The Families of Those Who Kill

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I remember in the early days and weeks after Caylee went missing, people were standing in the street in front of the Anthony home, outraged at the Anthonys. I remember being beside myself that people were lashing out at Casey’s parents.

People, to this day, are still expressing anger and scorn at Cindy, George and Lee Anthony. They have a tremendous dislike for them. I suspect it is partly due to the fact they ultimately blame Casey’s parents for her behavior, but I suspect it is more than that. I think they likely loathe Cindy, George and Lee because they aren’t standing up and saying they think Casey had something to do with Caylee’s murder. It’s as if the Anthonys are denying the obvious, to most people, and that makes people go crazy.

Read moreYet the Anthonys are not alone in their denial, which I believe is a survival mechanism. I suspect many other family members of people who have killed likely do the same thing. I’ve said that here several times.

This week, I came across a news article on the father of Diane Downs, Wesley Frederickson. He is offering a $50,000 reward to any information which leads to the release of his daughter. This just made news in February of this year–25 years after his grandchildren were shot and one was killed.

This case is even more compelling than the Anthony case because Diane Downs was convicted of murder and locked up, whereas Casey hasn’t even gone to trial. More than that, Christie Downs, Diane’s 9-year-old daughter at the time of trial, testified against her own mom, saying that she witnessed her mom shoot her and her siblings, and then turn the gun on her own arm.

Making it all the more unbelievable, Diane Down’s father, 26 years later, is still clinging to the belief his daughter just has to be innocent, and that his grandchildren must have been delusional or lying. He even maintains a website to this day here.

I think Diane’s dad gives a new perspective to how powerful denial can be, and how it is a coping mechanism for survival.

I do not judge nor will I ever judge Diane Down’s father or the Anthonys, because to be in their shoes must be pure and utter hell, if you accept the most plausible of truths that their daughters attempted to kill their grandchildren, that their own flesh and blood knew no normal boundaries of love and compassion and had the ability to kill in cold blood.

Diane Downs Re-enacts Crime

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Here is a video of Diane Downs recollecting the crime (in 1983), she says occurred at the hands of a stranger, when her daughter was killed, and her other two children were shot.

Be warned, it’s as chilling as chilling can be. Downs lacks any normal emotions, and actually laughs as she does the re-enactment.

Diane Downs is someone who I could classify as a “negative” person (or as an easy read).

Naturals of Deception Detection & Abuse

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“Lie To Me” this week had a scene where Dr. Cal Lightman and Ria Torres, the natural, were talking about abuse. Dr. Cal Lightman said that because Torres suffered from abuse, that is why she became so good at reading body language. In another episode, Lightman said Torres was good because she didn’t have a higher education, so she had to rely on non-verbal communication more.

I wondered, after I saw those shows, if people wondered if I was a victim of abuse, or if I didn’t have a degree. I am happy to report I hold a masters of science degree, and that I was not abused as a child. I grew up in a solid home with no abuse of any kind. I had and still have loving parents.

I did have a traumatic childhood in school, however. I was bullied for years, I believe, because I was an ultra-sensitive child. If you said you disliked me, I was the type to cry my eyes out. If you told me to go away, I cried for hours. I had the thinnest skin on the planet and with that, I suspect, kids picked up on it and played me to the hilt. I became a victim to my own softness, and it took me until junior high to break out of it. I was highly taunted and teased for many years. It was very traumatic for me.

But if people who are abused develop this “sixth sense”, than there should be a lot of Truth Wizards out there, a lot more than the one percent identified by science. I personally don’t think this explains it.

My Thoughts About the Tattoo

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The first thing I did when I saw that Ronald Cummings had a tattoo of Haleigh on his leg was put myself in the shoes of an innocent parent, whose child was truly abducted, and I thought about how I would feel. Then I thought about the tattoo.

Read moreThe tattoo gave me a horrible feeling.

If my daughter was missing, I would not want to memorialize this horrible tragedy on my leg, should she still be alive and come home, which is a thought I would desperately cling to until I had no other option.

If my daughter came home, I would never want to be reminded of the horror that I endured all those weeks not knowing where she was, but worse and more importantly, of the potential pain and suffering my daughter would have had to endure at the hands of a sick stranger for all those weeks. If my daughter come home safe and sound, I would want to forget this nightmare. Forever. I would not want to have horrific memories memorialized on my leg in a tattoo, especially if it could become an emotional “trigger” for my daughter of her nightmarish experience. I would never want to give a predator such power, either. I would want fresh beginnings and a new start, but a tattoo would rob me of that.

Of course, Cummings would likely argue that he got the tattoo as a sign of love and devotion to his daughter. We can’t say anything conclusive by his behavior here, but it is unusual, to say the least. Most parents of missing children find secondary things, such as unnecessary salon visits and self-pampering, are not a top priority in times of crisis like this. Finding their missing children takes top priority, even four weeks later.

It brings me back to the day I saw Cumming’s mother, Teresa Neves, on TV saying that Cummings didn’t go out and search on that particular day because “no one came and got him”. I was just appalled by that, as if it is the responsibility of other people to motivate Cummings to search. He is the father who should care the most, and be the most driven to organize, plan and continually work to find his daughter, but he continually shows us he is not.

If I were in his shoes, there would always be a task I could do to keep my daughter’s face front and center in the public’s eye, if I was not searching.

Cumming also doesn’t appear to look at the media as a tool, which I find perplexing. Innocent people who are victims of crime and are looking for a missing loved one usually see the media as a means to an end. They may not like the media, but use them as a tool. Instead, here, Cummings actually complains he is not being left alone to do what he wants to do! It’s just mind boggling.

What sad story this is on multiple levels. I just don’t trust Ronald Cummings. To read more of my thoughts on this case, click on the labels below.

Ron Cummings Gets Tattoo of Haleigh

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FirstCoastNews.com caught up with Cummings after he got a tattoo of each of his children.

Cummings says, “I can’t be left alone. Nobody leaves me alone to do what I want to do. There’s always a camera in my face. Here it is again.”

Cummings says someone else put up the $400 for the cost of the tattoos, but according to the Examiner, he didn’t want to say who.

To see my opinions on this case, click on the labels below.