Diane Downs Husband: Marriages, Relationships, and What’s Known

If you’re searching for Diane Downs husband, you’re probably trying to sort out a timeline that often gets muddled online. True-crime summaries frequently blur labels, calling someone a “husband” when the dates don’t line up. To understand what actually happened, you need a clean, chronological look at her marriage, her divorce, and the relationships that followed—without speculation or sensational shortcuts.

Who Is Diane Downs?

Diane Downs is a convicted murderer whose case became nationally known in the early 1980s. In May 1983, she shot her three children in Oregon, killing one and seriously injuring two others. She claimed a stranger attacked them, but investigators uncovered contradictions, and she was convicted in 1984. She received a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 25 years.

You’re likely interested in her personal relationships because they were discussed extensively during the investigation and trial. Understanding who she was married to—and when—helps clarify what’s fact and what’s often misreported.

Diane Downs’s First (and Only Confirmed) Husband

Diane Downs had one confirmed husband: Steve Downs. They met as teenagers in Arizona and married in 1973, when Diane was still very young. Their marriage was troubled, marked by frequent conflict and infidelity, and it ultimately ended in divorce in 1980.

This marriage matters because it establishes the foundation for nearly every question people ask later. During their time together, they had children, and Steve Downs remained a key figure in the background of Diane’s life even after the divorce—especially once her case became public.

Did Diane Downs Have a Second Husband?

This is where confusion often starts.

Despite what some summaries suggest, there is no widely documented second legal husband after Steve Downs. Many articles imply she remarried, but reliable timelines consistently list Steve Downs as her only husband.

What gets mislabeled as a “second husband” is actually a significant romantic relationship she had after her divorce—one that played a role in how prosecutors framed motive during her trial. That relationship was serious and central to the case, but it was not a marriage.

How Her Marriage Connects to the Criminal Case

To keep the story straight, the dates matter:

• Marriage to Steve Downs: 1973

• Divorce from Steve Downs: 1980

• Shootings: May 1983

By the time of the shootings, Diane Downs had been divorced for about three years. She was not married at the time of the crimes.

Even so, her former husband remained relevant to investigators. Details from their marriage—such as her ownership of a firearm purchased during that period—helped police identify inconsistencies in her story. This is one reason the word “husband” keeps appearing in case summaries, even though he was technically her ex-husband by then.

Was Diane Downs Married at the Time of the Crimes?

No. This point is clear and important.

Diane Downs was divorced when the shootings occurred in 1983. The difference between “husband” and “ex-husband” isn’t just semantics—it changes how you understand her circumstances, her independence, and the relationships prosecutors later focused on when discussing motive.

When sources gloss over this distinction, it can make the case seem more confusing than it actually is.

Other Significant Relationships

After her divorce, Diane Downs became involved with Robert Knickerbocker, a married man she worked with. This relationship is frequently mentioned in books and documentaries because investigators noted she contacted him shortly after the shootings.

Prosecutors later argued that her desire to pursue this relationship without the responsibilities of parenting played a role in her actions. Whether you agree with that interpretation or not, the key factual point is this: Knickerbocker was not her husband. He was a romantic partner, and the relationship occurred after her marriage had already ended.

What Happened to Diane Downs’s Husband Afterward?

Steve Downs largely stepped out of public view after the case. He did not seek media attention, but he remained part of the historical record as the children’s father and as someone who provided investigators with background information during the investigation.

Diane Downs, meanwhile, has remained incarcerated for decades and continues to come up in the news only in the context of parole hearings and retrospective true-crime coverage. The long passage of time hasn’t eliminated public curiosity, but it has made accurate timelines even more important.

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