Diane Downs Shooting

On the evening of May 19, 1983, [Diane Downs drove to the emergency room of McKenzie-Willamette Hospital in Springfield, Oregon, with her three children in the backseat, all suffering from gunshot wounds](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54782591). Downs told police that a "bushy-haired stranger" had flagged down her car on a rural road and shot her children and grazed her left arm. Her daughter Cheryl Lynn Downs, age 7, was dead on arrival. Her daughter Christie Ann, 8, was critically wounded, leaving her partially paralyzed and initially unable to speak. Her son Stephen Daniel "Danny," 3, was shot in the back, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

Diane Downs, born in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1955, had a troubled personal history marked by volatile relationships and erratic behavior. At the time of the shooting, she was involved in a romantic relationship with Robert Knickerbocker, a married man in Chandler, Arizona, who had told her he did not want children. [Prosecutors argued this was the primary motive for the shootings — that Downs believed eliminating her children would remove the obstacle to her relationship with Knickerbocker](https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/19/us/diane-downs-case-anniversary/index.html).

Police suspicion quickly focused on Downs. Her emotional affect appeared inappropriate — she seemed more concerned about her own minor wound than her children's critical injuries. The trajectory of the bullet that grazed her arm was inconsistent with her account. No evidence of the "bushy-haired stranger" was found. Most significantly, the .22 caliber Ruger semiautomatic pistol used in the shooting was never recovered, and investigators discovered that Downs had previously owned such a weapon.

Over the following months, investigators built a case against Downs while she gave numerous media interviews maintaining her innocence. She became pregnant during the investigation. In February 1984, Diane Downs was arrested and charged with murder, attempted murder, and assault.

[The trial became one of the most closely watched criminal proceedings in Oregon history. The prosecution's key witness was Christie Downs, who had gradually recovered her ability to speak and, in dramatic courtroom testimony, identified her mother as the shooter](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/19/diane-downs-children-shot-anniversary). On June 17, 1984, the jury convicted Diane Downs of murder, attempted murder, and assault. She was sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years.

On July 11, 1987, Downs escaped from the Oregon Women's Correctional Center in Salem by scaling a fence. She was recaptured 10 days later. The case was immortalized in Ann Rule's 1987 book "Small Sacrifices" and a subsequent television movie starring Farrah Fawcett. [Downs has been denied parole multiple times and remains incarcerated](https://apnews.com/article/diane-downs-parole-denied-oregon-prison).

Diane Downs was arrested in February 1984 and charged with murder, two counts of attempted murder, and two counts of first-degree assault in Lane County, Oregon. The trial was held in Eugene before Judge Gregory Foote in May-June 1984. [On June 17, 1984, the jury convicted Downs on all counts. She was sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years](https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/19/us/diane-downs-case-anniversary/index.html), with a minimum of 25 years before parole eligibility. [In July 1987, Downs escaped from Oregon Women's Correctional Center but was recaptured after 10 days](https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2020/07/diane-downs-the-oregon-mother-who-shot-her-children.html). [She has been denied parole multiple times and remains incarcerated](https://apnews.com/article/diane-downs-parole-denied-oregon-prison).