Morbid - Diane Downs Mini Morbid

Episode Date: July 2, 2019

Diane Downs is an evil monster. Straight up, this woman is one of the all time worst. Ash's Mini Morbid will take us down her dark path and out the other side where we will all probably meet for a drink because, damn Diane. Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash KelleyListener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra LallyListener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey weirdos, I'm Elena. I'm Ash. And this is a mini morbid. And it's Ashcentric. Ashcentric episode. Mini, mini, mini, mini, mini, mini, morbid. Mini morbid, mini morbid, mini morbid, mini morbid, mini morbid. You did like a different hey weirdos when you said it.

I know. I went into it being like, I'm going to switch this up a little. I kind of liked it. You liked it? Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So hey everybody, we are back.

And we hope you dug the Bridgewater Triangle series. It was fun. We might, hey, we might revisit it again at some point. I'm sure we'll discover more crazy-ass secrets about the Bridgewater Triangle. We might want to do another episode. I've been so much more, like, cognizant of the fact that I'm, like, constantly in the Bridgewater Triangle. And I'm like, is somebody is Bigfoot over there? Is a Puckwaji over there?

Actually, there's, like, a little. family of rabbits in our front area. And the other day I was looking at them and I was like, oh, my God, they're so cute. And then I was like, wait a second. Those could be puck woggies. And I ran the fucking side. I love that now like tiny, innocuous, sweet animals, like woodland creatures. You're like, that's a puck wodge.

I literally was like, oh, my God, it's so cute. And then I was like, fuck you guys. But you know what? It's smart. Because that's the advice we gave everyone last week was if you're in the Bridgewater triangle and you see anything, just walk the end. other way. Cute animals in the Bridgewater

Triangle are for dead people. They are puck watch. Much like fresh air. Okay. Okay. Okay. So because this is a mini episode, we don't have a ton of business

to get to. But we did want to mention because it's a pretty big thing that unfortunately the case of the missing student McKenzie Lewick got a pretty bummer ending.

Yesterday we got the news that her burned body was discovered in the backyard of 31-year-old Ayula Ajai, I think, or a Jee. Who gives a fuck what his name is, really. Fuck that guy. Fuck you guy. There's not a ton known about the case yet, obviously, because she was just found. We do want to cover this case in an episode at some point, so stay tuned for that.

We just want to get more updates about it. And one thing that came out was that a contractor that worked at this guy's house at one point said that he asked him to build him a secret room in his basement. Nope. He didn't. This guy was like, no, not going to do that. That guy was like, I'm really busy that day. My Uber just got here and I'm busy.

He's like, yeah, no, not going to do that. I'm booked that day. Solid. I would love to keep my license and not be involved in a future murder case. Do you know what, though? A lot of people have secret rooms in their houses and like who built those rooms? I know. Like, what?

That's the thing. It's like, what do you do when someone's... Well, I wonder if people who asked for it were like, oh, no, I'm going to use it for this. But this guy was literally like, I would like a secret room. I would use mine for Captain Crunch slushies. Because you're trash. Because I'm trash. Hi, I'm trash. I should put that on my dating profiles.

Hi, I'm trash. I'm going to make that my dating profile introductory. I love that. And actually, speaking of dating profiles. See, I knew what I was doing there. You're welcome. Because I just want to point out, I had posted on the Instagram that, you know, what a bummer ending this was to the case, and that it was a bummer that people were kind of like victim shaming her.

Because no matter what, a murder is a murder as a murder. The person, you know, the innocent victim did not deserve to be murdered. Of course, we don't know everything either. Like there's rumors. Well, I was going to say, there's probably, it could all come down to just a rumor. Exactly. Like, we don't know what was going on here, but people were talking about. She was possibly doing on like a sugar baby website or something related to sex work in some way.

Now listen. None of this is confirmed, by the way. So we want to be very clear about that that these are rumors. Well, and it's just like when people say like sex workers, like, oh, like they were looking for it. They're less dead. Yeah, exactly. Because either way a human was killed. And here's the thing.

What people aren't understanding is there. People are like, well, she put herself in a risky situation. Okay, nobody's arguing that that was a risky situation if that's what it was. Right. No one's arguing that it wasn't. But by saying that, you are inherently taking away responsibility from the monster that shouldn't be fucking murdering women. That's the thing.

It's like, risky situation or not, nobody should be murdering people. And I think that people put themselves in risky situations daily and don't even recognize it. Like being on dating websites. Exactly. Regardless of what, you know, like it is risky to be on a dating site because you don't know the other person. We just wanted to be clear that all of this is all, nothing has been confirmed about what her lifestyle was, what her occupation was, what this, what happened here. Nobody really knows what happened here yet. It hasn't been released.

So it's, I just think it's unfair to immediately put on her. what happened and not look at this fucking monster that was asking to have a secret room built in his basement, probably to do this over and over and over again. We're going to take the shit off of him and we're going to put it on the people he's killing now. And excuse me, your dead ass saying about this man that burned a fucking body? Well, she put herself in that situation. Like, no. He burned a body.

It just shouldn't be a situation to begin with. The McKenzie-Lewick case is really sad. And we will be updating it as we get more updates. We're definitely going to do an episode at some point about it. So stay tuned for that. And what a bummer ending to that case. Yeah, that is really sad. So without further ado, we're going to dive into another bummer case.

So first and foremost, this case just like really hits close to home because like my mom's crazy. And Diane Downs literally reminds me a lot of my own mother. And I realize that while watching the 2020 case. Yeah. And you can leave that all. all in. It's fine. So Elizabeth Diane Fredrickson was born in Phoenix, Arizona

on August 7, 1955. Also, if you watch teen mom, which hi, I'm trash and I do, if dude, Janelle Eason is Diane Downs. Like they have the same face. Ash showed me a side by side

and it's uncanny. There's a whole Reddit thread about it. There's some genes that are connected there. You're lying to me if Diane Downs isn't a relative. Yeah, for sure. Okay. 100%. So anyways, she grew up in Phoenix, and while she was in high school, she started dating this, like, hunky dude named Steve. After high school, she spent time studying at the Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College in Orange, California. Hey, yo. But she had to leave because she got kicked out for, I'm not going to be able to say this word, promiscuity. Thank you.

There you go. Every college person, I feel, would be kicked out for promiscuity at this point. For making your own damn choices about who you sleep with. Exactly. I mean, I'm not saying Diane down. That's a good person. No, she's not. But so she had to move back home.

And when she moved back home, her and Steve reconnected. And in November of 1973, they got married. Oh, wonderful. And everything was beautiful, and this is the end of the episode. Oh, that's great.

Sike. So they had three kids together. Christy, Cheryl, Lynn, and Stephen Danny Downs. So from this point forward, I'll just refer to Stephen as Danny. Yeah. So Diane and Steve had a rocky relationship because Diane's the devil.

Yes. Yes. I had no idea. Well, Steve spent like a lot of time at work and Diane felt alone and ignored. When? And she literally, she would like run away with the kids and like not tell Steve where she was. That's so messed up. Like don't fucking do that. Like people

who use their kids in that way. Don't use your kids as pawn. Are straight up evil evil that it's true that's straight up evil everyone listening is going to be like did she just get into fight with her mom like what the fuck it's been a lifelong struggle folks but steve was always able to like track her down and be like yo lady get it together come back I love you but that got old it just bums me out for the kids so much well yeah and diane was getting it seems but like Steve was like like a normal chill dude like he was like he was just like, Diane, come home, like, cut the shit.

Please stop being a crazy person. Dude, can you just stop? Stop traumatizing our kids, please. Yeah. But she was bored and tired of married life, and they divorced shortly after Danny was born in 1980. Also, Diane used to cheat on Steve, like, all the fucking time. How did she have time for that shit with three kids?

I don't know. That's what I want to know. Well, fun fact, Steve Danny Downs is not. Steve's kid. Oh. Yeah. So she had like this affair thing. I don't, I couldn't find this, you know, this like thing where she wasn't like,

wasn't, I don't know. Faithful. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. I couldn't find who Danny's dad, like real dad biologically was. But it's not Steve. It's not Steve.

And it was before, like that didn't really cause their divorce at all because Steve was like, you know what? Like, I don't know what Diane was doing, but she had him wrapped around her finger. And he was like, you know what? like I'll accept Danny as my own. Well, and he was probably just being a stand-up dude. Right. Which, like, it's just not worth it.

Don't do that. I can't believe she named him after the guy who wasn't his father. I almost feel like that was just like her being a bitch. Probably because she's the devil. Yeah, she sucks. Yeah. So, like I said, basically, I'm pretty sure their divorce happened very shortly after Danny was born because he wasn't.

Yeah. It caused a lot of turmoil. So after the divorce, Diane moved back to Oregon. Do I say Oregon? Yeah. Did I just say that? You did. Shit. I don't even know myself.

It's Oregon. Okay, so she moved, after the divorce, Diane moved back to Oregon. There you go. I'm trying. Nailed it. Yes. She seemed pretty uninterested in being a mom. Yeah.

I would connect that with her. She worked a lot. She stayed out, and she pretty much pawned her kids off on, like, anyone willing to take them. That's awful. Relatable. One babysitter said that she like yelled, she like reprimanded one of the kids for like doing something bad. And she got like, I forget which kid it was, but she was like really upset. And she was like, yeah, like my mom says that I'm really bad like all the time.

And then she asked a babysitter if she had a gun because she was like going to kill herself or something. Oh my God. Yeah. And these kids were young. Like, they were young. Oh, this is going to ruin me. It's awful. So in 1981, Diane started working at the post office where she met this man and fell in love.

She met a man's. She met a married man's. Oh, Jesus, Diane. Yep. He was separated, though, at the time, quote, unquote. Mm-hmm. Yeah, we've all heard that lie before. Me and my wife just got separated tonight.

It's fine. Right now, you know, everything's fine. It's great. The hall pass and wall. Yeah. There's not. That's a lie. Never.

So it didn't last long because he was fucking married. And also he realized that she was fucking crazy. And he didn't really want kids, this dude. And she was like, well, I have three of those. Yes, literally. She's like, well, I kind of have three of those. Sort of. But I could technically do, but I could like get them taken care of.

Yeah. So she became. obsessed with this dude. Like, obsessed. She wrote him later on, the police like ransack her house for a reason that I'll get into later. But they found, like, tons and tons of letters

to this dude. And his name was like Knickerbocker, and she called him like Nicky or like Nick. His name was Nickerbocker. That was his last name. But she wrote him a letter every single day. Ooh. Like, girl, you have three children.

Woof. I don't have a single. single child, and I don't have time to write some fucking married asshole a letter every day. You know what? Sometimes my nails will be chipped for like months at a time. Yeah. And I don't repaint them because I have two children. Right.

I don't have, I have like approximately zero obligations. I can't sit down and fix a chip in my nails because I don't have time to do that. Never mind sit down and write a letter to some dude who's married. I don't even write in my diary every day. I barely have to, I mean, I brush my teeth and that's exciting. I don't even know, I'm just kidding. I don't even do that. I don't even brush my teeth.

Totally kidding. I brush my teeth today. So obviously things were not going well in Diane's life. Not going swimmingly. No, because she's fucking, she's got these three kids. She doesn't even like them. No, which it's like, you know you had the option to not have them. It's always an option.

She is like she comes, she just got divorced. Then she meets this dude. She thinks it's it. And then he's like, yeah, piece out, slant piece. And it's just really not going well. So on the night of May 19th, 1983, things get worse for Diane. Oh, boy. She had taken her three kids on a visit to go see like a woman she was friends with.

And then on the way home, they took the scenic route because she and the kids like to take back roads and like take different routes they had never taken before. I'm nervous. You should be. It was like somewhere around like nine o'clock at night at this point. And she said they wanted to go sightseeing. Yeah, that's usually when you go sightseeing. It's like the prime time to see everything. Pitch black is like prime time.

Your night visions kicks the fuck in. It's great. Absolutely. Also, your kids are like the ages of eight and under. Oh my God. It's like they should be in bed. They're sleeping. Right. They should be in bed.

So as she was driving a quote, bushy-haired stranger flagged her down and she pulled over to see what the problem was. With her three fucking kids in the back seat. That's what I would do with my kids. Yeah, totally. Yeah, I always approach bushy-haired strangers with my children. Always. Yeah, every day.

And it's always fine. It all works out in the end. Yeah. So she pulls over and she's like, what's up? And he approaches the car and he says that he wants her car. Like, he's basically carjacking her. He's like, hello, I would like your car. Hi, ma'am, great car.

I'd like to have it. That whole conversation went, what's up? Hey, I'd like your car. And she says, you've got to be kidding. That's what she told police, she said. You've got to be kidding. For some reason, she gets out of the car and he pushes her aside. This is really sad.

He shoots the three kids and then shoots her in the arm in like a scuffle. She pretends to throw the keys into a bush to distract him. And then she gets back in the car and speeds away like a lunatic to drive the children to the hospital. Yeah, I don't think that's what happens. It's not. Listen, I'm telling you, just because you have kids doesn't mean you're a mother. Oh, that is the truest. Because this lady is not a mother. Trueest statement. At all. Yes. 100%.

So, this is also very sad. When they get there, Cheryl is pronounced dead. Christy suffered a stroke and was like clinging to life. Christy's the oldest. Sheryl's the middle. And then Danny is in super bad condition. and is paralyzed from the waist down. Oh, my God. And how old are these kids? So at the time, Christy was nine, Cheryl was seven, and Danny was four.

So they were like babies. Literal babies. And like I said, Cheryl's pronounced dead. Christy has had a stroke, and Danny is paralyzed from the waist down at four years old. And when Diane is told all of this, she doesn't shed a single tier. That's normal.

And all the people were like, okay, well, we can't judge how she's grieving. Like, maybe she's in shock. But everyone that was interviewed afterwards is like, I tried to tell myself, like, okay, don't judge how someone's grieving. But everyone had a weird fucking feeling about this lady. Because it's like your children were just, one of your children was just murdered in front of you. And the other two were just brutally shot in front of you.

And you just lost your seven-year-old baby. And your other kids are clinging to. life. They didn't know if these kids were going to make it. That's awful. A fucking nine-year-old has a stroke. Are you kidding me? And a four-year-old is paralyzed from the waist a... It's just, ugh, I can't. It's all horrible. And she showed up with, like, a towel wrapped around her wound, and the kids didn't have... Oh, so that's very motherly. Yeah, exactly. And I can tell you right now that I will, and I am not a crier, ask Ash. No, this bitch doesn't cry. Like, emotions do not escape me. I've seen, I think I've literally seen

Elena cry one time. Literally. And if my kids even show that they are like scared of something, like when one of them was having night terrors, it literally made me cry. Just because they were upset about something and something was like, and you like couldn't fix it. Making them sad. So seeing one of them shot would be the, and being in pain, I would be a fucking basket case. Yeah, this case is fucked. And so is Diane Downs. It just shows that she's not a mother. No. So as typical protocol, she's brought in for an interview so they can figure out like what went down that night.

So she says the whole story about the bushy-haired stranger. She pulls over. He says, yo, I want your car lady. Doesn't work out. He shoots the kids. Awful, awful, awful. And in an original interview, she kept saying, or she said that she kept saying in the car, God, do what's best.

You know, if they got to die, let them die. die, but don't let them suffer. Oh, yeah. If my kids have to die, just like let that happen. And you know, like, just do it's, if you got to die, they got to die. Like, yeah, because a four-year-old and a seven-year-old and a nine-year-old have to die. And, like, it's, that's not hearsay. There's an interview where she is literally saying that.

She did so many fucking interviews. Oh, they always do. I'm so glad she did because she sank her fucking ship. I'm glad she talked because those are the ones. like you said, they talk and they sink their own shit. Oh, yeah. So like I said, everyone at the hospital was super alarmed at her lack of emotion, but trying not to judge.

But the surgeon working on keeping Christy alive remembers Diane saying, I really ruined my new car. There's blood all over the back of it. Like, that was her concern. What? The actual fuck. While her child is, two of her children are clinging to life and one is dead. You're worried about what the fuck your car looks like?

I'm beyond right now. Yeah, that is... Oh, it gets so much worse. Like, your child is in surgery to, like, have their lives saved. And she's like, oh, how much is it going to, like, put me out? This is just, like, beyond my comprehension. And she's not worried about it at all. Yeah, she's worried about her car.

Yeah, and she's worried about fucking being with this dude that didn't want kids. So, after speaking with Diane, the detectives get a sketch of the bushy She-haired stranger, and they began searching this crime scene for, like, anything that they can find at all. But there's really nothing that they could find. They were never able to find the gun, only the casings. The composite sketch was getting, like, virtually nothing in response. Nobody... It was probably basically just like Ted Bundy.

Yeah. Well, like, everybody was like, well, it wasn't a fucking real person. Spoiler alert. So nobody knew him. And they're getting more and more skeptical. Like, the more interviews Diane's doing the way. like weirder shit she's saying. She just doesn't seem upset.

Like she doesn't seem like a mom whose kids are like. Yeah. It's one thing to grieve in a different way. And, you know, it's another thing to just not at all have any emotion about your kids. Yeah. Having, seeing your kids shot in front of you by strangers, you're going to have a reaction.

Yeah. So they have her do a reenactment of what happened that night. And it's on film and you should all go watch it. Because it's literally, like it's like what the fuck did I just watch. If I can find it, I'll post it. You should post it. It's on YouTube. Yeah, I'll try to find it. So before the reenactment starts, she's sitting in the car.

Like the interviewer is like outside of the car and you can see her in the car, looking in the mirror, like the rearview mirror or whatever, fixing her hair, like primping for this. Oh my God. I hate this woman so much. And it's like, I know this story and it's still like just shocking me. She's about to reenact the brutal attack and murder of her. one of her children. That should be one of the most traumatizing experiences.

And she's making sure that her hair looks good first. Which is 100% why they did this because that should be this traumatizing experience where you can barely get through it. And she's like, what do I look like? And she's sitting there primping. And she's like giggling through the whole entire thing. And if that's not enough, she bumps her cast when she gets into the car. And afterwards she goes, oh, this is worse then.

And she doesn't finish her sentence. So she's like, oh, like that hurt worse than, and they were like, oh, like when you shot yourself at the arm. Jesus. Like that's what the detectives were like, that's what she was going to say. Yeah, 100% when I fucking got shot. When I shot myself in the arm. Yeah. But she catches herself too.

And she just doesn't even finish. So in the countless interviews that she does, she says horrible things. She says, if I had shot my own children, would I not have done a good job of it? She literally said that. And then she said, in one interview, my kids were lucky lucky what one of them's dead one of them had a stroke and the other one's paralyzed right are you kidding me and she's saying that she's lucky that she wasn't killed and that she was able to drive them to the hospital like that's why they were lucky oh my god and the woman I believe her

name's Ann Yeager that she does the interview with or she literally is like looking at the entire interview she's looking at her like she's like she doesn't even understand how to comprehend what this woman is saying her. I couldn't even be in the same room as her. Hearing her say those things, I'd be like, yeah, I'm out. I can't. So if you thought that was all bad, oh no. Then she gets fucking pregnant. Oh, I remember this. Because at this point, her kids have been like taken away because she's a suspect. Yeah. So they were like, yeah, you can't have you kids. And she gets pregnant.

And she gets pregnant. It drives me nuts that these are the kind of people who can Just wait. When she's asked about this in an interview because they're like, yeah, hey, like, are you sad at all? Like, why did you just get pregnant? Like, your three kids were just taken away? She explains her decision by saying, one, that she misses all her kids so much, and she's never going to see Cheryl on earth again. And then two, children give her so much love and attention and satisfaction and stability. And three, kids are so easy to conceive.

She literally says I got so angry. Like, no, no, they're not. They're not. Yeah. Like speaking as someone who, it took a long time to have my twins and many IVF rounds. Right. Fuck that lady. Kids are not easy to conceive for everybody.

That is so fucked. You are not supposed to have kids so that they can provide you with love and attention and stability. You are supposed to do that for. your kids. Literally it's supposed to be the other way around. Right. That you feel a need to provide love and attention and stability to another human being besides yourself. That's the whole point of having kids. This bitch knew exactly what she was doing when she got pregnant. That reporter that I mentioned and I think her last name is Yeager. It's J-A-E-G-E-R. That sounds good. Or like J-A-E-E-E-A-R. She remembers Diane telling her that she knew her cycle so well and she knew that if she had sex

this guy on this certain day that she would get pregnant right away. Oh my God. So she knew exactly what the fuck she was doing. Providing her with such a fertile reproductive system. I don't understand that. Like, God, are you there? It's me, Margaret. So after all this craziness,

police realized that they need to start building a fucking case against this cuckoo-nut lady. So we can get that kid away from her. Right, exactly. They take a look at the blood stains in the car, and they realize that they're not conclusive with Diane's story at all. because Diane's story is that the children were shot inside of the car. Yeah.

But there is blood spatter on the outside of the car, on the lower passenger side door frame. Oh, my God. So detectives pieced together that most likely Cheryl was able to open the door and was trying to get away. Oh, my God, from her own mother. But fell, and that's when Diane shot her outside of the car. She also had told police that she had never purchased a gun, like she didn't have a gun. but they found out that she had purchased a 22 caliber pistol. The same gun used to shoot all three children.

Fucking idiot. And then they search her home and find a rifle. But she's never had a gun. And shells that had previously been ejected from a different weapon. Like they were able to tell because there was like extractor markings on them. Oh, okay. So investigators took those shells and looked at them under the microscope and saw the little extractor markings

that matched all the markings of... On the inside of the barrel. Of the other gun? No, they matched the shell casings found at the scene of the crime. Yeah. Meaning all those bullets had once been in a different gun, the 22 caliber pistol. Holy shit.

Use that night. Forensic fucking files. Then... All hail forensic. This is going to fuck you up. Oh, no. This, I like, it's going to be hard for me to even say this.

Okay, so everybody get ready. Spoiler. Like, not spoiler. Like, trigger warning. Okay. Is this like a kid trigger warning? It's just awful. It's not, it's just like horrible.

Then a witness comes forward saying that he was driving behind Diane's car on the night of the attacks and he claimed she was driving so slowly that his speedometer wasn't even registering. Whoa. So she was driving. Remember she said she drove to the hospital like a lunatic? Oh, yeah. This guy was behind her after everything happened, and she was driving that slow to ensure that they were like bleeding out.

Oh my God. Like so slowly. Like I just got chills as I fucking said that. Well, your three kids are in like the most pain and trauma. Of their entire life. You're driving that. I'm just like my mind can't even go there. It can't even go there.

So slowly that his thing wasn't even registering. Oh my God. Like that is so fucked up. You're literally not even, like, that's like prolonging their torture. Right. No, it is. That's exactly what it is. That's literally prolonging their, oh, my God.

So at this point, police bring her in for another interview. And this is actually, this is like funny, but not funny. It's like the detective literally goes, Diane, your story stinks. And she goes. And so do you, bitch. And she goes, then you better go get some deodorant. I'm not kidding. That's real.

Honestly, at that point, they should have been like, I don't even care if there's any evidence here. That was dumb as fuck. And we're locking you up for life. For a dumb response. He said, your story stings. And she said, then you better go get some of the other rent.

Oh, my God. I'm sorry, are you five? I would literally punch her in the face. She's a cunt. She is a cunt. We haven't used that in a long time about somebody, but. She's a cunt. Yeah.

Now, in this interview, Diane totally changes her story of that night. Oh, shocked. She says, there were actually two men, and they referred to her by name, and they must have known her because they said something about, like, her tattoo that, like, nobody knew about. And it's like, so you literally just remembered that there was another one? Right, like, why wouldn't you have said that from the jump? Exactly.

That doesn't make any fucking sense. Yeah. And then she adds, since you guys seem to think I should have brought the guy in with me, I'll go get him myself because I know who did it. Like you know who killed one of your kids and attacked the other two and you're just now saying not. But this whole time you've been pretending it's some random bushy-haired stranger? What? Like Diane.

What? And then she goes on to say that she knows his name and everything. So why the fuck aren't you telling anybody? Well, and why are you letting him walk the streets after he paralyzed one of your children, send another into a stroke and literally killed the other one? Like that doesn't make any fucking sense, Diane. You don't, like, no. This is literal.

This is bonkers. You guys seriously, it's insane. This is bonkers. Also, it's an interesting side note that you should remember for like the end because when Diane was able to still visit her kids, she would like walk into Christy's room and Christy was like recovering from a stroke. Oh, I think I read about this one. This is so scary.

The nurses. all say that every time Diane walked into the room, even if Christy was like sleeping or like not totally with it, her heart would, her heart rate would like go insane. Like she, like she was scared shitless every time her mom walked into the room. I mean, she's a poor nine year old girl who who knows her mother tried to kill her. Yeah. Oh, it's so fucking crazy. My God. So. And she just kept torturing her by doing that. Oh, 100%. And she knew exactly. And she knew she was doing. So at this point, Christy is still recovering from her stroke, but she's like learning to talk again and like learning everything again. And she was going to therapy because obviously

she wasn't brutally attacked. And the therapist was asking her like, do you, like, she said she knew who shot her. Like, and she just couldn't talk about it. And the therapist was like, okay, why don't you write it down on a piece of paper and we'll put it in an envelope and we'll keep. doing that and we're going to burn the envelope like every time like you can throw it in the fireplace and then eventually one day you might be ready to say wow that was like i know isn't that wild like it's therapist really impressive so they do this for like a few times or whatever and then finally she's ready wow that was like i'm like really impressed by that i know because i would just think that brilliant way to do that you just keep doing it because it it allows her to get it out but not

whatever she's worried about doing by saying it out loud, she's not having to do that until she's ready. And then it's like, it must have been like frustrating to throw it in the fire because I'm sure a huge part of her wanted to say. But then it was like catharsis again to do it again. So then it's leading up to this massive catharsis of letting it out. Wow. Wow.

Therapists. So they do this exercise over and over again. And then the day that they didn't do it or excuse me, the day that. they did it and she was ready to say who it was, the therapist looked at the piece of the paper and it said, my mom. Oh. It, that, like, ruined me. A poor little baby has to write my mom.

Yeah. Did this to me. Like my mom. Oh. And it was like, who attacked you? Who killed your sister and paralyzed your brother and tried to kill you? My mom. That's awful.

So on February 28th, 1984, Diane Downs is arrested. She's charged with one count of murder and two counts attempted murder. During the trial, she's pregnant as fuck. Because remember... Oh, I remember seeing pictures of that. It wasn't soon after this whole thing happened that she got pregnant. Like, it was very quickly. And then she was basically like pretty much nine months pregnant through the whole trial.

I bet I guarantee you two, part of that getting pregnant was a sympathy card. She knew she was getting caught. Oh, 100%. And she knew that this whole time she could use that as I'm just a pregnant woman. Like, you see a pregnant woman. I love children and I'm this mother. Yeah, it's immediately sympathetic. It's immediately you look nurturing just by virtue of having a baby belly.

And she's like in these like nice maternity dresses and she's always holding her belly. Dresses, you know, that's like the belly's like forefront and everything. Oh, 100%. So this case got so much attention. Like as soon as the trial, hundreds of people would show up every morning. And the main question on everybody's minds, even like the prosecutors and stuff, was whether or not Christy was going to testify. Oh, my God. Which your nine-year-old baby, like, oh, my God.

I'll testify against you. Also, I'm going to ruin a song for you. One of the main things Christy remembered about the night that she was attacked was that hungry like the wolf was playing. Oh, shit. Mm-hmm. I love Durandran. So, no. The prosecution used this in the trial.

and they played hungry like the wolf. I'm not exactly sure what the whole like question was or whatever. Oh, that's awful. But while they played it, Diane was literally like dancing and like bopping her head and tapping her foot to the fucking music. I mean, that's a bop, but. It is a bop. It's a fucking bop that she attacked her three kids to.

I'm horrified. And she, like, girl, I mean, you suck. But if you're trying to make yourself not look guilty, maybe you don't dance along to the song that was playing. while your fucking kids were brutally attacked. Oh, my God. How dare she do that to Simon LeBahn? I know.

How dare she? That's horrible. So the prosecution went all over, like the flaming evidence, the shell casings, the blood spatter on the outside of the car. They brought the man in who drove behind Diane moving at a fucking glacial pace. And then Christy takes the stand. Oh, my God. Nine-year-old Christy.

I can't imagine being in the score room. The prosecutor asked her, do you know who shot Cheryl? And she says, yes. And he says, how do you know? And she says, I watched. I watched my poor little seven-year-old sister get shot to death. Like, I'm getting chills. She then explains that her mother pulled over, got out of the car,

and got something from the trunk, or trunk, excuse me, came back in, kneeled on the driver's side seat, facing the back, and shot them one by one. Oh, my gosh. Like, what? Oh, my God. I just, like, I'm just, oh. You're nine years old, and that's what you have to.

I'm just, like, that's your last, basically, that's basically your last interaction with your mom. Yeah. And I'm just picturing, like, looking in the backseat of a car at three, your three babies. That you made, that you had a choice to bring into this world. With their, like, terrified faces as you point a gun at them. And then each of them are watching the other one. Other one. Like.

Yep. Oh, God. It's just so, it's too much, man. But luckily, June 1984, a unanimous jury comes back and finds Diane guilty on all accounts. Hell yeah. Ten days after her conviction, she gives birth to a baby girl. What a blessed event. Yeah. But hours later, she's back in jail awaiting sentencing and she ends up getting life plus 50 years. Good. And you know what? I hope she was still wearing. those fucking like mesh diapers you have to wear after you give birth. I was like, where are we going with this? I hope she was so uncomfortable because that shit is uncomfortable as fuck. Do you want to hear something wholesome as fuck?

Oh, I do. We're not done yet. There's more information. I do. A quick wholesome as fuck break. Do do do do do. Wholesome as fuck. The prosecutor and his wife adopted Christy and Danny.

Oh my God. I love that. The prosecutor and his wife adopted. Christy and Danny. I can't. I love that so much. And the baby... I hope they were so, like, spoiled.

Oh, I bet. Oh, they definitely were. People said that. They were just, like, beyond love. Totally. And the baby that Diane gave birth to while she was incarcerated was given up for adoption to this, like, beautiful, loving, wholesome as fuck family. Oh, I love it.

And they didn't plan on telling her who she was. Oh, I mean, I, yeah. That must have been the hardest. trying to plan how you're going to tell her. But being like we've got to keep her away from even being able to, I mean obviously they wouldn't ever know that the internet would become as vast as he has.

But it's like you have to be thinking like, is there a way she's ever going to find this out? And how do we talk about it when she does? That's a tough decision. Well, they were forced to tell her. There's no way she got through that. Do you want to know why they had to tell her? Oh, no.

Because Diane escaped jail. Yeah, that's the time you got to tell her. Yep. That would be it. Diane scales a 16-foot barbed wire fence. Jesus. Covers the barbed wire with her coat that she's wearing, hides under a car in the parking lot,

and then disappears into fucking, like, humane society. Damn. Yeah. So Ted Hugie. Humane society. Well, I'm just saying, like, this monster is... She disappeared into the humane society. Like, I'm just saying she's inhumane society.

And she's going out into the streets where, like, most of us are cool. We are. She's not cool. She doesn't belong in this humane society, okay? She's a cuckoo-nut lady-cunt-face McGee. That literally it. That's what she is. You heard it here first.

Fucking, here I am with the hot press. So Ted Hugie, the prosecutor, bye. Ted Hugie, the prosecutor, is fucking terrified. And so are the adopted parents to the baby. Oh, my God. That must have been awful. Who is now preschool age at this point.

Oh, so she's still a little bite. Mm-hmm. Ted was literally sitting in a rocking chair with a loaded gun waiting for Diane to show up at his fucking doorstep. Good for him, man. He literally sat in the rocking chair for like 10 days. That's a dad. It's a dad right there.

Oh, yeah. And the adoptive parents had to tell, like, the child's school, the babysitter, like, everybody who the baby was. And they had never told anybody. Oh, yeah. Because they didn't want to. Yeah. And they were worried that she was maybe like on a,

come to their, like find this baby that was hers. Like go to the preschool and try to just snatch her. Exactly. But she didn't fucking give a shit about her kids. No, of course not. Did she just go try to find that dude? No, but little does anyone know. She's at the home of a fellow inmate's husband,

not very far from the prison at all. It was like literally like, I think it was like a few blocks. Wow. It turns out that she and this inmate had made a map of where the house was. So they were like planning the escape. And this inmate was like, my house is there. You can escape. And then I'm sure the plan was probably something along the lines of.

And then like I'll try to escape. But it didn't work out like that. No. So the police were like looking everywhere. They searched herself to find like anything to figure out where she was. And this super smart fucking dude saw this clipboard with like stationary on it. And he saw the outline of the map based on like. how it had pressed into the page underneath it.

Yes, exactly. And they were able, I mean, whoever was fucking drawn on this map was really fucking pressing. They were probably going for it. But that's how they were able to figure out where she was. So she was like, this is where my house is. Yes. So they, I wrote in my notes, they realize it's a map and they follow it right up to her dumb ass. That's just good police work.

And 10 days after escaping, she walks out of this house in the guy's boxer shorts and his shirt in clear Diane fashion. Diane needs Jesus. If anybody needs Jesus, it's Diane. Maybe me too, but like not yet. No, she needs Jesus. And also, I don't think this inmate knew that this bitch was about to be cozy and up

with her husband. I was thinking that the whole time, I'm like, girl, you really sending Diane fucking downs to your house with your house? Right. This like narcissistic, borderline personality disorder bitch to your fucking husband. puts men before her own children. Like, come on. If you watch the 2020 on this, it's called My Mother's Sins.

It's really fucking good. You can watch it on YouTube. Except you can't watch the last two parts, which is really annoying. Yeah, that's annoying. But, oh, they interview this guy, and he's just a fucking mess. Like, he's like, no way. He literally is like, I thought she was really honest and great in the time that I knew her. And, you know, I probably shouldn't let her in my house.

But, you know, like, whatever. You know, what are you going to do, bro? He is just a mess. So she like gets back into jail and to this day she still maintains her innocence. And she says that she's still looking for her daughter's killer. And that she said that's why she escaped in the first place because no one was finding this murderer and she was going to go find him. Yeah. She threw on some boxer shorts and a t-shirt and she was ready to go.

She's attempted parole like numerous times and every time they're like, yeah, no, no, Diane. You're Diane down. We're good. And her next attempt will be in 2020. Oh, shit. But just a little side note, in the 2020 episode, they interview the woman now who is the baby that was like adopted. And she had a lot of trouble coming to terms, obviously,

with the fact that she was Diane Downs' daughter. Can you imagine? And she wrote her letters. Like, eventually she got to the point where she wanted to write her letter and just see. Yeah. And at first, Diane was like super nice to her, except for one part where she's like, oh, like, yeah, I can tell you're my daughter. Like, because we have the same chin.

I bet you hate it, right? Because Diane has like a really shitty chin. Oh, my God. And it's like, okay. That's like rude. Cool, Diane. Thanks. Yeah.

Also, I don't look like you. Fuck off. That's what I would have said. But then the letters start getting weirder and weirder. And she's like telling her that she has people like watching her from the outside. And she's like, how do I know you're my daughter? Like she and she's like apparently in jail She's like super into like conspiracy theories and shit

And this I'm telling you dude I don't know what fucking wash machine is in her brain But she's fucking crazy She's a cuckoonette woman She's crazy Yeah And she's starting to wear her crazy Oh yeah she is

She already kind of did in the beginning Yeah But it's like so much worse now Like she already innately had that crazy face But now she's really really wearing the crazy Fucking insane So she's her whole life she's like traumatized and destroyed her children.

And now she's still doing it from the inside. To try to traumatize and destroy her children. I mean like, I had people watching you. Like, yeah. Fuck you. Just rot in jail silently.

Yeah, go away forever. Ugh. So that is the story of Diane Downs. And you know what, guys? I really wanted to impress you with my research. So I hope I did.

It was really good. I really wanted to do like a Elena-ish mini morbid. I know I'm not there yet, but. Well, people love the ash many more. I know. You don't want to change. No.

This was really good. It's like you rock, never change. Exactly. Have a good summer. I literally stayed up until one in the morning researching this one night. Yeah. That's what I do with all of them. I'm not made for that.

You did really good. I'm really impressed. Thank you. I think this is a really good one. I tried. The only way this could have been better is if she died at the end of a severe case of like crotch rot. crotch rot the end

well there's still time I was gonna say there's still hope everybody pray and hope no light a candle don't do that because then like karma and then you might get crotch raw and really who has time for crotch rot

we don't want any of you getting crotch wrap so we put that on a t-shirt yeah don't get that time for crotch rot who has time for it really crotchrot would be a wicked good band name oh that's a great one if I ever get fucking talented I'm gonna name my band to that

if I ever get talented If I ever get fucking talented, I'm naming my band Crotterot. Fuck everybody. That's how you get Crotrot. Okay. So, guys, thank you so much for listening. In the meantime of this episode and the next episode, don't get Crotterot. And also go follow us on Instagram at Morbid Podcast.

Follow us on Twitter. A Morbid Podcast. Join our Facebook. Morbid, colon, a true crime podcast, where everybody's killing it over there. Stay awesome. I like you guys a lot. You're all great. It's true.

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Morbidpodcast.com. Did I tell you to send us a Gmail? Morbid Podcast at jrits. Gmail.com. We hope you keep listening. And we hope you keep it weird. But not so weird that you drive down this nice scenic route and then you try to take the back roads and then you go crazy cuckoo-nut lady and you kill your kids and that's just fucked up and I'm not joking about that. But then just don't keep it so weird that you get Kratrat and don't believe in conspiracy theories because Kratrat. Kratrat.

Bye. Bye.