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Darlie Lynn Peck Routier (born January 4, 1970) is an American woman from
Rowlett, Texas Rowlett (, traditionally ) is a city in Dallas and Rockwall counties in the U.S. state of Texas, and an eastern suburb of Dallas. The total population estimate is 73,270 in 2021. It is a growing, upscale community with nearly $1.5 billion in dev ...
, who was convicted and
sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
for the murder of her five-year-old son Damon in 1996. She has also been charged with capital murder in the death of her six-year-old son, Devon, who was murdered at the same time as Damon. To date, Routier has not been tried for Devon’s murder. Damon and Devon were stabbed to death with a large kitchen knife in Routier's home, while Routier sustained knife wounds to her throat and arm. Routier told authorities that the crime was perpetrated by an unidentified intruder. During the trial, the
prosecution A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...
argued that Routier's injuries were self-inflicted, that the crime scene had been staged, and that she murdered her sons because of the family's financial difficulties; the defense argued that there was no reason Routier would have killed her children, and that the case did not have a motive, a
confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...
, or any witnesses. In February 1997, the jury found Routier guilty of the murder of Damon, and sentenced her to death by lethal injection. Two appeals filed by Routier, who maintains her innocence, based on allegations of irregularities during the trial were denied. Since at least 2018,
DNA tests Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...
have been ordered multiple times after technology has advanced. As of 2022, the results of these tests are still pending. Routier's case has been the subject of multiple
book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physi ...
s and
television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...
s. Routier's ex-husband believes that she is innocent.


Murders

On June 6, 1996, at 2:31 am, 9-1-1 dispatchers in
Rowlett, Texas Rowlett (, traditionally ) is a city in Dallas and Rockwall counties in the U.S. state of Texas, and an eastern suburb of Dallas. The total population estimate is 73,270 in 2021. It is a growing, upscale community with nearly $1.5 billion in dev ...
, received a call from the Routier residence at 5801 Eagle Drive. Routier told the operator that her home had been broken in to and that an intruder had stabbed her children, six-year-old Devon and five-year-old Damon, and cut her throat. Police arrived within three minutes of the 9-1-1 call. They discovered a window screen in the garage had been cut, which indicated a possible entry point for an intruder. A search of the house and grounds did not locate an intruder. Having thus secured the site, police permitted paramedics to attend to the victims. Routier told the police that she had fallen asleep on the couch with her two boys while watching television, only to wake up later and discover an unknown man in her house. She stated that as she approached him, the man fled, dropping the knife in a utility room as he ran. After picking up the knife and chasing him away, Routier said she realized that she and her children had been wounded and that she called 9-1-1. Police found it highly suspicious that Routier and her sons had been severely wounded by an armed intruder without waking her until after the attack had occurred. Routier told police that the assailant escaped through the garage. Investigators said that the garage contained no blood drops, and added that indications were that no one had run through there at all. The window sills in the garage had untouched layers of dust, including the window that had been cut, implying that no one had actually climbed through it, and the mulch in the flower beds between the garage and the backyard gate was undisturbed. However, an unknown fingerprint was found on the windowsill that did not belong to anyone in the family. 75 yards away from the house, a bloody sock was discovered. Lab tests revealed it had blood from both of Routier's sons on it. Both Damon and Devon sustained fatal injuries. Her wounds, described as superficial, came within two millimeters of her carotid artery. Routier was treated at a hospital and released two days later. Her youngest son, 7-month-old Drake, was asleep upstairs with her husband Darin at the time of the murders; both escaped harm. Newscasts showed Routier and other family members holding a birthday party at the boys' grave to posthumously celebrate Devon's seventh birthday eight days after the murders. She was shown smiling and laughing as she sprayed Silly String on the graves in celebration, singing " Happy Birthday". Family members point out that the newscasts did not show an earlier video that depicted a solemn ceremony honoring the children. Four days later, on June 18, Routier was arrested and charged with capital murder. Routier later commented on the video, saying, "He wanted to be seven. I did the only thing I knew to do to honor him and give him all his wishes because he wasn't here anymore. But how do you know what you're going to do when you lose two children? How do you know how you're going to act?"


Trial

Routier's trial began on January 6, 1997, in
Kerrville, Texas Kerrville is a city in, and the county seat of, Kerr County, Texas, United States. The population of Kerrville was 24,278 at the 2020 census. Kerrville is named after James Kerr, a major in the Texas Revolution, and friend of settler- ...
. The
prosecution A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...
suggested that Routier murdered her sons because of the family's financial difficulties, and described Routier as "...a self-centered woman, a materialistic woman, and a woman cold enough, in fact, to murder her own two children.” Jurors also saw the Silly String video. Crime scene consultant James Cron testified that evidence suggested the scene inside the Routier residence had been staged. The prosecution also suggested there was a financial motive for the murders since both boys had a life insurance policy on them. The defense contended that this amounted to only $10,000, not enough to cover their funeral expenses. Furthermore they asked why, if she was willing to murder for money, she did not kill her husband instead as he had an $800,000 life insurance policy. The defense also questioned why, if she killed her sons to preserve her lavish lifestyle, she left her youngest son, seven-month-old Drake, alive and unharmed. Routier was represented at trial by lawyer Douglas Mulder. Defense attorneys said that there was no reason why she would have killed her children and that the case did not have a motive, a confession or any witnesses. They asserted that it was unrealistic to accuse Routier of staging a crime scene. Her attorneys advised her not to appear on the witness stand, but she testified anyway and "withered under
cross-examination In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, South Africa, India and Pakistan known as examination-in-chief) and ...
by prosecutor Toby Shook."
San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...
chief medical examiner Vincent DiMaio testified that the wound to Routier's neck came within two millimeters of her carotid artery and that it was not consistent with the self-inflicted wounds he had seen in the past. That differed from the assertions of her treating physicians, who had told police officials that the wounds might have been self-inflicted. Tom Bevel testified that cast-off blood found on the back of Routier's nightshirt indicated that she had raised the knife over her head as she withdrew it from each boy to stab again. One crucial aspect of the defense case was the bloody sock found outside the house. While the police contended that this was merely a ruse designed to falsely implicate an intruder had fled the scene, the defense contended that it proved Routier could not have committed the crime. Damon was alive when the paramedics arrived on the scene and the medical examiner testified that the boy could only have survived approximately eight minutes after receiving his injuries. Routier was on the phone with 9-1-1 for almost six minutes. The defense argued that this did not leave enough time for Routier to cut herself, stage the crime scene, plant the sock outside the house and then return before the paramedics arrived. They also stated that, despite her injuries, Routier's blood was not found in the garage or anywhere outside the home. The prosecution countered that Routier could have planted the sock before self-inflicting her own injuries, and the medical examiner's stated survival time for Damon after he was stabbed was only an estimation. On February 1, Routier was convicted of murdering Damon. On February 4, she was
sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
by lethal injection. Women sentenced to death under Texas law are housed in the
Mountain View Unit Mountain View Unit is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison housing female offenders in Gatesville, Texas. The unit, with about of land, is located north of central Gatesville on Farm to Market Road 215. The prison is located in a 45 ...
in
Gatesville, Texas Gatesville is a city in and the county seat of Coryell County, Texas, United States. Its population was 16,135 at the 2020 census. The city has five of the nine prisons and state jails for women operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. ...
.


Post-trial claims and appeals

Defense attorneys allege numerous errors were made during Routier's trial and in the official transcript of it, as well as the investigation of the murders, especially at the crime scene. An
appeals court A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...
dismissed these claims, as did a court ruling on her ''
habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
'' petition. In June 2008, Routier was granted the right to new
DNA test Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, o ...
s. Her appeals were remanded to the state level for improved DNA testing. On January 29, 2014, Chief Judge of the Western District Fred Biery granted a request from prosecution and defense for her case for further DNA tests vital to the defense to be performed on a bloody fingerprint found in the house, a bloody sock and her nightshirt. In 2018, the Criminal District Court No. 3 ordered a third round of DNA testing with the backing of both prosecution and defense.


Divorce

In June 2011, Darin Routier filed for
divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...
from his wife, saying that the decision was mutual and "very difficult," and that he still believes his wife is innocent. He said that they decided to divorce to end the "limbo" that they had been in since her arrest and conviction.


In media


Books

The 1999 book ''Precious Angels: A True Story of Two Slain Children and a Mother Convicted of Murder'' by Barbara Davis accounted for Routier's guilt. The author has since changed her mind and now supports Routier by donating all the income from the book to her family. In the 2015 book ''Dateline Purgatory: Examining the Case that Sentenced Darlie Routier to Death'' journalist Kathy Cruz engages legal experts for their assessments on Routier's trial transgressions and highlighting the controversies of the death penalty conviction. Throughout the book Cruz collaborates with a former FBI special agent on her examination of the case.


Television

An October 1999 episode of the
TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...
documentary series '' Medical Detectives'' titled "Invisible Intruder" , reports on how detectives discovered who the killer was by analyzing the crime scene's blood spatter, Darlie's 911 call and the
offender profiling Offender profiling, also known as criminal profiling, is an investigative strategy used by law enforcement agencies to identify likely suspects and has been used by investigators to link cases that may have been committed by the same perpetrator ...
of her behavior. ''
Unsolved Mysteries ''Unsolved Mysteries'' is an American mystery documentary television show, created by John Cosgrove and Terry Dunn Meurer. Documenting cold cases and paranormal phenomena, it began as a series of seven specials, presented by Raymond Burr, Ka ...
'' with Robert Stack covered the case in Season 12 Episode 6. The case was again revisited on Unsolved Mysteries with
Dennis Farina Donaldo Gugliermo "Dennis" Farina (February 29, 1944 – July 22, 2013) was an American actor. Often typecast as a mobster or police officer, he is known for roles such as FBI Agent Jack Crawford in '' Manhunter'', mobster Jimmy Serrano in th ...
. Both episodes shared evidence from both sides of the case, including those who claim Darlie to be innocent and those pointing towards her guilt. An episode of the CBS News series '' 48 Hours'' titled ''Precious Angels'' is derived from the true-crime book of the same title, authored by Barbara Davis, which first aired August 10, 2001. CBS correspondent Bill Lagattuta interviewed Darin Routier, the incarcerated Darlie Routier and Davis about the slayings; associated public officials and defense attorneys were also interviewed. The
Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of February 2015, approximately 86 million Amer ...
network aired an episode of
Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with u ...
's series ''On Death Row'' titled "Darlie Routier" that covered the case in Season 2, Episode 2, broadcast on September 10, 2013. An
American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Cali ...
(ABC) seven-episode documentary series, '' The Last Defense'' examines the death row cases of Darlie Routier and Julius Jones. The series premiered on June 12, 2018, profiling Routier's case in a four-part episode: :* "Series Premiere – Darlie Routier: The Crime", , air date: June 12, 2018. :* "Darlie Routier: The Trial", , air date: June 19, 2018. :* "Darlie Routier: The Woman", , air date: June 26, 2018. :* "Darlie Routier: The Fight", , air date: July 3, 2018. Jones' sentence has since been commuted to life without parole, while Routier remains on death row. In 2019, ABC also aired a two-part documentary about Routier's case as part of its ''20/20'' newsmagazine. In 2020, ITV broadcast the documentary ''Death Row's Women with Susanna Reid'' in which the British journalist travelled to Texas to interview Routier face to face over the course of an hour.https://www.itv.com/watch/death-rows-women-with-susanna-reid/2a8092


See also

*
List of women on death row in the United States This is a list of women on death row in the United States. The number of death row inmates fluctuates daily with new convictions, appellate decisions overturning conviction or sentence alone, commutations, or deaths (through execution or otherw ...
*
List of women executed in the United States since 1976 Since 1976, when the Supreme Court of the United States lifted the moratorium on capital punishment in '' Gregg v. Georgia'', 18 women have been executed in the United States. Women represent less than 1.15 percent of the 1,561 executions perform ...
* Susan Smith


References


Further reading

* *


External links


Darlie Facts
defense attorney's website
Routier's profile on Texas Death RowThe Darlie Routier Case
{{DEFAULTSORT:Routier, Darlie 1970 births 1996 in Texas 1996 murders in the United States 20th-century American criminals American female murderers American murderers of children American people convicted of murder American prisoners sentenced to death Criminals from Texas Filicides in Texas Living people People convicted of murder by Texas People from Altoona, Pennsylvania People from Rowlett, Texas Prisoners sentenced to death by Texas Women sentenced to death