A case almost identical to Darlie's: Julie Rea & Joel Harper

phenolred

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Darlies case reminds me ALOT about this case in Illinois parctically the same thing. Julie Rea-Harper and her murdered son Joel. The mother was also convicted, for killing her son in the middle of the night, by stabbing with a steak knife, she also had injuries, where they try to say she inflicted them herself. It is just uncanny the similarites between these two cases. However the exception to the similarites are that this case was then overturned, and she was re-tried and found NOT GUILTY . I beleive there are ties to texas with this case too, I beleive a serial killer from texas came forward and confessed to this crime sells or sellers. I will look into that in a few minutes and post that info. Here is a little bit from their website....CHECK it out

www.justiceforjulieandjoel.org

The sequence of events as told by Julie has been questioned. Those questioning her feel she should have been killed also. But if the killer were there SOLELY to kill Joel, he wouldn't kill Julie. If he did, who would go to prison? Julie is not responsible for the behavior of the asailant.


These same people feel she inflicted her own wounds because she pointed them out to the EMT's. That's ludicrous! Is it too much to expect that a grown woman would be able to tell someone "where it hurts"?
 
Hmm I just found a thread about the Julir Rea case under Archived cased....It includes a poll the title of it is something like Julie Rae wrongfully convicted.
 
I believe there was/is far more forensic evidence in the Routier case than with Julie Rae, but I'll need to read up on the Julie Rae case.
 
I'll post as I come across them:

1) "Julie has voluntarily taken two polygraph tests and has passed both without question. "

Darlie did not, nor did Darin.
 
not a problem....Im not saying it WAS Sells in the Darlie case OR the other case neccesarily what I am saying IS could Darlies case be like the Juile & Joel case where the mother was initialy charge and convicted with the murder and it was later proven in a court of law that she WAS NOT GUILTY as was originaly thought in the first trial....These too case are just so strickingly similar that its erie.....

I agree that these two cases are very similar. I am not 100% convinced that Julie is innocent, which I have that right as you have your right to believe otherwise. If all the info that is out there on Darlie was available for Julie Rea, then it might be a different story.

I just don't understand how ANYONE could murder a child. But it happens all the time. A VERY SAD AND CRUEL FACT OF LIFE.
 
Your right everybody has a right to their opinion... i also found this which indicates ( THE DEFENSE TEAM USED EXTENSIVE FORENSIC EVIDENCE ) Julie Rea Harper, a client of the Center on Wrongful Convictions, was acquitted by a jury in Clinton County, Illinois, on Wednesday, July 26, 2006, of the 1997 murder of her ten-year-old son, Joel Kirkpatrick —
Harper had always maintained that an unknown intruder had entered her home in the early morning hours of October 13, 1997, and killed the child. In 2002, five years after the murder, Harper was convicted of the crime by a jury in Wayne County and sentenced to sixty-five years in prison. The conviction was reversed in 2004 by the Fifth District Illinois Appellate
Harper’s defense team adduced extensive forensic evidence demonstrating that there was a third person in the house who not only killed Joel Kirkpatrick but who also attacked Harper. This evidence included injuries to Harper that could not have been self-inflicted and bloodstains on her clothing demonstrating that she had struggled with a third person.

Prosecutors Ed Parkinson and David Rands contended that Sells, for whatever reason, was lying. They further argued that Harper killed her only child with no demonstrable motive, based on the fact that she was in the house when the crime occurred. The jury, however, found the prosecution’s contention unpersuasive and returned a not-guilty verdict on July 26 after deliberating twelve hours over two days.
 
Darlie had hesitation wounds, that is a fact. Please....an intruder viciously kills two sleeping children, then "hesitates" when it comes to wounding the Mom.

There is zero evidence that "a third" person was involved in Darlie's case, but there was some evidence introduced in Julie's case.
 
Darlie had hesitation wounds, that is a fact. Please....an intruder viciously kills two sleeping children, then "hesitates" when it comes to wounding the Mom.

There is zero evidence that "a third" person was involved in Darlie's case, but there was some evidence introduced in Julie's case.

Exactly, you have to look at the major differences in the cases. Darlie's story changed some 16+ times, there is ZERO evidence to support an intruder. (The UID fingerprint does not count IMO since it hasn't been ruled out to be Darlie's) In Julie's case there were footprints, hair, and other things to indicate that there was an intruder. None of those things are similar to Darlie's case.
 
It's an interesting case, but I still feel there is a world of difference between Julie Rae's case and Darlie's.
 
I also found this http://www.truthinjustice.org/who-killed-joel.htm

I have been rading the other thread on webslueths about Juile & Joel the people made some good points on there about the cases....
here is some could this have been something that happened in Darlies case, a random act, She seemed like a snooty girl that thought she was all rich & better....Maybe she snubbed somebody & made them mad and they decided to get her back! JUST LIKE IN JULIES CASE HERE IS SOME INFO

Tommy Sells says he went into that house because he ran into Julie (with her son) at a convenience store and she treated him badly. He followed them home that very minute from the store and sat in front of their house. He later went back. He said he went into a room, saw a body and started "cutting/stabbing" and heard someone coming down the hall. He said she fought with him and he pushed her and she came back at him again. He said he would have stabbed her, but he had already left the knife behind, so he got the hell out of there. He was then asked if he felt bad that she was being held responsible for a crime he may have committed and he said hell no, that he was happy about it because of the way she treated him and she could go to hell (or something of the sort). This doesn't sound to me like a guy who wants to just be a nice guy and get the lady out of trouble. He also said that sometimes killing someone close to the person he hated was even better than killing the person because it hurts them more.
 
Thanks. I did read that but didn't find it too helpful. It seems the nature of the trial, not evidence, is what got her off.
 
This one is a good read -

http://www.truthinjustice.org/who-killed-joel.htm

I would like to see something detailing the evidence that proves her innocence. I'm not sure she is innocent.

I'm not either, nor do I believe Tommy Sells was involved despite his cough cough confession. Although I don't know much about her case. I prefer to read the trial transcripts but they've kept those hidden. I've seen how deceptive the Darlie. org site is so I won't put any faith in justice.org site.
 
Those questioning her feel she should have been killed also. But if the killer were there SOLELY to kill Joel, he wouldn't kill Julie.

The first thing you have to ask yourself is why someone from the outside would want to murder a sheltered, 10-year old boy, a well-adjusted, good student. He wasn't sexually assaulted, there was no robbery.

Julie, who despised her ex-husband, had lost physical custody of Joel shortly before the murder. One of the major reasons mothers kill their children is to exact revenge against the ex.

If he did, who would go to prison?


HE would go to prison, because HE left alive the one person who could identify him. Just like in the Darlie Routier case, the invisible intruder dropped his weapon in the house, thereby arming his victim, and left her with a few scratches. And possibly a full description that would land him on death row.

Darlie's story made no more sense than Julie's, because neither of them knew what a real crime scene should look like.
 
Tommy Sells says he went into that house because he ran into Julie (with her son) at a convenience store and she treated him badly.

Julie never mentioned having words with anyone in a convenience store...even her current husband admits this. It never happened. TLS was fed this information by Diane Fanning, who wanted to boost her book sales of "Through the Window".

He followed them home that very minute from the store and sat in front of their house.

And no one noticed him sitting there for hours, even when Julie's friend Trina arrived and left the house?

He also told various people that the house was a two-story with large white columns. Julie's house was a small ranch.

He said the house didn't have a garage. It had a very obvious garage, facing the street.

He told Diane Fanning he broke a window in the front to gain entrance. There was no forced entry into the house from any window or door.

He told Diane Fanning he left Joel at the foot of the bed. Joel was found on the floor in between the bed and the wall.

He told Diane Fanning the hood of his sweatshirt was pulled up across his face. Julie told police the intruder had on a ski cap, no hood. She even described the "nubbies" on it, saying it looked worn. Not only that, but she helped with a composite sketch, which looked amazingly like her own son.

This doesn't sound to me like a guy who wants to just be a nice guy and get the lady out of trouble. He also said that sometimes killing someone close to the person he hated was even better than killing the person because it hurts them more.

TLS couldn't hate Julie or Joel, because he didn't even know them. He's confessed and recanted numerous times. It gets him attention, and it gets him out of his cell. Everything he knows about Joel Kirkpatrick's murder comes from Diane Fanning, and she didn't even have enough sense to feed him the correct evidence.

Sorry, I get a little upset about this case, because I'm firmly convinced that Julie murdered her son. She is one lucky lady who got away with murder.
 

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