4.7 out of 5 stars 3,152. Babcock felt lost after the adoption, she said. They had been shot multiple times at close range; 7-year-old Cheryl was already dead. Viewers of ABC's 20/20's true crime documentary aboutDiane Downs have gotten a deeper look into the mom's life. The couple regularly argued about financial issues and fought over alleged infidelities. In 2016, Diane was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Cops found her ten days later living with another inmate's husband. "Just know that someone very powerful has been watching over you all your life for me," Downs wrote in one letter. In a Glamour . Or fastest delivery Tue, Feb 7 . Shes been called evil and the devil. A mother of three, In love with a married man, who did the unthinkable. In 1983, Diane Downs' three children were brought to an Oregon hospital with gunshot wounds. And that's how I found out.". Authorities called to say Diane Downs had escaped from prison. She's a psycho. Yates, now 52, was initially convicted of the killings and sentenced to life in prison. Utah mom Megan Huntsman admitted in 2014 to killing six of her newborn babies soon after giving birth between 1996 and 2006. During the documentary, Babcock reacted to viewing her biological mom's creepy 2010 parole hearing. The Babcocks knew the child they were to adopt was Diane Downs'. He rushed back for the emergency and recalled thinking Christie was dead. Diane Downs Story info:https://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/famous-murders/diane-downs/ Downs' claim of a "bushy-haired stranger' ambushing them fell apart quickly. I got blood all over the back of it. Live. How Jayme Closs, Elizabeth Smart, Jaycee Dugard and Others Survived Headline-Making Abductions, After Being Denied Prison Release, Pamela Smart Whose Teen Lover Killed Husband Files Appeal, Chris Watts Case: After Investigators Speak Out on Confession, a Look Back at Tragic 2018 Killings, Texas Girl Getting Snack at Home Was Killed by Bullet from Outside, Man Who Targeted Wrong Home Sentenced, Susan Smith 'Cries For Her Children' Every Christmas Since Murdering Them, Says Source. With Jane Edwina Seymour, Janis Amatuzio, John Stark Bellamy II, Michael Bennett. The court hopes the defendant will never again be free; I've come as close to that as possible. The documentary comes as Downs who gave birth to four children is serving a life sentence for horrific crimes she committed against her own kids. The documentary comes as Downs who gave birth to four children is serving a life sentence for horrific crimes she committed against her own kids. Cops found her ten days later living with another inmate's husband. Rebecca Babcock always knew she was adopted, but at 16 she was rocked by the discovery that her birth mother, Diane Downs, was a murderer, convicted of shooting her own children. However, after exchanging words, Babcock said the letters "kept coming and were strange, to say the least.". "We picked the most amazing family I could possibly think of.". They fought about money and Steven's suspicions that Diane was cheating on him. Diane was born on August 7, 1955, in Phoenix, Arizona. By what name was Small Sacrifices (1989) officially released in Canada in English? "I couldn't raise another baby and do that to the son I already had," Babcock said. 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.Following the crimes, she made claims to police that a man had attempted to carjack her and had shot the children. People judge me for that.". And to my complete surprise, Diane was not emotional not a tear in her eye. A troubled woman uses poison to get her way, a mother's infatuation turns deadly for her children and passion twists two teens into cold-hearted killers. And to my complete surprise, Diane was not emotional not a tear in her eye. What is the Spanish language plot outline for Fatal Attraction (2008)? She saw the kids as a burden, as one of the interview subjects in the 20/20 documentary says. Daughter given up for adoption talks about uncovering secret of mom's identity. The two beautiful young Mormon athletes seemed to have a perfect marriage, but Janet's sisters say that changed dramatically when Abaroa revealed he cheated. Farrah Fawcett is exceptional as Diane Downs, the woman who manages to kill one out of three kids. In April 1983, Diane Downs moved to Springfield, Oregon, and got a job as a postal worker. Small Sacrifices. She received a five-year additional sentence for the escape. "I wish you'd taken me with . True crime documentary series following the disappearance of 14-year-old Charlene Downes. A two-hour "20/20" documentary special on ABC explores the shocking case of Diane Downs, who was convicted of shooting her three children, and includes an interview with the daughter with whom . She confessed and was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. '", The exchange of letters left Babcock shaken. She has continued to claim shes innocent of the crimes. After learning about Diane Downs, read about Marianne Bachmeier, Germanys Revenge Mother who shot her childs killer. Even Becky's closest friend, Kaylee Hammond, worried that nature was winning over nurture. Drama. ", Doug Welch, a former detective for Lane County Sheriff's Office, called Down's demeanor "surreal.". "Throughout my teen years, I was wild and after the movie, it escalated," Babcock said. And to be born of a monster is not something I'm proud of.". This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. She said that opening up her mom's letter in October 2006 was like "pandora's box" as she "chose" to allowed her mom into her life. (The Oregonian/1984 file photo) The female psycho is rare although for domestic violence against children women have greater representation, but I don't think Diane downs falls into that category. "It was a face to what I had been looking for and it wasn't a face that I wanted to see. Babcock, the high school dropout, is now a straight-A college student who hopes to go to medical school -- in addition to being a loving mother. The baby girl was whisked away hours after delivery. One child died, and two survived but had serious injuries. Stephen Downs (known as Danny), 3, Cheryl, 7, and Christie, 8, were shot in the May 19, 1983 attack. App. As for why she didn't shoot Jason, Nehls says, "She wanted him to suffer.". With seven-year-old Cheryl dead, three-year-old Danny paralyzed from the waist down at three years of age, and eight-year-old Christie suffering a stroke that impaired her speech, authorities initially believed Downs. But Babcock realized that, deep down, she was nothing like her mother. She was married to her high school sweetheart, worked part-time at a local thrift store, and had three children, Christie Ann, Cheryl Lynn, and Stephen Daniel. Despite her troubled past and remaining in jail, her daughter Babcock still chose to send her biological mom letters in prison. She says she wants to help other children whose parents have committed heinous crimes. See State v. Downs , 733 P.2d 119 (Or. Small Sacrifices is a TV movie based on the best-selling true crime book by Ann Rule of the same name. For years, Diane Downs seemed to have a wonderful life. He told Downs he had no interest in being a daddy and ended the affair. 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. She said: "She doesn't make any sense and it honestly sounds like It just she thinks that she's smarter than the law and that she believes her own lies. Directed by David Greene it stars Farrah Fawcett, Ryan O'Neal, Gordon Clapp, John Shea and Emily Perkins. For her high school education, she enrolled at Moon Valley High School. Diane and Rachel both pleaded guilty in the deaths and the assault of Sarah. After shooting herself in the left forearm, Diane Downs drove to the hospital at a snails pace. But as . But Downs herself was charged, and then convicted of murdering one daughter, and seriously wounding her other daughter, and her son. But I believe that I may possibly be your biological daughter." Babcock said the letters "progressively got more and more insane" something she noticed after asking about her biological father. Despite her troubled past and remaining in jail, her daughter Babcock still chose to send her biological mom letters in prison. Guns in America. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. "I wrote her a letter," Babcock said. Hours after their disappearance, the children's dead bodies were found in the backseat of a car that had been parked by Pasztor behind a police station. Mothers are put on this earth to take care of their children. Babcock still has the first letter she sent Downs. A peculiar and disturbing case catches the attention of the police when a young mother and her children, all severely injured, show up in a hospital's emergency room.A peculiar and disturbing case catches the attention of the police when a young mother and her children, all severely injured, show up in a hospital's emergency room.A peculiar and disturbing case catches the attention of the police when a young mother and her children, all severely injured, show up in a hospital's emergency room. The 25-year-old divorce tried hard to become a surrogate, but failed her psychiatric tests twice. The marriage was rocky from the start. Obsessed with true crime. The Babcocks were determined to keep Becky's parentage a secret from her. ABC News. Family PhotoDiane Downs and her children, Danny, Christie, and Cheryl. See production, box office & company info. Downs quickly responded. Then, she killed herself. It was scary and I slammed the book shut and I left," Babcock recounted after seeing her mom's photo. She is 67 years old as of 2022. Now, as Diane Downs comes up for parole next year, her daughter speaks out new interviews and staggering details. Each time I thought "Oh right, this is how its going to go, " I was brought up short by a, well, unexpected plot twist. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. "I wish I was born of my real parents," she said. Authorities learned about the deaths after Huntsman's estranged husband, Darren West, contacted police after finding a baby wrapped in a plastic bag in the garage. But as Downs was about to begin her new life behind bars, she brought new life into the world. "I didn't give her any details as to why. "I don't want to be here without you. Within three weeks, Diane had lost custody of her remaining wounded children and had become the number one . I got blood all over the back of it. The part that shows when I was born, it's as close as I'd ever come to witnessing my own birth. NEW! "It just makes my skin crawl, just to hear her voice and see her. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Her fourth baby, Amy Elizabeth, was adopted and given the name BeckyBabcock. Sometimes lust can become lethal for a woman. She then fired a round into her own arm before driving to the hospital to claim that a bushy-haired stranger had assaulted her family during a terrifying carjacking. "I just I don't think I had the capabilities of being a good mother at all," Tinning, now 74, told the New York State parole board that denied her release last February. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1945. . More than a year prior, Pasztor had lost custody of the pair due to substance abuse problems. After a 10-day manhunt, police arrested her in a small apartment where she was staying with a fellow inmate's husband, less than a mile from the prison. The couple was together between 1973 and 1980 when Steve left her because he believed that Diane was cheating on him. For a young woman already struggling with her identity, the discovery was devastating. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. Dr. Joseph Sonnier met his girlfriend Richelle Shetina at a dance class, and the two traveled to Paris together, just weeks before the unthinkable happened. One of the most notorious crimes in Oregon history will be revisited this Friday, in a 20/20 two-hour documentary about Diane Downs, the woman convicted of shooting her own three children, and killing one. She then ran away from home and married husband, Steven Downs, in 1973, with whom she had . Incapable of reconciling, the couple divorced in 1980. Email us atexclusive@the-sun.comor call212 416 4552. He holds dual bachelor's degrees from Pace University and a master's degree from New York University. 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