SMALL SACRIFICES: PART 1 {TAPE 1 OF 2} (TV)
Summary
Tape one of two. This made-for-television production, based on a true story, focuses on the case that develops against a woman who claims that a carjacker shot her three children. The program begins in Eugene, Oregon, on May 19, 1983 as Diane Downs drives to a hospital and reports that her three children are dying. An exasperated Diane frets as she discovers that she, too, has been shot while waiting for police to arrive. Detective Doug Welch asks about the crime as Diane, a divorced postal worker, fights to keep watch over her kids. As middle child Shaunna is pronounced dead, Doug takes Diane to the country road where she says that a man tried to steal her car. She recounts having an idyllic day with her family before being shot at by the stranger. Diane says she overpowered him and then drove to the hospital. Later, a doctor gets youngest child Robbie to breathe, even as Diane struggles with news of Shaunna’s demise.
Meanwhile, Frank Joziak from the D.A.’s office is assigned to the case. As Diane is diagnosed with a broken arm, her parents monitor the recovery of oldest daughter Karen, whose prognosis has stabilized. Doug and Frank go to Diane’s apartment and find a picture of Diane with her boyfriend from Idaho, Lew Lewiston. They also discover a bullet casing in her bedroom that matches the shell casings found in the car. Doug and Frank subsequently go to Diane’s hospital room and ask about Lew. They tell her that ex-husband Boyd Paul Downs has arrived to be with Robbie and Karen. Boyd tells the detectives that Diane owns three guns and is trained to shoot. He recalls how she threatened him with a gun six months earlier. That night, Frank notices that Karen’s heartbeat accelerates after Diane whispers in her ear. The next day, Doug pokes holes in Diane’s story and comments on her being “weird” and without emotion. Frank insists on his team going to Idaho to meet Lew and his wife Nora. There, Lew tells how he met Diane at work and that she was pregnant with a surrogate baby before the pair started their affair. Lew says that Diane refused to listen when he tried to break up with her, then notes that both he and Nora have alibis for the night of the shootings. He insists that Diane shot her kids. Commercials deleted. Continues on T:21442.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: November 12, 1989 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:21441
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV, 1989
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Suzanne de Passe … Executive Producer
- Louis Rudolph … Executive Producer
- Charles Fries … Executive Producer (uncredited)
- S. Bryan Hickox … Producer
- Brenda Antin … Associate Producer
- Marty Miller … Associate Producer
- David Greene … Director
- Joyce Eliason … Writer
- Ann Rule … Based on the book by
- Peter Manning Robinson … Music by
- Farrah Fawcett … Cast, Diane Downs
- Gordon Clapp … Cast, Doug Welch
- Ryan O'Neal … Cast, Lew Lewiston
- John Shea … Cast, Frank Joziak
- Emily Perkins … Cast, Karen Downs
- Gary Chalk … Cast, Boyd Paul Downs
- Ken James … Cast, Daryl Chapman
- Sean McCann … Cast, Russell Wells
- Tom Butler … Cast, Wally Beck
- Elan Ross Gibson … Cast, Rosalind Dyring
- Lynne Cormack … Cast, Lola Joziak
- Jayne Eastwood … Cast, Evelyn Slaven
- Christopher Carvalho … Cast, Robbie Downs
- Anne Bradley Jaeger … Cast, Herself
- Vicky Wauchope … Cast, Shauna Downs
- Maxine Miller … Cast, Verla Mae Wells
- Graham McPherson … Cast, Judge Foote
- Candice Elzinga … Cast, Judy Patterson
- Colin Fox … Cast, Jim Pex
- Karen Gartner … Cast, Chris Rosage
- Tom Banks … Cast, Pat Horton
- Steve Bobowsky … Cast, Jury Foreman
- Julie Bond … Cast, Reporter #2
- Juliet Brown … Nurse #2
- Robert Corness … Orthosurgeon
- Larry Farley … Cast, Hospital Deputy
- Kirk Grayson … Cast, Rosie Martin
- Walter Kaasa … Cast, Psychiatrist
- Judy Mahbey … Cast, Shelby Day
- Paul McGassey … Cast, Guard
- Peter McNab … Cast, Dr. Wilhite
- Patricia Phillips … Cast, Nora Lewiston
- Barbara Reese … Cast, Neighbor Woman #1
- George R. Robertson … Cast, Dr. Mackey
- Dennis Robinson … Cast, Joseph Inman
- Rob Roitblat … Cast, Reporter #1
- Lisa Rudolph … Cast, Nurse #1
- Timothy Sell … Cast, Stranger
- Alana Stewart … Cast, Neighbor Woman #2
- John Wright … Cast, Police Officer