Noticing new things

[justice2]

Hi ya'll.

Like I said earlier I thought Darlie did it from the very early newsreports, i.e. no intruder, some of the pictures of the family that were shown on the news, etc.

I have followed it on and off, and I'll have to admit Darlie does put on a good show, in fact I think that is what makes me go back and look at stuff.

And some of this maybe things many of you saw years ago, so bear with me.

The 911 transcripts. I started trying to listen to them with the audacity program, and then I realized how it was more important to talk about who would do this. Way more important than anything else at the beginning of the tape. I would be screaming for them to get there. That just hit me tonight.

Anybody have any ideas as to why one was stabbed in the front and one was stabbed in the back. Did Darlie favor one child over the other? I don't think I had ever known that one was stabbed in the back. So she didn't have to look at him?

Also, any feedback concerning the 9-minute time frame that was given as to how long the boys could live with their wounds. Is this an exact science or a good guess? Anywhere I can research this.

[beesy]

Hi ya'll.

Like I said earlier I thought Darlie did it from the very early newsreports, i.e. no intruder, some of the pictures of the family that were shown on the news, etc.

I have followed it on and off, and I'll have to admit Darlie does put on a good show, in fact I think that is what makes me go back and look at stuff.

And some of this maybe things many of you saw years ago, so bear with me.

The 911 transcripts. I started trying to listen to them with the audacity program, and then I realized how it was more important to talk about who would do this. Way more important than anything else at the beginning of the tape. I would be screaming for them to get there. That just hit me tonight.
There are places in that tape which chill me to the bone. She goes from fake hysteria, to stone cold, to whiny little girl in 5:39 mins. Listen when she says "somebody came in here and did this Darin". Her voice is completly different.

[QUOTE]
Anybody have any ideas as to why one was stabbed in the front and one was stabbed in the back. Did Darlie favor one child over the other? I don't think I had ever known that one was stabbed in the back. So she didn't have to look at him?
No, it was simply how they were sleeping, although it does seem like she had more trouble with Devon than with Damon. Devon was rowdier and Damon was a mama's boy, from what I've read. I think she expected it to be quick and easy since they were sleeping. The first stab to Devon didn't kill him right away, although he most likely would have bled out. Her fought with her, picking up his legs and kicking at her. There is a wound on his buttocks which indicates that. Damon had to be stabbed more. There is evidence that he tried to get away from her. Some blood and a child's bloody handprint appeared thru Luminol on the sofa.


Also, any feedback concerning the 9-minute time frame that was given as to how long the boys could live with their wounds. Is this an exact science or a good guess? Anywhere I can research this.
Devon died instantly from the second stab wound. His eyes were open, so it was fast. I believe Damon lived thru the first attack. Darlie thought he was dead and did her thing, cut herself, wiped up some of her blood, etc. I think she called 911 earlier than she meant to because her neck bled more than she thought it would. She thought she had killed herself. Darlie was probably still wiping up some of the blood and rinsing the sink while on the phone. Now some of us think at about 1:40 mins. into the tape, Darlie says "Damon, Damon, Damon' sort of under her breath. We think she realized he was still alive and was possibly trying to get Darin's attention and show him Damon was moving. I believe Damon was stabbed the last time while she was on the phone. My timeline starts here as far as the 8 mins Damon could have lived after the fatal wound. The FATAL wound, not the other ones. He was still alive when the first 2 PO's got there. The cops did a cursory search and let the medics in. Damon was still alive even then. His father was tending to his obviously dead other son and his mother was running around screaming like a banshee about fingerprints while he was dying. Damon died in the arms of a stranger, a paramedic. Devon's blood was not found on the knife because most likely she rinsed it off. Damon's blood was over Darlie's which supports my theory. How could Damon have been stabbed after Darlie was attacked since my her own story, she was attacked after the boys(if there had been an intruder).
There are 3 books and 1 "book" about the case, Precious Angels, Flesh and Blood, Hush Little Babies and Media Tried, Justice Denied.
and 2 good websites, www.fordarlieroutier.org (http://www.fordarlieroutier.org/) and http://www.justicefordarlie (http://www.justicefordarlie) You most likely know about the sites though, but just in case. There are crime scene photos which are gory, but good for research.

[justice2]

There are places in that tape which chill me to the bone. She goes from fake hysteria, to stone cold, to whiny little girl in 5:39 mins. Listen when she says "somebody came in here and did this Darin". Her voice is completly different.

Yes I noticed that too. The different voices. I haven't gotten very far, but the one where she asks (Darin I guess) "they're dead" where the dead is at the highest pitch really bothers me.

No, it was simply how they were sleeping, although it does seem like she had more trouble with Devon than with Damon. Devon was rowdier and Damon was a mama's boy, from what I've read. I think she expected it to be quick and easy since they were sleeping. The first stab to Devon didn't kill him right away, although he most likely would have bled out. Her fought with her, picking up his legs and kicking at her. There is a wound on his buttocks which indicates that. Damon had to be stabbed more. There is evidence that he tried to get away from her. Some blood and a child's bloody handprint appeared thru Luminol on the sofa.

OK, I'm with you on that. I guess what I'm wondering if there is any definitive/scientific timeframe before the 911 call. I take it there is not.

Devon died instantly from the second stab wound. His eyes were open, so it was fast. I believe Damon lived thru the first attack. Darlie thought he was dead and did her thing, cut herself, wiped up some of her blood, etc. I think she called 911 earlier than she meant to because her neck bled more than she thought it would. She thought she had killed herself. Darlie was probably still wiping up some of the blood and rinsing the sink while on the phone. Now some of us think at about 1:40 mins. into the tape, Darlie says "Damon, Damon, Damon' sort of under her breath. We think she realized he was still alive and was possibly trying to get Darin's attention and show him Damon was moving. I believe Damon was stabbed the last time while she was on the phone. My timeline starts here as far as the 8 mins Damon could have lived after the fatal wound. The FATAL wound, not the other ones. He was still alive when the first 2 PO's got there. The cops did a cursory search and let the medics in. Damon was still alive even then. His father was tending to his obviously dead other son and his mother was running around screaming like a banshee about fingerprints while he was dying. Damon died in the arms of a stranger, a paramedic. Devon's blood was not found on the knife because most likely she rinsed it off. Damon's blood was over Darlie's which supports my theory. How could Damon have been stabbed after Darlie was attacked since my her own story, she was attacked after the boys(if there had been an intruder).
There are 3 books and 1 "book" about the case, Precious Angels, Flesh and Blood, Hush Little Babies and Media Tried, Justice Denied.
and 2 good websites, www.fordarlieroutier.org (http://www.fordarlieroutier.org/) and http://www.justicefordarlie.net/ You most likely know about the sites though, but just in case. There are crime scene photos which are gory, but good for research.
Ok, I'm with you on all of that too. I haven't read the books but I did go to the two websites and watch the videos. Geeze what a disfunctional family! And yes, that where I saw the pictures of the boys, one stabbed in the front and one stabbed in the back. I've picked up some of the blood evidence from reading the posts here, and I read Cron's testimony.

One other newish thing that I noticed when getting back into this case. I read their initial police statements too. Don't you think that Darlie mentioning what Darin was wearing is like her picking up the knife, part of the staging. I think there is some clothing out there somewhere that belongs to Darin and has blood on it. I think he changed clothes before the 911 call.

I just have one other question, what does LE stand for?

[sue1017]

LE = Law Enforcement

[Dani_T]

One other newish thing that I noticed when getting back into this case. I read their initial police statements too. Don't you think that Darlie mentioning what Darin was wearing is like her picking up the knife, part of the staging. I think there is some clothing out there somewhere that belongs to Darin and has blood on it. I think he changed clothes before the 911 call.

There is definitely something odd about Darin and his jeans ;)

In his vol statement (I think) he makes the comment about remembering his wallet dropping on the floor when he went back upstairs to put his jeans on. That little detail makes me think that either
a) it happened just like that
b) he mentioned it specifically to reinforce the fact that he did go up to put his jeans on (whether it was true or not)

Yet then he changed his mind and said he had them on when he came downstairs (and I seem to remember some testimony or mention somewhere that Darlie and he discussed it i front of others at the hospital?). The 911 tape doesn't leave a lot of time for him to have gone upstairs and there is no blood evidence up there at all which makes me doubt that a bloody Darin could have gone up there after rendering aid to the boys. Yet, when would have put his jeans on otherwise? Surely he wasn't asleep in them and if he was woken fropm a dead sleep with Darlie screaming 'hysterically' then why would he stop to put his jeans on? And what about baby Drake? if he didn't go up to put his jeans on it means neither Darlie or he was worried about Drake. Why not?

And yet why the change in the story? If you went back upstairs to put your jeans on it should be something you don't get confused about. Yet Darin put his ass on the line and changed his mind about it at trial. Why?

I've always been confused by this element of the case.

[justice2]

Yes, Darin's clothes are one of the many changing stories. I'll have to study that also.

I was just looking at what we have Darlie saying very early on and I thought it was odd that she would think that it was "important" to put what she observed that Darin had on in her written statement. That may have come from the type of questions they had been asking her though at the hospital. Is that (the hospital questioning) in the trial transcripts?

It just seems out of place in her written statement.

[beesy]

Ok, I'm with you on all of that too. I haven't read the books but I did go to the two websites and watch the videos. Geeze what a disfunctional family! And yes, that where I saw the pictures of the boys, one stabbed in the front and one stabbed in the back. I've picked up some of the blood evidence from reading the posts here, and I read Cron's testimony.

One other newish thing that I noticed when getting back into this case. I read their initial police statements too. Don't you think that Darlie mentioning what Darin was wearing is like her picking up the knife, part of the staging. I think there is some clothing out there somewhere that belongs to Darin and has blood on it. I think he changed clothes before the 911 call.

I just have one other question, what does LE stand for? Oh sorry I rambled on about things you already knew.:blushing: Time of death is a tricky thing to prove. That's one reason it's helpful we know a timeline for Damon. I don't believe there was any coagulated blood around Devon. Which means he had just been killed, but it could vary
by several minutes. Anybody know how long he could have been dead before blood coagulates?
Yeah, telling everybody what Darin had on does seem "planned", as if there were great importance in that. I doubt I'd even remember unless something stood out, like maybe if the person raced downstairs in the act of pulling on pants or shirt and stumbled. I think I'd remember that, but it wouldn't be until later that I'd even think about what the person was wearing.
Were a pair of Darin's pants tested? The ones he said he wore the whole time?
I don't understand why their stories change about the glasses. He's worn glasses at least since HS, so we know his eyesight was pretty bad. Even if did go down without them, which I doubt, he'd have turned and gone right back up to grab them. People who are long-term glasses-wearers, me being one, NEED their glasses. Maybe he just grabbed them and ran downstairs as he put them on?

[justice2]

Yeah, I agree with you too Beesy. I wear glasses and I can't function without them. I have a personal experience from many years ago where I was awakened abruptly about 4:30 in the morning, my house could have been burning down, a tornado coming, or any number of things, I just didn't know what was going on. I first checked on the dog (was single at the time, no kids no husband), and then I probably spent 10 minutes looking for my glasses, yes before I even called 911. And I was panicking about finding them too.

So many questions now. I'll have to get up to speed on the blood evidence too. Seems like I read somewhere on this board that the pants were never tested but were collected as evidence.

Please ramble on. There is always something in your posts I learn from. I guess right now I'm going through the "what if this, what if that" stage each time I'm study something. This case is so hard not to be emotional on. I had only gotten through about 30 seconds of the 911 tape before I posted. I stumbled onto those pictures of the boys a few weeks ago and it took me a while to come back to looking at stuff. It made me mad that they are posted on the internet. I think that is the first time I ever seen pictures of a murdered child (and I'm no spring chicken either). It seems so impersonal.

[Jeana (DP)]

I stumbled onto those pictures of the boys a few weeks ago and it took me a while to come back to looking at stuff. It made me mad that they are posted on the internet. I think that is the first time I ever seen pictures of a murdered child (and I'm no spring chicken either). It seems so impersonal.


The boys don't exist any longer. If they did, there would be NO way they could allow them to be exhumed and have their hands cut off. They're not out there looking for the "real killers."

[HeartofTexas]

For Darin to lie about the jeans (on again, off again), there must be some hidden signifcance to them. What could that be? The only thing I've ever come up with is that he perhaps stumbled on the crime scene while it was going on (maybe thru overhearing Darlie's screams or the screams of one of his boys)... but later wanted to make it look like he had just come downstairs when Darlie called him. But even then I don't quite get the significance of jeans, or no jeans. Just seems like there would be a reason for his lies... something important to him, or to her.

On a different subject, I've recently been reading former FBI profiler Gregg McCrary's book, "The Unknown Darkness" which profiles the predators among us. He did a big study on Sam Sheppard's case where he compared crime scene indicators frequently found in a staged domestic homicide from the FBI's Crime Classification Manual. It was hard not to note the similarities between Sam's case, Darlie's case, and Scott P's case. All of these killers need to read this book before they go off staging their own crime scenes like the pathetic novices they are! The crime scene really does tell its own story like a good book. That and blood splatter evidence are quite intriguing.

[HeartofTexas]

Still thinking on the above subject re the jeans... is it even the tiniest bit possible that Darin originally came downstairs in his jeans but ended up getting blood all over them while perhaps stopping Darlie in the process of murdering one of the boys... and then, because they then decided to blame it all on an intruder, he had to get rid of those jeans (with blood that would have been unaccounted for) and put on a clean pair? The first pair could easily have been discarded (perhaps even on his dash down the alley) or hidden somewhere in the house, or even the trunk of his car, and never discovered prior to the police arriving. He had lots of time after the murders, when Darlie was still in the hospital, to have disposed of them permanently.

[Jeana (DP)]

Still thinking on the above subject re the jeans... is it even the tiniest bit possible that Darin originally came downstairs in his jeans but ended up getting blood all over them while perhaps stopping Darlie in the process of murdering one of the boys... and then, because they then decided to blame it all on an intruder, he had to get rid of those jeans (with blood that would have been unaccounted for) and put on a clean pair? The first pair could easily have been discarded (perhaps even on his dash down the alley) or hidden somewhere in the house, or even the trunk of his car, and never discovered prior to the police arriving. He had lots of time after the murders, when Darlie was still in the hospital, to have disposed of them permanently.


Darlin, I guess anything is possible. I lean more towards it being them trying to emphasize the idea that he heard the glass breaking and Darlie "screaming" like mad and him just coming "quick" because he knew something was "wrong." If he tried to tell LE that he took the time to stop and put his pants on, they would have known immediately that the story was bogus.

I think that Darlie was making a lot of noise, but I think she did so after she sliced on her neck fearing that she went too deep and trying to get help . . . for HERSELF.

[HeartofTexas]

Good answer, Jeana. Darlie always put her own needs first, that's for sure. There is definitely, IMO, something that says they're in cahoots about half of their stories because otherwise there would be no need to lie about so much. While it doesn't make any sense to me, I can still see Darin lying to save Darlie's neck (both literally and figuratively).

[justice2]

Well, I think the repeated theme here is they were both involved. Almost everyone says that, just don't know exactly how.

I also remember when Darlie was first going to court, you know, where she had on the jail clothes and was always tilting her head and throwing her head back so her neck wound would show, "feel sorry for me". I distinctly remember on one ocassion where when she walked into the courtroom it was intensely important to locate Darin and then she mouthed that she loved him. That's another one that has always bothered me. Another action that just seemed so out of place. It got played over and over by the media.

[HeartofTexas]

Justice, I think I also read many years ago that Darlie keeping her head pulled back was a sign of defensiveness (in body language). Defendants like Scott and Darlie don't seem to have a clue how their Courthouse antics and expressions look to the outside world. It was very difficult to ever muster an ounce of sympathy for Darlie because she always looked like she was sending a message of "screw you" to the world that was watching. But then, I think words like "sympathy", "compassion", "conscience" and "empathy" aren't words in their vocabulary.

[Goody]

And yet why the change in the story? If you went back upstairs to put your jeans on it should be something you don't get confused about. Yet Darin put his ass on the line and changed his mind about it at trial. Why?

I've always been confused by this element of the case.
Maybe they didn't go into much detail when planning what they would say about him coming down the stairs and when detectives started pushing for detail, they were trying to come up with something that made sense without totally committing themselves to it. If anything is their MO. it was their ability to avoid exactness. But it was more difficult to avoid it in Darin and the blue jeans/glasses, etc. Hence, the two different stories. If Darin was in the habit of sleeping in the nude and Darlie woke in the middle of the night, it would seem normal for him to come bounding down the stairs stark naked, even if he did grab his glasses first. Seems like that should be easy enough to remember. ......unless, of course, she didn't wake him in the middle of the night and that whole part of their story was made up. Then whatever detail they didn't anticipate would be a problem for them.

[Goody]

Anybody have any ideas as to why one was stabbed in the front and one was stabbed in the back. Did Darlie favor one child over the other? I don't think I had ever known that one was stabbed in the back. So she didn't have to look at him?

Also, any feedback concerning the 9-minute time frame that was given as to how long the boys could live with their wounds. Is this an exact science or a good guess? Anywhere I can research this.
The nine minute time frame was based on how long Damon was expected to live after receiving the fatal stab wound(s). And, no,it is not an exact science. The ME estimated how long she would expect him to live with the types of wounds he had. In actuality, it could have been a little longer or a little less, depending, I suppose, on how fast Damon's heart was pumping the blood out of him. At first, it probably pumped it pretty quickly and as the blood spilled, the heart would slow and pump slower. At least that is my understanding, me with my no medical background.

As far as why one was stabbed in the front and one in the back, I think it has to do with their sleeping positions. I am not sure that Devon was asleep when attacked but the DA seems to think so. Damon, on the other hand, almost certainly was asleep, positioned on his belly. It was probably because he was stabbed in the back that he was not killed as quickly as Devon and had to be attacked a second time.

Darlie herself spoke in an interview about the boys. She said Devon was the outgoing child, closer to Darin,and that Damon was shy and still more or less a Momma's boy. She spoke as if she did not expect him to stay close to her. I found that a bit odd. She used the word "still" as if she expected him, too, to choose Daddy over her when he reached a certain age. But back to my original point, I think Devon was an onery little fellow who would give as good as he got, and that Darlie probably had a hard time handling him. I think Devon was the target that night and Damon the collateral damage, so to speak.

[Goody]

The boys don't exist any longer. If they did, there would be NO way they could allow them to be exhumed and have their hands cut off. They're not out there looking for the "real killers."
I really don't agree with you on this, Jeana. The boys were dead, their bodies decomposing away. What possible harm could be done by exhuming them to have the tests done, esp if Darlie were innocent. If she did it and she knew it, and put everyone thru that, I can see a criticism, but to say she would have never allowed them to put the boys thru such a test misses the whole point of the whole process, doesn't it? After all, it was not Darlie's fault that the ME's didn't do the fingerprints at autopsy. And the process did not hurt the boys because they were already dead and long gone from this earthly plane. I just don't get your feelings on this one.

[Goody]

Well, I think the repeated theme here is they were both involved. Almost everyone says that, just don't know exactly how.

I also remember when Darlie was first going to court, you know, where she had on the jail clothes and was always tilting her head and throwing her head back so her neck wound would show, "feel sorry for me". I distinctly remember on one ocassion where when she walked into the courtroom it was intensely important to locate Darin and then she mouthed that she loved him. That's another one that has always bothered me. Another action that just seemed so out of place. It got played over and over by the media.
Did you go to the trial?

[Goody]

Still thinking on the above subject re the jeans... is it even the tiniest bit possible that Darin originally came downstairs in his jeans but ended up getting blood all over them while perhaps stopping Darlie in the process of murdering one of the boys... and then, because they then decided to blame it all on an intruder, he had to get rid of those jeans (with blood that would have been unaccounted for) and put on a clean pair? The first pair could easily have been discarded (perhaps even on his dash down the alley) or hidden somewhere in the house, or even the trunk of his car, and never discovered prior to the police arriving. He had lots of time after the murders, when Darlie was still in the hospital, to have disposed of them permanently.
Maybe they went into the gutter with whatever else was discarded that night with the sock???

[justice2]

Did you go to the trial?
No. I was just living in the metroplex at the time it happened. And let me also state I tried to keep an open mind to what the media was feeding the public too. But some of it you just couldn't ignore.

That's why I've never made a decision on guilt or innocense. I think now that it is getting close to her execution I will spend the time studying the transcripts and other stuff so I'm not making a decision just on the media stuff.

[Cowgirl]

No. I was just living in the metroplex at the time it happened. And let me also state I tried to keep an open mind to what the media was feeding the public too. But some of it you just couldn't ignore.

That's why I've never made a decision on guilt or innocense. I think now that it is getting close to her execution I will spend the time studying the transcripts and other stuff so I'm not making a decision just on the media stuff.I still live here and I still go into that neighborhood to visit a friend and I avoid going by the house because it disturbs me to look at it. I also did not follow every bit of the trial because I had more or less made up my mind and the whole case was rather upsetting. But because of the lack of an obvious motive, I have been drawn back to it several times. One time was when she was coming up for an appeal and her mother was on TV pleading her case and inviting people to visit the website. So I did. I read whatever they were yacking about on the website and then I found where you could submit a question. So I did. I asked about the screen fragments found on the knife in the butcher block in the kitchen. A few days later I got a response. Instead of having a reasonable answer or saying that the evidence was not there (which is kind of what I was expecting) I got some side-stepping answer like, "That will all be addressed in the appeal..."

Sorry, when someone is asking me to listen to their side and I ask a direct question, I expect a direct answer. If I don't get one, then I stop listening. I wrote back to her mommy and told her Darlie was right where she belongs.

It is funny, the different things that bother people about her, isn't it? The tilt of her head, her body language, how she posed in court, whispering "I love you," to hubby in court. And the things that convince people of her guilt all differ from person to person. I saw her on TV being transferred from jail to the joint and back to the county jail in whites and handcuffs telling the camera, "I'm innocent," and I looked close to see if I could believe her and I found nothing to criticize in her pose. I found nothing offensive or telling about mouthing that she loves her hubby--people do that all the time in court. No, it took only a couple of things for me to be sure of my feelings about her:

1) LE said the crime scene did not match her story.

2) Her neck wound was distinctly different from the wounds her dead children had sustained. Too different and not a quick slash.

3) The fact that she was in shorts, snapping gum, and shooting silly string days after their deaths. I would be in a straight jacket. People mourn differently but no one mourns like that.

4) That damned knife used to cut the screen.

The screen, the screen, the screen. No getting around it. There is no way an intruder could have the knife from the butcher block before he got inside. I guess we all have our own straw, huh?

[beesy]

[QUOTE=Cowgirl]I still live here and I still go into that neighborhood to visit a friend and I avoid going by the house because it disturbs me to look at it. I also did not follow every bit of the trial because I had more or less made up my mind and the whole case was rather upsetting. But because of the lack of an obvious motive, I have been drawn back to it several times.
I might have asked you before, but is anyone living there now? And is that god-awful tacky fountain still there?


It is funny, the different things that bother people about her, isn't it? The tilt of her head, her body language, how she posed in court, whispering "I love you," to hubby in court. And the things that convince people of her guilt all differ from person to person. I saw her on TV being transferred from jail to the joint and back to the county jail in whites and handcuffs telling the camera, "I'm innocent," and I looked close to see if I could believe her and I found nothing to criticize in her pose. I found nothing offensive or telling about mouthing that she loves her hubby--people do that all the time in court. No, it took only a couple of things for me to be sure of my feelings about her:
One of the Darlie books mentioned the "I love you" thing and the little smiles she gave Darin. It was also said, might not be true, that during one appearance Dana and Darin were very close to "snuggling". Then the next AM, Darlie came into the court room pissed as all get out. No "I love you's" that day.
You're right, while the Silly String Party irks me and tells me what a dolt she is, it didn't convince me of her guilt. People grieve differently. It was the forensic evidence that got me once I started really researching this case. The screen and the bread knife, like you said, the weapon coming from their home, the different types of wounds, all the blood, that's what threw me off the fence into the "Darlie Did it Yard". Whatever it is that makes one believe Darlie did it might be different, but in the end we all reach the same conclusion.

[beesy]

[QUOTE=justice2]Yeah, I agree with you too Beesy. I wear glasses and I can't function without them. I have a personal experience from many years ago where I was awakened abruptly about 4:30 in the morning, my house could have been burning down, a tornado coming, or any number of things, I just didn't know what was going on. I first checked on the dog (was single at the time, no kids no husband), and then I probably spent 10 minutes looking for my glasses, yes before I even called 911. And I was panicking about finding them too.
I'm like Velma without my glasses. LOL! Can't even see them, I have to pat around for them. That's the main reason I switched to disposable contacts, I can see when I open my eyes! By they way, what happened that night?


I stumbled onto those pictures of the boys a few weeks ago and it took me a while to come back to looking at stuff. It made me mad that they are posted on the internet. I think that is the first time I ever seen pictures of a murdered child (and I'm no spring chicken either). It seems so impersonalMe too! I think I even started a thread about that. Goody, the wise one, pointed out that they are good for research, so just try to look at it that way.

[Goody]

No. I was just living in the metroplex at the time it happened. And let me also state I tried to keep an open mind to what the media was feeding the public too. But some of it you just couldn't ignore.

That's why I've never made a decision on guilt or innocense. I think now that it is getting close to her execution I will spend the time studying the transcripts and other stuff so I'm not making a decision just on the media stuff.
That is a good idea. The media makes mistakes on some of the facts but they also can dig up stuff through interviews that don't make it to trial but are nonetheless true. Sorting through it all to decide what to accept and what to toss out is the hard part.

[Goody]

Iit took only a couple of things for me to be sure of my feelings about her:

1) LE said the crime scene did not match her story.

2) Her neck wound was distinctly different from the wounds her dead children had sustained. Too different and not a quick slash.

3) The fact that she was in shorts, snapping gum, and shooting silly string days after their deaths. I would be in a straight jacket. People mourn differently but no one mourns like that.

4) That damned knife used to cut the screen.

The screen, the screen, the screen. No getting around it. There is no way an intruder could have the knife from the butcher block before he got inside. I guess we all have our own straw, huh?
Great post, Cowgirl!!!

I agree with all of your points, excecpt that I was willing to let her slide on the gum snapping birthday party in the cemetery just days after the brutal murders. Meaning only that I wouldn't use it in my analysis of whether she was guilty or not. I totally agree with your conclusion that no one grieves like that though. I don't think either of those parents went through the stages of grieving that most people do. We may go thru them differently, like some of us might turn to drink while others lose themselves in sleep and darkness. The point is though that we all go thru the stages. We don't skip them. Maybe they did go through stages we the public haven't seen but what we have seen of them can't be put into any of the stages and that is mindboggling. Even if she killed the kids and he wants to save her, they were still parents of two murdered children. You'd think they would feel something so deep it couldn't be hidden when they did present themselves publicly. That thing about them blows my mind.

Also, I would add to your list the blood droplets on her shirt. I have seen Dr Lee use the same tesrs to determine cast off blood paths. That is a valid test. Plus I have yet to see any defendant offer an alternative test with the same results. So what does that tell you?

[justice2]

Another thing I've thought about lately, after watching some stuff on the TV about two teenage boys who kill one of the boys parents, has anyone looked at this from the perspective, as partners-in-crime. That the murder of Devon and Damon was something that Darlie and Darin would not do individually but with the dynamics between them would do together. I don't know of a parallel case to compare it to, but has this idea been brought up on the boards. My initial response is that we don't know enough inside information.

And one other comment about the media. Yes, the media coverage at the time was too much, and I cringed when the trial got transferred to that conservative town. But the media certainly has given the family more than enough, more than enough, coverage if they really had something to bring it to light.