The Murder of Cheryl Lynn Downs Part 1

It was late on May 19, 1983 when the car pulled up to the ER in Springfield, Oregon. Inside were three children, and they'd all been shot in the chest. Their mother, Elizabeth Diane Downs, had a horrifying story to tell: she'd been driving the kids home that night when a bushy haired stranger had flagged her down. He tried to steal her car, but when Diane put up a fight, he pulled out a gun and shot her kids. The story seemed so bizarre to detectives, so unbelievable, that they couldn't help but suspect Diane of being behind the shooting. But why would a mother shoot her own children?

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Sources:

Books

Small Sacrifices (Anne Rule)

Articles

ABC News | Surgeon Who Helped Save 1 of Diane Downs’ Kids in 1983 After She Shot Her Recalls Chilling Interaction (Effron, Lauren, and Dooley, Sean)

Murderpedia | Diane Downs

TimeToast | Diane Downs Timeline 

Wikipedia | Diane Downs

ABC News | Woman On Finding Peace After Learning Mother is Child Killer Diane Downs: 'Though That's Biologically My Makeup, It's Not Who I am Inside (Taudte, Jeca, Schiffman, Keren and Francis, Enjoli)

The Famous People | Diane Downs Biography 

The Mommy Murder Case of Diane Downs That Rocked the 80s (Casaus, Sara)

Distractify | Diane Downs Was Sentenced to Life in Prison, but What Happened to Her Husband?

Alcatraz East Crime Museum | Diane Downs

Heavy | Diane Downs’ Children Now: Christie, Danny & Becky Today

Crime Museum | Diane Downs

DeLani Bartlette | Diane Downs: Hungry Like the Wolf

Diane Downs Website 

The Trouble With Justice | The Diane Downs Case Was No Small Sacrifice 

 Videos

Inside Edition | Diane Downs Says From Prison That She Shot Her 3 Kids for Her Lover

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