Preamble:
Philip, do you remember that quiet night in May 1983, when we heard several gunshots suddenly ringing out in the valley. Who would have thought that in such a quiet village, there would be a bloody tragedy - a mother shot her three children with her own hands, one of whom died at the age of 8!
At 10:48 p.m. that night, at the McKinsey Emergency Center, not far from us, a blonde woman in a red jacket rushed into the emergency room and shouted, "Help, my children have been shot!" Before the words fell, nurse Martin had already seen the bodies of two children lying in the back seat of the car, and a little girl who was dying. Three paramedics immediately rushed to the emergency rescue, but the 8-year-old girl did not survive and died on the spot. Two other children, Danny and Christie, were also shot all over the body, and their lives hung by a thread.
I remember late that night, a dim wall lamp lit up outside the emergency room and the clock ticking on the wall. The nurse hurried down the corridor on a stretcher, footsteps echoing through the empty aisles. Accompanied by the sound of squirming people, the night envelops the whole building in a quiet and eerie light and shadow. No one expected that such a horrific murder would happen in such a seemingly peaceful town.
I still remember that scene to this day. The woman, Diane, just sat silently in her chair, motionless. Her gaze was glazed and hollow, and there was not the slightest emotion or reaction on her face, as if she had just lost not her three young children, but three unrelated little animals. Perhaps it was at that moment that I realized for the first time that this mother's heart might have died.
The first act of a horrific tragedy
When the police arrived at the scene, Diane calmly recounted what happened on the night of the incident: she was driving her three children to visit an old friend, and on the way she met a strange man who wanted to hitchhike and wanted to make it easier for him. Unexpectedly, the man took out a pistol and fired at the children in the car at random, and one of the bullets also grazed her arm. Luckily, she managed to escape and started her car and drove to the nearest hospital.
The police immediately launched an investigation, hoping to catch the brutal murderer as soon as possible. Diane also worked with the police to create a sketch portrait of the suspect, which she described as a tall man in his twenties with a mustache. What was the motive of this murderous murderer who opened fire on a carload of innocent children in the dead of night? The police were bewildered and could not understand this bizarre shooting.
I believe that many people, including the police, thought that Diane was just another victim in this tragedy. How could a mother have a reason to kill her own flesh and blood? However, they did not expect that this mother had already buried a murderous intention in her heart. For some people, outward meekness is nothing more than hiding the madness in the depths of their hearts.
The police launched an investigation, and Diane's account was full of doubts
While the police were searching for the murderer, Diane's statement was questioned one by one in various investigations - the car was too slow, indicating that she did not rush to the hospital as soon as she said. There was no blood in the driver's seat, and she claimed to have been shot in the arm. Ballistic analysis showed that the person who fired the shot was inside the car. In the face of all kinds of evidence, the police had to face a terrible fact: the initiator of the shooting incident is likely to be the mother herself!
To further confirm, police questioned Diane's child's father and learned that she was indeed in possession of a point 22 caliber pistol. Not only that, Diane has also been hit by a failed romance recently, and once expressed her abandonment and murderous intent for her children in her diary! While all kinds of signs point to Diane, the police also got a key testimony - that is, Diane's 8-year-old daughter Christie personally identified her mother as shooting her sister after recovering!
The final determination made by the police was like a bolt from the blue, leaving everyone in disbelief. It turns out that this mother who is gentle and harmless on the surface hides a creepy madness deep inside. Perhaps, just as some criminals are good at disguising themselves as the most decent and innocent citizens, this mother's mask is no longer what a normal person should be.
The witness testified that he suffered from the child's backlash
Diane, you didn't expect that the eldest daughter you regarded as something in the palm of your hand still chose to testify against your crime after all. Because of blood relationship, you thought she would always be on your side, but you forgot that what you shot and took away was also her most beloved sister!
In the face of conclusive evidence, Diane was formally arrested and imprisoned in February 1984. How did a mother end her life with a bullet in the face of her three young children without hesitation?
The price of pursuing love
Philip, do you remember that winter in 1981, when Christmas was just after Christmas and the whole town was in the mood for the holidays. And on that cold winter night, a man named Robert knocked on the door of Diane's house. From that day on, Robert lit the fire of desire that burned in Dai An's heart for the first time.
Diane was born into a Christian family, and his father was a perennial alcoholic, out-and-out violent man. Diane, who is obviously a child, has already experienced molestation and injury from her father. Perhaps it was this terrible family life that caused Diane to lose trust in marriage and family prematurely and fall into emotional confusion.
Her father's misdeeds not only cast a psychological shadow on young Diane, but also distorted her understanding of the relationship between men and women. Later, Diane became more and more indulged in a blind desire for love, as if she wanted to fill the bottomless emptiness through the constant pouring of new love.
The unbearable side of my father
At the age of 14, Diane fell in love with 16-year-old Steve and began her first marriage. However, the good times did not last long, and soon after marriage, the relationship between the two began to twist and turn. Diane kept using pregnancy and childbirth to keep her husband, but she didn't expect that this would only make the relationship between the two worse and worse. The birth of three children did not save the broken marriage, and the two officially divorced a year later.
The marriage change dealt a heavy blow to Diane, who was still a young woman. She began to look for anything that would bring solace: alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, and even all kinds of men. She will use all kinds of means to win the love of others, but she has never really given others a true heart.
On that winter night in 1981, the arrival of my colleague Robert brought long-lost comfort to this empty heart. For the shattered Diane, Robert was like a light, a reliance that would allow her to get back on her feet. However, this desperate relationship is destined to end no better.
Caught in the whirlpool of fate again
Just as blind as Diane fell in love with Steve when she was 16, she is also completely immersed in her crazy fascination with Robert this time. Because Robert didn't like children, Diane even wanted to give up his three children just to be with Robert. Eventually, however, Robert returned to his wife, leaving the exhausted Diane alone in the snow.
I can still vividly remember that in the middle of winter when Robert left, Diane stood alone in front of our door, staring blankly at a photo in the palm of her hand in a daze. The photo shows a gentle-looking man, who should be the Robert she thinks about day and night. There was goose feather snow in the sky, and the cold wind blew on her thin body, but the tears were unconscious. I remember that she stood like that all night, standing like a sculpture in the wind and snow, her eyes deep with the coldness of the living.
In the face of love, life can no longer be warmed up
It was from then on that I had a faint feeling that this woman's heart might have died. This woman, who once longed for family and maternal love, may have been killed by the cruelty of fate. In its place is a walking corpse, a heart that is insensitive to all hope and beauty. Perhaps we will never understand what kind of mental journey this mother went through to finally make such a deviant decision to end her own life with her own hands.
Chapter 3: The Lesson of Blood
Philip, I'm sure you've heard of it, just last year, after 10 years of house arrest in prison, Diane finally managed to escape from prison with the negligence of the guards, and escaped for 9 days. Although she was eventually arrested and returned to prison, everyone who had been transferred to the other side of the mother's horror in just nine days saw her. Do you know that she just escaped from prison and went straight to Robert, her lover back then! The old love of 10 years ago is still lingering in her heart.
This isn't Diane's first jail break. I vaguely remember that 15 years ago, it was also her who gave up her life in pursuit of the phantom of love. The poor mother is still immersed in the nostalgia for that old dream. She would rather continue to live in lies and pain than face up to what she has done.
Old dreams are unforgettable, old feelings are hard to cut
I don't know when this poor mother will really let go of her obsession and face the responsibility for her crimes. She still doesn't understand that it is this hopeless love that makes her lose her most precious thing as a wife and mother.
Now she has lost even her only freedom, and can only look away from prison and no longer face the deepest guilt and pain. Christie and Danny have long been dead in their hearts for such a motherless mother, and even refuse any contact and expression from her. They will never go back to the way they were, because trust and a sense of home were forever shattered by the gunfire that night.
I often think about what kind of mental journey those two children are going through. The trajectory of their lives was reversed by their mother's whim, and they lost the opportunity to regain their mother's love forever. There is nothing more cruel and painful for a child than the loss of a mother's love.
This is the lesson of the blood that Diane had to endure in the end. How appalling is the deepest darkness of human nature? When we denounce a mother's cruelty, do we ever feel the despair in her shoes?