One of the most notorious crimes in Oregon history will be revisited this Friday, in a “20/20” two-hour documentary about Diane Downs, the woman convicted of shooting her own three children, and killing one. The special will look at the case, in which Elizabeth Diane Downs -- her full name -- was accused of trying to kill all three of her children after she became infatuated with a married man.

“She saw the kids as a burden,” as one of the interview subjects in the “20/20” documentary says. “They were in the way.”

As the special recounts, the shocking story began on May 19, 1983, when Downs went to an emergency room in Springfield, with a story about how she had been driving on a rural Lane County road when a “shaggy-haired stranger” supposedly stopped the car. The stranger, Downs claimed, shot her three children.

But Downs herself was charged, and then convicted of murdering one daughter, and seriously wounding her other daughter, and her son. The case became a national sensation when Downs, who appeared to show little to no remorse, turned up pregnant during her 1984 trial.

Downs made the news again when she briefly escaped from the Oregon Women’s Correctional Center in Salem for 10 days, in 1987. After being recaptured, Downs was sent to prison out of Oregon.

20/20 event special - The story of Diane Downs - Friday, March 22nd on ABC She’s been called “evil” and “the devil.” A mother of three, In love with a married man, who did the unthinkable. Now, as Diane Downs comes up for parole next year, her daughter speaks out – new interviews and staggering details. The new 20/20 event special – Friday night at 9/8c on ABC. Posted by ABC 20/20 on Monday, March 18, 2019

The case received even more attention when the late true-crime author Ann Rule wrote a book about Downs’ life and the trial, called “Small Sacrifices.” The book was adapted for a TV-movie starring Farrah Fawcett, that aired in 1989.

The “20/20” special includes an interview with Becky Babcock, the child with whom Downs was pregnant during the trial. Babcock was adopted by another family, and has already spoken in public about learning about her birth mother and struggles associated with that. She was interviewed by “20/20” in 2010, among other outlets.

According to the ABC press release, the new “20/20” interview with Babcock will include comments about “learning the truth about her mother, letters from her mother in prison and life now, including raising her teenage son.”

Downs, who again comes up for parole next year, was denied parole previously, in 2008 and 2010.

The documentary also includes new interviews with Doug Welch, lead investigator on the case; Wayne Seifer, the ex-husband of one of Downs’ fellow inmates, who housed Downs during her brief 1987 escape in Oregon; Loren Glover, who was a detective with the Oregon State Police when Downs escaped; Anne Jaeger, former anchor at KEZI, who covered the case; former Oregonian reporter Eric Mortenson; Jim Pex, a former criminalist with the Oregon State Police Crime Detection Lab; and ABC News archives footage.

The Downs documentary airs on “20/20” from 9 to 11 p.m. Friday, March 22 on ABC. She has continued to claim she’s innocent of the crimes.

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

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