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The crime occurred on the evening of May 19,1983 when Diane was driving home with her three children in the Springfield area of Lane County, Oregon. On their journey they were flagged down by a stranger who's car appeared to have broken down. It may have been naive to stop for a stranger, but such is her nature and besides she didn't see anything untoward. That soon changed however when he came up to her and immediately demanded her car keys. When she refused to hand them over he turned very aggressive and looking into the car pulled a gun and fired at the occupants killing one of the children and wounding the other two. He then turned back to the mother. Diane pretended to throw the keys away and went for him. In the struggle he managed to get off another shot off which hit her in the arm. As he was regaining his balance Diane leaped into the car and sped off heading for the nearest hospital. In a matter of seconds, the Downs family had moved from a state of calm, to a state of complete terror. Some nine months later however, the Lane County District Attorney's office rejected the mothers account of what happened that evening. Eventually they would charged and convict her of the crime. At her trial the State claimed that Diane fabricated a ' bushy-haired stranger ' (a term in fact she never used) and that she shot her own children to convince her lover (Robert Knickerbocker) to leave his wife. This was a theory conceived by the State and inaccurately attributed to Diane who quite frankly found the theory repulsive. This relationship as far as Diane was concerned, was over. She had moved to Oregon 1,200 miles away to make sure it was over and was in a new relationship with someone else and heavily pregnant with their child at the time of her arrest. Prior to Diane's arrest the investigation was experiencing major financial difficulties. As result of budget cuts the investigation was reduced to a minimum and a number of Investigators were withdrawn from the case. There had been no arrests after almost a year. Media, as well as public pressure to solve the crime was growing, giving added impetus and frustration to the Investigators. There was an obvious need for expediency in the D.A.'s office and it was at this point of 'melt down' that Diane was arrested and charged with the crime.
Lane County
District Attorney Pat Horton assigned Deputy Prosecutor Fred Hugi to his
'first' homicide. Judge Gregory G. Foote would also preside at his 'first'
senior trial following his promotion from juvenile judge to
senior judge status. A somewhat odd promotion considering there were other
judges available and the fact that as a juvenile judge, Foote had denied Diane
access to her children. This was the first of many anomalies regarding this case
that have never, to this day, been answered with total satisfaction.
Defense Attorney James C. Jagger had been recommended to Diane's father as Defense
Attorney for Diane. When Diane’s father became apprehensive about James Jagger’s
capability however. He attempted to engage the more formidable Defense Attorney
Melvin Belli for the task. Belli accepted but Judge Foote would not await
the Attorney’s return from abroad. Consequently an outraged Belli was
forced to withdraw. So began I believe, what would lead to the illegal
and wrongful conviction of Elizabeth Diane Downs. This grave injustice was
the result of an investigation that was not just flawed, but was grossly
corrupt. Supported by a conforming and naive judiciary of
wrongdoing in a trial where perjury was applied at will. Where the
Judiciary and the Prosecution engaged in duplicitous behavior in order to
pursue an individual rather than any sense of justice. The Defense was
left wonting also, to the point where Diane (later) filed for 'ineffective
assistance of counsel'. Try as he may, James Jagger Innocent
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