Similarities to other Cases. Melinda Duckett, Diane Downs and more

[nancy botwin]

I don't think Diane or Casey have anything in common apart from they ' Allegedly ' killed their own offspring.

For starters i think Caylee probably was very neglected before she met her demise , Diane just point blank shot her kid's after visiting a farm to stroke horses.

Also Diane Downs was pregnant most of her fertile life , even until her conviction , Casey has no maternal instincts at all.

JMO as always.

Diane Downs was also very neglectful of her children, reportedly leaving them home alone while she went out with men. During trial, neighbors reported having seen Downs' children outside in the winter without shoes, etc. Downs also had multiple over-lapping relationships with men and kept a diary, relishing her ability to charm and manipulate each of them. (Just like Casey and her duplicitous texts/IM chats etc.)

Diane Downs pursued surrogacy and pregnancy as a means to get attention and cultivate what, for a time, she thought was the ideal portrait of woman: mother/nurturer. Similarly, Casey initially cultivated the image of a doting mother, then sought to redefine herself as a professionally successful event planner, trying to "have it all" etc.
I've actually read Diane Down's book "Best Kept Secrets"-- the story from her own perspective. I bought it used and paid 1 cent for it, because I had to read it. It's chilling and it's disgusting and I reread passages after listening to Casey's interrogation tapes. To me, they are very similar.

 

[Brini]

I remember this case- it had ties to AZ because Diane and the father of the children lived here in Chandler. I believe they actually removed a bullet for comparision out of the Chandler home.
I also read the Anne Rule book about this lady....To this day I can not hear Hungry Like Wolf without thinking of this woman and her poor children.

I do see some similarities with regard to the lack of care or concern and lack emotion.
The one thing that confuses me though about Casey is because Caylee only seemed to be a hinderance to her. Casey's friends seemed to accept Caylee openly.

JG did. But, Caylee was waking people up at ALs (which was pretty much a flop house).

I think the person who loved Caylee most in the world, may have been AH.

 

[Brini]

I have always been facinated by stories about women killing their kids. My husband thought I was strange but it was just because, for me, the worse thing that could ever happen to me would be if something happened to one of my kids and I just can't imagine who a woman could harm their own child. I followed the DD story closely (I live in Oregon) and just could not believe she did it. I really did want there to be a "bushy haired stranger" that was guilty. It was only after reading Ann Rule's book did I understand her thinking. Like KC, she was a pathological liar and it appeared that she was a good mother, at least on the surface. Her story was more believeable at first then KC's is. I think I'm going to read Small Sacrifices again. Maybe it will give me hope that KC won't get away with this.

Some woman think men are more important than their kids.

When I had a psych caseload, I had mothers who let their "men" beat or rape their kids, "So he'll stay." Or, "So I'll have a man." Or, "If I don't let him do it, he'll leave me."

 

[Brini]

IMHO Casey didn't do this for a man. Diane Downs seemed more mentally ill then Casey.
Casey just wants her own way all the time. She will do away with anyone or anything that comes between her and what she wants. IMHO

No, I think DD is another Axis II. Borderline, Sociopath, Narcissistic Personality Disorder. So is SS.

 

[Private Eye]

Diane Downs was also very neglectful of her children, reportedly leaving them home alone while she went out with men. During trial, neighbors reported having seen Downs' children outside in the winter without shoes, etc. Downs also had multiple over-lapping relationships with men and kept a diary, relishing her ability to charm and manipulate each of them. (Just like Casey and her duplicitous texts/IM chats etc.)

Diane Downs pursued surrogacy and pregnancy as a means to get attention and cultivate what, for a time, she thought was the ideal portrait of woman: mother/nurturer. Similarly, Casey initially cultivated the image of a doting mother, then sought to redefine herself as a professionally successful event planner, trying to "have it all" etc.
I've actually read Diane Down's book "Best Kept Secrets"-- the story from her own perspective. I bought it used and paid 1 cent for it, because I had to read it. It's chilling and it's disgusting and I reread passages after listening to Casey's interrogation tapes. To me, they are very similar.

A different kind of nut job yes!

Other than that Diane and Casey are worlds apart.

 

[Brini]

Just the thought of a mother choosing a man over her children sickens me.....

It happens. I always wondered why they had children, at all?

 

[Brini]

Yeah, but Downs is older then Casey given time, Casey would have become just as ill, she is well on her way there now. Plus Casey has been getting her own way for a long time, no job, built in babysitter (Most of the time)....really I think Casey is just a sick as Downs.

They're the same. It's not exactly a mental illness. It's a developmental failure.

Mental illnesses are usually easier to manage.

 

[Brini]

That's EXACTLY what I thought! Do you think Tony still has contact with lil Miss Casey now that she's a MURDER suspect?

He says he hasn't. I believe him. He apparently wasn't all that into her, to begin with-- KC was just a convenience. Now, she's a serious liability.

 

[Brini]

The similarities I see in this case and the Diane Downs case:

Both women man crazy

Phantom perp named (Bushy haired stranger vs. Z the Nanny)

Diane Downs memorialized her children with an engraved unicorn (before they died!) and IMO, KC's tattoo is a memorial

Forensics are centered on the car

Family members hold the key to much of the evidence

LE accused of not following up on leads in both cases

Sociopath label thrown around in both cases

Smith, Downs and KC are all serious Axis IIs.

I used to have to see a lot of them. Emphasis on "used to."

 

[awakewriter]

My heart BROKE for that poor woman. She wanted to DIE when she realized what happened, not go straddle a stripper pole and get a tattoo.

exactly. and now she continues to try to better herself for the betterment of others.

wonder what casey's doing?

 

[Amity]

...I will say that I do agree tho that whatever motives Casey had, it wasn't for a particular person. I don't see a lot of parallels between her and Susan Smith, if anything, she reminds me more of Scott Peterson. I'd say her motivations if any are purely selfish ones, because having a kid didn't "fit" with her lifestyle.

Snipped for space

I agree Njustice!
The day I heard about Caylee, then the bits of information that started to come out about Casey, all I kept thinking to myself was 'OMG, another Scott Peterson!"

I know it's not the same gender or topic.... mothers who kill their children, but the stories have so many similarities it's eerie!
Casey's motives for whatever she did IMO were not for one person just as SPs weren't for Amber.
Pretending to be in places they weren't, of course, the lies and so many other similarities...bizarre and so, so very sad.

 

[nancy botwin]

No, I think DD is another Axis II. Borderline, Sociopath, Narcissistic Personality Disorder. So is SS.

Diane Downs' psych assessment at trial indicated the tripartite diagnoses: HPD, NPD and ASPD (then "sociopath"). Robert Hare consolidates those diagnoses in the classification "psychopath." I don't think Diane Downs and Casey exhibit core BPD behavior-- inwardly directed pain and anger.

 

[nancy botwin]

A different kind of nut job yes!

Other than that Diane and Casey are worlds apart.

How are they worlds apart? In what manner? I think they are shockingly similar in their affect, relationships and behavior patterns-- and also similar in their refusal to accept responsibility/blame deflection strategies.

 

[txsvicki]

I think Casey is mostly motivated by money. She can find a man anywhere, latch on real quick, but she needed money more.

 

[njustice]

Scott didn't give his unborn child a chance! At least Caylee lived for a few years.

True...but I wasn't really thinking of it this way...I was thinking more of his behavior, his lies, the things he told his new lover all the while his pregnant wife was missing. Wasn't really drawing a parallel between his unborn child and Caylee...

 

[Brini]

Diane Downs' psych assessment at trial indicated the tripartite diagnoses: HPD, NPD and ASPD (then "sociopath"). Robert Hare consolidates those diagnoses in the classification "psychopath." I don't think Diane Downs and Casey exhibit core BPD behavior-- inwardly directed pain and anger.

The all seem to have a collection of the Axis IIs, don't they? At LEAST two personality disorder diagnoses.

That's rough, because we don't have an effective theament for those, yet.

I kind of like Hare's system. It's pretty much the same psychodynamic. A little difference in the symptom constellation.

 

[elizabethie]

hi there!

i'm a newbie, first post

another name that sprung to my mind was Amanda Smith, who claimed last year that a stranger had car-jacked her, locked himself in her vehicle while he smothered her son to death (Devon Epps), then unlocked the door and ran off...never to be seen again....

amanda was another one who had a party-lifestyle documented on her myspace...and that style was being cramped by the demands of motherhood...

to my knowledge, amanda has never recanted her ridiculous story, and I don't believe the case has gone to trial yet. this kind of thing happens, and i'm sure there are plenty of other examples out there... no two cases are exactly alike, but a theme starts developing when you compare them...

slightly OT here, but i never understood why Cindy wasn't asking Caylee more questions about her day-to-day life... My niece is about two months older than Caylee, and we ask her things like, "what did you have for lunch today?" "what did you do at school?" etc....and we get ANSWERS! i can't fathom the lack of communication going on in that house...

 

[monoxide]

I have some compassion for Melinda Duckett. I believe Melinda Duckett more than Casey.

 

[tfrohning]

I do think that Melinda and Casey cases are familer. I did mapquest and they lived like 45
miles apart. Melinda wanted to get back at Trenton dad. and Casey wanted to get back at her mother. Melinda got rid all Tentorn belonging. Casey did not take any of Caylee belonging. I know they said that melinda kill herself. but cop has been wrong before look at dpeterson ex wife.

 

[nancy botwin]

For those interested, Casey Anthony/Duckett Connection: A Reader Weighs In http://thedailybs.com/news/?p=1055

I have trouble following the article-- but it's probably just me.