In 1996, 34-year-old Diane was preparing to welcome her fourth child when one spring day she was ambushed and brutally murdered in the privacy of her own home. The investigation into her slaying was quick to go cold, but a recent breakthrough in the case has police more confident than ever that they’re hot on the killer’s trail.
Episode Info
If you know anything about the murder of Diana Ferris in April of 1996, please call the Connecticut Cold Case Tip Line at 1-866-623-8058, or you can email tips to cold.case@ct.gov.
To apply for the Cold Case Playing Cards grant through Season of Justice, please visit www.seasonofjustice.org

An article about Diane’s death published in the Hartford Courant. Courtesy: Hartford Courant

Diane’s headstone. Courtesy: audiochuck staff

An undated photo of Diane. Courtesy: Meranda VanDeventer

A portrait of Diane. Courtesy: Meranda VanDeventer

An undated photo of Diane. Courtesy: Meranda VanDeventer

Diane’s apartment complex as it stood in 2022. Courtesy: Google
Episode Source Material
- FindLaw: State v. Johnson (2008).
- FOX 61: Cold case: Thomas Myers, Kristin L. Chilberg.
- Hartford Courant: A string of mysteries via Newspapers.com
- Hartford Courant: Can police connect the cases? By Tina A. Brown and John Springer via Newspapers.com.
- Hartford Courant: Police say slain man rode with woman, by Eric Lipton via Newspapers.com.
- Hartford Courant: Pregnant Hartford woman, 35, found strangled, Maxine Bernstein via Newspapers.com.
- NCBI: Methods of estimation of time since death, by Rijen Shrestha, Tanuj Kanchan, and Kewal Krishan.
- Oxygen: ‘She was clearly stomped on’: Serial killer crushing women’s skulls terrorized Connecticut, by Becca van Sambeck.