Oddities

[Goody]

Well, that's one of the problems. Darlie says on the 911 tape "I woke up -- I was fighting." However, in the courtroom, she claims that she never said she fought the intruder(s), but that she was "frightening." Why she would deny something that would have helped her goes further to show that she was, even through the trial, staging the entire thing.

Aha, but in her hypnotic session she remembered fighting with ... not one but TWO intruders, and they are no longer white. Now they are black and dark skinned and they both ran away rather than stab her multiple times like they did the boys. Guess she was just too rough for them. :banghead: Here's a picture of Darlie beating her arm against the wall. (sorry, couldn't find an arm. I guess the concept is too absurd for even comedy smiley creators. LOL)

 

[Goody]

Has it been clearly established that Damon was attacked twice or is this a theory?

It is a theory but it is based on the blood evidence at the scene. He was first attacked near the couch, just a foot or so from where Darlie slept. His blood is there showing that is where he was first stabbed. When paramedics arrived he was laying on the floor near the entry from the family room to the kitchen. I don't think they tested enough blood to say for certain that he crawled to that area, but he got there somehow and no one admits to carrying him. In fact, Darlie states that he walked after waking her up and that she told him to lay down there while she followed the intruder, who had just exited thru the utility room/garage door.

He either dropped or threw the knife down in the process. Then she walks thru the kitchen to the UR and picks up the knife, which is either on the kitchen floor near the doorway or on the utility room side, depending on which version you focus on. On her way back to Damon, she catches sight of her image in the mirror and suddenly realizes she has been wounded, another story variable according to witnesses. She lays the knife down and runs to the stairway, screaming for Darin and when he comes down stairs, she says she told him about her injured neck, but he runs past her to Devon (because she is screaming Devon's name over and over again even though Damon was the child she had spoken to and seen up close...she never went near Devon to even know if he was hurt or not), stepping right thru/near the area where Damon was laying and doesn't see him. Darin puts the top of the coffee table back on its stand because he thinks Devon was hurt by the falling table and the area where he is laying is too congested with the table top on the floor. (Can't remember exactly where I read this but it is in there somewhere. Later he puts it back down and a paramedic replaces it on the stand) While Darin is rushing to Devon, Darlie is dialing 911.

Now if Damon was not laying where he was found when Darin came downstairs, it makes sense that Darlie would have been surprised to suddenly see him there, esp if she thought he was dead in the first location near the couch. They are obviously talking about somebody breathing on the 911 tape, yet neither child apparently is doing much of that at all. It is just a theory that she stabbed him again in that location.

It is all very confusing. I guess you have to decide what makes more sense? Darlie the caring mother who just snapped and was afraid of going to prison? Or Darlie the sociopath who might have been willing to sacrifice her children to get what she wanted....material wealth, her name up in lights, her life back. According to witnesses, she might have been both, but there is no real evidence that she was. Just like there is no real evidence that she had traumatic amnesia, a head injury, or any cuts in her mouth.

 

[Goody]

Actually using "they" when refering to an UNKNOWN person is very common in Texas. You wouldn't say "My brother went to the store and they bought some beer," but you would definitely say "Someone broke into my house and they stabbed my baby." I still think she's guilty as hell, but this particular "oddity" is a red herring.

I think "they" is not an important clue. An excited person, guilty or innocent, could alternate between "he" and "they" natually. I agree that this no evidence against her.

 

[OriginalJerseyGirl]

Thanks, Goody, for taking the time to give me such a clear & detailed description. You've definitely cleared some things up for me.

 

[Goody]

Didn't Darlie come right out and say that there was more than one attacker, (in one or more versions of her story)? In that case, this wouldn't be a red herring at all.

Not during the trial. It wasn't until a couple of years after the trial that she was hypnotized and in that session claimed there were two attackers and that she struggled with. One was black and the other dark skinned, one big, one little or not so big. It doesn't matter. There was only one session with no follow up, no real attempt to remember exactly what had happened. But her supporters appear to believe it is kosher. I, personally, think it is just one more feeble attempt to manipulate those deciding her case.

 

[Goody]

I believe that the direction of the knife could imply something, and that's why I continued to discuss it.

I agree. I thought this was an excellent observation, one I have never heard anyone else make. It doesn't prove anything but it certainly is a point worth considering when looking at the crime scene.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

I think "they" is not an important clue. An excited person, guilty or innocent, could alternate between "he" and "they" natually. I agree that this no evidence against her.

Had it been the ONLY time she went from one to two intruders, I wouldn't think anything of it either. However, to this day, she still seems to not KNOW how many there were. So, I feel its important.

 

[HeartofTexas]

I'm a little late replying to this thread but I just registered today. I live just a few miles from Darlie's house so heard a lot of TV coverage and read about it in the paper daily. One of the first oddities I remember is Darlie not sleeping upstairs in the master bedroom because she was such a light sleeper and baby Drake would wake her up when he rolled over in his crib. And yet, when two of her boys were supposedly being murdered by an intruder, one of them just a few feet from her on the couch, this "light sleeper" didn't hear a peep! Now that's odd.

 

[IrishMist]

I'm a little late replying to this thread but I just registered today. I live just a few miles from Darlie's house so heard a lot of TV coverage and read about it in the paper daily. One of the first oddities I remember is Darlie not sleeping upstairs in the master bedroom because she was such a light sleeper and baby Drake would wake her up when he rolled over in his crib. And yet, when two of her boys were supposedly being murdered by an intruder, one of them just a few feet from her on the couch, this "light sleeper" didn't hear a peep! Now that's odd.

That stuck out in my mind, too, Heart. Just one of the many things she said that just don't make sense!

 

[mollymalone]

An oddity that stuck out for me when reading the autopsy reports of the two boys was the angle of the knife wounds. Instead of an up and down stabbing motion, the wounds were a down and to the side motion.

I can't believe a person who says she wakes up at "every" movement of little Drake would not respond and wake up at "some intruder" moving around stabbing the life out of her two boys and attacking and stabbing her.

I believe Darrin's statement that first night about putting on his glasses, running downstairs when he heard the noise and Darlie screaming, and went quickly back upstairs to check on Drake, put on pants and run across the street to get his neighbor "for help," (presumably to watch Drake (paramedics, ambulance were there) is more accurate. It's much more likely to have happened than any later explanations from him or Darlie as to what he came down wearing or not wearing. Any later explanations were probably made to help Darlie. IMO

 

[Jeana (DP)]

I'm a little late replying to this thread but I just registered today. I live just a few miles from Darlie's house so heard a lot of TV coverage and read about it in the paper daily. One of the first oddities I remember is Darlie not sleeping upstairs in the master bedroom because she was such a light sleeper and baby Drake would wake her up when he rolled over in his crib. And yet, when two of her boys were supposedly being murdered by an intruder, one of them just a few feet from her on the couch, this "light sleeper" didn't hear a peep! Now that's odd.

Welcome to Websleuths HeartofTexas!!!

 

[cami]

[color=darkslateblue [color=darkslateblue]Now if Damon was not laying where he was found when Darin came downstairs, it makes sense that Darlie would have been surprised to suddenly see him there, esp if she thought he was dead in the first location near the couch. They are obviously talking about somebody breathing on the 911 tape, yet neither child apparently is doing much of that at all. It is just a theory that she stabbed him again in that location. [/color]
[/color]

And there's that "damon, damon, damon" on the 911 tape that I can't quite make out what she is saying but I think yes she and Darin are talking about Damon still breathing. She does say something to Darin about Damon.


I believe Damon was stabbed again near where he was found.

 

[mollymalone]

And there's that "damon, damon, damon" on the 911 tape that I can't quite make out what she is saying but I think yes she and Darin are talking about Damon still breathing. She does say something to Darin about Damon.


I believe Damon was stabbed again near where he was found.

But how'd he get moved? Did she drag/move him as part of her scenario that he "walked" until she told him to lay down? From the stab wounds that the autopsy documented, I find it hard to believe that he got up and walked on his own since a lung was punctured.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

But how'd he get moved? Did she drag/move him as part of her scenario that he "walked" until she told him to lay down? From the stab wounds that the autopsy documented, I find it hard to believe that he got up and walked on his own since a lung was punctured.

I think that most of us believe that he crawled. She discovered that he was still alive and crawling toward the front door in an effort to get away from her and she attacked him again.

 

[Goody]

An oddity that stuck out for me when reading the autopsy reports of the two boys was the angle of the knife wounds. Instead of an up and down stabbing motion, the wounds were a down and to the side motion.

I noticed this, too...on Devon. Damon's were more consistent with what you would expect to find. But Devon...those angles make me think they were necessary because he was wiggling and trying to get away from her. That would put her hovering over him, either on her knees or in a crouched position and the swing of the blade on an angle. I may have that wrong as I am not an expert, but for the longest time I didn't get the swinging motion of the knife and how it would ever go high enough to send blood droplets over her shoulder to the back of her shirt. Then one day I envisioned her moving forward over him as she swung the blade, to better control his movements, and the light clicked on. Also, I think there was only one major wound even on Devon that was slanted significantly, and it was the deepest or longest, however you want to term it.

The scratch marks on her chin are very telling in my opinion. They look like a child's scratches and are strategically placed right where Devon might have tried to hurt her back or push her away because she was hurting him.

 

[Goody]

Had it been the ONLY time she went from one to two intruders, I wouldn't think anything of it either. However, to this day, she still seems to not KNOW how many there were. So, I feel its important.

I don't think Darlie was certain how many intruders there were supposed to be even as she called 911. That might have a lot to do with which direction the police were going to take. You know...like if they said it was most likely burglars, she'd go with muliple intruders. If they said it was attempted rape, she'd go with one intruder. Her going back and forth might just be significant of her indecision even at the last minute. Darlie seemed to have a pattern of telling just enough to get a reaction from the listener, and then she would react to their reaction. In the end, she could always say, I didn't say that. So and so first thought of that. I thought they might be right. That way Darlie she can't be accused of lying. I think she was so worried about making a mistake that she took the neutral road whenever possible. It might have worked well in her teens, but it killed her with the jury.

 

[Goody]

I also don't know if I would remember details in a situation like that. To us we can't imagine how the two of them can't get their story together on what Darin was wearing when he came downstairs. But think about it ... how surreal must this all have seemed? Even if Darlie did this, imagine what this scene must have looked like, and what kind of thoughts must be flying through your mind when you realize what you've done. And you wish you hadn't, (or can't remember that you did), and you're trying to call 911, and your husband is doing CPR on your baby, and the other baby is crying, and then you realize that he is dying too, and so on and so on. I can completely see how details like what someone is wearing could be overlooked. I think that a situation like that would be so chaotic that I would find it amazing, (and suspicious as far as Darin is concerned), if they both remembered with exact detail all of the events of the night and what each other were wearing, etc. To remember those kinds of details in this kind of context, I would think that you'd have to be fairly cold or otherwise emotionally detached especially if it were your children involved. Either that or it hints of premeditation.

Investigators say it is not that victims forget to mention details that make them suspicious, it is the kind of details left out or continually changing. Victims do not forget where the perp was when they first layed eyes on them. For Darlie that is when she first woke up. She has him standing over her, standing at her feet, sitting on her, putting pressure on her legs and private area, and fleeing out of the family room into the kitchen. She has herself fighting with him and then not fighting with her, and then after the hypnosis, she describes a very active struggle which puts her up on the sofa and knocking him off.

The position of the knife when she first saw it should stand out in her mind, but there is confusion over whether it was on the kitchen side or the utility room side of the threshold,and I think at one point it was even said it was on the threshold.

Then there is when she first realized her neck was cut. She leaned downward to pick up the knife and blood spewed forward out of the gash. Another story is that she happened to see her reflection in the mirror over the bar. I think there is a third one, but can't remember what that one was.

She might not remember what movie they were watching or what they ate last or exactly what time they went to sleep, but specific details like the above definitely stand out for victims. The main points. But Darlie seems to do better with the small stuff. The main points have to be changed or rearranged, etc. and should not have.

Another interesting point is that Darin describes things as going in slow motion. That is a typical comment made by crime victims, that the events seemed so surreal they were in slow motion. Darlie never described anything like that at all. You would think even if she were guilty, she would experience that, but she never mentioned a word about it. It would be extraordinarily odd that she did experience it and just didn't mention it. It is so mindblowing that people can't help but comment on it. That flies in the face of the hysterical Darlie she wanted us to believe she was.

Then there is that one moment when the hysteria completely leaves her and she says in a plain, defensive voice....Someone came in here and intentionally did this, Darin. It is like someone removed her mask for a moment and the real Darlie peeked thru.

I do think she disassociated herself from the kids, that she had accepted their deaths long before they were killed. I am not sure exactly what that means. Maybe she thought about doing it in the weeks or months beforehand without having any real intention of carrying it out, then snapped. They say that something taboo is easier to do, that it is easier to cross the line once you start thinking about the possibilities or fantasizing about it. Or maybe it is something more sinister. Whatever it was, Darlie was waaaaay too accepting too soon of the loss, and so was Darin. How it all fits together, I do not know. Those are just my observations.

 

[mollymalone]

I think that most of us believe that he crawled. She discovered that he was still alive and crawling toward the front door in an effort to get away from her and she attacked him again.

Wouldn't it have been as hard for him to have crawled given the condition of his breathing at that point?

Also another oddity, although kids get abrasions from playing, just being kids.. both of them had specific abrasions that were noted on the autopsy. I wondered whether they had suffered abrasions from the carpet or some other source as they were being stabbed.

 

[mollymalone]

I noticed this, too...on Devon. Damon's were more consistent with what you would expect to find. But Devon...those angles make me think they were necessary because he was wiggling and trying to get away from her. That would put her hovering over him, either on her knees or in a crouched position and the swing of the blade on an angle. I may have that wrong as I am not an expert, but for the longest time I didn't get the swinging motion of the knife and how it would ever go high enough to send blood droplets over her shoulder to the back of her shirt. Then one day I envisioned her moving forward over him as she swung the blade, to better control his movements, and the light clicked on. Also, I think there was only one major wound even on Devon that was slanted significantly, and it was the deepest or longest, however you want to term it.

The scratch marks on her chin are very telling in my opinion. They look like a child's scratches and are strategically placed right where Devon might have tried to hurt her back or push her away because she was hurting him.

I didn't realize she had scratches on her face. When looking at her photos, one tends to look at the more serious looking wounds. I thought that he might have been moving, trying to get away and that the angle of the wound resulted because of that. I also thought that because she had to either lean over him it would result in that angle... or if she was on her knees stabbing him, she may have been crawling on her knees after him in an effort to keep stabbing him... hence the downward and angled wound.

 

[mollymalone]

I don't think Darlie was certain how many intruders there were supposed to be even as she called 911. That might have a lot to do with which direction the police were going to take. You know...like if they said it was most likely burglars, she'd go with muliple intruders. If they said it was attempted rape, she'd go with one intruder. Her going back and forth might just be significant of her indecision even at the last minute. Darlie seemed to have a pattern of telling just enough to get a reaction from the listener, and then she would react to their reaction. In the end, she could always say, I didn't say that. So and so first thought of that. I thought they might be right. That way Darlie she can't be accused of lying. I think she was so worried about making a mistake that she took the neutral road whenever possible. It might have worked well in her teens, but it killed her with the jury.

I think you have put your finger on why she acted like she did and why she changed her stories.