claudicici
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It could have been someone standing in front of her also
What one thing made you sure of her guilt or innocence?
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Berrybell
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LOL!!!! Not even close, seriously that comment is so ridiculous it's comical.
Her breast implants, along with her jewelry, bright blonde hair, and clothing choices, indicate that she was a woman who felt her appearance was very important. She was married to a man who made it very clear he liked the way she looked and I’m sure she felt valued by him when he admired her looks. But none of that has anything to do with being a murderer.
It’s no less shallow to assume people would think she is guilty because of her breast size than it is to actually think she is guilty because of her breast size.
To pick “one thing” I have to say it was her changing story of how she discovered there was an intruder and saying she wasn’t sure if she had been raped or not. Unless she was heavily sedated, which I don’t believe has ever been asserted or proven, she would have awakened immediately if someone was on top of her. Supposedly she was sleeping downstairs because the baby’s sounds were interrupting her sleep, yet an intruder can enter her home and get on top of her without her having an idea? Nope.
Many people are hung up on “motive” in this case and I think there’s something to the idea that she thought life would be easier without the older kids, but I think she actually was experiencing some post-partum depression bordering on post-partum psychosis and her mental state is what made her do it rather than any specific reason.
Many people are hung up on “motive” in this case and I think there’s something to the idea that she thought life would be easier without the older kids, but I think she actually was experiencing some post-partum depression bordering on post-partum psychosis and her mental state is what made her do it rather than any specific reason.
jonmarbles
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te fact she had no real motive said she was innocent to me.
MsMarple
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I'm not convinced there was no motive to be considered as Darlie wrote in her diary that she was feeling depressed. As @TristanP noted above it's a very real possibility that Darlie was experiencing some Post Partum Depression, maybe even bordering on Post Partum Psychosis, which would have skewed her thinking. On top of that she was unhappy about the weight she gained after Drake's birth and was taking amphetamines to remedy it, as evidenced by her blood work.
Either or both of those factors could have played into a decision to kill her boys IMO. And as much as I dislike Darlie and her behavior I believe she may have garnered some sympathy if her defense team had pursued the possibility and introduced it in court.
From her diary:
May 3 1996
I hope that one day you will forgive me for what I am about to do. My life has been such a hard fight for a long time, and I just cannot find the strength to keep fighting anymore. I love you three more than anything else in this world…I don’t want you to see a miserable person every time you look at me. Your dad loves you all very much and I know in my heart he will take care of my babies. Please do not hate me or think in any way that this is your fault. It’s just that I…”
Myth #14 – Darlie Routier Fact and Fiction
For all the griping about how the prosecution proceeded in the trial I also believe her defense team could have done a better job. Instead of introducing the more solemn memorial service in court they decided to follow the tact of trying to discredit LE by claiming the tapes were gotten unlawfully, which was a non starter.
Instead of introducing a plausible alternative to her behavior based on PPD/PPP or even plain depression or even her amphetamine use they attacked the investigation and the experts.
I get that a good defense is often obtained by a good offense but the defense team knew that the public - and by extension the jurors - may have passed judgement on Darlie because of her lies and outrageous behavior and IMO they should have focused instead on something more tangible to explain Darlie's actions that night. I don't know if that would have changed my own mind as there was so much evidence pointing to her guilt but at least it might have made her appear more human and less like a sociopath. All MOO.
jonmarbles
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i cant see somone who whos suffering from depresion covering there tracks that well or not breaking down and confessing.
MsMarple
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That's exactly what I had believed previously. I had always thought that a woman suffering from PPD/PPP who murdered a child/children or otherwise experiencing some sort of mental meltdown would not try and hide their actions - like Andrea Yates for example. But recently while doing some research I learned that in some cases the woman did actually try and hide what they had done. It didn't stop psychiatrists and the courts from determining PPD/PPP as extenuating circumstances.
I confess I still don't quite understand that as it seems like someone experiencing a break with reality would believe they were acting in the best interests of their children and therefore would see not need to hide their act. But if there is a precedent in court then it seems to me it might have been a legitimate defense in Darlie's case. Again only MOO.
jonmarbles
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imnt saying they wouldent try cover the tracks im saying in that state of mind i dont think they would cover effectivly enough to to convince anybody they were anything other than guilty and i think once confronted with the weight of evdence they would crack like susan smith did.
jypsijemini
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Forgive me for the lengthy post, but there is no 'one' thing that convinces me of her guilt. When all of these points are considered together as they should be, this case is an absolute no-brainer for me. But I can't single out any one incident or moment where I became convinced. These are the elements which formed my opinion:
1. The Transcripts
How many times does this woman want to change her story?! She was fighting with the intruder, she felt pressure on her leg, but then other times she didn't have him on top of her, he was just seen walking away through the kitchen. In one account, she says he walked into the wine rack and it made a loud cracking sound, other times it was the breaking of glass. One account she notices blood on her nightgown, other accounts she doesn't mention this. She gives multiple locations for the knife. She mixes up whether she ran into the entry way to scream for her husband first, or whether she started attending to and inspecting the boy's wounds bef2ore calling for him. She gives some people more details than others. She omits details from some accounts. She mentions in one that she noticed the entire living room was covered with blood. Sometimes the table is completely overturned, other times it's tipped to the side and the vase is knocked over. In one account, she has a towel up to her neck, and others she's just applying towels to the boy's wounds. She omits in several stories seeing blood pouring from the wounds when Devin was attempting CPR. Sometimes Devin goes to check on their baby, other times he doesn't. In one account, he pushed her outside.
Darlie also claimed that she was sleeping downstairs that night, and for many nights prior because whenever her baby stirred in his sleep, it would wake her up. However, Darlie testified that she did not wake up at any point until her son shook her awake. She slept through the stabbing of her young sons, as well as the moment her throat was cut. That fateful night, she'd told police that she'd woken up to a struggle with the intruder who had mounted her, but later omitted this entirely from her story and claimed only to have seen him leaving the scene and dropping the knife as he made his way through to the garage.
2. The 911 Call
Is she crying, or just frantic? She keeps saying they're dead. Wouldn't repeating this to yourself over and over, and seeing the ghastly wounds all over your boys' tiny bodies cause more than just "Oh my God, oh my God, they're dead!" I compared this to a 911 call from a mother who witnessed her teenage daughter being shot by her husband and her scream is absolutely horrific. At the same moment as she placed the call, he was trying to kill her as well, and intended on committing suicide immediately after. She was in danger. She was terrified. She was completely and utterly heartbroken. She was completely unable to give accurate details to the 011 dispatcher on the phone with her. In comparison, Darlie wailed a lot, shouted a lot but most of it was coherent and clear (when she wasn't interrupted by the interference on the line). Her boys were so little and defenceless. Their wounds were incredibly brutal and visible to both parents. There was a large amount of blood found all over the room. How is she finding enough composure to scan the downstairs room to claim, "nothing's missing"? Is it even too far fetched to ask why a parent would be asking "Who would do this? Why would they do this?" while her babies are slowly dying in front of her on the floor? She claims that one of her sons replied "Okay Mommy" when she told him to "hang on" and "be strong" but this can't be heard in the 911 call. She claims she applied towels to their little bodies, but she's still running around outside screaming for her neighbour. She claims that the cops walked in when they arrived, but the 911 dispatcher can clearly be heard telling Darlie on multiple occasions that they're at the front door and she needs to let them inside. She even goes so far as to tell her husband, "I didn't do this". The amount of talking she's doing on the phone really makes me wonder how badly her throat was slashed. She's shouting and wailing and screams loudly out to her neighbour - but she claims she gets dizzy, leans on the vacuum cleaner and eventually passes out. She
3. Birthday Party In The Graveyard
Darlie is attacked, has her throat slashed, watches her sons die in front of her from brutal knife wounds, buries them and that very same week, goes back to the grave site to celebrate D's birthday. Balloons, smiles, laughter, singing and silly string. What parent, considering all the circumstances that befell this little boy's birthday, would not only be able to compose themselves while standing in front of their child's headstone - but to be able to "celebrate" his birthday in such a fashion after he and his brother are viciously murdered? She wasn't choking back tears. She knew the media were watching every moment. She did it for the cameras - not for her little boys. In comparison to Darlie's behaviour, one of the first officers on the scene said that after he'd been shown one of the bodies, he couldn't compose himself and turned away and "bawled like a baby". He went on to say that for months afterwards, he checked on his own sleeping five year old regularly, but that he saw the Routier son's body and "couldn't shake the vision".
4. The Crime Scene
The blood spatter expert testified that evidence on Darlie's nightshirt showed that she raised her arm above her head each time she went to plunge the knife back into her little boy's bodies (s. Murderpedia). There was also bloody footprint evidence UNDERNEATH the vacuum cleaner and broken glass which convinced experts that those items had been placed/broken after the perpetrator had made their way through the crime scene and into the kitchen. It is claimed that it was the police officer who instructed Darlie to put towels on the boy's bodies, and that she ignored him while continuing to shout at the dispatcher on the phone and telling police to chase down the assailant she believed had escaped through the utility/garage door. The family's white Pomeranian later greeted police once the surviving Routiers were on their way to the hospital. They claim that the dog was yappy and hostile to strangers, making them wonder where the dog had been during the 'attack'.
Blood in both the sink and a bloody child's handprint on the couch had been cleaned before police arrived. They were able to discover these lost clues with the use of Luminol.
5. Darlie's Behaviour After The Slaying of Her Preschool Boys
Right from the moment police arrived and spanning through her hospital stay, many law enforcement and hospital staff claim that Darlie's behaviour was not fitting with a woman who had been attacked and had her sons brutally murdered beside her. Darlie, they say, seemed more concerned with explaining why the murder weapon would have her fingerprints on it, than she was about the murder of her young boys. Nurses claimed that she was cold and emotionless, particularly when she visited to view the body of one of her boys. Law enforcement even claimed that her husband, D.R. was amazed by the attention the scene had attracted that night and exclaimed to one of the attending officers, 'Golly, I guess this is the biggest thing Rowlett's ever had.' Nurses claim they had to console the other family members of Darlie and D.R., that they were 'hysterical' and had to be held and comforted for a considerable amount of time. They claim that Darlie never showed any of this grief or anguish. Another noted that although people deal with grief in different ways, they had never seen a reaction like Darlie's. That "tissues were beside her bed but she never took one".
Witnesses present at the funeral parlour for the viewing noted that Darlie lent down between the boys and whispered, "I'm sorry" before wailing loudly "Who could have done this?". When approached by the parlour owner who offered her condolences and expressed, "and now you have this expensive funeral to pay for." it is claimed that Darlie replied with "I'm not worried. I'll get five thousand dollars each for both of the boys." While D.R. spoke with mourners, Darlie is said to have been reading cards on the flower arrangements, comforting other mourners and promising to return thank you cards to all who brought flowers for the boys. Even one of the Routier family relatives noted that Darlie "never wiped her eyes" during the service held for the boys. She "never cried. There is no mistaking grief."
A friend accompanied Darlie as she entered the house for the first time since she had been rushed to hospital that awful night. Her friend M was prepared for an emotional scene once the door was opened, but was completely overwhelmed by the response she got from Darlie. She claims Darlie threw her arms up and shouted, "Look at this mess! It'll cost us a fortune to fix this *advertiser censored*!"
As M recalls, "Right there where her boys were killed, and that's the first thing she said to me. I put my hands on Darlie's shoulders and said, 'Darlie, look me in the eye and tell me you didn't kill the boys.' She looked me in the eye and said, 'I'm gonna get new carpet, new drapes, and fix this room all up.' I couldn't believe it." (s. Murderpedia)
1. The Transcripts
How many times does this woman want to change her story?! She was fighting with the intruder, she felt pressure on her leg, but then other times she didn't have him on top of her, he was just seen walking away through the kitchen. In one account, she says he walked into the wine rack and it made a loud cracking sound, other times it was the breaking of glass. One account she notices blood on her nightgown, other accounts she doesn't mention this. She gives multiple locations for the knife. She mixes up whether she ran into the entry way to scream for her husband first, or whether she started attending to and inspecting the boy's wounds bef2ore calling for him. She gives some people more details than others. She omits details from some accounts. She mentions in one that she noticed the entire living room was covered with blood. Sometimes the table is completely overturned, other times it's tipped to the side and the vase is knocked over. In one account, she has a towel up to her neck, and others she's just applying towels to the boy's wounds. She omits in several stories seeing blood pouring from the wounds when Devin was attempting CPR. Sometimes Devin goes to check on their baby, other times he doesn't. In one account, he pushed her outside.
Darlie also claimed that she was sleeping downstairs that night, and for many nights prior because whenever her baby stirred in his sleep, it would wake her up. However, Darlie testified that she did not wake up at any point until her son shook her awake. She slept through the stabbing of her young sons, as well as the moment her throat was cut. That fateful night, she'd told police that she'd woken up to a struggle with the intruder who had mounted her, but later omitted this entirely from her story and claimed only to have seen him leaving the scene and dropping the knife as he made his way through to the garage.
2. The 911 Call
Is she crying, or just frantic? She keeps saying they're dead. Wouldn't repeating this to yourself over and over, and seeing the ghastly wounds all over your boys' tiny bodies cause more than just "Oh my God, oh my God, they're dead!" I compared this to a 911 call from a mother who witnessed her teenage daughter being shot by her husband and her scream is absolutely horrific. At the same moment as she placed the call, he was trying to kill her as well, and intended on committing suicide immediately after. She was in danger. She was terrified. She was completely and utterly heartbroken. She was completely unable to give accurate details to the 011 dispatcher on the phone with her. In comparison, Darlie wailed a lot, shouted a lot but most of it was coherent and clear (when she wasn't interrupted by the interference on the line). Her boys were so little and defenceless. Their wounds were incredibly brutal and visible to both parents. There was a large amount of blood found all over the room. How is she finding enough composure to scan the downstairs room to claim, "nothing's missing"? Is it even too far fetched to ask why a parent would be asking "Who would do this? Why would they do this?" while her babies are slowly dying in front of her on the floor? She claims that one of her sons replied "Okay Mommy" when she told him to "hang on" and "be strong" but this can't be heard in the 911 call. She claims she applied towels to their little bodies, but she's still running around outside screaming for her neighbour. She claims that the cops walked in when they arrived, but the 911 dispatcher can clearly be heard telling Darlie on multiple occasions that they're at the front door and she needs to let them inside. She even goes so far as to tell her husband, "I didn't do this". The amount of talking she's doing on the phone really makes me wonder how badly her throat was slashed. She's shouting and wailing and screams loudly out to her neighbour - but she claims she gets dizzy, leans on the vacuum cleaner and eventually passes out. She
3. Birthday Party In The Graveyard
Darlie is attacked, has her throat slashed, watches her sons die in front of her from brutal knife wounds, buries them and that very same week, goes back to the grave site to celebrate D's birthday. Balloons, smiles, laughter, singing and silly string. What parent, considering all the circumstances that befell this little boy's birthday, would not only be able to compose themselves while standing in front of their child's headstone - but to be able to "celebrate" his birthday in such a fashion after he and his brother are viciously murdered? She wasn't choking back tears. She knew the media were watching every moment. She did it for the cameras - not for her little boys. In comparison to Darlie's behaviour, one of the first officers on the scene said that after he'd been shown one of the bodies, he couldn't compose himself and turned away and "bawled like a baby". He went on to say that for months afterwards, he checked on his own sleeping five year old regularly, but that he saw the Routier son's body and "couldn't shake the vision".
4. The Crime Scene
The blood spatter expert testified that evidence on Darlie's nightshirt showed that she raised her arm above her head each time she went to plunge the knife back into her little boy's bodies (s. Murderpedia). There was also bloody footprint evidence UNDERNEATH the vacuum cleaner and broken glass which convinced experts that those items had been placed/broken after the perpetrator had made their way through the crime scene and into the kitchen. It is claimed that it was the police officer who instructed Darlie to put towels on the boy's bodies, and that she ignored him while continuing to shout at the dispatcher on the phone and telling police to chase down the assailant she believed had escaped through the utility/garage door. The family's white Pomeranian later greeted police once the surviving Routiers were on their way to the hospital. They claim that the dog was yappy and hostile to strangers, making them wonder where the dog had been during the 'attack'.
Blood in both the sink and a bloody child's handprint on the couch had been cleaned before police arrived. They were able to discover these lost clues with the use of Luminol.
5. Darlie's Behaviour After The Slaying of Her Preschool Boys
Right from the moment police arrived and spanning through her hospital stay, many law enforcement and hospital staff claim that Darlie's behaviour was not fitting with a woman who had been attacked and had her sons brutally murdered beside her. Darlie, they say, seemed more concerned with explaining why the murder weapon would have her fingerprints on it, than she was about the murder of her young boys. Nurses claimed that she was cold and emotionless, particularly when she visited to view the body of one of her boys. Law enforcement even claimed that her husband, D.R. was amazed by the attention the scene had attracted that night and exclaimed to one of the attending officers, 'Golly, I guess this is the biggest thing Rowlett's ever had.' Nurses claim they had to console the other family members of Darlie and D.R., that they were 'hysterical' and had to be held and comforted for a considerable amount of time. They claim that Darlie never showed any of this grief or anguish. Another noted that although people deal with grief in different ways, they had never seen a reaction like Darlie's. That "tissues were beside her bed but she never took one".
Witnesses present at the funeral parlour for the viewing noted that Darlie lent down between the boys and whispered, "I'm sorry" before wailing loudly "Who could have done this?". When approached by the parlour owner who offered her condolences and expressed, "and now you have this expensive funeral to pay for." it is claimed that Darlie replied with "I'm not worried. I'll get five thousand dollars each for both of the boys." While D.R. spoke with mourners, Darlie is said to have been reading cards on the flower arrangements, comforting other mourners and promising to return thank you cards to all who brought flowers for the boys. Even one of the Routier family relatives noted that Darlie "never wiped her eyes" during the service held for the boys. She "never cried. There is no mistaking grief."
A friend accompanied Darlie as she entered the house for the first time since she had been rushed to hospital that awful night. Her friend M was prepared for an emotional scene once the door was opened, but was completely overwhelmed by the response she got from Darlie. She claims Darlie threw her arms up and shouted, "Look at this mess! It'll cost us a fortune to fix this *advertiser censored*!"
As M recalls, "Right there where her boys were killed, and that's the first thing she said to me. I put my hands on Darlie's shoulders and said, 'Darlie, look me in the eye and tell me you didn't kill the boys.' She looked me in the eye and said, 'I'm gonna get new carpet, new drapes, and fix this room all up.' I couldn't believe it." (s. Murderpedia)
The Armchair Alienist
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Mainly the blood evidence is what convinced me. But as I looked further into the case a lot of things just didn't add up. The fact that the crime was very up close and personal, Coroner Janice Townsend-Parchman testified the deep, multiple wounds on the boys, showed the attack on them was personal. Townsend-Parchman also testified that the knife wound was superficial and appeared inflicted in a slow, hesitant manner, most likely by Routier herself.
Testimony that not everything was the perfect happy family that some people made out.
Other things such as
(https://law.jrank.org/pages/3712/Darlie-Routier-Trial-1997-Deadly-or-Doting-Mother.html)
Testimony that not everything was the perfect happy family that some people made out.
Other things such as
- "Why would an intruder (excuse the phrase) take out the weakest and most vulnerable first and not the adult?" - that's not logical
- What's with the sock??? Why take a sock and not the jewelry?
(https://law.jrank.org/pages/3712/Darlie-Routier-Trial-1997-Deadly-or-Doting-Mother.html)
The Armchair Alienist
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Mainly the blood evidence is what convinced me. But as I looked further into the case a lot of things just didn't add up. The fact that the crime was very up close and personal, Coroner Janice Townsend-Parchman testified the deep, multiple wounds on the boys, showed the attack on them was personal. Townsend-Parchman also testified that the knife wound was superficial and appeared inflicted in a slow, hesitant manner, most likely by Routier herself.
Testimony that not everything was the perfect happy family that some people made out.
Other things such as
(https://law.jrank.org/pages/3712/Darlie-Routier-Trial-1997-Deadly-or-Doting-Mother.html)
Testimony that not everything was the perfect happy family that some people made out.
Other things such as
- "Why would an intruder (excuse the phrase) take out the weakest and most vulnerable first and not the adult?" - that's not logical
- What's with the sock??? Why take a sock and not the jewelry?
(https://law.jrank.org/pages/3712/Darlie-Routier-Trial-1997-Deadly-or-Doting-Mother.html)
cami
Keep your fork......
The blood evidence, especially that blood on the kitchen floor in front of the sink and the cast off on her back and shoulders, is what convinced me as well, along with the 911 call.
bernardphillips
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the wounds on her neck and arm absolutely prove she's innocent.
MrsWatson
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I think she is 100% guilty because science doesn't lie. All the forensic evidence points to no intruder. I personally think the sock in back is a total red herring and has no bearing whatsoever on the case.
As far as Darlie's bruises and wounds and those who doubt they were self-inflicted, do a simple Google search for Diane Downs. She shot herself in the arm, after killing one child and gravely injuring two others.
Diane, BTW, is also still in prison, right where she belongs as well.
As far as Darlie's bruises and wounds and those who doubt they were self-inflicted, do a simple Google search for Diane Downs. She shot herself in the arm, after killing one child and gravely injuring two others.
Diane, BTW, is also still in prison, right where she belongs as well.
bernardphillips
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bernardphillips
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There are many problems with the statement that all the forensic evidence points to no intruder. Charles Lynch, the lead forensic expert in this case testified that it is very possible an intruder cut the window screen, entered the house, stabbed the boys and attacked Darlie, then fled out the garage window without leaving behind any DNA.
Berrybell
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Who is Charles Lynch? I am not trying to be rude I would like to know how he is expert and what other cases he has worked?
Cami, I have a question that has nothing to do with this post, but want to ask you because you are so knowledgeable about his case and law in general. My question is what is the purpose of affidavits? I see several on the Darlie website and I wonder if they carry any weight with the courts at all, what is the purpose of them? Thank you
One of the more recent TV specials about this case had an interview with one of the jurors, and the juror did mention her *advertiser censored*. I strongly suspect the comment was edited in out of context. But apparently the area where the trial was moved was really small town conservative TX, so as ridiculous as it seems to you and I, it does appear there may have been some people who actually did judge her based on her *advertiser censored*.
My hope is that while that may have given them a bad first impression, they actually made their decision based on the evidence presented.
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