Small Sacrifices is a 1989 American madeforTV movie written by Joyce Eliason and based on the bestselling true crime book by Ann Rule of the same name. The film is about Diane Downs and the murder and attempted murder of her three children. It stars Farrah Fawcett, Ryan ONeal, Gordon Clapp, John Shea and Emily Perkins. The film premiered on ABC onNovember 1989.
The film shows that Downs started a romance with a married man, Lew Lewiston played by ONeal the mans real name was Robert Knickerbocker who did not want children. Downs planned to kill her children to be free to pursue this relationship. He ended the relationship and remained with his wife.Diane Downs is sentenced to life in prison, and her two surviving children are adopted by the prosecutor Frank Joziak and his wife Lola the real life couple were named Fred and Joanne Hugi. The children are depicted being reunited with their mother for the first time, fifteen years after the shooting. In reality Christie was the only one who saw her mother once, after turning 18. She would not see Downs afterwards. ........
Source: Wikipedia