's Fight to Escape her Mother's Crimes", "Diane Downs: Her Children Got in the Way of Her Love', "Diane Downs maintains innocence as parole hearing looms", "Diane Downs Denied by Oregon Parole Board", "Diane Downs Latest Parole Hearing is Next Month", "Where Is Diane Downs Today? Shortly before her death, Cheryl Lynn reportedly told a neighbor of her grandparents that she was afraid of her mother. Jaeger said. Investigators later discovered that she had bought the handgun in Arizona. Her 7-year old daughter Cheryl died, but her 3-year old son Danny and her 8-year old daughter Christie survived. Wilhite said he then found a judge who issued an order making him and another doctor Christies guardians. He was instead a result of an affair Diane had with a married man. Most of Downs' sentence is to be served consecutively. Her brother Danny was permanently paralyzed from the waist down but both survived. After that, she was charged with killing her 7-year-old daughter. she said in an interview. When I looked in the mailbox and saw her letter, it was like Pandoras box. [29] After three hours of interviews and thirty minutes of deliberation, she was denied parole. Doug Welch, then a detective with the Lane County Sheriff's Office, remembers getting the call for what would turn out to be his first homicide investigation. "And so the quickest, simplest way was to eliminate the children.". She didn't know when to keep her mouth shut.. But suspicions of Downs herself quickly began to surface. Downs insisted that, Over the years, I have told you and the rest of the world that a man shot me and my children. An appeal of . By the time Wilhite arrived, Downs had driven her blood-soaked car to the emergency room. Critics said she deliberately became pregnant in order to garner sympathy from the jury. 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. A jury subsequently convicted Downs on all counts, and she was sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years, according to Glamour. [2] She has testified that her father sexually abused her when she was 12 years old. Her three small children, Christie, 8; Cheryl, 7; and Danny, 3, were inside her blood-soaked car, shot at close range. Beeper goes off, said, Get in here. And Christie knew that.. Downs was initially incarcerated at the Oregon Women's Correctional Center in Salem. Anne Bradley Jaeger was a local reporter for ABC affiliate KEZI in Eugene, Ore., at the time. Doug Welch remembers getting the call for what would turn out to be his first homicide investigation. Downs Family Diane Downs and her three children. And she took a deserted country road with three sleeping kids in her car. We believe the motive for the shooting was to get Nick up here to Oregon to be with her. Christie became the star witness in the case, bravely testifying against her monster mom. A break in the case finally came when investigators discovered Downs' secret diaries. Diane Downs children: Where are Christie and Stephen now? Christies Facebook page shows she has children, has a different married last name, and is living in Oregon. Whats fascinating, though, is to see how differently her children including the fourth one, who she conceived after her original surviving ones were taken away from her responded to her doings. Now, her children are all grown up and many want to know what they are up to now 2 Becky Babcock is the fourth and youngest child of Diane Downs Credit: ABC NEws Who is Diane Downs' daughter Becky Babcock? She's been called "evil" and "the . 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 that's gone, they took it from me, but children are so easy to conceive.". But there were a number of things which didn't make any sense., Why would a mother sightsee when it's dark out? She went to the University of Oregon and now lives with her husband and children in the town. [27] A made-for-TV movie, also titled Small Sacrifices, starred Farrah Fawcett as Downs, and was aired on ABC in 1989. Christie became the star witness in the case, bravely testifying against her monster mom. "Why would I have taken my kids to the hospital?" 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. May 12, 2010 -- Late one May night in 1983, Diane Downs sped into an emergency room dropoff in Springfield, Ore., with a horrifying story to tell. "The more she talked, the more things didn't make any sense.". When Wilhite went to go update Downs on her daughters condition, he said he was surprised by her reaction. Like us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/TheSunUSand follow us from our main Twitter account at@TheSunUS, News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. DIANE Downs is serving a life sentence for horrific crimes she committed against her own children. What did she look like? When then-prosecutor Fred Hugi asked Christie if she remembered who shot her, Christie Downs replied, "My mom.". Downs, who still maintains her innocence, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, plus 50 years. Downs was found guilty in June 1984, and sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years. "Wouldn't I have made sure they were dead and then cried crocodile tears? But surgeon Steve Wilhite managed to revive Christie after her blood pressure dipped dangerously low and she suffered a stroke. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. Wilhite said he was immediately directed to start working to save Christie while another surgeon took Danny. Powered by. She said she had not seen a male stranger that night. Knickerbocker also reported to police that Downs had stalked him, and seemed willing to kill his wife if it meant that she could have him to herself; he stated that he was relieved that she had left for Oregon, and that he was able to reconcile with his wife. Thirty-five years ago, Diane Downs, now 64, was convicted of shooting her three children Danny, Cheryl, and Christie in Springfield, Oregon. While Danny and Christie survived, Cheryl, the. 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. Steve Downs, their father, actually left Diane in 1980 because he thought that Danny was the result of an extramarital affair that she had. Diane Downs gave birth to four children. The first letter I wrote Diane, I must have written 100 times, she says. Since his ex wife was sentenced to life in prison, he has not reappeared in public life nor has he given any television interviews about his family. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Diane Downs is an American murder convict who has been serving a life sentence since 1984. I showered, slept for 4 hours, woke up and drank water, then went back to sleep for 16 more hours, she wrote. The horrific crime, which Downs has always denied committing, is the subject of a 20/20 documentary that is airing on June 21, 2019 in an encore presentation. I think that's one of the things that-- ended up hurting her case. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. The couple divorced in 1980 because Steve thought Stephen Daniel, known as Danny, was the result of an extramarital affair by Diane. 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 pupils were dilated. 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. March 23, 2019 13:00 Impact x Nightline The Murders Before the Marathon On May 19, 1983, Diane Downs and her three children were shot on a rural road in Oregon. Growing up, Diane followed those values, however, after the age of 14, she became more rebellious and eventually dropped "Elizabeth" from her name and went by Diane. However, investigators and hospital workers became suspicious, because they decided that Downs' manner was too calm for a person who had just experienced such a traumatic event. The girl was later renamed Rebecca Babcock. DNA Test Kits Are Helping Solve Cold Cases Decades Later, After Nearly a Year, There Could Finally be an Investigation Into the Death of Elijah McClain. She will be eligible for parole in 2020 and continues to proclaim her innocence. 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