Diane Downs' 1988 Prison Interview
Photo: September 26, 1988
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Diane still maintains her innocence to this day and joined The Oprah Show via satellite on September 26, 1988, to tell her story.
Diane: On the night of May 19, 1983, my children and I went to see a friend to take her a newspaper clip. On the way home, a stranger was in the road. I stopped because he was flagging me, and I thought he was in trouble or thought that he was hurt. When I stopped, he approached the car, and by the time I got out of the car, he was standing beside the car, and he assaulted us. He asked for my car, and I made a smart remark and perhaps I shouldn't have.
Oprah: What smart remark? What did you say?
Diane: Well, he said he wanted my car, and I said: "You've got to be kidding. That's crazy. You just don't do that." So he assaulted me and my children, and from that point, I took the kids to the hospital.
Oprah: Assaulted is a very mild term for what happened.
Diane: That's a nice way of saying he shot us. Right, very mild, but I suppose you'd have to see things from my point of view. It's a very difficult thing. I very, very rarely talk about what happened that night because it is so painful.
Diane: On the night of May 19, 1983, my children and I went to see a friend to take her a newspaper clip. On the way home, a stranger was in the road. I stopped because he was flagging me, and I thought he was in trouble or thought that he was hurt. When I stopped, he approached the car, and by the time I got out of the car, he was standing beside the car, and he assaulted us. He asked for my car, and I made a smart remark and perhaps I shouldn't have.
Oprah: What smart remark? What did you say?
Diane: Well, he said he wanted my car, and I said: "You've got to be kidding. That's crazy. You just don't do that." So he assaulted me and my children, and from that point, I took the kids to the hospital.
Oprah: Assaulted is a very mild term for what happened.
Diane: That's a nice way of saying he shot us. Right, very mild, but I suppose you'd have to see things from my point of view. It's a very difficult thing. I very, very rarely talk about what happened that night because it is so painful.
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