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Friday, February 11, 2011

Small Sacrifices--The Diane Downs Story

Diane Downs









On May 19, 1983, Elizabeth Diane Frederickson Downs shot her three children: Christie,8, Cheryl, 7, and Stephen, 4. She told police that she had been carjacked. Cheryl did not survive. She also shot herself in the left arm to try to make her story believable.Downs had been having an affair with a man named Robert Knickerbocker, who had let it be known that he did not want children in his life.

On June 17, 1984, Downs was found guilty of murder, attempted murder and assault. She was sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years. Christie and Stephen were adopted by Prosecutor Fred Hugi and his wife Joanne.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Downs

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/famous/downs/index_1.html




The 1989 made-for-TV movie stars Farrah Fawcett as Diane Downs. In the movie, the names of the children have been changed. Christie is Karen, Cheryl is Shawna, and Stephen is Robbie.

Farrah Fawcett as Diane Downs

Emily Perkins as Karen Downs (Christie Downs)
John Shea as Prosecutor Frank Joziak  (Fred Hugi)


Thursday, February 3, 2011

A Killer Among Friends

Missy Avila



This 1992 made-for-television movie was based on the 1985 murder of Michele "Missy" Avila by her two best friends, Karen Severson and Laura Doyle.
Karen Severson
Laura Doyle

Apparently the two girls were jealous of Avila's beauty and popularitity. Severson and Doyle were convicted and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.


In the movie the names are changed. Missy Avila is Jenny Monroe, played by Tiffani-Amber Thiessen. Karen Severson is Ellen Holloway, played by Margaret Welsh. Laura Doyle is Carla Lewis, played by Angie Rae McKinney. Patty Duke plays Jenny's mother,Jean,who searches fervently for her daughter's killer.







Patty Duke as Jean Monroe

Tiffani-Amber Thiessen as Jenny Monroe (Missy Avila)





Margaret Welsh as Ellen Holloway (Karen Severson)
Angie Ray McKinney as Carla Lewis (Laura Doyle)