Diane Downs Case Study

Although the Diane Downs case involved a murder many mothers have chosen their romantic interest over their children. Many women who choose to neglect their children for men usually live in poor conditions such as when a single mother can’t provide for her family she will find a man who can take care of business within the household, usually when single mothers find men to take care of their families the men tend to be abusive and sometimes sexual to children. A mother’s neglect and unwilling to put the needs of her children before her own can turn into a vicious cycle of abuse and substance abuse to forget what the last family line did to them in the past. Male and female children handle neglect and violence in different ways, female children

Along with her failure to keep a steady job and support her children Diane started having an steady affair with Robert Knickerbocker. After Diane became so consumed with Robert that she wanted him to end his marriage to be with her, Robert ended the relationship stating that he didn’t want to be a stepfather to her children. A well minded single mother wouldn’t have thought twice to leave a man like Robert Knickerbocker, but Diane was so romantically consumed by Robert that on May 19, 1983 she decided to drive her three children down a dark country road and shoot them while also shooting herself to make it look like a gunned robbery. Diane’s middle child Cheryl Lynn Down died while going to the hospital. When the police questioned Diane she gave a full detail of what happened the night of the incident. When questioned by police Diane said that a man with bushy hair, gunned her down on the side of Old Mohawk road while shooting her kids and then her, police were sent out search parties to find the stranger. As time grew on the detectives started to come to a dead end with trying to find a leading man that fit Diane’s description of the attacker. During the search for the strange gunman Diane kept giving bizarre interviews , one of the detectives on the case stated “she couldn’t keep her mouth shut” (“The Diane Downs Story”, 2010). Diane didn’t show much grievance for her murdered daughter and her two children that were in critical conditions. The gun that was used to shoot Diane and her kids was identified as a 22 caliber, when questioned by police if Diane had ever owned a 22 caliber she denied it but two of Diana's former partners told police that Diane indeed had a 22 caliber gun. After nine months of searching for the gunman police arrest Diane