Diana Lumbrera

Case record: Diana Lumbrera

Background

Diana Lumbrera (1976–1990) systematically suffocated 6 of her own children and a cousin. She was convicted in Kansas for the suffocation death there of her 4-month-old son, and she was later convicted in Texas for the killing of an infant son.

Diana Lumbrera was born in 1976 and died in 1990, and the record described her as a Texas native. The record stated that she was seventeen years old when she married Lionel Garza in 1974. Their marriage was troubled almost from the start, but the quarreling Garzas made up frequently enough to produce three children in as many years: Melissa (born in 1975), Joanna (born in 1976), and their first son, Jose Lionel (born in 1977).

The record stated that Diana divorced her husband in 1979. Over the next seven years beginning with daughter Melinda in 1980, she would bear three more children out of wedlock, each with a different father. It also stated that even the children of Diana’s relatives were not entirely safe.

Friends and family cited witchcraft. Diana told authorities that a former mother-in-law had put a curse on her so that all of her children would die young.

Elodia Flores, her aunt, said: "She was a loving mother and she took care of those children," and also said that "She worked hard every day and made those children No. 1. in her life. I just don't believe she killed those children."

Virginia Bribiesca, her sister, said she was there when Garza’s mother cursed her, telling Lumbrera her children would die at their mother's hands. Virginia Bribiesca said: "I heard the woman say it," and also said: "Garza denies that it ever happened. His wife "never said anything to me about the children being cursed by my mother," he said."

Maria Antillon, a close friend, said the defendant was high-strung, emotional and frequently talked about spiritual healers and "curanderos"—witchcraft doctors prevalent in Latino culture who have the power to bless or curse a person's life. Maria Antillon said: "She told me several times about witchcraft and things she believed in like curses and things like that." She also said: "She used to tell me that she felt her mother-in-law had cursed her. She said if you believe in the curanderos they will get to you. If you don't, they won't."

Maria Antillon also said: "Diana went to church every Sunday when she lived here," and "Everybody liked her. She wasn't the type of person that would get in trouble with a neighbor. I never heard that she had gotten into an argument with someone else. And she loved her kids."

Her aunt, Elva Hernandez, said that Lumbrera suffered from polio when she was a child. Elva Hernandez said: "Diana was often sick when she was young. How can they just disregard that the kids could have died because of sickness?"

Robert Olvera, 33, her cousin, said the police had actively pursued the case because the defendant was Latino. Robert Olvera said: "You think this would happen to a Diana if she was white? No way. Absolutely not," and also said: "The police are just looking for publicity, if you ask me," and "That is the only way you can explain all this coming out so many years later. The doctors ruled the children died of natural causes."

Gordon Green, her lawyer, would not allow her to be interviewed and would not comment further. The record stated: "Gordon Green, Lumbrera's lawyer, would not allow her to be interviewed. "It's not an everyday case," said Green, refusing to comment further."

The offence

The record described that Diana Lumbrera systematically suffocated 6 of her own children and a cousin and that she would consistently rush each child, already dead, to the hospital, saying they had stopped breathing, then blame medical staff for not resuscitating the child.

The case involved deaths of children under age 5. Authorities said the deaths were neither natural nor supernatural, and that Diana Lumbrera killed her offspring. Authorities said she was convicted of killing one 4-year-old son and faced charges connected to the deaths of three daughters, a son and the daughter of a cousin, and that authorities were investigating the death of another son.

The record stated that in Kansas she was convicted for the suffocation death of her 4-month-old son and that she pleaded no contest in Texas to killing an infant son, receiving another life sentence.

It also stated that, in Texas, Texas Rangers flew Diana back to Palmer County and she faced three counts of murder, with a possible death sentence under a new serial-murder statute. In the interest of self-preservation, she pled guilty to Melissa’s murder, while charges were dropped in the cases of Melinda and Joanna. Lubbock County later handed down a third life sentence after Diana pled no contest—with no technical admission of guilt—to Jose Lionel’s death. Castro County waived prosecution on outstanding charges to save an estimated $50,000 in court costs.

The grand jury said she smothered the three children to collect $15,000 in life insurance benefits. The record also stated that authorities discovered that each of Diana’s children had been insured for amounts between $3,000 and $5,000, and that in Melissa’s case a second insurance policy was purchased one day before she died.

Deaths and causes listed in the record

The record described multiple child deaths over a 14-year period.

• Joanna Garza, age 3 months, died Nov. 30, 1976. The cause of death was stated as: "strangulation due to asphyxiation due to convulsive disorder."
• Jose Lionel Garza, 2 1/2 months, died Feb. 13, 1978. The cause of death was listed as undetermined.
• Melissa Garza, 3, died Oct. 2, 1978. The cause was stated as: "asphyxia due to aspiration of stomach contents."
• Erica Aleman, Lumbrera's 6-week-old cousin, died Oct. 8, 1980. Medical records were missing.
• Melinda Ann Garza, 2, died Aug. 17, 1982. The cause was listed as: "heart failure due to increased taxation on a case of congenital heart disease."
• Christopher Daniel Lumbrera, 5 1/2 months, died March 28, 1984. The cause was stated as: "septicemia--a fatal infection of the blood."
• Jose Antonio Lumbrera, 4, died May 1, 1990. The cause of death was listed as "asphyxia due to smothering."

The record described additional detail about individual incidents:

• On October 2, Diana walked into the Bovina emergency room with daughter Melissa in her arms, and the three-year-old was dead on arrival, with Diana relating a familiar tale of unexplained convulsions followed by rapid death. An Amarillo pathologist’s report ascribed Melissa’s death to asphyxia due to aspiration of stomach contents.
• On October 8, 1980, Diana went for a drive with six-week-old Ericka Aleman, and they wound up at the local emergency room; Ericka was already dead when Diana spilled out her familiar story of lethal convulsions.
• On August 17, 1982, Diana’s daughter Melinda was pronounced dead at her mother’s home, and the cause was officially listed as acute heart failure due to increased taxation on a case of congenital heart disease.
• On March 25, 1984, Christopher Daniel Lumbrera was treated by physicians for an ear infection, with no apparent complications. Three days later he was back in the emergency room dead on arrival, with the cause listed as septicemia, and curiously, blood tests from his prior visit showed no evidence of septicemia, but the anomaly was dismissed as inexplicable.
• The record stated that on May 1, 1990, Jose Antonio Lumbrera was already dead when Diana carried him into a hospital emergency room; it stated that the day before Jose’s death Diana had taken him to a local physician citing her usual complaint of mysterious convulsions, and the doctor could find no logical cause but wrote a prescription for antibiotics that Diana never bothered to fill.

The record also described that the death case involved prompting nationwide concern for the problem of “crib death,” but hospital officials eventually became suspicious.

Investigation

Hospital officials eventually became suspicious, and the case prompted nationwide concern for “crib death.” Authorities investigated and discovered that each of Diana’s children had been insured for amounts between $3,000 and $5,000.

In Texas, authorities from Palmer, Lubbock, and Castro Counties launched new investigations. The record stated that Detective James Hawkins questioned Diana at length, compiling a list of her previous children, along with the places and dates of their deaths. It also stated that Kansas authorities were first off the mark with a murder indictment in Jose Antonio’s death.

Parmer County District Attorney Johnny Actkinson, who would prosecute Lumbrera in an upcoming trial, spoke about a death certificate’s attribution and motive assumptions. Johnny Actkinson said: "A death certificate may say death due to heart failure. Everyone who dies suffers from heart failure." He also said: "The question is, what caused the heart failure?" He said: "There was no cover-up; instead, he suggested that those who issued the death reports probably did not want to think the worst." The record also included: "Those kids' deaths were such a horrible state of affairs that no one considered a mother would murder her own children. So the doctors look for another way to explain it. I am not being critical. It's just human nature."

Parmer County Deputy Sheriff Richard Bonham said the witchcraft argument was irrelevant, stating: "In our investigation, that holds no water for defense of what she has done."

The record also included that an investigation into the death of Christopher Lumbrera continued.

The record included a statement from Lionel Garza, her second husband and father of four of the dead children, regarding his shock and earlier assumptions. Lionel Garza said: "All my life I lived thinking my kids died of natural causes. Now all the doors of question are open and the pain is rushing back in," and he also said: "Still, Garza--who filed for divorce from Lumbrera in 1980, two years after their third child's death--apparently harbored suspicions about his wife." Lionel Garza said: "Lionel was suspicious of Diana after the third death," and the record quoted Gary Coleman as describing Lionel’s statements that he was playing with the child (Melissa Garza) early that morning before going to work. The record included: "He said the child was healthy and he didn't detect anything wrong. Thirty minutes after he arrives at work, he's called and told the child has died." Lionel Garza said the allegations gave him anger and that he wanted the truth: "Garza said the allegations against his wife "gave me a lot of anger. But now I just want the truth. I want to know if she killed my babies.""

Arrest

The record stated that hospital staffers called the police, and Detective James Hawkins questioned Diana at length.

Trial

A murder trial in Garden City, Kansas, opened two weeks after the Kansas murder indictment, with any reference to the Texas killings barred. The record stated that Diana’s employer and an officer from her credit union were called to describe how she used false tales of misfortune—including a bout with leukemia for Jose and her own fathers death in a nonexistent car wreck—to secure $850 in sympathy loans from the credit union.

Prosecutors noted that Jose Antonio was insured for $5,000 when he died, and Dr. Eva Vachel blamed the child’s death on deliberate suffocation. Dr. William Eckert appeared for the defense and blamed Jose’s death on a massive viral infection. According to Eckert, Jose’s heart, lungs, and liver were normal, revealing no evidence of murder.

The record stated that prosecutors countered by noting that Eckert had never examined said organs, since they were removed during autopsy and never replaced in the corpse.

The record stated that the jury convicted Diana of murder after less than an hours deliberation, and she was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of fifteen years inside before parole. It also stated that the Kansas charges prompted a massive investigation into the other deaths, resulting in the five murder indictments in three West Texas counties.

In Texas, Texas Rangers flew Diana back to Palmer County. The record stated that she faced three counts of murder with a possible death sentence under a new serial-murder statute. In the interest of self-preservation, Diana pled guilty to Melissa’s murder, while charges were dropped in the cases of Melinda and Joanna.

Lubbock County handed down a third life sentence after Diana pled no contest—with no technical admission of guilt—to Jose Lionel’s death.

Friends and family disputes about the fairness of trial were described. Virginia Bribiesca said: "She didn't get a fair trial" in Garden City, and also said: "Before this, I think she could have gotten one in Texas, but not now. Not after this. They're going to think she killed all her kids. But Diana's not going to give up, I'll tell you that."

Sentencing

In Kansas, she was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of fifteen years inside before parole. The record stated that, later, she received life sentences in Texas.

Her status described that she was sentenced to life in prison in Texas on May 30 and June 6, 1991, and sentenced to life in prison in Kansas in 1990.

Appeals

No appeal outcome was stated in the provided record.

Outcome

The record described that she was convicted of killing one child and was convicted and sentenced to life in multiple jurisdictions for the suffocation deaths described, and it stated that an investigation into the death of Christopher Lumbrera continued.

The record also stated that if she was convicted in any case, she could face either life in prison or the death penalty, administered by lethal injection.

Other details

The record stated that the case prompted nationwide concern for the problem of “crib death.” It also stated that hospital officials eventually became suspicious.

The record described that the babysitting role was not established as a separate occupation, but it described that Diana used false tales to secure sympathy loans from her credit union.

The record also stated she was a frail former meatpacker.

The record included: "Liaison labels and run-on joins" and other scraped artefact phrases, and it also included an incomplete navigation phrase at the end: "Diana Lumbrera home last updates contact" and similar, which was removed as non-factual.

The record stated that police continued the case and that Richard Bonham and others responded to the witchcraft defense argument, including Bonham’s quote.

The record also described the cemetery and headstones. It said that at the Bovina Cemetery, elaborate headstones stood over the graves of five of Lumbrera’s children and each bore the same epitaph: "Darling, we miss thee."