8 Die in Crash on Taconic State Parkway #2

[grace60]

Concur and I do it all the time.
I use 2 different last names and interchange them regularly.

She may have used her maiden name at work. IIRC she worked for the cable company and if she dealt with the public it may have been a safety precaution. People get mad at the cable company all the time and get over it but one nut job and you may get stalked in today's world.

 

[twinkiesmom]

What I mean is, if my BAC was .19 I would be in different condition than a person that drinks regularly. If she was an alcoholic and had high threshhold for alcohol was this consistent with her behavior? IOW,what may kill an occasional drinker would not affect someone that uses alcohol to maintain.
.19 is not alcohol poisoning or an OTT ridiculously high BAC. It is high but not uber crazy high. Was her impairment at .19 consistent with what it should have been for someone that never drinks or always drinks or???

This may sound stupid but when I go on a trip, I put all my meds in one bottle. I was wondering if she put ambien in with her tylenol or whatever and took one when she was driving. Ambien can make you bonkers and not necessarily sleepy.

What I find baffling is that she would drink to this degree,yet no one (IIRC) has seen her drink to this degree or this way before. IOW, it is one thing to be a closet drinker and drink to maintain,but it is quite another to be a closet drinker to this proportion and get behind the wheel. Seems way off the charts. I understand that people may not have known she was a drinker,but that would make it even more baffling to me because she would then obviously have been doing a fantastic job of covering it up. This behavior is not like that at all.

I don't doubt she took all the substance in on her own-but something about he whole thing just nags at me.
I am not trying to make excuses for her and I have no dog in this fight-I am just trying to reconcile what we know about her and what happened to make some sense.
But perhaps it will never make sense.

I don't think the question you pose regarding her level of intoxication is answerable to any degree of certainty.

I do think her level of intoxication and yet degree of control of the car (albeit in the wrong direction) was consistent with an alcoholic blackout. I cited some research many pages back that describes how someone could operate a car while not conscious (in terms of self awareness...frontal lobe activity).

I don't think Ambien is likely as it was not reported in the toxicology results and would not be consistent with the level of skill with which she drove the car....she was driving rigidly straight ahead maintaining her lane.....not weaving all over the road.

I don't see any other logical choice other than A) alcoholic blackout or B) suicide by car.

 

[zippitydoda]

So, have all the ladies agreed it was really the husband's fault?

(ducking)

Oh Nova....I thought we were making such good progress....and there you go and ruin it by calling out us ladies. :crazy:

p.s. Diane did it, and only Diane. Daine murdered 7 innocent victims when when she took her own life.

p.s.s. Daniel cranks me up when he bold face lies about what Diane did that morning, and what he knew about it after the fact.

(waving hello back at ya)

 

[Nova]

Oh Nova....I thought we were making such good progress....and there you go and ruin it by calling out us ladies. :crazy:

p.s. Diane did it, and only Diane. Daine murdered 7 innocent victims when when she took her own life.

p.s.s. Daniel cranks me up when he bold face lies about what Diane did that morning, and what he knew about it after the fact.

(waving hello back at ya)

I used "ladies" in the hope people would know I was kidding. Seems to have worked, for the most part. :truce:

 

[arielilane]

The toothache has been mentioned here often. It doesn't play a role in the scenario for me...never did! The evidence wasn't there. Just my observation, but in the video of Diane at the gas pump, then entering the convenient store, and then once inside the store; not once did Diane ever indicate that her tooth was troubling her by taking her hand to her mouth. A typical gesture with a toothache.

 

[Mama-cita]

Well, last night I watched the documentary online. Wow is all I can say. I am not even quite sure where to start. I do hope that this case is not CLOSED and that somehow, someway, someone will probe and get some answers for the victims of this horrible tragedy. I was amazed at the double speak by Daniel and Jay. She never smoked pot. She did smoke pot at night to relax and unwind. Daniel spent the whole time practically preparing for the canonization of "St. Diane of Long Island" then Jay spills the beans that he is "so angry at her" and truth be told "he never wanted kids" and now he is stuck being a single parent. Just WOW. Actually seeing Daniel made me ALMOST feel a tad bit sorry for Diane. Notice I said ALMOST. I don't generally have much sympathy for mass murderers you see. I do believe she probably did everything for the house and the kids single handedly. Especially since Daniel never wanted kids. She may have resented this tremendously. The strain of motherhood is a lot, but she also worked full time which compounded things. She probably thought she would take out herself and the kids as the ultimate stab at Daniel. But why Warrens kids too? I read somewhere else that Warren had a relationship with his mom, and consequently, his girls knew their grandma. I am sure this incensed Diane. I read elsewhere that the girls had a play or recital and Diane's mom was to be in attendance. Could this have pushed her over the edge? Her intent that day was to kill herself and those kids. I wish she would not have felt so hopeless. I would not even want a person to kill themself. But to commit an act like she did, that she knew would result in AT LEAST the deaths of those kids, is unconscienable. The things that, to me anyway, are incontrovertible proof that this was NO ACCIDENT or "black out" are the aggressive driving that she was doing prior to the rest stop with the tail gating and honking, and the neatly placed phone on the jersey barrier after the tappan z. I agree with the previous poster, also, that nothing about her gait or demeanor on the gas station surveillance video suggested physical pain of any sort. She used the pot and booze to psych herself up to carry out her horrible plan. Something happened between Danny and her that morning that sent her over the edge. I believe he knows exactly what the catalyst was. That is why he went into CYA mode and is still in it. If he wants sympathy he should shut his mouth and for gosh sakes stop suing people!!! Anyway, all of the above is simply MY OPINION...
PS- Werner Spitz did nothing to change the opinion I gained of him at the Anthony trial
PPS - Daniel's decision to show the crime scene photos of Diane shows his real feelings toward her. It was the ultimate degradation IMO, and maybe his stab back at her for what she did. No loving husband would ever do something like that. Again, all MOO...

 

[iluvhitchens]

Despite what it sounds like alcoholic blackout has to do with the inability of the brain to form memories. The more I think about it, the more I am convinced she committed murder/suicide. I find it interesting that as soon as her brother says I am coming for you, she leaves in the OPPOSITE direction and leaves her phone on the median. That could also be that she didn't want her brother to see her in the drunken state too. And I do not understand how she could not have heard those kids screaming that she was going in the wrong direction. She didn't waver, she didn't slow down--think about that, she didn't even brake!!! I think they should get the video from the Sunoco, clear up the image and read her lips. I think she asked for hard alcohol. She felt she didn't have enough and made up the difference with the pot. She numbed herself. My theory anyway. I could be wrong! BTW, not sure if it was mentioned here but Diane was no small woman-she weighed over 200 pds.

 

[rpd113]

The more I think about it, the more I am convinced she committed murder/suicide. I find it interesting that as soon as her brother says I am coming for you, she leaves in the OPPOSITE direction and leaves her phone on the median.

Same here. In addition to the point you raise, I find it instructive that she was seen driving aggressively at 1:15, then in very short time turned around on the Taconic and was driving "straight as a pin."

The witnesses in the documentary who actually saw her going the wrong way seemed certain that it was intentional/suicide. I dismissed that initially, but really, that's pretty damning.

To me, the only question is why. I tend to think things went haywire when she spoke to the Hances, but I also think Danny's obfuscation and denial seem to indicate that he knows more than he's saying. I wonder whether any more light will be shed on all this through the civil litigation.

 

[BuzzieCat]

That really bothers me the way she left the phone. Like she wanted to make sure no one would stop her and no one would rescue the kids.

 

[twinkiesmom]

Despite what it sounds like alcoholic blackout has to do with the inability of the brain to form memories.

Not forming memories is the result of the blackout, not the extent of what happens during one. The person is not conscious of their own actions. I found research that said complex motor tasks like driving are possible during a blackout.

 

[twinkiesmom]

I don't think the question you pose regarding her level of intoxication is answerable to any degree of certainty.
snipped....

I did some more reading on the BAC...I now wonder if her actual BAC was higher than 0.19 at the point in which she was vomiting and headed to stupor....It appears that she unloaded (vomiting) and reloaded prior to the accident. She was also pulled off at a rest stop at some point towards the end of the ill-fated journey.

 

[rpd113]

That really bothers me the way she left the phone. Like she wanted to make sure no one would stop her and no one would rescue the kids.

I initially figured she left it there by accident. But I now see that as more evidence of the crash being intentional.

 

[voxrock2000]

That really bothers me the way she left the phone. Like she wanted to make sure no one would stop her and no one would rescue the kids.

Yeah, pretty clear her brother told her he was coming to look for her and that he could track her with the phone, which the phone calls to the police confrim he was trying to do as they spent a lot of effort finidng out the phone info and calling around trying to do that. She left the phone there to throw him off and went driving in the opposite direction (north) than she should have so he couldn't find her. If she was calling her brother by the name Danny at this time she was probably continuing some conversation they had had that morning, so her brother knew what was going on and it obvioulsy escalated things.

 

[BuzzieCat]

Is that something that someone in an alcohol blackout can do? Getting rid of the phone to make sure that no one can follow you and stop you? That seems like more complex thinking than relying on motor memory to drive the vehicle.

 

[zippitydoda]

And I do not understand how she could not have heard those kids screaming that she was going in the wrong direction. She didn't waver, she didn't slow down--think about that, she didn't even brake!!!

Snipped by me... this is one of the greatest points made, for me, regarding her motive, and her understanding of what she was doing in these final moments.

 

[voxrock2000]

BTW, not sure if it was mentioned here but Diane was no small woman-she weighed over 200 pds.

What on earth does this have to do with anything?

 

[JBean]

What on earth does this have to do with anything?

BAC is largely influenced by body weight.

 

[sharkeyes]

Daniel spent the whole time practically preparing for the canonization of "St. Diane of Long Island" ....

THAT is a great summation of the way he talks about Diane!

Something happened between Danny and her that morning that sent her over the edge. I believe he knows exactly what the catalyst was. That is why he went into CYA mode...

She may have found out where Danny was on Thursday night; this discrepancy is never (unfortunately) mentioned in the documentary. Danny is never questioned about the fact he initially stated he arrived at the campsite on Thursday and then admitted he arrived on Friday after EZPass records were brought into the mix. So, we have 24 hrs. of Danny being MIA - I believe that's definitely part of the "missing link" needed to understand Diane's actions that day.

 

[Nova]

That really bothers me the way she left the phone. Like she wanted to make sure no one would stop her and no one would rescue the kids.

Perhaps. But according to twinkiesmom's research on alcoholic blackouts and short-term memory impairment, Diane may have just set the phone down (to retch, wipe her brow, whatever) and immediately forgot it was there.

If she were intentionally trying to dispose of it, wouldn't it be more likely the phone would have been found flung somewhere rather than sitting neatly?

 

[Nova]

THAT is a great summation of the way he talks about Diane!



She may have found out where Danny was on Thursday night; this discrepancy is never (unfortunately) mentioned in the documentary. Danny is never questioned about the fact he initially stated he arrived at the campsite on Thursday and then admitted he arrived on Friday after EZPass records were brought into the mix. So, we have 24 hrs. of Danny being MIA - I believe that's definitely part of the "missing link" needed to understand Diane's actions that day.

Does anyone know offhand what time Danny originally said he arrived and what time the EZ Pass shows him arriving?