Author(s): Ann Rule

True Crime

Somebody just shot my kids!' Diane Downs brought her car to a halt in front of a Springfield, Oregon, hospital, her three gravely wounded children beside her. Thus begins the shocking tale of a truly unthinkable crime that shattered the tranquility of a tight-knit community. As police searched for the 'shaggy-haried stranger' Diane accused of shooting 8-year-old Christie, 7-year-old Cheryl, and 3-year-old Danny in cold blood, a suspicion grew that was even more horrifying than the crime itself: Did Diane shoot her own children? A dedicated district attorney, haunted by this question, searched for the destructive forces that seemed to possess this beautiful young mother and uncovered a chronology of incest, psychological wounding, desperate affairs and surrogate motherhood.