HBO Documentary

shellyd67

Active Member
Did anyone happen to catch the HBO Documentary "There is something wrong with Aunt Diane" ?

Wow, I have to say I wish I didn't watch it.

It has been haunting me ever since.

This story revolved around Diane Schuler who in 2009 drove her van the wrong way going over 70mph with her two small children and her three neices in the car.

She was killed along with her 2 year old daughter, 3 neices all under the age of 9 and 3 men she collided with. Her son Bryan was the sole survivor of this horrible crash.

Toxicology reports say Diane was drunk and high and SOME of her family insist she was not and that something medically happened to her, such as a stroke or heart attack. They insist she would NEVER drive drunk of high, even thought they found a bottle of Absolute Vodka in the car.

After watching it, IMVHO, I too think she was drunk and high at the time of the crash.

Terribly sad story.



 

keista

New Member
They insist she would NEVER drive drunk of high, even thought they found a bottle of Absolute Vodka in the car.

Haven't seen it but I think a more appropriate title would have been "There's something wrong with Aunt Diane's FAMILY"

So sad and tragic. Poor kid's probably dealing with a boatload of survivor's guilt. Did they show any evidence that there were problems before that day?
 

shellyd67

Active Member
No problems with drugs or alcohol prior to this says the family.

Although they did admit she used to smoke pot before bed to help her sleep occasionally ???

Her mother left the family when she was 9 and she instantly became the mother figure to her siblings. They said she NEVER discussed her feelings with anyone and was type A to the max.

I do think the family is in extreme denial. Her brother and sister in law whose 3 girls were killed in the accident did not participate in the documentary and have not made any statements on their feelings.

Who knows ?? I did read online that her husband is now suing his brother in law and sister in law who lost 3 of their children in the accident. It did not list why however.

It is getting too complicated for me to follow at this point.
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
Type A.

I am a Type A personality.

I have to remind myself to be more laid back, detach. Or I, too, would go overboard on something totally stupid and senseless.

Her family is in STUPID denial. If she smoked pot before bed... Erm. I'm sorry, but that's IL.LE.GAL. If she was willing to do something like that, why not more?
 

1905

Well-Known Member
Haunting is a good word to describe how I have been feeling about this.

I feel she killed herself and took all the kids with her, rather than abandoning them the way her mother did.

She not only never shared her feelings, but she was the total boss of everything. Nobody around her had a say in anything, her husband had no say in anything either, he didn't make a lot of money, she made most of it. She didn't have friends,the one friend she invited to her wedding chose not to attend because the woman wasn't there for the friend when she had her baby. The woman never, ever spoke about her private life to anyone, not her secretary, nobody. She even had root canals done...and her husband didn't even know (?), strange. She always touched the side of her face so her husband and sister in law THINK, (this is their crazy theory of what happened) they THINK she had an absessed tooth (because she always touched the side of her face) and that caused a stroke, making her pick up the vodka instead of the water....that's crazy..........

In the accident photos (they showed her dead body at the scene) you can clearly see a broken Absolute bottle right in the car. It's broken in half. Also there was a video of her 10 minutes before the crash at a convenience store. She was walking fine, but ANGRY, she stormed around the store and didn't buy anything.

The witnesses, those who got out of her way-when she was going the wrong way, said she was barreling down, eyeballing them, and she wasn't swerving, but changing lanes in a controlled manner. She also, according to her family was mean, she was rude to people, and always in charge.

To me, and to the other men's family she killed head-on, think she must have had a fight with her husband that morning, the husband says, "No", (but he's in denial), and she got mad, killed his kids and his brother's kids. But maybe, since she never, ever said her feelings, or anything really, she was depressed and wanted to die. Sad and scary, it's haunting me. That broken Absolute bottle, I can't get it out of my head.
 
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keista

New Member
Reminds me of a similar story back in the 90's on LI. A woman did pretty much the same thing, but failed to kill herself and her kids. I don't remember if other motorists were actually killed, but they were definitely injured.

Sadly, I do understand the "logic" through the veil of depression, of wanting to end your own life, and take the kids with you, but I just can NOT understand taking out innocent ppl, who have absolutely NOTHING to do with your life, in the process.
 

Nancy

Well-Known Member
I remember when this happened. I also remember seeing the husband on some show, I think it was Oprah and he claimed she never used pot and would never drink and drive and was trying to prove it was a medical condition. Then they interviewed the sister in law and brother in law remotely and they blamed her for killing their kids and were going to sue the husband because they claimed he knew she was drinking. I remember them talking about the toxicology reports and tthat there was pot in her system and the husband tried to say it was impossible and I'm thinking how can he be in such denial? How awful this was and so many lives and families she destroyed.

Nancy
 

1905

Well-Known Member
He seemed like a little bit of a dim-wit. He went from,"She would never smoke pot-impossible!" to "She only smoked pot to go to sleep, not to get stoned". (Really!please.). Why would he sue the sister in law? His wife killed ALL 3 of her daughters. You'd think she would be sueing him.
 

shellyd67

Active Member
I know it is so bizarre. I cannot believe he is suing the brother in law and sister in law.

Actually her three neices were her brother's kids not her her husband's brothers.

Her family is in extreme denial and dragging this on is only causing more pain for everyone.
 

1905

Well-Known Member
I made a mistake, the sister in law in the documentary was a different sister in law, I mistakenly thought it was she who lost her children.
 

Steely

Active Member
I agree with upallnight....I haven't watched the movie, I just read all I can stand. Too terribly sad.
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
I remember that. How horrid. And the people in the car knew she was "off," too, before the crash.
Her husband was in deep denial.
Glad I didn't see it. I still remember it and don't need to see a re-enactment.
 

Marguerite

Active Member
Situations like this snowball because people in their lives are in continuing denial. If he had not been in denial, maybe something could have been done sooner. But it does sound like she was so seriously distressed and disturbed, that perhaps denial was the only way the husband could cope. It then becomes a learned response until it is almost automatic. A common finding in victims of abuse.

So very, very tragic.

As for why such people take out other innocent lives - when you feel so bad that you contemplate doing something like this, you can rationalise away any conscience-pricking. You can convince yourself of the rightness of whatever you want to do.

Marg
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
This was a very horrible and tragic event when it happened. I also remember it well. The husband is/was in denial. I remember how he kept trying to say it was something in some nasal spray she was using or eye drops maybe? Something like that. And then they stopped for slushies or something for the kids and he tried to say someone spiked her cup. Not. I remember hearing the phone call from one of the little kids. It was disturbing.

These types of things are very scary.
 
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