Diane Downs
A Mother Shoots Her Three Children
What causes a mother to shoot her three children? Throughout this paper we will try and establish some theories on what might have caused this mother to commit such a criminal act. I feel that I should first give some background on what we will be discussing.
I have chosen to do my paper on a female murderer named Diane Downs. She was convicted of murder, attempted murder, and criminal assault for the shooting of her three children. The incident took place on Thursday, May19, 1983 in Springfield, Oregon at approximately 10:48 p.m. She was driving a red Nissan that had Arizona license plates. She pulled into a hospital emergency room bay screaming that “Somebody just shot my kids!” The site of the blood soaked car and the three children that lay in the middle of it all was a nightmare for the staff at the hospital. One child, Cheryl 7, who was sitting in the front seat, was already dead and beyond help, a second child, Christie 8, who was sitting in the back seat of the car, was still breathing, and the third child, Daniel 3, also sitting in the back seat and barely breathing. Diane herself had been shot in the arm. The doctors were able to save the two children Christie who would have partial paralysis, and Daniel who would be paralyzed from the waist down.
Diane had gone to see a friend; she decided to take a more scenic route home. She claimed that a “bushy haired man” wearing Levi jacket with an off colored t-shirt was standing in the middle of the gravel road waving as if he needed help. So she braked to inquire, he asked for the keys to her car when she told him no he then pointed his gun through her car window and opened fire on her children. As she was trying to get away he fired another shot into her arm. At this point the investigators were starting to get suspicious because they thought her manner during the incident was to calm for a person who had just experienced this type of traumatic event. When given the
What causes a mother to shoot her three children? Throughout this paper we will try and establish some theories on what might have caused this mother to commit such a criminal act. I feel that I should first give some background on what we will be discussing.
I have chosen to do my paper on a female murderer named Diane Downs. She was convicted of murder, attempted murder, and criminal assault for the shooting of her three children. The incident took place on Thursday, May19, 1983 in Springfield, Oregon at approximately 10:48 p.m. She was driving a red Nissan that had Arizona license plates. She pulled into a hospital emergency room bay screaming that “Somebody just shot my kids!” The site of the blood soaked car and the three children that lay in the middle of it all was a nightmare for the staff at the hospital. One child, Cheryl 7, who was sitting in the front seat, was already dead and beyond help, a second child, Christie 8, who was sitting in the back seat of the car, was still breathing, and the third child, Daniel 3, also sitting in the back seat and barely breathing. Diane herself had been shot in the arm. The doctors were able to save the two children Christie who would have partial paralysis, and Daniel who would be paralyzed from the waist down.
Diane had gone to see a friend; she decided to take a more scenic route home. She claimed that a “bushy haired man” wearing Levi jacket with an off colored t-shirt was standing in the middle of the gravel road waving as if he needed help. So she braked to inquire, he asked for the keys to her car when she told him no he then pointed his gun through her car window and opened fire on her children. As she was trying to get away he fired another shot into her arm. At this point the investigators were starting to get suspicious because they thought her manner during the incident was to calm for a person who had just experienced this type of traumatic event. When given the
References: Walsh, Anthony. Criminology The Essentials, 2012.Print. Rule, Ann. Small Sacrifices. 1989. Print. Geringer, Joseph. Crime Library, Criminal Minds and Methods. 2013. Print Website:http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/famous/downs/index Bianco, Juan Ignacio. Murderpedia. 2013. Print Website:http://murderpedia.org/female.D/d/downs-diane.htm Frederickson, Wes. Diane Downs: Murderer or Victim. 2013. Print Website:http://www.dianedowns.com Montaldo, Charles. About.Com: Crime/Punishment. 2013. Print Website:http://crime.about.com/od/female_offenders/a/Diane-Downs.htm