Morbid - Episode 77: 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.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Starting point is 00:00:52 That's W-O-N-D-E-R-Y-P-O-D. Audible.com slash wundery pod or text wundery pod to 500-500 to try audible for free for 30 days. You can host the best backyard barbecue. When you find a professional on Angie to make your backyard the best around. Connect with skilled professionals to get all your home projects done well. Inside to outside, repairs to renovations. Get started on the Angie app or visit Angie.com today. You can do this when you Angie that. Hey weirdos, I'm Elena, I'm Ash and this is a mini morbid.
Starting point is 00:01:37 And it's Ash's centric episode. Mini, mini, mini, mini, mini morbid. Mini morbid, mini mini more bed mini more bed mini more bed mini more bed You did like a different hey weirdos and you said it. I know I went into it being like I'm gonna switch this up a little I kind of liked it you liked it. Yeah, 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 F secrets
Starting point is 00:02:14 about the Bridgewater Triangle. We might want to do another episode. I've been so much more cognizant of the fact that I'm like constantly in the Bridgewater Triangle. Yeah. And I'm like, is somebody as bigfoot over there? Is a puck-wadji over there? Mm.
Starting point is 00:02:27 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-wadjis. And I ran the fucking side. I love that now like tiny and not be way random. Sweet animals, like woodland creatures.
Starting point is 00:02:46 You're like, that's a puck wadji. I literally was like, oh my God, so cute. And then I was like, mm, 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 other way.
Starting point is 00:02:59 Cute animals in the Bridgewater Triangle are for dead people. They are puck wadji. Much like fresh air. OK. OK. OK. So because this is a mini episode,
Starting point is 00:03:09 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 Ajay. I think her Jay. Who gives the fuck what his name is? Really?
Starting point is 00:03:39 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
Starting point is 00:03:58 said that he asked him to build him a secret room in his basement. No, he didn't. This guy was like, no. No, I can didn't. This guy was like, no, no, I'm gonna 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 gonna do that.
Starting point is 00:04:14 I'm booked that day. I would love to keep my license and not be involved in a future movie case. Do you know what? I thought a lot of people have secret rooms in their houses and like, who built those rooms? I know. Like what?
Starting point is 00:04:28 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 gonna use it for this. But this guy was literally like, I would like a secret room. I would use mine for Captain Crunch slushies. Cause you're trash.
Starting point is 00:04:41 Cause I'm trash. Hi, I'm trash. I should put that on my dating 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 speaking of dating profiles, I knew what I was doing there. You're welcome.
Starting point is 00:04:57 Because I just want to point out, I had posted on the Instagram that 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 is a murder. The person, you know, the innocent victim did not deserve to be murdered. Right. Of course, we don't know everything either. Like, there's rumors that- What was going to say, there's probably- Yeah. Could all come down to just a rumor. Exactly rumor exactly like we don't know what was going on here But people were talking about shoes possibly doing like on like a sugar baby website or
Starting point is 00:05:31 Something related to sex work in some way now listen out of this is confirmed by the way All I 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. Like because either way a human was killed. And here's the thing. What people aren't understanding is,
Starting point is 00:05:55 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
Starting point is 00:06:11 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. Like, regardless of what, you know, like, it is risky to be on a dating site because you don't know the other person.
Starting point is 00:06:33 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 happened here, nobody really knows what happened here yet. It hasn't been released. So 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 gonna take the shit off of him and we're gonna put it on the people he's killing now.
Starting point is 00:07:08 And excuse me, you're dead ass saying about this man that burned a fucking body. Well, she better stuff about the situation. Like no, um, he burned a body. It just shouldn't be a situation to begin with. No. The McKenzie-Lua 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.
Starting point is 00:07:35 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 down literally reminds me a lot of my own mother. And I realized that while watching the 2020 case. And you can leave that all in. It's fine. So Elizabeth Diane Fredrickson was born in Phoenix, Arizona on August 7th, 1955. Ooh. Also, if you watch Teen Mom, which I am trash and I do, if, dude, Janelle Eason is Diane Downs,
Starting point is 00:08:13 like they have the same face. And she'll be aside by side and it's uncanny. There's a whole reddit for it about it. There's some jeans that are connected there. You're lying to me if Diane Downs isn't a relative. Yeah, you're lying. Okay, 100%. So anyways, she grew up in Phoenix and while she was in high school, she started dating this like hunky-do named Steve. After high school, she spent time studying at the Pacific Coast Baptist
Starting point is 00:08:37 Bible College in Orange, California. Hey, oh, but she had to leave because she got kicked out for, I'm not going to be able to say this word Pramiscuity. 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 sleep with 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.
Starting point is 00:09:07 And in November of 1973, they got me a read. Oh, wonderful. And everything was beautiful. And this is the end of the episode. Oh, great. So great. So they had three kids together. Christy, Cheryl, Lynn, and Stephen Danny Downs.
Starting point is 00:09:24 So from this point forward, I'll just refer, and Stephen Danny Downs. So from this point forward, I'll just refer to Stephen as Danny. So Diane and Steve had a rocky relationship because Diane's the devil. Yes. I had no idea. Well, Steve spent a lot of time at work and Diane felt alone and ignored. When? And she literally, she would run away with kids and like not tell Steve where she was.
Starting point is 00:09:46 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 part. Our straight evil. Mom. Evil. Evil.
Starting point is 00:09:56 That it's true, that's straight up evil. Everyone listening is gonna be like, did she just kind of fight with her mom? Like what the fuck? I feel like what's happening. Been a lifelong struggle for her. But Steve was always able to like track her down and be like, did she just get in a fight with her mom? Like, what the fuck? I feel like what's happening. It's been a lifelong struggle fix. But Steve was always able to like track her down and be like, yo, lady, get it together,
Starting point is 00:10:10 come back, I love you. But that got old. It just bumps me out for the kids so much. Well, yeah. And Diane was getting, it seems like Steve was like, like a normal chill dude. Like he was just like,
Starting point is 00:10:23 Diane, come home, like, got 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.
Starting point is 00:10:39 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.
Starting point is 00:10:55 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, but faithful. Yeah, yeah, wasn't, I don't know, but I'm faithful. Yeah, exactly. I couldn't find who Danny's dad, like real dad, biologically was. That's nasty. It's not Steve.
Starting point is 00:11:11 And it was, 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, he was probably just being a standup, dude. Right.
Starting point is 00:11:27 Which, like, it's just not worth it, don't you? 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. Yes, she sucks. Yeah. So, like I said, basically,
Starting point is 00:11:40 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. It's a Oregon. Yeah, did I just say that? Shit, I don't even know myself. It's Oregon Okay, so she moved after the divorce Diane moved back to Oregon. Hey, I'm trying nailed it. Yes She seemed pretty uninterested in being a mom.
Starting point is 00:12:08 Yeah. So I would connect that with her. She worked a lot. She stayed out. And she pretty much pondered kids off on like any one willing to take them. That's awful. Relatable.
Starting point is 00:12:22 One babysitter said that she like, 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 the babysitter if she had a gun
Starting point is 00:12:41 because she was like gonna kill herself for something. Oh my God. Yeah. And these kids were young, like they were young. Oh, this is gonna 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. She met a married man.
Starting point is 00:13:00 Oh Jesus, Diane. Yep. He was separated though at the time quote unquote. Yeah, we've all heard that lie before. Me and my wife just got separated tonight. It was fine. Right now, you know, everything's fine. It's great. The whole past and the world.
Starting point is 00:13:18 It's all fine. 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.
Starting point is 00:13:37 Sorta. I could nickety 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 ransacked her house for a reason that I'll get in too later. But they found like tons and tons of letters to this dude. And his name was like Nickerbocker and she called him like Nicky or like Nick.
Starting point is 00:14:06 Because name was Nicarbocker. That was his last name. But she wrote him a letter every single day. Ooh, like girl, you have three children. I don't have a single child and I don't have time to write some fucking married asshole a letter every day. You know what?
Starting point is 00:14:22 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.
Starting point is 00:14:44 I barely have to, I mean, I brush my teeth and that'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 every day. So obviously things were not going well in Diane's life. Not going swimmingly.
Starting point is 00:14:59 No, because she's fucking, she's got these three kids, she doesn't even like them. Yeah, which it's like, you know, you had the option to not have them. To not have them. She's not, she's not. She's not, she's like, she just got divorced, then she meets this dude, she thinks it's it, and then he's like, yeah, peace out, slim peace.
Starting point is 00:15:17 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 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
Starting point is 00:15:36 and take different routes they'd never taken before. I'm nervous. You should be. It was somewhere around 9 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 vision kicks the fucking. It's great. Absolutely Also, your kids are like
Starting point is 00:15:59 The ages of eight and under like oh my god. It's like they should be sleeping. They should be in bed eight and under. Like, oh my God, it's like they should be in bed. 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. I mean, her three fucking kids in the back seat, I would do with my kids. Yeah, totally. Yeah, I always, I always approach Bushy haired strangers with my children, always, yeah, every day. And it's always fun. It all works out at the end. Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 00:16:26 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 car-jacking her. And she's like, I would like your car. Hi, ma'am. Great car. I'd like to have it.
Starting point is 00:16:41 That whole conversation, 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 like 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 happened. 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 really is not a mother truest
Starting point is 00:17:25 stable 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 Cheryl'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, Christie was nine. Cheryl was seven and Danny was four.
Starting point is 00:17:54 Oh. So they were like babies. Literal babies. Well babies. Um, and like I said, Cheryl's pronounced dead. Christie has had a stroke and Danny is paralyzed from the waist down at four years old. And when Diana's told all of this,
Starting point is 00:18:10 she doesn't shed a single tear. It'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,
Starting point is 00:18:27 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 cleaning to life. Like they didn't know if these kids were gonna make it. That's awful.
Starting point is 00:18:45 A fucking nine year old has a stroke, are you kidding me? Oh, in a four year old is paralyzed from the waist to end. And it 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.
Starting point is 00:19:01 Yeah, exactly. And I can tell you right now that I will, and I am not a cryer, ask, ask. No, this bitch doesn't cry. Emotions do not escape me. I've seen, I think I've literally seen Alina cry one time, literally. And if my kids even show that they are like scared of something,
Starting point is 00:19:21 like when one of them was having night terrors, it literally made me cry. Yeah. Just because they were upset about something and something was like. And you like couldn't face it. Making them sad. So seeing one of them shot would be the in being in pain, I would be a fucking basket case. Yeah. This case is fucked. And so it was dying down. 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.
Starting point is 00:19:51 So she says the whole story about the bus she heard 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 gotta die, let them die,
Starting point is 00:20:10 but don't let them suffer. Oh yeah. If my kids have to die, just let that happen. You know, like just do, if they gotta die, they gotta die. Like yeah, because a four year old, in a seven year old, and a nine year old, has to die.
Starting point is 00:20:22 And that's not here say there's an interview where she is. Because she did so many fucking interviews. She 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. Oh yeah. So like I said, everyone at the hospital was super alarmed at her lack of emotion,
Starting point is 00:20:46 but trying not to judge. But the surgeon working on keeping Christie 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
Starting point is 00:21:04 are cleaning to life and one is dead. You're worried about what the fuck your car looks like? I'm, I'm beyond. Like, yeah, that is beyond. Oh, it gets so much worse. Like, your, your child is in surgery to like have their lives made. And she's like, oh, how much is it going to like put me out? No.
Starting point is 00:21:22 This is just like beyond. 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 pushy-haired stranger and they begin searching this crime scene
Starting point is 00:21:41 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, like everybody was like,
Starting point is 00:21:59 it wasn't a fucking rehearsal. Yeah, that's not a periciller. So nobody knew him. And they're getting more and more skeptical. The more interviews Diane's doing, the weirder she's saying, she just doesn't seem up. 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.
Starting point is 00:22:24 Yeah. Having seen your kids shot in front of you by strangers, you're gonna 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.
Starting point is 00:22:43 Yeah, I'll try to find it. What if you were trafficked into a cult over shot nine times, or fell in love with a vampire, or went into a minor surgery and woke up one week later, paralyzed? What would you do? I'm Whit Missildine, the creator of this is actually happening, a podcast from Wondry that brings you extraordinary true stories of life-changing events told by the people who lived them. From a young man that dooms his entire future with one choice, to a woman who survived a notorious
Starting point is 00:23:17 serial killer, you'll hear their first-person account of how they overcame remarkable circumstances. Each episode is an exploration of the human spirit and personal discovery. These haunting accounts sound like Hollywood movies, but I assure you, this is actually happening. Followed this is actually happening wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen, add free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app.
Starting point is 00:23:46 What makes a person a murderer? Are they born to kill or are they made to kill? I'm Candace DeLong and on my podcast Killer Psychie Daily, which you can find exclusively on Amazon Music, I share a quick 10 minute rundown every weekday on the motivations and behaviors of the criminal masterminds you read about in the news. I have decades of experience as a psychiatric nurse, FBI agent and a criminal profiler. On Killer Psychie Daily, I'll give you my expert perspective on cases like the mysterious
Starting point is 00:24:19 New York City drugings, Breaking Down Lori Valow, aka Mommy Doomstays Motives, and what drove Caitlin Armstrong to murder? I'll also bring on expert guests who add even more insight into these criminal minds. I promise you won't regret adding these 10 minutes to your morning routine. Hey Prime members, listen to the Amazon Music exclusive podcast Killer Psychie Daily in the Amazon Music app. Download the app today. 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,
Starting point is 00:24:55 whatever, fixing her hair, like printing for this. Oh my god, I hate this woman so much. And it like, like I know this story and it's still like just shocking me. She's about to reenact the brutal attack and murder of one of her children. That should be one of the most traumatizing experiences. And she's making sure that her hair looks good. Which is 100% why they did this, because that should be this traumatizing experience
Starting point is 00:25:19 where you can barely get through it. And she's like, what do I look like? And she's sitting there, crimping. And she's like giggling through the hole 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 than, and she doesn't finish her sentence.
Starting point is 00:25:38 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 gonna say. Yeah, one of the most recent one I fucking got shot. When I shot myself in the arm.
Starting point is 00:25:50 Yeah. And 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, what I had not done a good job of it, she literally said that. And then she said, in one interview, my kids were lucky.
Starting point is 00:26:10 Lucky? What? Like, one of them's dead. One of them had a stroke in the other one's paralyzed. 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.
Starting point is 00:26:23 Oh, my God. And the woman, her belief 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. I couldn't even be in the same room as her.
Starting point is 00:26:39 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.
Starting point is 00:26:55 Yeah. So they were like, yeah, you can't have kids. And she gets pregnant. And she gets pregnant. It drives me nuts that these are the kind of people who get to buy kids. Oh, just wait. When she's asked about this in an interview because they're like, yeah, hey, are you sad at all?
Starting point is 00:27:10 Like, why did you just get pregnant? Like, two kids were just taking a win? She explains her decision by saying one, that she misses all her kids so much and she's never going to see Cheryl on her again. And then two, children give her so much love and attention and satisfaction and stability. And three, kids are so easy to conceive.
Starting point is 00:27:31 Oh, my God. She literally says, I got so angry. Like, um, no, they're not. They're not. Yeah. Like speaking as someone who, it took a long time to have my twins. Right. And many IVF rooms.
Starting point is 00:27:47 Right. Fuck that lady. Kids are not easy to conceive for everybody. I was spanked. And you are not supposed to have kids so that they can provide you with a bobbin attention and stability. You are supposed to do that for your kids.
Starting point is 00:28:00 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. And. 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.
Starting point is 00:28:19 It's J-A-E-G-E-R. That sounds good. Or like Jager. Jager. Um, she remembers Diane telling her that she knew her cycle so well, and she knew that if she had sex with this guy on this certain day, that she would get pregnant right away. Oh my God.
Starting point is 00:28:33 So she knew exactly what the fuck she was doing. Like what justice is there in that? Providing her with such a fertile reproductive system. Where is that? The daughter you there, it's me, mother. So after all this craziness, police realized that they need to start building a fucking case against this Kuku 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
Starting point is 00:28:56 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.
Starting point is 00:29:24 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. How can it be idiot? And then they searched her home and find a rifle, but she's never had a gun. And shells that had previously been ejected
Starting point is 00:29:44 from a different weapon, like they were able to tell because there was, like, extractor markings on them. So investigators took those shells and looked at them under the microscope and saw the little extractor markings that matched all the markings on the shell case. On the other gun? No, they matched the shell casings found at the scene on the shell case. What was the other gun? No, they matched the shell casings found at the scene of the cry. Oh, ho, ho, ho.
Starting point is 00:30:09 Yeah. Meaning all those bullets had once been in a different gun, the 22 caliber pistol. Oh, she used that night. Forensic fucking files. Oh, ho, ho. Then all hail forensic. This is going to fuck you up.
Starting point is 00:30:24 Oh, no. This, I like, it's going to be hard for me to fuck you up. Oh no. It's gonna be hard for me to even say this. Okay, so everybody get ready. Spoiler, not spoiler, like trigger warning. Okay, is this like a kid trigger warning? It's just awful. It's just like horrible. Then a witness comes forward saying that he was driving
Starting point is 00:30:41 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
Starting point is 00:30:59 and she was driving that slow to ensure that they were like bleeding out. Oh my God. Like so slowly, I just got chills as I happened to have that. Well your three kids are in like the most pain and trauma of their entire lives. You're driving that, I'm just like, my mind can't even go there. It can't even go there.
Starting point is 00:31:18 So slowly, that his thing wasn't even registering. Oh my God. Like that is so fucked up. You're literally not, like that's like prolonging their torture. Right. No, it is. That's exactly what it is.
Starting point is 00:31:30 That's literally prolonging their to, 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, your story stinks. And she goes, and so do you, bitch.
Starting point is 00:31:47 And she goes, then you better go get some deodorant. I'm not kidding, that's real. I, 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. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:31:58 And we're locking you up for love. For, for dumb response. He said your story stinks. And she said, then you bang, I'll get some of the other one said, then you beg I'm going to send you an event. Oh my God. I'm sorry are you five? I would literally punch her face.
Starting point is 00:32:11 She's a con. She is a con. Leaven use that in a long time about somebody, but she's a con. Yeah. Now in this interview, Diane totally changes her story of that night. Oh, shocked. She says there were actually two men,
Starting point is 00:32:26 and they referred to her by name, and they must have known her because they said something about her tattoo that nobody knew about. And it's like, so you literally just remembered that there was another one. Right, why wouldn't you have said that from the jump? Exactly.
Starting point is 00:32:40 That doesn't make any fucking sense. 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 the whole time you've been pretending it's some random bushy head stranger.
Starting point is 00:33:01 What? Like Diane. What? And Diane. What? And then she goes on to say that she knows his name and everything. So why the fuck are you telling anybody? One, why are you letting him walk the streets after he paralyzed one of your children,
Starting point is 00:33:15 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 literally, no. This is bonkers. Seriously, it's insane. This is bonkers. Also, it's an interesting side note
Starting point is 00:33:32 that you should remember for, like, the end, because when Diane was able to still visit her kids, she would, like, walk into Christie's room and Christie was, like, recovering from a stroke. Oh, I think I read about this one. Yep, this is so scary. The nurses all say that every time Diane walked into the room, even if Christie was like sleeping or like not totally with it, her heart rate would like go insane.
Starting point is 00:34:00 Oh my god. Like she was scared. She was terrified. Shitless every time her mom walked into the room. When she's a poor nine year old girl, every time her mom locked into the room. She's a poor nine-year-old girl Right who knows her mother tried to kill her. Yeah. Oh It's so fucking crazy. Oh So and she just kept torturing her. Oh
Starting point is 00:34:16 100% and she knew what 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 was brutally attacked. And the therapist was asking her like, do you, she said she knew who shot her. 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
Starting point is 00:34:47 and we'll keep doing that and we're gonna 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 right? That was great. Like it's, that was really impressive. So they do this for like a few times or whatever,
Starting point is 00:35:05 and then finally, she's ready. Wow, I'm really impressed by that. I know, because I would never think that. Brilliant way to do that. You just keep doing it. Because it allows her to get it out, but not whatever she's worried about doing by saying it out loud.
Starting point is 00:35:20 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 it. 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. Exactly.
Starting point is 00:35:36 Wow, therapists. 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, oh, good. That ruined me.
Starting point is 00:35:57 A poor little baby has to write my mom. Yeah, tried to do this to me. Like my mom. And it was like like who attacked you who who killed your sister and paralyzed your brother and tried to kill you My mom awful So on February 28th 1984 Diane downs as arrested She's charged with one count of murder and two counts attempted murder During the trial she's pregnant as fuck because remember I remember seeing pictures. It wasn't soon after this whole
Starting point is 00:36:27 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 guarantee you two part of that getting pregnant. She knew she was getting caught. Oh, 100%. She knew that this whole time she could use that as I'm just a pregnant woman. Like you see a pregnant woman. Like, you see a pregnant woman. I love children and I'm immediately mother.
Starting point is 00:36:49 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. Oh, and she's always holding her belly. Tess and belly. Dresses, you know, that's like the belly's like four fronts and everything.
Starting point is 00:37:05 Oh, 100%. Yeah. So, this case got so much attention. Yes. With 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.
Starting point is 00:37:22 Which your nine year old baby, like, oh my God. How could I testify against you. Also I'm gonna ruin a song for you. One of the main things Kristi remembered about the night that she was attacked was that hungry like the wolf was playing. Oh shit. Mm-hmm.
Starting point is 00:37:37 I loved her, Andrew. So no. The prosecution used this in the trial and they played hungry like the wolf. I'm not exactly sure what the whole question was or whatever. But while they played it, Diane was literally dancing and like
Starting point is 00:37:55 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 too. I'm a horror fight. 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
Starting point is 00:38:13 that was playing while your fucking kids were brutally attacked. Oh my God. Oh dear, she do that to Simon LeBon. 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
Starting point is 00:38:32 the man in who drove behind Diane moving at a fucking glacial pace. And then Christie takes the stand. Oh my God. Nine year old. I girl. I stand imagine being in the courtroom. 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. I like I'm getting chills. She then explains that her mother pulled over, got out of the car and got something from the truck. There, trunk, excuse me.
Starting point is 00:39:07 Came back in, kneeled on the driver's side seat, facing the back and shot them one by one. Oh my God. 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, yeah. That's your last basic, that's basically your last
Starting point is 00:39:26 interaction with your mom. Yeah. And I'm just picturing like looking in the back seat of a car at three, your three baby. That you made, that you had a choice to bring into this world. With their terrified faces as you point a gun at them. And then each of them are watching the other one. Other one.
Starting point is 00:39:42 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 counts. Hell yeah. Uh, 10 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
Starting point is 00:40:05 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. I was like, where are we going with this? I hope she was so uncomfortable because that shit isn't comfortable. It's fuck. Do you want to hear something wholesome as fuck? Oh, because we're not done yet. I do. I do. A quick wholesome as fuck break.
Starting point is 00:40:30 Do, do, do, do, do. Wholesome as fuck. Um, 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.
Starting point is 00:40:48 I love he was so like spoiled. Oh, I bet, oh, they definitely were. I think they were. People said that. He was 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,
Starting point is 00:41:02 loving, wholesome as fuck family. Oh, I love it. And they didn't plan on telling her who she was. Oh, I mean, yeah. That must have been the hardest trying to plan. Well, they were never going to tell her. But being like, we've got to keep her away from even being able. I mean, obviously, they would never know
Starting point is 00:41:23 that the internet would become as vast as she has. But it's like, you have to be thinking like is there a way she's ever gonna find this out? And how do we talk about it when she does like 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 Diana 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.
Starting point is 00:41:51 Covers the barbed wire with her coat that she's wearing. Hides under a car in the parking lot and then disappears into fucking humane society. Damn. Yeah. So Ted Hugi, humane society. Well, I'm just saying, like, this monster is the humane society. Like, I'm just saying she's inhumane, and she's going out into the streets where, like, most of us are cool.
Starting point is 00:42:16 We are. And she's not cool. She doesn't belong in this humane society, okay? She's a Kuku-Nut Lady Kunt face McGee. That literally it. That's what she is. You heard her first. It's fucking here I am with the hot press.
Starting point is 00:42:30 So Ted Hugi, the prosecutor, bye. Ted Hugi, the prosecutor, is fucking terrified and so are the adopted parents to the baby. Oh my God, that must have been awful. Who's now preschool age at this point. Oh, so she's still low-bite. Mm-hmm. Ted was literally sitting in a rocking chair God, that must have been awful. Who's now preschool age at this point. Oh, so she's still low-bibed. Mm-hmm.
Starting point is 00:42:46 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. He literally sat in the rocking chair for like 10 days. That's a dad. And the dad right there. Oh yeah.
Starting point is 00:42:57 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, that's because they didn't want to. Yeah. And they were worried that she was maybe like going to 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 to try to find that dude? No, but little does anyone know, she's at the home of a fellow inmates husband,
Starting point is 00:43:31 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 to be a scape. And this I made was like, my house is there, you can escape.
Starting point is 00:43:47 And then I'm sure the plan was probably something along the lines of and then like I'll try to escape. And then I'll escape. But it didn't work out like that. So the police were like looking everywhere. They searched for cell to find like anything to figure out where she was. And this super smart fucking dude saw this clipboard
Starting point is 00:44:06 with like stationary on it. And he saw the outline of the map based on like how it impressed into the page underneath it. Yes, exactly. And they were able, I mean, whoever was fucking drawing this map was really fucking pressing it, apparently. They were going for it. But that's how they were able to figure out where she was.
Starting point is 00:44:24 So she was like, this is where my house is. Yes. So I wrote them my notes. They realized it's a map and they follow it right up to her dumbass. 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
Starting point is 00:44:43 in clear Diane fashion. Diane needs Jesus. I love you, yeah. Does anybody needs Jesus as Diane? I can't. Maybe me too, but not yet. No, she needs Jesus. And also, I don't think this inmate knew
Starting point is 00:44:58 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 sitting Diane fucking down to your house with your rights. It's like narcissistic borderline personality disorder that's to your husband. Yeah. Completely puts men before her own children.
Starting point is 00:45:14 Like, come on. If you watch the 2020 on this, it's called My Mother Sins is really fucking good. You can watch it on YouTube, except you can't watch the last two parts, which is really annoying. But they interview this guy, and he's just a fucking mess. Like he's like, in a way, he literally is like, I thought she was really honest and great in the time
Starting point is 00:45:34 that I knew her and I probably shouldn't let her in my house, but you know, like whatever. You know what I'm gonna do bro? He is just a mess. So she 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's, she said that's why she escaped in the first place
Starting point is 00:45:56 because no one was finding this murderer. And she was going to go find him. She threw in some box of shorts and t-shirt. And she was ready to go. She's attempted parole like numerous times and every time they're like, yeah, no, no, no, your dianned downs were 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, she had a lot of trouble coming to terms,
Starting point is 00:46:27 obviously, with the fact that she was Diane downstairs daughter. Oh, 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. And at first Diane was like super nice to her, except for one part where she's like,
Starting point is 00:46:42 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 a really shitty chin. Oh, come on. And it's like, okay, that's a cool Diane, thanks. Yeah, also I don't look like you fuck off. That's what I would've said. But then the letters start getting weirder and weirder,
Starting point is 00:47:00 and she's telling her that she has people watching her from the outside. What are you doing? And she's like, how do 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 good at woman.
Starting point is 00:47:22 She's crazy. 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. Yeah. 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 she still do it for me. To tried to traumatize and destroy her children, maybe like I had people watching you, like, fuck you, just rot in jail silently.
Starting point is 00:47:50 Yeah, go away forever. Ugh, so that was the story of Diane Downs. And you know what, guys, I really wanted to impress you with my research, so I hope I did. Really good. I really wanted to do like a Lina-ish mini morbid. I know I'm not there yet, but... Well, people love the ash mini morons.
Starting point is 00:48:10 I know. You don't want to change. I think 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.
Starting point is 00:48:21 That's what I do with all of them. I'm not made for that. But I do really good. I'm really impressed. 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. Well, they're still time. I was gonna say there's still hope. Everybody? Everybody. To stay in hope. No. Light a candle and hope.
Starting point is 00:48:48 Don't do that, because then like karma and then you might get crotch rot and really who has time for crotch rot. We don't want any of you getting crotch rot. Do we put that in T-shirt? Yeah, don't get it. Who has time for crotch rot? Who has time for it?
Starting point is 00:48:58 Crotch rot 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 a lot. If I ever get one. If I ever get fucking talented, I'm gonna name my band a lot. If I ever get fucking talented, I'm naming my band Kratrat. Fuck everybody. That's how you get Kratrat. Okay, so guys, thank you so much for listening in the meantime of this episode in the next episode so don't get crotch-ra and also go follow us on Instagram at Forbid podcast follow us on Twitter a morbid podcast join our Facebook page morbid colon a true crime podcast where
Starting point is 00:49:43 Everybody's killing it over there stay awesome. I like you guys a lot You're all great. It's true. You're beautiful. Yay If you're failing so inclined and you made a few extra bucks that you don't need we need them. We'll take them. I'll have it Patreon dot com slash morbid podcast Go check out the website that Elena fucking designed. I did it morbidpodcast.com. Did I tell you to send us a Gmail? morbidpodcast.gmail.com. We hope you keep listening.
Starting point is 00:50:12 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, cool girl, crazy, cool, cool, not lady and you kill your kids
Starting point is 00:50:23 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 crotchrat, and don't believe in conspiracy theories because crotchrat. Crotchrat. Bye. Bye. Hey, Prime Members!
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