Читать книгу Parents Who Kill - Shocking True Stories of The World's Most Evil Parents - Carol Anne Davis - Страница 48

On 28 February 1984, Diane was arrested for murder and attempted murder. She pleaded not guilty to all charges and was remanded in custody.

At the Lane County Courthouse, the jury heard Diane’s version of events, a version which the prosecution swiftly demolished. The defence said that Diane had been molested by her father and that this had changed her ability to connect with people, that they mustn’t be misled by her endless talking and fixed smile.

Prosecutors noted that it had taken her over 20 minutes to drive the four mile journey to the hospital, yet she’d said that she’d sped all the way.

Christie, her arm still paralysed, took the stand and, weeping, admitted that her mother ‘shot Cheryl.’ Asked what had happened next, she said that Diane had ‘shot Danny’ then went to the back of the seat and… She broke down at this point and the prosecutor gently asked her ‘Who shot you?’ Christie replied ‘My mom.’ She admitted that she still loved her mother. The entire courtroom – including the usually dry-eyed Diane – was in tears.

Taking the stand, Diane Downs said that her father had never let her cry, that she’d learned not to show emotion. She spoke about him sexually molesting her when she was 12, and said that she hadn’t told anyone until she turned 16.

She denied that the children had been a barrier to her relationship with Dave – but the prosecution produced a letter in which she’d told him: ‘The Nanny will take responsibility for most of the kids’ spare time.’

Diane now told the court that a deity might have wanted the children dead in order to punish her, because Baptists put ‘God first’ yet she’d put her children first. (In reality, she’d always put herself and her boyfriends first.) She said that ‘God will make Danny walk again.’

She had told detectives that the shooter stood outside the car and that he was only five foot eight – but he’d have to have had arms like an orang-utan in order to shoot the children at almost point blank range. Christie’s version, that their mother had shot them from inside the vehicle, was the version which made sense. Diane had the motive, a weapon identical to the murder weapon, and the opportunity. She’d arranged for the shooting to take place next to the river so that she could immediately dispose of the gun. Then, realising that the children were still breathing and with no means to finish them off, she’d driven at a snail’s pace to the hospital and told the doctors not to artificially resuscitate them.

The prosecution said that Diane had failed at everything – marriage, motherhood, her attempts to become a doctor, her efforts to start her own surrogacy clinic. She saw her life with Dave – childfree – as a new start. When that had failed, she’d deliberately become pregnant, trying to recreate herself as the ideal mother. Diane shook her head at the accusations whilst, again and again, she caressed her swollen stomach, still using impending motherhood as collateral.

The jury were out for 22 hours then returned with two guilty verdicts for attempted murder and one of murder. She smiled and said that the verdicts were a surprise. Ten days later she gave birth to a daughter, who was immediately given up for adoption. Strangely, Diane asked that her own parents be allowed to adopt the infant – but why would she give a girl baby to the father whom she claimed had molested her as a child?

At her sentencing, she told the judge that she would serve her time then track down the ‘bushy-haired stranger’ who had maimed and killed her children. The judge sentenced her to life plus 50 years and added ‘The Court hopes that the defendant will never again be free.’

After the trial, one of the prosecutors who had become close to Christie and Danny, and who admired their courage, adopted them.