Small Sacrifices : The Shocking True Crime Case of Diane Downs

Small Sacrifices : The Shocking True Crime Case of Diane Downs
ISBN: 9780451166609
Publication Date: 5 July 1988

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Stranger Beside Me comes the shocking account of a beautiful young mother who shot her three young children in cold blood.

"Somebody just shot my kids!" Diane Downs brought her car to a halt in front of a Springfield, Oregon, hospital, her three gravely wounded children beside her. Thus begins the tale of a truly unthinkable crime that shattered the tranquility of a tight-knit community. As police searched for the "shaggy-haired stranger" Diane accused of shooting 8-year-old Christie, 7-year-old Cheryl, and 3-year-old Danny, a suspicion grew that was even more horrifying than the crime itself: Did Diane shoot her own children? Haunted by this question, a dedicated district attorney searched for the answer and uncovered a chronology of incest, psychological wounding, desperate affairs, and surrogate motherhood.

Ann Rule's gripping, powerful, and ultimately terrifying true story of passion and murder will hold you in thrall as it plumbs the unimagined depths of darkness concealed within a human being.

About the Author

Ann Rule wrote thirty-five New York Times bestsellers. Her first bestseller, The Stranger Beside Me, was about her personal relationship with infamous serial killer Ted Bundy. A former Seattle police officer, she used her firsthand expertise in all her books. For more than three decades, she was a powerful advocate for victims of violent crime. She lived near Seattle and passed away in 2015.