And her mental health should definitely have been a factor to release her with follow up care. I do not discuss her guilt or innocence because this is not what the blog is about, but I personally hope she is released one day. Not optional, kids should not be in limbo that long, but it happens all the time. tell someone else. Why does the blogger not clarify this? ..maybe it was lack of Internet and cellies *shrug)..years later, my Co worker at burger King (I was 16)told me about the small sacrifices movie she watched the night before. 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. It deserved as much attention as a Unicorn, a song or all the other hearsay floating around because at least, they came from real people signing official documents. Robert is in his early sixties now and retired. My question is: why is she still locked up? What got her convicted was two things the towel and Christie. What was the justification? What about the judge stopping a defendant from getting a new attorney? In my blog, I was referring to the case of Liysa Northon whose suit was dismissed, but when Ann Rule tried to sue the Seattle Magazine, its editor and Northons husband for their article on her shoddy work, she lost and had to pay restitution. As it was getting dark and the young ones fell asleep in the car, their mother decided to head home. Downs then fell in love with a married coworker named Robert Knickerbocker, who continuously promised Diane hed be with her and always reneged. And if he really was attached to them and wanted to offer them a permanent home, it means he was unfit to be the prosecutor in this case. Even if I have no doubt that Hugi loved the kids, we have to wonder why he adopted them two years later just when little Christie started saying she had no clue who shot them. Related To Dorothy Knickerbock. The whole family were co-conspirators and involved in the crime? You were not there and one thing I have learned about high profile cases, is that you cannot always believe what the media, biased detectives and Ann Rule have to say. Most doctors would tell you that it is normal for our brains to block out a traumatic incident especially when combined with a serious physical injury. Lets also remember that this is the US of A and we dont lock people up for being narcissistic, antisocial histrionic individuals. It was faulty. There were good reasons to look at this mother, but the detective admitted on the stand that they stopped looking at anyone else after two weeks and the stranger on the road became a joke. View property details and household demographic information related to income, investments, and interests. They seem to say she was like that from the very beginning so in my opinion, it should represent a mitigating circumstance instead of a longer sentence. Now in hindsight, seeing footage on youtube, especially the interview she did with the reporter Anne Jagger, the things she says and facial expression is exactly described in the bookhad to find the section in the book, but on that note, Anne rule did site that interview correctly. And being the mother of three only served to propel Diane in a more manic state. I say these things if I were on the jury. Yes, I had filed for divorce and then I canceled it. According to the State, ballistics evidence proved that Diane Downs was guilty. I had nonetheless heard of the legendary Diane Downs; the cruel sociopath who had sacrificed her own children to be free to pursue a relationship with the man she loved. Robert has resided in Tucson, AZ in a mobile / manufactured home with Tommy. YouTube is a video-sharing website where users can upload and watch videos, subscribe to user channels and leave comments. It has nothing to do with the facts of the case. I care about what was said at trial. This test confirmed Diane had not held a gun. Page 40 of Case History. I think that looked at through a more objective lens, many aspects of the Downs case are highly questionable. I would love to hear your answers to them. But before you get too deep into the drug stuff with Van Houten, she chose to take drugs. Likewise, Charlene had no intention of letting Knick divorce her (Appendix 81, page 1518, line 15). In 1991, David Brewer, a juror who deliberated Dianes fate in her 1984 trial, came forward to say he and another juror had decided to acquit Downs by the close of the States presentation. The trial was a whole miscarriage, that seems undeniable. It gave Anne Rule carte blanche to legally use these labels in her book and it stuck. Yet in their mind, she was already guilty. Thats why Diane wouldnt agree to marry unless Knick first signed a premarital agreement that when they divorced, Knick would take nothing from their marriage. Diane had thought that her own three kids were the reason why they werent together, and thus, apparently decided to take matters into her own hands. . , 87. She should have had the lawyer of her choice and if they wanted to charge her with the crimes, they should have stuck with what evidence and circumstances they had. I personally disagree with that practice but it is common. This does not make her innocent. That conflict of interest alone would incline Christie to testify against her mother. We, who watched her parole hearing a few years ago prayed HARD that she wouldnt be set free, know she is guilty. How one of them lied on the stand about ballistics? I was also stunned that she took the reports of all of Dianes ( mostly married) ex lovers as absolute truth and never once questioned that they might have been lying and retrospectively minimising their feelings for Diane to protect themselves. Strangely enough, a woman who was seen for 8 months by a psychologist and declared to be in shock and suffering from a mood disorder, would now be assessed by the State hired psychiatrist to confirm the label Hugi conveniently made up during trial. You left and you and Diane Downs spent an evening at a motel? 100% CAUCASIAN Our ethnicity data indicates the majority is Caucasian. You said yourself that the title was revealing. Downs story also changed over the the course of several interrogations, leading police to suspect that there hadnt been a violent predator on the road that night at all, but rather Downs had attacked her own children and shot herself to make her story more believable. Hugi didnt rush in and take the kids, he had time to consider. The implication was not only cruel, in the light of what Diane was suffering, it was also clear. She had the right to a fair trial as much as anyone else out there. This case needed to be examined more thoroughly, but the mob mentality didnt allow it. Then they just got shut out. If you shoot at least 6 inches from a victim, you see what is around you in the car. But saying that you are not very smart is useless. I think u need to read the facts. All rights reserved. This is not the reason she is still locked up. Its a dangerous proposition when a lack of due process becomes acceptable because they know she is guilty. And after Diane left Arizona she didnt call Knick to inquire about his love, but rather about when he would repay the $500 (Appendix 81, pages 1479-1480). Devoting ur life to taking down a dead author is a waste of ur talents. He asked her for the car keys and she pretended to throw them away to distract him. The way this investigation and the trial were conducted only left me with doubts. It should be illegal to use real names and facts from a criminal case while influencing the publicto falselybelieve that the whole content of the filmis true. As I stated towards the beginning of my response, Im taking issue with the blog and the subjective language used. Seeing her giggle and laugh during a videoed reconstruction gave me, as a mother, a sickening feeling. The underlying basis of this article. Even if the nurses notes indicated countless times that the children asked for their mother and enjoyed her visits, they cut them off from the only family they knew and loved; supposedly for their own protection. These women did not show emotions and did not fold when asked to. Being a patient of the doctor who saved the childrens lives has nothing to do with the facts of a case. The grandparents were babysitting the children often and had several children who were well adjusted. Is it the one you tried to use? If Hugi got attached to the children, why did he wait 2 years when little Christie was starting to say she had no clue who shot them? That single fact collaborated by a witness, convicts her for me. She. Oh my. Some basic help and starters when you have to write a tribute to someone you love. The car was splattered with blood, but Diane had none on her. See more Show your support Send Flowers Send flowers or a gift to a service or family's home. 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.. That she had no blood or gun powder anywhere when she allegedly shot at close range? Work: Rising Tide LP - General Partner, Rising Tide LTD Partnership - Chief Executive Officer, knickerbocker investments - owner +1 more. Another conflict of interest. And Ann Rule said that the unicorn that was omnipresent in court was part of the premeditation. I am pointing them out. Knickerbocker, Robert C.Robert C. Knickerbocker, age 82 of Tucson, AZ, passed away on May 15, 2015 in Tucson. Of course, her mental health has deteriorated. They hardly investigated any other lead after a couple of weeks. I hope this would never fly these days to separate wounded children from the only family members they have. In hindsight Im sure the grandparents wish they had pursued visitation more aggressively. One of them named Angel, called 15-year-old Christie on the phone. Anyways, I was 10 years old when this happened, I stayed with my aunt and uncle a lot in those years, in which they watched A LOT of nightly news programs.lol most of it was like white noise to me, as I would play with my barbies on their living room floorbut I do remember this story. It sounds like this was not the case with Dianes children. By the way, that interview with Christie by a biased advocate named Angel borders on abusive. Further: Wonder about Justice in Nation with world wide highest prisoner rate. They should have looked for a possible accomplice and checked all the leads. Only after these avenues are exhausted should non-relative placement be looked at. 2023 SCI SHARED RESOURCES, LLC. Mr. Downs must have had a bad feeling about Jagger because before trial, he tried to retain defense attorney Melvin Belli who had the reputation of fighting for his clients and to win all his cases. Arizona; Tucson; Robert Arthur Knickerbocker; Robert Arthur Knickerbocker, Age 66. aka Robert C Knickerbocker, Robert a Knickerbocke. I guess he did not want too many people to know about the improprieties that happened in his courtroom. If, as Proctor said, it was exchanged right away, and the other Ruger was subsequently stolen by Steven, how was it remotely possible for him to have this info? Its more understandable now, after all this time but it has done her so much harm, then and now My website is in the process of being migrated so it has no photos. And Steven was free to follow her lead or not. Fred Hugi was pretty upset when Ann Rule went Hollywood with his case. You do not refute any of the points I made in the blogs. She had been the bread winner for most of her marriage, and never wavered in her desire to bring financial stability to her family. I remember when Diane shot her kids and there are some facts Id like to correct from your blog. On the night of May 19, 1983, Downs was driving with her three children. In 1992 I became involved in this work following my interest and research into a notorious murder trial that was held in Oregon many years ago. Three weeks after the crime, Judge Foote from family courts, removed Danny and Christie from the care of Diane Downs and her family.

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