Parents Who Kill--Shocking True Stories of the World's Most Evil Parents by Carol Anne Davis
Authors: Carol Anne Davis
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her sister Cheryl was born.
Appalled, as their finances were already poor, Steve had a vasectomy. But the operation didn’t work and Diane got pregnant for a third time. Steve persuaded her to have an abortion, after which he had his vasectomy redone.
Psychiatrists say that most women recover their equilibrium quickly after a termination, with neurotic women being the exception. Diane fell into the latter category, convincing herself that she had to have another baby to replace the terminated cells. Two years later, she left Steve, taking the children, and moved back to live with her parents, though being in their home again made her miserable.
The couple reconciled and she asked Steve to have the vasectomy reversed, but he refused, doubtless aware thatDiane enjoyed pregnancy more than motherhood. Determined to get her way, she seduced a 19-year-old youth and became pregnant by him. The baby, Stephen Daniel Downs, was born on 29 December 1979 and soon became known as Danny, his middle name.
Steve let everyone think that Danny was his biological child. He adored the boy and treated him the same as his two daughters. But Diane fell into a deep depression. She began to hit the children, just as she’d been hit by her father throughout her childhood.
A DISORDERED PERSONALITY
Yet she still loved the
idea
of motherhood, so offered herself as a surrogate mother, telling doctors that it was important to her that the adoptive parents were Christians. The clinic put Diane through a series of tests, where she scored highly on IQ and on robust physical health but did badly on the psychopathology scale. She told the psychologist about her parents being strict and distant, about the incest and how it had left her with no enjoyment of sex. He – and a second psychologist – found that she could shut down her feelings at will, and both thought that she was suffering from Histrionic Personality Disorder. But the clinic was so desperate for surrogates that they accepted her. Artificially inseminated, she became pregnant at the first attempt and was delighted, telling acquaintances that, for the first time, she had a purpose and that her aborted child might be reincarnated in the new baby. She began sending frequent letters to the anonymous parents care of the surrogacy office, giving them updates about the pregnancy.
Her marriage ended and by 1981 she was divorced and working as a post woman – she loved the job and was in a high-energy state throughout the pregnancy. Yet she ignored her existing children, wouldn’t let them into the lounge in casethey made it untidy and preferred to party at night rather than spend time with them. Cheryl became clinically depressed and told neighbours, who often fed her when she was locked out of the house, that ‘nobody cared.’ Christie was also incredibly sad and acquaintances noted that she’d tried to take on the role of mother to her siblings, old before her time.
Acquaintances said that all three youngsters were emotionally starved and physically neglected, sometimes playing outside in light clothing and bare feet in the winter. Diane hit the children so hard that a co-worker suggested she go for counselling, but she continued to party instead.
In May 1982, she gave birth to her surrogate baby, a daughter, and immediately handed her over to her new parents. She received $10,000, money she used for the deposit on a new mobile home. Three weeks later, she went back to work and began a new series of short-lived affairs with co-workers. She would act submissive and giggly until she got them into bed where she would scratch them until they bled. They were left with the impression that she hated men. They were also confused by her bizarre behaviour, as she read the Bible every night and quoted it to them chapter and verse, yet had extra-marital sex, which her religion forbade. On her postal route, she refused to deliver soft porn titles such as
Playboy
and
Penthouse
as they offended her, yet
Appalled, as their finances were already poor, Steve had a vasectomy. But the operation didn’t work and Diane got pregnant for a third time. Steve persuaded her to have an abortion, after which he had his vasectomy redone.
Psychiatrists say that most women recover their equilibrium quickly after a termination, with neurotic women being the exception. Diane fell into the latter category, convincing herself that she had to have another baby to replace the terminated cells. Two years later, she left Steve, taking the children, and moved back to live with her parents, though being in their home again made her miserable.
The couple reconciled and she asked Steve to have the vasectomy reversed, but he refused, doubtless aware thatDiane enjoyed pregnancy more than motherhood. Determined to get her way, she seduced a 19-year-old youth and became pregnant by him. The baby, Stephen Daniel Downs, was born on 29 December 1979 and soon became known as Danny, his middle name.
Steve let everyone think that Danny was his biological child. He adored the boy and treated him the same as his two daughters. But Diane fell into a deep depression. She began to hit the children, just as she’d been hit by her father throughout her childhood.
A DISORDERED PERSONALITY
Yet she still loved the
idea
of motherhood, so offered herself as a surrogate mother, telling doctors that it was important to her that the adoptive parents were Christians. The clinic put Diane through a series of tests, where she scored highly on IQ and on robust physical health but did badly on the psychopathology scale. She told the psychologist about her parents being strict and distant, about the incest and how it had left her with no enjoyment of sex. He – and a second psychologist – found that she could shut down her feelings at will, and both thought that she was suffering from Histrionic Personality Disorder. But the clinic was so desperate for surrogates that they accepted her. Artificially inseminated, she became pregnant at the first attempt and was delighted, telling acquaintances that, for the first time, she had a purpose and that her aborted child might be reincarnated in the new baby. She began sending frequent letters to the anonymous parents care of the surrogacy office, giving them updates about the pregnancy.
Her marriage ended and by 1981 she was divorced and working as a post woman – she loved the job and was in a high-energy state throughout the pregnancy. Yet she ignored her existing children, wouldn’t let them into the lounge in casethey made it untidy and preferred to party at night rather than spend time with them. Cheryl became clinically depressed and told neighbours, who often fed her when she was locked out of the house, that ‘nobody cared.’ Christie was also incredibly sad and acquaintances noted that she’d tried to take on the role of mother to her siblings, old before her time.
Acquaintances said that all three youngsters were emotionally starved and physically neglected, sometimes playing outside in light clothing and bare feet in the winter. Diane hit the children so hard that a co-worker suggested she go for counselling, but she continued to party instead.
In May 1982, she gave birth to her surrogate baby, a daughter, and immediately handed her over to her new parents. She received $10,000, money she used for the deposit on a new mobile home. Three weeks later, she went back to work and began a new series of short-lived affairs with co-workers. She would act submissive and giggly until she got them into bed where she would scratch them until they bled. They were left with the impression that she hated men. They were also confused by her bizarre behaviour, as she read the Bible every night and quoted it to them chapter and verse, yet had extra-marital sex, which her religion forbade. On her postal route, she refused to deliver soft porn titles such as
Playboy
and
Penthouse
as they offended her, yet
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