In fact, Diane had consulted a psychologist after the tragedy and after months of consultation, she was never diagnosed as a sociopath. On June 20, 2001, mother of five Andrea Yates drowned her children, who ranged in age from six months to seven years, in the bathtub at her home in Houston, Texas. She talked to Diane for 15 minutes, there was thebizarre and partialOprah interview that was basically a lets bash Diane event and she wrote to Diane in jail to ask her what she thought of Hugi adopting her children. Therefore, those jagged bones were floating in a cloth wrap, merely resting in a cloth sling. And the fact that Tracy wrote in his notes that Christies reaction could have been excitement to see her mom but they decided to only mention extreme fear? It is my hope that Leslie Van Houten and Diane Downs are never paroled. Yes, I had to go and sign the lease, yes, sir. Youre right to say that a GSR is not always foolproof and between 10-20% of suicide GSR kits test negative for GSR. To plant trees in memory, please visit the. I just read your opinion on the Pamela Smart case and the Scott Peterson case. I was curious as to what these requirements were, as I have not seen these online. Of course buying drugs with three kids in the middle of the night from a guy like that is not the mindful thing to do, but would be more consistent as an explanation for her actions. If the grandparents and uncle had visitation rights, they could have respected some rules as far as not discussing the case, but imagine if she had told them that she did not remember? I agree with your comment. The jurors had doubts. Diane Downs changed her story so many times, even at her parole hearing. Melvin Belli How things could have been different. Other Locations Watertown, NY Scottsdale, AZ . They did a trace metal test to see if Diane had held a gun. The underlying basis of this article. Thank you Lise. The rest of the family? 100% CAUCASIAN Our ethnicity data indicates the majority is Caucasian. Robert told the police the entire truth about the affair and also mentioned that she had previously stalked him, revealing that she seemed pretty willing to kill his wife if it meant that she could have him all to herself. During Dianes examination at trial, Fred Hugi said in front of the jury, in the form of a question, that she had been diagnosed as a , Anne Rule made a big deal of a brass unicorn engraved with the childrens names that Diane had purchased. She could not have been shot twice in the back while sitting up and have the bullet pierce her body to end up under the floorboard of the passenger side. It is not a plus, but it is not a crime either. This is what Mrs Downs had to say about the situation. Yes, dad relinquished his rights but he knew that they loved their grandparents and had allowed Diane to take them for a visit without telling the authorities. Downs is said to have claimed that she spotted a bushy-haired man who waved down her car along the desolate road. The US is a very strange bird when it comes to crime and punishment. They should have taken the time necessary to find enough evidence. Related To Dorothy Knickerbock. Thanks for the link. You have a photo of Diane before the parole board. In her book Heart Full of Lies, Rule took so many liberties with the facts that Liysa Northon sued her. But the birth of little Danny did not make this bad boy change his stripes; he remained a cad and a destabilizing force in their lives. Theybrought out the big guns to unload on the public, their idea of the truth: Diane Downs was a horrible creature and a jilted lover who shot her three children in cold blood to be free to pursue a relationship with the man she was obsessed with. Diane wanted to wait for her daughter to feel better, be accompanied by an expert and have the meetings taped? We found 5 phone numbers and email addresses. You hit the nail on the head by stating that in the US especially, they seem to shun complex ethical problems preferring to deal with absolute evil in order to exert absolute power to crush it. It has become entertainment and there can only be good, bad and evil. I saw that same face in Diane Downs. Considering that the daughter she murdered will never get a second chance, it will never be long enough unless its for her entire life. Besides, none of those diagnoses are illegal. By the way, Dianes parents mourn the loss of their grandchildren to this day. It always feels like punishment at all costs. And their plan worked. but later you claim Diane was inside the car and shot the kids in the car and that that BECAUSE she was inside the car she should have had blood splatter on herso WHICH IS IT, I dont know which it is Libby. (Yes in the 1980s a ten yr like myself was not as mature as say todays 10 yr olds. The fact that Dianes injury was way more serious than they tried to pretend? I worked for county government child welfare for a decade. There is so much to say about this blog I wouldnt know where to start. statement regarding the effects of the childrens medications while in hospital should acknowledge where the blogger obtained information about the side effects.). They came up with an explanation as to why this was the wrong gun but the jig was up. I agree on many points with your comment. I am not her advocate, but I think she did not get due process. Robert Knickerbocker first came into the eyes of the investigators when, upon arrival at the hospital to visit her children after the incident, Diane phoned him looking extremely calm. I never read the Ann Rule book, but saw Small Sacrifices as a kid and have had an interest in this case ever since. After the shooting, Robert even came clean to his wife about the affair, and then, went on to help the police in their investigation. Most were married because Diane had no desire to remarry. Today, Diane Downs is 63 years old and sits in a California prison. The crucial point is that she is so void of emotion. But strangely, they took no photos of the crime scene and did not lift fingerprints from the drivers side of the car. I am publishing your comment because once in a while, I need to post the pitiful representation of true crime readers who made Anne Rule a rich author. It took a lot of time to research this case and present the other side of the coin. Thanks again. Diane had spent three days in the hospital ingesting massive doses of Morphine, Demerol, Percodan, and visterol. I care about what was said at trial. You can click here to read about the case of Alice Crimmins during which the lead detective was heard telling the other cops before the bodies of the children were ever found:You take the husband, Ill take the bitch.. Lise do you know if the kids have ever reached out to the grandparents/family in the last few years? When he said that he and his wife had reconciled he wasnt lying either, because, throughout the investigation and the trial in which Robert testified against Diane his wife stood by him. Dean has 2 jobs listed on their profile. Dianes family could give you countless examples of the inaccuracies they found in her book. Blood spatter is not an exact science, and is interpreted differently by experts. She complained about it, but that does not mean she did not suffer for her kids. Once again, Diane said a lot of things. Christies response: My mom.. Yet in their mind, she was already guilty. He actually was the one who suggested they become intimate after many friendly, platonic conversations. It would be about November 20th that you would have gone back with Charlene, what, the next day? That they did not test the outside of the car? Only after these avenues are exhausted should non-relative placement be looked at. (LOL!! But I will answer the points you raised about the blog. These women did not show emotions and did not fold when asked to. Just before 11 P.M., Downs pulled her blood-soaked car up to the door of McKenzie-Willamette Hospital and screamed, Somebody just shot my kids! Cheryl, seven; lay dead in the front seat, and Christie, eight; and Danny, three; were sprawled in the back seat, clinging to life. Glenda Mack says she has no idea who would hurt the young boy she had been raising since he was a newborn. Mr. Dianes story does not contradict that. Re Diane Downs I invite reading Synopsis quite similar to above: OREGONs Juridical Small Sacrifices The prosecutors in the case said that Diane had committed such a heinous act in the hopes of getting back together with one of her previous lovers, Robert Knickerbocker, who had made it known that he didnt want children in his life. Investigators found out that Diane had written letters to Robert almost every day, but they were almost all returned to her unopened. The definition of deviant sociopath does not even exist in the DSM-HI, which is the official psychiatric diagnostic manual. What mother takes her kids out at night and then stops for a stranger with her kids in the car? It was cited that she keeps her emotions close to the vest. Our legal system is not perfect. It is because she is a high profile person. Not giving you free reign here. BUT like you rightly explain, there was no real evidence of her guilt. The chief prosecutor adopting the children beggars belief! did he have eyes in the back of his head.???? What they did to her daughter is unconscionable. How about dads side of the family? Say Her Name - But Spell It Right - The Tale of Breonna Taylor, Scott Peterson Was not Entitled to a Perfect Trial, but he Was Entitled to a Fair One He Received Neither. Rule even talked about writing a book about her but it never materialized. All these years later, Diane Downs still maintains her innocence. A conviction founded on lies is no conviction at all. Page 50 of Case History. She then went through the State (Circuit) Court habeas corpus relief for four years to no avail. Maybe I should have elaborated more about this comment. Whenever your shoot a gun that many times and that close to the victims, theres going to be blood and powder residues. Knick never signed the premarital agreement and Diane never married him. Standards of conduct are defined by state law, but they generally require a judge to avoid appearances of impropriety, such as avoiding deciding a dispute in which the judge is personally involved in the issue at stake or has a relationship to one of the parties.. The parole board in Oregon was asking to provide reasonable cause to show she was not a danger to society and it had to be supported by a psychiatrists report or a Wardens letter and Downs provided both. Nine months after the shootings, on February 28, 1984, Diane Downs was arrested and charged with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder. He further added that he was relieved when she was transferred to Oregon because he could then successfully reconcile with his wife. Fingerprints at the crime scene were not produced by the State. If you had, you would clearly know that I do not claim her guilt or innocence. Brewer freely declared that Diane Downs would never have been convicted except that he believed the lie Jim Jagger permitted Fred Hugi to enter into the record. Even Ann Rule in her book, keeps mentioning that they only had a few months to get Christie to talk, otherwise they could not keep her away from her mother any longer. I know better now than to accept blindly the truth presented to us on a silver platter by the media and the judicial system. A. Child Protective Services takes confidentiality to the extreme (warranted in most cases). Clickhere to read about faulty ballistics. It does seem time has done worse to her. I will talk to Dianes brother. The fact that the Hugis did so successfully is arguably proof of this. But showing no remorse is part of claiming her innocence and part of the vicious circle of parole hearings. Diane had a few lovers, which Knick refused to acknowledge (Appendix 81, pages 1508, 1520). As for how to answer this question,,, seems like he is assuming guilt and because of this my parents or me or my brothers and sister, our uncles and aunts were not considered because of an unproven allegation Does he truly believe this is ok??? Join Facebook to connect with Robert Knickerbocker and others you may know. Being interested in a subject without bringing emotions to the table is always the most important step. The fact that they used her daughter and lied about the gun they could never find makes it a wrongful conviction. http://www.manipulatedtrial.de/oregon_s_small_sacrifices_1603.pdf. The notions of humanity and rehabilitation have been left on the wayside long ago. My beef is with the interference by the media, TV shows and Ann Rule Just saw the video of Dianes parole hearing. Help tell the story of your loved ones unique life. The lawsuit against Ann Rule was thrown out as unfounded because after reading her book they could find no inconsistencies She sat thru the entire trial AND used actual court transcripts. What I believe doesnt matter at all. They are the ones who supposedly (according to Diane) screwed her up so badly. In reality,the whole caseturned out to beno small sacrifice for Diane Downs, but it was a huge victory for the State, the media anda very lucrative deal for theQueen of crime fiction herself; Ann Rule. They examined her clothes also. Mind: Wrongful convicted. Not hard to go there. And the interrogations were not tapedand barelydocumented. The way this investigation and the trial were conducted only left me with doubts. More reason to have investigated the case more thoroughly. As for Diane, give me a break. This test confirmed Diane had not held a gun. Page 40 of Case History. A slightly humorous observation is that you said, and others have, that James Haynes physically resembled the sketch. The Parole Board had an obligation to parole Diane between 1998 and 2002 if she could provide reasonable cause to show she was not a danger to society. , The lovely Farrah Fawcett who played in the movie, Anne Rule might have inflamed the case with her book, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), The Diane Downs Case Was no Small Sacrifice. This blogger apparently believes anything she hears to support her inaccurate theory that Diane Downs was falsely accused and convicted. Very little is definitively known in this area. Her attorney, James Jagger, did a poor job for Diane. Fred Hugi looks nothing like Jim Jagger. Mr. Downs must have had a bad feeling about Jagger because before trial: speculation This is not my scenario Tasha. I hope she is granted parole. The last time I checked, it is my website and if you find it tiresome, no one is inviting you to stay or read the content; which you evidently did not read anyway. Also Im curious as to how you feel her repeated escape attempts should affect her deserving to be on parole. They made her out to be a monster, but in Beckys case, it becomes redeemable. So I did not post your comment about his answer to your inquiry. Christie Downs was eight-years old when she was injured and nine-years old when she testified. A fair trial is a right in this country, not a judicial suggestion. A prosecutor inventing a new psychiatric category in court and labeling the accused is kind of unsettling. Despite all of this: that the attorney became a Foster Carer irrelevant, inflammatory, subjective and bears no reflection on the trial, or indeed the trial outcome. Robert L Knickerbocker, 63. The reason Im harsh is because Ive detected that youve paid for this site and therefore cant be wrong. Robert Lee Knickerbocker . She attacked her husband and ripped his neck open in a jealous rage (Appendix 81, page 1520), tearing from his neck the gold chain he still wore from his first marriage (a gift from his first wife). I am glad that some articles remain. She wrote to the governor several times after being dismissed coldly by Hugi and the system. With over 1,900 locations, Dignity Memorial providers proudly serve over 375,000 families a year. Everything I outlined should be public knowledge. So they did everything in their power to slant the media and the public in their favor. The strong, emotive language. The forensic evidence alone is absolutely weak. The next morning Diane appeared in the courtroom with a police report written by Detective Pond a year earlier, in which Ms. Patterson was sure Diane had gone nowhere near the bathroom the night of the shooting (Appendix 62). In a perfect world this would always be the case. They believed the testimony of her former boyfriends who were far from stellar individuals. By the time the incident had happened, it seems as if the two had parted ways, with Diane becoming obsessed with him. Grief researchers say holding that missing funeral service, even a year or more later, can still help us heal. This whole case is flawed. Downs herself had been shot in the forearm during what she claimed was a struggle with the mysterious stranger. The answers to those questions do not matter anymore. Problem with that is Diane has said during an interview with detectives that the sketch looks nothing like what she described. Some basic help and starters when you have to write a tribute to someone you love. She also underwent a gun residue test that same evening that revealed no trace of gun powder on her hands. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. I felt there was something that should be done, but I was at a loss in how to cope with the Court that had given the children to the prosecutor and allowed false testimony to seal her fate. Name: Robert A Knickerbocker, Phone number: (520) 293-1877, State: AZ, City: Tucson, Zip Code: 85705 and more information Tis why at 10 years old I was hearing about this case in Ohio, and family members talked about it around me.it hit with great force that way. Giving to charity is a meaningful way to honor someone who has died. Knickerbocker, Robert C.Robert C. Knickerbocker, age 82 of Tucson, AZ, passed away on May 15, 2015 in Tucson. Diane was sentenced to life plus 50 years. This is a scenario pretty hard to believe, but as they say, reality can sometimes be stranger than fiction. In hindsight Im sure the grandparents wish they had pursued visitation more aggressively. If youre curious to know more about Robert, then we have got your back. After graduation, the two went their separate ways for a bit, Steve to the Navy and Diane to Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College in California. They were tons of witnesses that saw him at work. This seems very punitive to have a law like this be retroactive. Instead of grieving, Alice went partying and had sex. And to try not to bash Dianes Downs character and stick to evidence instead. Surprisingly, Fred Hugi actually looks quite different. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Instead of blaming societal problems and working at finding solutions, prison always seem to be their option. That she had no blood or gun powder anywhere when she allegedly shot at close range? 3. Is Diane really a threat anymore? Even put in different hospitals. The question is of course, how can we determine guilt or innocence without a fair trial? Saudi Princesses in Captivity for More Than a Thousand and One Nights Are Tweeting the Blues, Having recently done research on the Liysa Northons case which was the subject of a book written by Ann Rule titled, Some 287 errors and falsehoods were documented by Liysa and verified by official sources. Children imitate their parents every move. Evidence continued to pile up against Diane Downs. I personally dont think she is innocent but that isnt the point. Her children were obviously more severely injuredbecause being captive in the car while a shooter aimed at them gave them less of a chance to wiggle out of the situation than an adult outside the car. Just state that at the beginning of the blog. . Also, the title of the website clearly demonstrates an inherit bias. Diane described the stranger that shot them on the road and a police artist came up with a sketch. I do not have to put any statement advising people that I am about to present the neglected aspects of the trial. Don't know what in the world came over me, Christopher P. Stokes told a Wisconsin court. I do not declare her innocent. Instead of shooting the little kids, why didnt the carjacker/killer (CK) simply shoot DD dead and take her car? I am interested in the truth. SPRINGFIELD, OR Before Charles Stuart in 1989, and before Susan Smith in 1994, Diane Downs made national headlines by claiming that an unknown assailant had violently attacked her and her family, causing outrage and making national headlines. Shes guilty. While I appreciate your empathy for the victims of this crime, I have to wonder if all murderers should be locked up their entire life? But, Diane also claimed that Robert had told her that he was planning on leaving his wife and moving to Oregon to be with her. But people never want to touch the high profile cases where the defendant is not likable. Also, aside from her original mental state, which may or may not excuse her aloofness (doesnt prove shes a killer by the way! Some cases are so one sided that you feel like exposing or at least, discussing the other side. If the police department had done their job properly, I would not have written this blog, no matter the outcome. It was very unfair to raise them away from their grandparents and other blood relatives. Nobody ignored Dianes demeanor. But the guy who said to several people that he was the shooter happens to resemble the sketch they came up with at the time for a reason. Wow. Find 77 people named Robert Knickerbocker along with free Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok profiles on PeekYou - true people search. If she did have memories of the actual shooting, that would be very rare. Her husband turned out to be a player and a very irresponsible guy who did not really love her.
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