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1997 DARLIE ROUTIER — Transcript

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0:03she led a charmed life but now Darlie
0:07routier sits on death row for murdering
0:10her children Damon and Devon I'm
0:15innocent
0:16I've been done wrong she is a
0:19cold-blooded killer some are wondering
0:21did Darlie do it the woman who sat
0:25across from me either she's an Academy
0:27Award winning actress or she didn't
0:29murder those points we will not stop
0:32until we proved her innocence and she's
0:34home
0:45[Applause]
0:49[Music]
0:54I'm 100% innocent did not murder to have
0:58an indictment
1:01she is one of eight women in Texas who
1:04sit on death row in 1997 Darlie Linn
1:10routier was sentenced to death for the
1:12murder of her five-year-old son Damon
1:14she has also been accused of but not
1:17tried for the murder of her other son
1:19Devon I've been wrongfully convicted I'm
1:22innocent
1:23I've been done wrong years after the
1:32murders the case still sparks
1:33controversy there are no gray areas some
1:36believe she did it
1:37some are equally adamant that she didn't
1:39affect even the 12 jurors in Kirk County
1:42would have found her not guilty if
1:44they'd heard all the evidence she is a
1:46cold-blooded killer the routier story
1:49began in the early morning hours of June
1:516 1996 in their home in Rowlett a suburb
1:54of Dallas her husband Darin routier had
1:58been asleep upstairs with their seven
1:59month-old son Drake since his birth
2:02Darlie had been having trouble sleeping
2:04when he cried at night so when the boys
2:07Damon and Devon decided to sleep
2:09downstairs she stayed with them then at
2:132:30 a.m. all hell broke loose
2:19first thing I hear is this real light
2:22last break the next thing I hear is
2:25dolly screaming I mean screaming as loud
2:28as any person you've ever heard I ran
2:31downstairs and as soon as I get to the
2:35edge of stairs I think gosh just
2:36freaking I mean she has Devin Devin
2:37Devin Devin Devin I mean she's just
2:39going off and just saying a million
2:41times in a row I get downstairs I'm
2:49running right straight over to Devin and
2:50he's laying face-up he's got this look
2:53on his face of nothing he's two huge
2:57gashes in his chest
2:58Devin had been stabbed while sleeping I
3:01[Music]
3:08tried to revive him I gave him CPR I
3:10blew into his mouth as soon as I blew
3:12into his mouth blood came out of his
3:14chest and it was just a complete hole I
3:17put my hands over trying to hold the
3:19holes closed and then I look up and
3:21Damon's laying over 12 feet away from
3:24him up against the floor and he's just
3:27laying there and he's not you know he's
3:29moving a little bit Darin routier was so
3:31intent on trying to save first Devin and
3:34then Damon that he didn't even realize
3:36his own wife's throat had been slashed
3:37and she was bleeding profusely and I saw
3:42the blood everywhere I mean you look at
3:44the crime scene photos and in you know
3:46in evidence the carpet is blood red from
3:49one end to the house to the other and
3:51all of mostly all of darlie's maddali
3:54almost bled to death
3:56when the paramedics arrived they found
3:58six and a half year-old Devin dead and
4:00five-year-old Damon barely clinging to
4:03life we believe he was stabbed laying
4:07down and he was stabbed in the back
4:08that's the younger of the two of them
4:10okay he he obviously gets up and puts
4:15his hand on his mommy
4:16that's how Darla says she wakes up in
4:18her written statement to police Darlie
4:21said she was asleep on the couch when
4:22she heard Damon cry
4:24she also said quote there was a man
4:27standing down at my feet walking away
4:29from me the Rowlett police descended on
4:34the house
4:35Darlie ki remembers that scene outside
4:38her daughter's home probably 30 or 40
4:42people around and there were lights and
4:44stuff on the house and the yellow tape
4:46was going up and we were police officers
4:49running in and out of the house
4:52contaminating everything all the
4:53evidence on the floor adding footprints
4:56to it's smashing blood spots on the
4:58floor police scoured the area and found
5:01no intruder what they did find was a cut
5:04window screen in the garage a sock with
5:06blood drops on it in the alley and
5:08inside on the kitchen counter a bloody
5:11knife
5:13Darlie said she picked up the knife
5:15after finding it in the utility room but
5:17nothing was stolen even the jewelry
5:20Darlie had left on the kitchen counter
5:22was still there intact people were very
5:24afraid that this person was just
5:26prowling around the streets of the town
5:27and was going to strike again the riot
5:30police unaccustomed to dealing with
5:32murders like this brought in James Kron
5:34a retired Dallas investigator to examine
5:37the crime scene I noticed the blood or
5:40lack of blood in some cases there was a
5:43lack of evidence connecting a suspect to
5:46this all we had was a scene in victims
5:47and therefore one of the victims became
5:50the suspect we didn't start looking at
5:52the mother till of 20-30 minutes in when
5:54I told him I said something's wrong with
5:56this scene five-year-old Damon routier
5:59died on the way to the hospital
6:01and as Darlie was rushed into surgery
6:04investigators were already zeroing in on
6:06a suspect we're convinced it wasn't just
6:09a random act no one is being ruled in or
6:12out as suspects when we come back just
6:15who is Darlie routier
6:18[Music]
6:22stay off the grass everything's changed
6:27but I had was Senate Opia compared to
6:31what my life is like with now the root
6:34ears had lost two sons within a few
6:36hours we couldn't believe what was
6:40happening
6:41now that our babies were murdered that I
6:44was left for dead you know who would do
6:47this why would somebody do this you know
6:51you have so many questions
6:53the Rowlett police had many questions as
6:56well and soon after her surgery Darlie
6:59was interviewed from the onset the root
7:02ears cooperated fully
7:06by the morning of June 6th news of the
7:09murders had spread throughout Rowlett a
7:11community of 40,000 it's like everybody
7:15else around here you just it just seems
7:19safe enough you know as long as your
7:21doors locked you're fine I mean
7:23apparently not most people who live here
7:26work someplace else usually in Dallas
7:29it's a fairly affluent town a fairly
7:32young town as well the median income is
7:34somewhere around 65,000 most people are
7:38in their 30s or 40s in comparison the
7:42root ears were young only in their mid
7:4420s but apparently affluent just 15 when
7:48she met Darrin I introduced them at the
7:50Western Sizzlin steakhouse where I
7:53worked with Darrin it was Mother's Day I
7:55believe of 1985 I think and she walked
8:02in with me and that was it
8:03Darrin was smitten in 1988 they were
8:07married Darlie was 18 Darrin
8:10just 20 I was living what a lot of
8:14people can only hope to live you know
8:17very fortunate I felt very blessed
8:21had a wonderful happy home three little
8:24healthy happy boys good marriage you
8:29know we were happy
8:33Darrin ran his own business making
8:35circuit boards for computers the family
8:38lived in a quarter of a million dollar
8:39home at expensive cars a boat on a
8:42nearby lake and Darlie was always
8:45fashionably dressed and jeweled in 1989
8:48Devon was born
8:49followed by Damon two years later then
8:52great in 1995
8:57she's one of the most awesome mothers
8:59you've ever seen she's the one that goes
9:01to the PTA meetings and makes all these
9:04little we'd stayed up all night one not
9:05before Easter making these little bitty
9:07Easter eggs with bunny ears and all that
9:10stuff of hot glue and you know that's
9:13the way she is I mean she's the type of
9:14mother that gets down on the floor and
9:16wrestles with the boys Devon was the
9:23happy-go-lucky center of attention top
9:27kid you know loved to make you laugh
9:30very smart
9:32walked me I mean I went to electronic
9:34school and he taught me how to use
9:36Windows 95 at five years old what can
9:41you do Damon was quiet he didn't talk
9:44very much very you know kind and very
9:47kind of soft you know not rough
9:49not a rough little boy before the
9:50murders Darlie and Darin had made future
9:53plans they wanted to renew their wedding
9:55vows go on vacation but their first
9:58priority was a seventh birthday party
10:00for Devon and invitations had already
10:03been sent but the celebration took place
10:08here at the boy's graveside just eight
10:11days after the murder and this is what
10:13it looked like when it hit the air in
10:14Dallas instead of a grief-stricken
10:19mother it showed a smiling gum-chewing
10:22Darlie dressed in shorts
10:24spraying silly string onto her child's
10:26grave I couldn't fathom a grieving
10:29mother standing out there laughing
10:33parading around on these graves shooting
10:35silly string it had just repulsed me as
10:38a parent I have to tell you then most
10:44people couldn't understand how a mother
10:45could act like this but the routiers
10:47vehemently defend that graveside
10:49celebration that whole scenario we're
10:53not sorry for we would do it again the
10:56reason why it was done is out of honor
10:58for them an honor for Devon unselfish
11:07love nothing but pure love done for him
11:10because he wanted to be seven even so
11:13the silly stream tape would prove to be
11:15a big mistake
11:16I don't believe bad taste equates to
11:19criminal responsibility but that wasn't
11:22the only video being recorded that day
11:24unbeknownst to anyone
11:26police had set up a video surveillance
11:28camera at the gravesite and on the tape
11:31you can see what transpired before the
11:34birthday celebration
11:37prior to that birthday party celebration
11:40there was a two-hour memorial service
11:43with all the appropriate sermons crying
11:47hugs and sobs among the family and
11:50friends that were there and police also
11:52recorded Darlie sister Dana at the grave
11:55it was her idea to bring silly-string
12:01then later on she and Darlie returned to
12:04the cemetery the root ears believed that
12:09while they were grieving the police were
12:11out looking for the intruder a strange
12:13black car had been seen several times in
12:16the neighborhood they had hundreds of
12:19leads and had people calling in and
12:21there was you know neighbor across the
12:23street saw the black car saw the black
12:25car you know plenty of neighbors saw a
12:28black car but without a license plate
12:30number what do you got what the Blues
12:33had was this a blood trail that ended in
12:36the utility room that connects to the
12:38garage there was also a cut window
12:40screen and a son with drops of blood on
12:43it left by a sewer drain in the
12:48for a crime so bloody and vicious police
12:51believe there should have been much more
12:52evidence of a disturbance and then there
12:55were darlie's statements about the
12:56intruder they were just not adding up
12:59the original story on the 911 tape was
13:02that she woke up and she began fighting
13:04with the man at the couch when the
13:13officers come to the scene she says that
13:15she woke up she chased this man fought
13:17with him in the kitchen so you see now
13:20we have a progression to the fact that
13:21she woke up and she saw a man walking
13:23away from her with no struggle police
13:26called the root tears back in for more
13:27questioning my dad kind of thought after
13:30four or five interviews with the police
13:33that you know they something's not right
13:35here
13:35and he talked to Darlie and Darren and
13:39they both said you know innocent people
13:41don't need attorneys what police were
13:44doing was gathering evidence enough to
13:47pin the murders on Darlie On June 18th
13:50Darlie Lynne routier was arrested for
13:53the murders of her sons Damon and Devon
13:55we believe that the white male suspect
13:57described by Darlie routier as the man
14:00that attacked her and murdered her
14:01children never existed we also believe
14:04that the wounds present on Darlie
14:05routier were self-inflicted
14:07as for the father Darin routier at this
14:11point we do not believe that he was
14:12involved in or participated in the
14:14murders
14:14I saw Harlan arrested on TV I had no
14:17idea we had no idea
14:21coming up Darlie on trial
14:26this was not an investigation as much as
14:29an evidence collection process focusing
14:32simply on Darlie routier
14:39ready let me see the other one you keep
14:43thinking that you know you're innocent
14:48and you know you keep waiting for them
14:52to come back and tell you that oh we've
14:55made a terrible mistake and we're so
14:57sorry and you know we found you do this
15:00but it was not like that at all
15:03in fact it was beginning to look more
15:05like the Susan Smith case comes to Texas
15:07Fox 4 TV reporter Jeff Crilley remembers
15:11the mediate friends oh it was huge
15:13everybody thought while we have a Susan
15:16Smith right here in our own backyard
15:19a mother well-to-do lived in an affluent
15:23neighborhood in a in a nice suburb and
15:26she killed her own kids I mean it was it
15:29was so big that we couldn't do enough
15:32Darley stories what do you think
15:34happened that night I think that we had
15:37the prettiest house on the block and I
15:39think that I had the prettiest wife on
15:41the block and I believe that someone
15:44decided to follow her home from the
15:47grocery store follow her home from
15:49obtaining salon I don't know darlie's
15:51arrest sent the routier family reeling
15:54in the midst of grieving for Damon and
15:56Devon they now had to focus totally on
15:58darlie's arrest or crying all the time
16:01we were just you know couldn't get off
16:03the couch I mean we were just that you
16:05know ever devastated
16:06Child Protective Services took
16:08seven-month-old Drake into their custody
16:10but Darrin's parents serilda and Leonard
16:13routier filed for and one temporary
16:16custody
16:20with Darlie behind bars the district
16:23attorney's office began building their
16:25strategy there were very calculated
16:27efforts made throughout this crime to
16:30try to divert attention to try to
16:31mislead the police to this day the
16:34sequence of events is unclear but the
16:36state argued that Darlie had not only
16:38murdered her children but before
16:40slashing her own throat
16:41put the murder weapon in the utility
16:43room cut the garage screen window and
16:46put the sock in the alley prosecutors
16:49claimed Darlie planned it all hoping to
16:52make it appear an intruder had been in
16:54the house why would someone take a sock
16:57out of the home you mean to tell me
16:59they're gonna leave a murder weapon
17:01behind with their fingerprints perhaps
17:02on and they're gonna take a sock down an
17:04alleyway I don't think the Rudi Ayers
17:07either one of them would have been
17:08sophisticated enough to plant something
17:09down the down the alley near a trash
17:12receptacle I think that's more
17:16consistent with someone discarding
17:18something as he flees just three months
17:22before the trial
17:23Dallas attorney Doug Mulder replaced
17:25darlie's court-appointed attorneys by
17:28that time it had been decided to try the
17:30case in Kerrville it makes absolutely no
17:35sense to me to move a case from a area
17:40of 2 million to an area of 20 thousand
17:42on the basis of publicity
17:44I mean it's absurd so and the first
17:48thing I try to do when I got into the
17:49case was moving back doubts but judge
17:52toll wasn't wasn't about to move it
17:54located 60 miles west of San Antonio in
17:57the high country Kerrville drastically
17:59differs from Dallas and is known for
18:01being conservative the prosecution
18:06sought the death penalty under Texas law
18:09damon root ears murder is considered a
18:11capital offense because he was under six
18:13years of age
18:14On January 6th 1997 the trial began she
18:22came into the courtroom she had this
18:24kind of smug look on her face the the
18:27police described her as a woman who was
18:31living in the fast lane that she and her
18:33husband had accumulated some dead and so
18:37she was she was despised and people
18:39hated her
18:40no television cameras were permitted
18:42inside the courtroom but each day it was
18:45filled to capacity
18:47prosecutors said the root ears had
18:49severe financial problems that prevented
18:51Darley from living the highlife bank
18:54statements reveal that the root ears had
18:56less than 2,500 dollars in their account
18:58the day of the murders and were behind
19:01on mortgage payments I could not believe
19:03the opening statements from Greg Davis
19:06she killed her children because she was
19:09tired of her lifestyle
19:10give me a break she lived for those
19:12children everything about her life was
19:15her family there was financial pressure
19:18there because of her level of spending
19:19their income was leveling off that's one
19:21thing we know too that she was depressed
19:24she's unhappy following the birth of her
19:26third son
19:27in fact she's attempted to commit
19:29suicide a month earlier in her home
19:31according to her own journal so she's
19:33unhappy indeed root ears journal does
19:36say she cannot go on and hopes that
19:38Devin Damon and Drake will forgive her
19:41but Darin routier insists his wife was
19:44not suicidal
19:45I mean just because a woman has the baby
19:49blues doesn't mean she's gonna kill our
19:50children Andrew - you're absolutely
19:53denies having financial problems I had
19:55$26,000 on my books but you work did you
19:59have financial problems at that time no
20:01I did
20:04the wounds that she had suffered were
20:06dramatically different than the wounds
20:08that the children have suffered you have
20:09to remember their wounds were deep
20:11penetrating stab wounds to the chest
20:13area and to the back to the torso hers
20:16on the other hand are slashes cuts to
20:20the extremities into the neck area the
20:22defense argued that Darlie was
20:23right-handed and in order to slash her
20:26own neck and stab her right arm she
20:28would have had to change hands I don't
20:31believe that Darlie routier would you
20:34know had the presence of mind to do that
20:38upon the witness stand crime-scene
20:40investigator James cron emphatically
20:42stated that no intruder ever entered the
20:45house I think mr. cron missed his
20:47calling what what he should be as a
20:49psychic reader he was out there 20
20:51minutes on the scene and he's already
20:53solved the case doesn't have a
20:55fingerprint hadn't talked to anybody
20:56hadn't seen any of the evidence lab
20:59tests revealed that another kitchen
21:01knife contained fibers from the window
21:03screen that had been cut and that the
21:05bloody fingerprints throughout the house
21:06belong only to Darlie Damon and Devon
21:09and not anyone else
21:11the defense accused police of
21:14contaminating the semen and not
21:16preserving the evidence obviously when
21:18you take some bloody clothing and still
21:20wet with blood you stuff it into a paper
21:23sack you certainly risk the possibility
21:26of transferring bloodstains from one
21:28location in the shirt to another FBI
21:30profiler Alan brently who examined the
21:32crime-scene photos and other reports
21:34testified for the state the major
21:37contradiction starting out was you have
21:39an absolute maximum of human devastation
21:41and loss of life these two young
21:43children and you have an absolute
21:46minimum of property damage it's almost
21:48like the offender was very careful not
21:51to disturb or damage the personal
21:54property that he found or encountered in
21:56his home there probably many people in
21:58this country who would be scared to
21:59death of having the FBI come down and
22:03start testifying that someone is
22:05statistically guilty Brantly believed
22:09that for this type of crime there would
22:11have been much more chaos inside the
22:13home than just an overturned vacuum
22:15cleaner and a broken wineglass for
22:17someone to have hit that wine rack with
22:19sufficient force to cause that glass to
22:21be dislodged you should have dislodged
22:23another other items that were even more
22:25fragile and lighter on that wine rack
22:26and the outside was also to board early
22:30the gate was shut and the windowsill and
22:32the mulch on the ground were undisturbed
22:34the mulch outside the yard wasn't
22:36disturbed will beneath the window was
22:38concrete there's no mouse to be
22:39disturbed
22:40Lloyd Harrell was the investigator for
22:42the defense he says there's no way that
22:45crime scene was staged she never said I
22:47had a violent confrontation that the
22:50vacuum cleaner was overthrown that the
22:52glass was broken so why would somebody
22:54invent a story set a stage and then not
22:59use it but the crime scene wasn't the
23:01only weapon the prosecution used
23:03darlie's behavior was on trial as well
23:06they questioned whether she really cared
23:09about her children at all Julie Clark
23:12darlie's good friend testified in her
23:14defense she was a very supportive mother
23:18of her children everything she did she
23:19geared toward her children in her life
23:21and the prosecution said the 9-1-1 call
23:24revealed if Darlie had other things on
23:26her mind aside from her dying children
23:36they point to her phone call they say
23:39that that's not something somebody would
23:41say if they just lost their kids that
23:44you you wouldn't be thinking along those
23:45lines on the stand the first officer at
23:48the crime scene reported that even after
23:50telling Darlie to help Damon she never
23:52went to him instead she stayed on the
23:55phone with 911 written statement
23:59contradicts that
24:01and there's another contradiction notes
24:04taken at Baylor Hospital described our
24:06Lee as tearful frightened and sobbing
24:08uncontrollably but when the nurses
24:11testified at trial they changed their
24:13story saying Darlie never grieved or
24:15cried for her children the defense says
24:18the nurses were coached before their
24:20testimony they had a brainstorming
24:22session with the Baylor nurses out at
24:23the wild Hilton how they ended discuss
24:26the bruising and the pictures and talk
24:29about it discuss it you make your mind
24:31up it certainly eliminates candor
24:34outside the courtroom both sides played
24:37to the media and sometimes it got nasty
24:40well I think it says that there was no
24:42intruder
24:43period
24:45do I have to interview in front of this
24:47trailer-trash over here okay you were
24:52never in that house you don't know that
24:54family you don't know anything about it
24:55you come down here it's a political move
24:59next Darlie takes the stand
25:08how damaging was that silly-string tape
25:11I think that was the key I think that
25:13was the key to the prosecutor's case
25:14Greg Davis the prosecutor he knew that
25:17that was his ringer should have never
25:19have even been admitted in the court had
25:20nothing to do with the crime the jury
25:23did see the silly-string tape but not
25:26the police surveillance tape
25:27that's because amazingly the defense
25:30never asked for it to be admitted into
25:31evidence it was more important to stress
25:34that the police by videotaping
25:36surreptitiously had violated a federal
25:38law against wiretapping when questioned
25:42on the stand about the taping detectives
25:44took the fifth they did not want to
25:46incriminate themselves the entire
25:49ability to attack the state's case
25:50through normally the best witnesses
25:52which the investigators were denied the
25:54defense and then Darlie took the stand
25:57and her testimony was devastating to her
25:59defense she is not sympathetic and when
26:02she took the stand she was a terrible
26:04witness she wasn't sure a trial whether
26:06she was awake or asleep when she got
26:08stabbed she wasn't sure whether she was
26:10awake or asleep when she was supposedly
26:13beaten by this intruder she couldn't
26:16explain how she could sleep through the
26:17attack of these two children when one of
26:19them is one foot away from her all of
26:21that occurred on direct examination by
26:23mr. Mulder and Darlie did not come
26:25across did not make as good a witness as
26:28I had hoped she would the defense was
26:31caught off guard when prosecutors
26:32presented Darlie with letter she had
26:34written to friends from prison in them
26:37she wrote she knew who murdered her boys
26:40that was quite a different story
26:42since up until that moment Darlie
26:44claimed she never knew the intruder when
26:47confronted with the letters she
26:49dissolved into tears in
26:51cross-examination the defense explained
26:54the letters by saying that Darlie was
26:55only repeating what she had heard from
26:57others but it was too late
26:59the only time we saw genuine tears when
27:01she was called in some lies and that's
27:03when we saw the true fear it was fear
27:05for herself because she realized she
27:07realized what a fake she's in that
27:09despite her testimony Darlie and the
27:11defense remained optimistic
27:13after four weeks the jury adjourned and
27:16deliberated for just seven hours they
27:19returned with a guilty verdict they've
27:22admitted having watched that tape seven
27:24eight nine times and that was just
27:26purely inflammatory evidence it is based
27:29on an eye that the whole theory of its
27:31relevance is that someone can look at
27:33any video of somebody ten days after
27:37this horrific event and tell whether
27:42they're a killer or not she was a
27:43so-called light sleeper in other words
27:46she woke up in the evenings when her
27:49baby son moved around in the crib but
27:52she didn't wake up when her two boys are
27:54being stabbed within feet away from her
27:57you know she she would have heard that
28:00there was very little remorse I mean she
28:04should she hardly ever cried but it was
28:06far from over
28:07next came the punishment phase and I
28:10begged them I said you have made the
28:12wrong decision but you don't have to
28:14compound it by giving her death
28:17you know something has gone really
28:20seriously wrong here
28:21and please just please give us time to
28:27find out what really happened the jury
28:30returned with the death sentence I knew
28:32that they would give her the death
28:34penalty
28:35that's what they're there for that's
28:37what you find out about death penalty
28:39cases is that in order to be on a death
28:42penalty jury you have to believe in the
28:44death penalty and in Texas there is no
28:47such thing as life without parole so the
28:50death penalty is the only guarantee that
28:52she won't get out
28:54nobody wants a person that kills two
28:55boys out on the street I wouldn't want
28:58her out on the street after twenty
29:01thirty years in prison but the case
29:04continues to intrigue the public today
29:07you can log on to Dolly's website and
29:09get the latest information on her case
29:11at least four books have been written
29:14about the murders one of them precious
29:16angels by crime writer Barbara Davis is
29:19a scathing indictment of Darlie routier
29:21anyone who reads it will be convinced of
29:24her guilt when I came back right to
29:27write the book I wanted it to be so
29:30certain that nobody would lose any sleep
29:32over this happening I wanted I was that
29:35convinced when I left the trial but soon
29:38after it was published Davis received
29:40new information that made her take a
29:42second look at the case the main thing
29:45that changed my mind when I first saw
29:46the pictures that I didn't get to see at
29:48the trial that just I began to get just
29:51literally sick at my stomach over it
29:54because they were such an important
29:56photographs the photos are of Darlie
29:58with horrendous bruises all over her
30:00arms and hands the defense says these
30:03bruises could not have been
30:04self-inflicted but could only have
30:06occurred in a violent struggle with an
30:08intruder Charley Sanford who sat on the
30:11jury says he never saw these photos
30:13either that one no this one I might have
30:20no not these three I didn't see if I had
30:23seen these during a trial she before as
30:27I'm concerned she'd be home with her
30:29family right now and not where she's at
30:32but another juror remembers seeing them
30:35I don't know if it was while she was
30:37under stand or if it was her husband it
30:38was on the stand but we saw those
30:40pictures and the bruises were on the
30:43inside of her arms
30:45author Barbara Davis is now so convinced
30:48of darlie's innocence
30:49that she has befriended the family and
30:51gives all money made from the book to
30:53darlie's Defense Fund for the last three
30:56years dart press has also been taking a
30:58second look at the case in 1999 Dallas
31:02reporter Jeff Crilley from Fox station
31:04KDFW aired a four-part series on the
31:07case when we first did this series we
31:12were on an island we were alone
31:14questioning whether or not she did it
31:16and now we're finding more and more
31:18media outlets here in Dallas questioning
31:21it - in the meantime Darren and the
31:31family have been trying to make life as
31:33normal as possible for Drake the only
31:35remaining son 7 months old when all this
31:39happened and he's my little buddy you
31:42know and we are together all the time 24
31:45hours a day see a lot of Devon and Damon
31:51in him he's very smart loves his parents
31:56very much doesn't really understand the
31:58situation but knows who mommy is and
32:01he's very very close to to Darren and to
32:05the rest of the family Darlie does see
32:08Drake but a glass separates them no
32:11human contact is allowed I've missed
32:16holding him and I miss singing him to
32:20sleep giving him a bath wiping his face
32:24when it's dirty all the things that you
32:27do when you're a mother they've taken
32:30that from me they've taken that from the
32:32drink next darlie's fight to save her
32:36life
32:37[Music]
32:41okay let's say did you get a cookie that
32:44did not kill my children I stand strong
32:48in that and I could look you in the eye
32:50and I could look everybody else in the
32:51eye because I didn't do it the evidence
32:55shows this there's overwhelming evidence
32:57that proves my innocence they continue
33:00to ignore it
33:02[Music]
33:03Darlie routier 'he's life is confined
33:06within these walls at Mountain View
33:08federal prison in Gatesville Texas
33:10isolated from the general prison
33:12population Darlie spends her time
33:14writing letters exercising in her cell
33:17and working at the prison's sewing
33:19quilts a beer brand a letter to somebody
33:23reading some a letter and they'll be
33:25talking about their children and going
33:28to school you think about what would
33:32Evan a diamond look like right now how
33:35tall would they be diamond was it was
33:40just fixing to get ready to start
33:41kindergarten when this happened
33:49you know you can't help from thinking
33:50about it all the time it's with me all
33:52the time you said to me that life would
33:58be easier if she had done it what did
34:01you mean by that
34:02if she had done it I could go on I could
34:05I don't know remarry live somewhere else
34:10not be put on camera every time someone
34:13asked me to to try to help wouldn't be
34:16any helping if she had done it you know
34:19if she had done it she would deserve to
34:20be where she's at the point is is that
34:23she didn't do it we can prove it and we
34:26will helping with their appeal every
34:29step of the way is attorney Stephen
34:32Cooper for years he's been discovering
34:35new information as well as uncovering
34:37serious discrepancies from root ears
34:39trial there's also been progress made in
34:43identifying a bloody fingerprint on the
34:45glass coffee table in the routier home
34:48the state's expert said the quality of
34:52the print was such that it would be of
34:55no value in trying to evaluate or to
34:59identify someone with we have since
35:03found out by other experts that there
35:05are sufficient points of identification
35:07as they refer to it in fingerprint lingo
35:10that yes a identification could be made
35:16if if we had comparable prints to
35:20compare them against the state believed
35:22the print belonged to either Damon or
35:24Devon but there were no means of
35:26comparison incredibly the coroner never
35:29took the boy's fingerprints in the
35:31spring of 2000 the boys bodies were
35:34exhumed to do just that we have sense in
35:38the last few weeks excluded Devon
35:41routier as being the source of that
35:44print and we hope in the next few weeks
35:48to have pretty clear evidence that it
35:51could not be diamonds either another
35:54issue is the credibility of the state's
35:56crime scene analyst Charles Lynch
35:58who
35:59told the court that fibers from the cut
36:00window screen were found on a kitchen
36:02knife we've since learned that this
36:07state's witness expert has been wholly
36:12incorrect in one or more other cases in
36:16his evaluation of evidence he was
36:19suffering from severe depression
36:22alcoholism apparently that was so bad
36:25that his own employers showed up and
36:27forcibly put him in a detox ward because
36:32they felt he was a danger to himself or
36:35others but perhaps the most
36:37extraordinary turn in this case involves
36:39the court transcripts and they're the
36:42reason why the appeal has been delayed
36:44so long the original transcript had over
36:4733,000 mistakes in it by a court
36:51reporter who took the Fifth Amendment
36:54when we tried to question her about her
36:58preparation of this record in court
37:01reporter Sandra Hall sees transcript 53
37:04pages were missing wrong words were used
37:07and nonverbal responses omitted and some
37:10of the errors changed the essential
37:12facts of the case this was only
37:14discovered when a new court reporter
37:16began reconstructing the transcripts
37:18from audio tapes that were recorded in
37:20court as backup
37:23diametrically different or it's like the
37:26difference between yes and not and the
37:29different can and cannot and the
37:32difference plane would and wouldn't and
37:34to make matters worse some of those
37:36audio tapes were missing Court TV
37:39requested an interview with Halsey but
37:41she declined however in an interview
37:44with Dallas reporter Jeff Crilley palsy
37:46had this to say
37:47they're just typos I looked at some of
37:51those things they're like a missing
37:53period or a space between the end of the
37:55letter in the in a space and then a
37:57period I mean there's so many just
38:00things like that palsy has since lost
38:04her license the case marks the first
38:07time a capital murder trial transcript
38:09has been so riddled with errors that it
38:11is deemed inadequate to use or appeal
38:13it's hard to believe but this court
38:18reporter acted with a degree of
38:20arrogance and callousness and total
38:22disrespect for the law as well as
38:24Darla's rights the errors in the
38:27transcript could be darlie's entree back
38:29into the courtroom but according to
38:31Columbia University professor James
38:33Liebman it is very difficult to get a
38:35new trial in Texas what we have
38:39determined is that the Texas Court
38:42system both in the state courts and the
38:45federal courts is known nationally as
38:47one of the least likely court systems to
38:50find and correct error in capital cases
38:55perhaps the root ears got a preview of
38:58just how hard it will be on September 8
39:012000
39:0218 hours before a scheduled hearing over
39:05the transcript Fiasco the judge abruptly
39:07cancelled it everything was on the
39:10docket it was ready to go we were
39:11supposed to be in court this morning at
39:13nine o'clock and obviously the heats too
39:15high next
39:17will Darlie ever get a new day in court
39:20judge Francis caved in to the pressure
39:22of the DA's office and at the very last
39:25moment cancelled a whole hearing we're
39:30angry were upset we don't understand
39:33for two years judge robert francis had
39:36presided over a series of hearings on
39:38the transcript issue September 8 was an
39:41important day for the route ears Darlie
39:44had been brought from prison to the
39:46Dallas jail to attend this one at which
39:48attorney Stephen Cooper was to present
39:50new information sandra Halsey had told
39:55Crilley off-camera that she believed
39:57Darlie did it if Cooper had presented
40:00this evidence at the hearing it would
40:02have shown Halsey to be biased but he
40:05never got the chance he cancelled in a
40:07last hour of yesterday I had to hear
40:11about it through the news media just why
40:14that happened no one really knows but
40:17what it means is that the decision is
40:19now in the hands of the criminal court
40:21of appeals and no further testimony will
40:23be heard the judge's ruling states that
40:26the transcripts now reflect what
40:28occurred at trial let me say that I've
40:32known judge Frances for many years and
40:35this is so out of character for who I
40:39knew or at least who I thought I knew I
40:44pray for her all the time
40:47while the fight goes on for Darlie this
40:50is where reality and this could be her
40:53future death by lethal injection
40:57but many troubling questions remain the
41:01woman who sat across from me in that
41:04jail cell
41:05a year ago I either she's an Academy
41:10award-winning actress or she didn't
41:12murder those points I have very
41:15confident that upon a new trial with
41:19some of the information we now have and
41:23a little bit different approach to the
41:25trial that should be found not guilty
41:27and found not guilty in a very short
41:30period of time nothing whatsoever has
41:34changed I mean any person capable of
41:38killing a helpless five-year-old child
41:41and a six-year-old child in the manner
41:42that Darlie routier killed these two
41:45children deserves in the death time
41:47those two children deserve a measure of
41:49justice to
41:53I have to keep fighting because I have
41:56to fight for the truths I have to fight
41:58for them in the diamond I have to fight
42:00for me
42:00[Music]
42:14she wakes up in her written statement to
42:16police Darlie said she was asleep on the
42:18couch when she heard Damon cry
42:21she also said quote there was a man
42:24standing down at my feet walking away
42:26from me the Rowlett police descended on
42:30the house Darlie ki remembers that scene
42:34outside her daughter's home probably 30
42:38or 40 people around and there were
42:39lights and stuff on the house and the
42:42yellow tape was going up and there were
42:45police officers running in and out of
42:47the house contaminating everything all
42:50the evidence on the floor
42:51adding footprints to it smashing blood
42:54spots on the floor police scoured the
42:56area and found no intruder what they did
42:59find was a cut window screen in the
43:01garage a sock with blood drops on it in
43:04the alley and inside on the kitchen
43:06counter a bloody knife
43:09Darlie said she picked up the knife
43:11after finding it in the utility room but
43:14nothing was stolen even the jewelry
43:16Darlie had left on the kitchen counter
43:18was still there intact people were very
43:21afraid that this person was just
43:22prowling around the streets of the town
43:24and was going to strike again the riot
43:27police unaccustomed to dealing with
43:28murders like this brought in James Kron
43:31a retired Dallas investigator to examine
43:34the crime scene I noticed the blood or
43:37lack of blood in some cases there was a
43:40lack he's got this look on his face of
43:43nothing he's two huge gashes in his
43:46chest Devon had been stabbed while
43:49sleeping I tried to revive him I gave
43:58him CPR I blew into his mouth as soon as
44:01I blew it into his mouth blood came out
44:02of his chest and it was just a complete
44:05hole I put my hands over are trying to
44:07hold the holes closed and then I look up
44:10and Damon's laying over 12 feet away
44:12from him up against the floor and he's
44:16just laying there and he's not you know
44:17he's moving a little bit Darin routier
44:19was so intent I'm trying to save first
44:22Devon and then Damon that he didn't even
44:24realize his own wife's throat had been
44:26slashed and she was bleeding profusely
44:29and I saw the blood everywhere
44:32I mean you look at the crime-scene
44:33photos and you know in evidence the
44:36carpet is blood red from one end to the
44:39house to the other and all mostly all of
44:41darlie's maddali almost bled to death
44:44when the paramedics arrived they found
44:47six and a half year-old Devin dead and
44:49five-year-old Damon barely clinging to
44:52life we believe he was stabbed laying
44:55down and he was stabbed in the back
44:57that's the younger of the two of them
44:59okay he he obviously gets up and puts
45:04his hand on his mommy
45:05that's how Darlie says she led a charmed
45:11life but now Darlie routier sits on
45:15death row from murdering her children
45:17Damon and Devin I've been done wrong
45:24she is a cold-blooded killer some are
45:28wondering did Darlie do it the woman who
45:31sat across from me either she's an
45:33Academy Award winning actress or she
45:36didn't murder those boys we will not
45:38stop until we proved her innocence and
45:40she's home
45:51[Applause]
45:55[Music]
46:01I'm 100% innocent I did not murder to
46:04have an indictment
46:08she is one of eight women in Texas who
46:10sit on death row in 1997 Darlie Linn
46:17routier was sentenced to death for the
46:19murder of her five-year-old son Damon
46:21she has also been accused of but not
46:23tried for the murder of her other son
46:26Devon I've been wrongfully convicted I'm
46:29innocent
46:30I've been done wrong years after the
46:38murders the case still sparks
46:40controversy there are no gray areas some
46:43believe she did it
46:44some are equally adamant that she didn't
46:46affect even the 12 jurors in Kirk County
46:49would have found her not guilty if
46:51they'd heard all the evidence she is a
46:53cold-blooded killer the routier story
46:55began in the early morning hours of June
46:576 1996 in their home in Rowlett a suburb
47:01of Dallas her husband Darin routier had
47:04been asleep upstairs with their seven
47:06month-old son Drake since his birth
47:09Darlie had been having trouble sleeping
47:11when he cried at night so when the boys
47:14Damon and Devon decided to sleep
47:16downstairs she stayed with them then at
47:202:30 a.m. all hell broke loose
47:25first thing I hear is this real light
47:29last break the next thing I hear is
47:32dolly screaming I mean screaming as loud
47:34as any person you've ever heard I ran
47:37downstairs and as soon as I get to the
47:41edge of the stairs I think gosh just
47:43freakin I mean she has Devin Devin Devin
47:44Devin Devin I mean she's just going off
47:46and just saying a million times in a row
47:48I get downstairs I'm running right
47:56straight over to Devin and he's laying
47:57face-up pickup evidence connecting a
48:00suspect to this all we had was a scene
48:01in victims and therefore one of the
48:04victims became the suspect we didn't
48:06start looking at the mother till of
48:0720-30 minutes in when I told him I said
48:10something's wrong with this scene
48:12five-year-old Damon routier died on the
48:15way to the hospital
48:15and as Darlie was rushed into surgery
48:19investigators were already zeroing in on
48:21a suspect we're convinced it wasn't just
48:24a random act no one is being ruled in or
48:26out as suspects when we come back
48:30just who is Darlie routier
48:33[Music]
48:36stay off the grass everything's changed
48:42but I had was a NATO Pia compared to
48:46what my life is like with now the root
48:49ears had lost two sons within a few
48:51hours we couldn't believe what was
48:55happening you know that our babies were
48:57murdered that I was left for dead you
49:01know who would do this why would
49:03somebody do this you know you have so
49:06many questions
49:08the Rowlett police had many questions as
49:11well and soon after her surgery Darlie
49:14was interviewed from the onset the root
49:17ears cooperated fully
49:21by the morning of June 6th news of the
49:24murders

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