Darlie Routier is on death row but did she really kill her children?

THE facts of this case are truly horrifying. Two small boys knifed to death by their mother. But is she really guilty or has there been a horrible mistake?

‘She’s dancing on their graves’

IT is the worst possible thing a mother could be accused of. And Darlie Routier — wife, mother, convicted child murderer — may pay for it with her life.

Router’s path to her death row jail cell began on June 6, 1996 when her two oldest sons, six-year-old Devon and five-year-old Damon, were stabbed to death in the family’s home in the Dallas, Texas, suburb of Rowlett.

Yet despite a trial, a, conviction and circumstantial evidence piling up against her, many still believe the 45-year-old is innocent and are desperate to stop her being put to death.

Supporters are working hard to seek a retrial but so far none has been granted. And she remains on death row in a Texas jail.

Just this week a new series on the case aired in the US and recently new forensic testing was ordered on key items of evidence.

Could a grieving mother really be locked away on death row waiting to die? Or is this a case of an evil woman who stabbed her own children to death as they slept? And if she is innocent, why is a double murderer be allowed to slip through police’s fingers.

Damon, Darlie and Devon Routier. Were the small boys really stabbed to death by their own mother?

THE MURDERS

The Routier family living room was transformed from a comfortable haven into a bloody murder scene on June 6, 1996. She had been sleeping in the living room with the two boys on mattresses on the floor, after they’d watched a movie together.

Upstairs asleep was her husband Darin and their seven-month old baby Drake. She’d told her husband the baby kept her awake the night before so she would sleep downstairs that night.

At 2.30am he woke to Routier’s screaming.

Darlie’s account is she woke to Damon calling. “Mommy, Mommy.” She claims to have seen a dark figure running out the door. When she turned on the light she saw the blood and a knife laying on the floor.

Darin rushed downstairs and saw the carnage, Devon was dead, lying on his back with his eyes open. Damon was rushed to hospital but couldn’t be saved.

Darlie didn’t escape injury either. She was covered in blood and had a massive gash from one side of her neck to the other that missed her carotid artery by just millimetres — it is widely thought a necklace she had on at the time saved her life. It was pressed so deeply into her throat it had to be surgically removed but stopped the blade from knocking the artery.

Would someone really have done that to themselves?

Darlie Routier was charged with murdering her sons within days of their deaths.

THE EVIDENCE AGAINST DARLIE

The window screen had been cut in the garage but there was no one else inside the house.

It’s here where investigators — and ultimately a jury — began to have trouble with her story.

She assumes she struggled with the killer; but can’t remember exactly. And police straight away

began to suspect something wasn’t right.

• The window screen had been cut awkwardly so it would be hard for an intruder to climb in

• Jewellery on the kitchen bench was ignored by the killer

• The killer obtained the knife from the kitchen, usually they would bring a weapon with them.

• Routier made a point about mentioning her prints were on the knife

• She couldn’t give a description of the attacker, despite being face to face with him

• She didn’t ask about her children when she emerged from surgery

• There was evidence of blood being cleaned up in the sink and kitchen.

Then there was Routier’s own behaviour. Within days of the stabbings local television news aired footage of her at the boys graves smiling and laughing to celebrate Devon’s seventh birthday.

As one investigator bluntly put it: “Here was a woman who’d just lost her children and she was literally dancing on their graves.”

Police admitted there wasn’t a single piece of evidence to pin the shocking murders on her. Despite that, they were convinced of her guilt when they pulled all the suspicious circumstances together.

THE SOCK

The major evidence to support Router’s theory was a bloodstained sock belonging to one of the boys that was discovered in alleyway about 70m away.

She argued it was proof that someone else — i.e. the intruder — dropped the sock as they run away after the stabbings.

But prosecutors rejected the idea and insisted it was planted by Routier in case police were suspicious of her.

The sock Darlie Routier’s legal team say proves her innocence. But prosectors said she planted it to throw police off her trail.

THE TRIAL

A major part of the prosecution case was picking holes in Routier’s story. The problem for her legal team was she changed her story several times, including in the days after the killings.

One of the changes was where she was when she the “intruder” running away and where she found the knife.

“It was a bloodbath. And when a crime like that happens, it’s someone in the house that did this,” the assistant district attorney Toby Shook told CNN.

The 911 phone call was also damning. Just seconds after telling them, “they just stabbed me and my kids ... my little boys” she turned her attention to the possibility of prints on the weapon.

“God ... I bet if we could have gotten the prints maybe,” she said. It jarred with police and the jury.

A lack of obvious motive is normally fatal to a prosecution case. Except in a very small number of cases, such brutal murders are almost never committed simply for the killers enjoyment — so called thrill kills.

In court, a theory was advanced that she was a materialistic woman under increasing financial pressure who believed the children were preventing her from enjoying the lifestyle she enjoyed.

The jury deliberated for just eight hours, a very small amount of time for such a serious trial.

Also problematic for her was blood splatter analysis. Experts testified the blood patterns indicated she was the stabber, and the fact her wounds could have been self-inflicted.

She was found guilty and on February 1, 1997, she was sentenced to death by lethal injection.

The murder weapon, a knife taken from the kitchen.

A scene from a video shot by police. It shows the bloody mess the family home was turned into.

Darlie’s own injuries were extensive. As well as wounds to her arms her throat was cut almost from side to side.

THE FIGHT TO FREE HER

Lawyers who took on her case believe the jury got a slanted view of Routier. For instance, the footage of her smiling and celebrating at the grave side came immediately after a sombre two hour memorial service.

Then there is Darin Routier, the husband.

Lawyer Stephen Cooper argued Darin wasn’t investigated thoroughly enough. After all, he later admitted to insurance fraud and a plan to stage a home robbery.

If his wife had of died from her injuries he would have pocketed $250,000. To add to the confusing picture, Mr Routier later failed a polygraph test organised by a wealthy businessman.

And that bloody sock.

Mr Cooper believes it wasn’t possible for her to have stabbed the boys, ran the 100m to hid the sock, return to the house and cut the window screen, before inflicting her own wounds.

Furthermore, in Dateline Purgatory, Kathy Cruz maintains tunnel visioned police officers unprepared for such a massive crime, combined with the actions of a few in the legal system created a “perfect storm” that led to her conviction.

So far though, their concerns have fallen on deaf ears.

Darlie Routier giving evidence in a Dallas courtroom.

Darin Routier waits outside court for the jury to return their verdict. He divorced Darlie in 2011.

Prisoner ... Darlie Routier is now on death row.

THE FUTURE

For now, Darlie Routier is left to wait in her nine-foot by six foot cell for her appeal to move forward. Last year fresh DNA testing was granted on several objects from the home she hopes will point conclusively to someone else being the killer.

Even though he says he still loves her, and believes she is innocent, Darin divorced her in 2011.

Originally published as Darlie Routier is on death row but did she really kill her children?