Diane Downs

Who is Diane Downs?

Elizabeth Diane Frederickson Downs is an American woman convicted of the May 1983 murder of her daughter. She is convicted of shooting her three children, killing one and seriously wounding two. Following the shooting, Downs told police a stranger had attempted to carjack her and had shot the children. She was convicted in 1984 and sentenced to life in prison.

Downs briefly escaped in 1987 and was recaptured. She is the subject of a book by Ann Rule and a made-for-TV movie based upon it, both called Small Sacrifices. She was denied parole in December 2008 and again in December 2010.