Forty years ago, on May 19, 1983, twenty-seven-year-old Diane Downs drove her three children
Forty years ago, on May 19, 1983, twenty-seven-year-old Diane Downs drove her three children: eight-year-old Christie, seven-year-old Cheryl and three-year-old Danny into the emergency room at McKenzie-Willamette Hospital in Springfield Oregon. She claimed that a “bushy haired stranger” shot her and her children. Cheryl was shot in her right shoulder blade and just below her left shoulder blade. She was pronounced dead on arrival. Danny was shot once in the back, permanently paralyzing him from the waist down. Christie was shot three times: twice in her left chest and once near the base of her left thumb. While the doctors and nurses were working to save the lives of her two surviving children, Diane was being treated for a minor gunshot wound to her left arm and to the shock and surprise of the hospital staff, the divorced postal worker was non emotional and had made several comments that were suspicious and inappropriate. Diane had told the police was that she and the child...