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Dying For Justice! The Wrongful Conviction Of Darlie Routier - Episode 4 Part 1 — Transcript

by Mystery Maverick · 6,567 words · 979 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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  1. 0:06hello everyone and welcome back to True
  2. 0:09Crime with mystery Maverick I'd like to
  3. 0:11start by saying a huge thank you to my
  4. 0:14viewers and subscribers it takes a lot
  5. 0:17of time and research to present my
  6. 0:19content and your patience and support
  7. 0:22Spurs me on to continue if you haven't
  8. 0:25been here before and want to know the
  9. 0:27full details of the Routier case you
  10. 0:29have come to the right place you can
  11. 0:32also visit the amazing rjp podcast for
  12. 0:35more in-depth discussions where I am a
  13. 0:38guest host along with people who know
  14. 0:40darly and are well versed in the case on
  15. 0:43a less lighter note if you have come
  16. 0:46here to harass or insult me my viewers
  17. 0:50or dar's family then this is not the
  18. 0:53channel for you remember they are the
  19. 0:56victims not you we cannot possibly
  20. 0:59fathom the pain pain and the heartache
  21. 1:01these people have suffered losing Devon
  22. 1:04and Damon to innocent beautiful boys and
  23. 1:08losing a daughter mother sister wife and
  24. 1:11friend in this multi-part episode we
  25. 1:14return to Texas and we traveled to Kerr
  26. 1:18County I will take you inside the
  27. 1:20courtroom of dar's capital murder trial
  28. 1:23where I will examine analyze and debunk
  29. 1:27the evidence brought against her as we
  30. 1:30continue to unravel the mystery Dying
  31. 1:33For Justice the wrongful conviction of
  32. 1:36darly
  33. 1:38Routier it was the end of November
  34. 1:411996 when a jury of seven men and five
  35. 1:44women from kville was selected to serve
  36. 1:47their civic duty in the capital murder
  37. 1:50trial of darly lim rutier previously
  38. 1:54refused Bond darly had sat in a Cell in
  39. 1:57a Dallas County Jail awaiting her chance
  40. 2:00to prove her innocence once and for
  41. 2:02all after all she didn't do it so she
  42. 2:06knew the evidence would show that the
  43. 2:07police had got it wrong in an interview
  44. 2:10for the documentary waiting for a
  45. 2:12miracle Dary
  46. 2:14stated I believed that when you walked
  47. 2:17into a courtroom if you were innocent
  48. 2:19you would be found innocent if you were
  49. 2:22guilty you'd be found guilty that's not
  50. 2:26the truth all the time that's not the
  51. 2:28way it work 's trial would arrive sooner
  52. 2:31than anyone could imagine less than 2
  53. 2:33months after jury selection and 6 months
  54. 2:37after her arrest Dary would stand trial
  55. 2:40in kville County Courthouse in the book
  56. 2:43dine Purgatory Kenneth the husband of
  57. 2:46dar's close friend Melanie weit stated
  58. 2:49that the state had sped the trial up and
  59. 2:52that dar's attorneys did little to slow
  60. 2:54it down he recalled that even dar's
  61. 2:57family were fine with a speedy trial too
  62. 3:00their reasoning being the sooner the
  63. 3:02trial was over the sooner they would
  64. 3:04have darly home B further supports the
  65. 3:07fact that the family and daring knew
  66. 3:09little about the criminal justice system
  67. 3:12and even less about capital murder
  68. 3:14trials on an episode of the last defense
  69. 3:17dar's original state appointed attorney
  70. 3:20Doug Park said dary's trial had been set
  71. 3:23for the first Monday after January so we
  72. 3:26had 6 months I typically find that it's
  73. 3:29hard to be ready for a death penalty
  74. 3:31case in less than a year and a half it
  75. 3:34was going to be quick there's no
  76. 3:36question about it moreover Parks had
  77. 3:39been replaced by Moulder who had only
  78. 3:42been appointed to the case in October at
  79. 3:45the same time as jury selection which
  80. 3:48meant he had even less time to prepare
  81. 3:51an unimaginable challenge considering a
  82. 3:53woman's life was on the line on the
  83. 3:56first weekend of January Dary was
  84. 3:59transferred from Dallas to kville County
  85. 4:01Jail in anticipation of her
  86. 4:04trial family and friends took up
  87. 4:07lodgings nearby in a rental property and
  88. 4:10Court officials booked into local hotels
  89. 4:13While others sought accommodation closer
  90. 4:16to the interstate
  91. 4:18highway on the morning of the trial the
  92. 4:20weather was unusually cold as an arctic
  93. 4:23cold front swept in from the
  94. 4:26Northwest this did not make the
  95. 4:28temperature inside the court room
  96. 4:30comfortable for anyone not least because
  97. 4:32the heating was on the
  98. 4:34blink nevertheless the trial would
  99. 4:37commence even if it meant attendees
  100. 4:40needed to layer up for warmth outside
  101. 4:43the courtroom reporters would approach
  102. 4:45darly key and ask her how are you
  103. 4:48feeling today I feel great first day of
  104. 4:51the truth she replied A confident molder
  105. 4:55further added we're here to
  106. 4:58win although darly was initially
  107. 5:00indicted for the murder of both her sons
  108. 5:03the prosecution decided to only try her
  109. 5:06for Damon's murder at the time Damon's
  110. 5:09murder had qualified for the death
  111. 5:11penalty as a child under the age of six
  112. 5:14however it has been further speculated
  113. 5:17that this was a legal maneuver to
  114. 5:19guarantee dar's conviction by loading up
  115. 5:22a double barreled shot gun therefore if
  116. 5:25Dary was found not guilty of Damon's
  117. 5:27murder they could try her again for
  118. 5:29devans so on the 6th of January
  119. 5:331997 at 9:30 a.m. in Kerr County
  120. 5:36Courthouse the capital murder trial of
  121. 5:39Dary LM Rua would begin outside the
  122. 5:43presence of the jury Dary was arraigned
  123. 5:46lead Prosecutor Greg Davis would first
  124. 5:49read the grand jury indictment before
  125. 5:51the court as
  126. 5:52follows the defendant honor about the
  127. 5:55sixth day of June 1996 in the county of
  128. 5:59Dalles and said state did unlawfully
  129. 6:02then and there intentionally and
  130. 6:05knowingly cause the death of Damon
  131. 6:07Christian Routier an individual here and
  132. 6:11after called the deceased by stubbing
  133. 6:14said Damon Christian Routier with a
  134. 6:17knife and the deceased was at the time
  135. 6:20of the offense under six years of age
  136. 6:22against the peace and dignity of the
  137. 6:25state the judge asked how the defendant
  138. 6:28pleads to which Dary replied not guilty
  139. 6:32this was followed by some other motions
  140. 6:34brought before the court of most
  141. 6:36salience was the request by the defense
  142. 6:39for a continuance of a day and a half to
  143. 6:41review all the
  144. 6:43evidence second J on dar's defense
  145. 6:46Richard mosty said to the court on the
  146. 6:49subject the second part of the motion
  147. 6:51for continuance is that we have that the
  148. 6:54evidence has been at various places the
  149. 6:57District Attorney's Office the rowlet PD
  150. 7:00Swifts Jun screen various places and Mr
  151. 7:04Douglas and Mr Harold went up last week
  152. 7:07to look at that and they weren't able to
  153. 7:09look at all of the evidence even some of
  154. 7:12it was being put together to be moved
  155. 7:14down here so presumably all of the
  156. 7:17evidence is here now I think it came in
  157. 7:20on the second so we need one day or part
  158. 7:23of a day to examine all the evidence
  159. 7:26that the state has down here which we
  160. 7:28have not had that opportunity to do up
  161. 7:31to this
  162. 7:32time additionally leading up to the
  163. 7:35trial the state had ordered further DNA
  164. 7:37testing on dar's night shirt and the
  165. 7:40results had not yet come in giving the
  166. 7:43defense no time to evaluate or review
  167. 7:45the results Sher Wallace from the
  168. 7:48prosecution team had gone off to call
  169. 7:50them for the results and when she had
  170. 7:52returned revealed that the samples were
  171. 7:55all dar's blood this clearly exposed the
  172. 7:58issues that came with a rush trial which
  173. 8:01added to the unpreparedness of the
  174. 8:03defense team which further hindered
  175. 8:06their ability to adequately defend their
  176. 8:10client in fact documents show that Davis
  177. 8:13had only written to Moulder on the 17th
  178. 8:16of December offering access to some of
  179. 8:18the evidence just weeks before the
  180. 8:21trial nevertheless to denied the motion
  181. 8:25for continuance the defense had further
  182. 8:27requested that Swift and rowlet PD
  183. 8:30provide contact sheets related to the
  184. 8:33crime scene and evidence to distinguish
  185. 8:35where and when in which sequence the
  186. 8:38crime scene photos were taken
  187. 8:41subsequently Davis would reveal that
  188. 8:43nether organization used contact sheets
  189. 8:46this among other failures showed the
  190. 8:49lack of appropriate procedures used at
  191. 8:51the crime scene particularly as items
  192. 8:54had been moved
  193. 8:55around according to the book Hush little
  194. 8:58babies the trial was delayed for a short
  195. 9:01while as one of the jurors had gone
  196. 9:03awall and had been found sitting in the
  197. 9:06audience instead of being sequestered
  198. 9:08the juror had seen the preliminaries
  199. 9:11they were not supposed to see regardless
  200. 9:14they were reunited with the other 11
  201. 9:16jurors sworn in and the trial would
  202. 9:20commence the trial began like most of
  203. 9:23criminal trials with the prosecution's
  204. 9:26opening statement a telling piece that
  205. 9:28would perh APS foreshadow the direction
  206. 9:31of things to come Davis would launch a
  207. 9:3316 minute long tiod of defamatory
  208. 9:36remarks against dar's personal character
  209. 9:40despite the reading of the indictment
  210. 9:42only referring to the murder of Damon
  211. 9:45Davis constantly mentioned both boys
  212. 9:47murders throughout the trial he told the
  213. 9:50court that the evidence would show how
  214. 9:52the boys were murdered who murdered them
  215. 9:55and why he proceeded to tell the jury
  216. 9:58that darly was a self-centered
  217. 10:01materialistic and cold woman quote cold
  218. 10:05enough to kill her own two
  219. 10:07children he described Darren as a hard
  220. 10:09worker whose wife was living a lavish
  221. 10:12lifestyle beyond their means while he
  222. 10:15admitted that the couple was still doing
  223. 10:17well financially in
  224. 10:191996 that it was the birth of the
  225. 10:21couple's third child Drake that had
  226. 10:23changed the Dynamics at 5801 Eagle
  227. 10:27Drive on top of that the fact that darly
  228. 10:30was struggling to lose the baby weight
  229. 10:32she had gained which resulted in her
  230. 10:35turn into diet pills he further went on
  231. 10:38to say that Darren's business had
  232. 10:40started to quote flatten out as the year
  233. 10:43began he painted darly as a depressed
  234. 10:46attention seeking person whose kids were
  235. 10:49taking up too much of her time and
  236. 10:52further suggested that the lifestyle she
  237. 10:54had become accustomed to was slipping
  238. 10:56away which made her very angry
  239. 11:00he said that the couple had no savings
  240. 11:03no retirement fund and very little money
  241. 11:06in the bank and that they had been
  242. 11:08turned down for a loan just days before
  243. 11:10the
  244. 11:11murders he stated that darly had
  245. 11:14orchestrated the crime by sleeping
  246. 11:16downstairs with the two boys before
  247. 11:18stabbing them to death while they
  248. 11:21slept he went on to say there was no
  249. 11:23Intruder in the home that night and that
  250. 11:26Dary had inflicted deep wounds on the
  251. 11:29boys before inflicting superficial
  252. 11:31wounds on herself and staging the crime
  253. 11:35scene he said the evidence would show
  254. 11:38that the knife was not dropped on the
  255. 11:40floor of the utility room and that
  256. 11:43fibers from the screen found on a bread
  257. 11:45knife from a butcher block inside the
  258. 11:47home would show it was used to cut the
  259. 11:49window screen in the garage as part of
  260. 11:52the
  261. 11:54staging he ended by saying that the
  262. 11:57evidence would show Beyond any reason
  263. 11:59reasonable doubt that she is guilty of
  264. 12:01the capital murder of her 5-year-old son
  265. 12:03Damon
  266. 12:05Routier next up was the defense opening
  267. 12:08statement made by second chair Richard
  268. 12:11Moy he started by reminding the jury
  269. 12:14that the reading of the indictment was
  270. 12:16not evidence of
  271. 12:19guilt he told them that statements made
  272. 12:22by Dary whom was traumatized by seeing
  273. 12:24her children die and having her own
  274. 12:27throat slip were also not proof Beyond a
  275. 12:29reasonable doubt he said the couple were
  276. 12:32young and starting to make a successful
  277. 12:35life for themselves he said that life
  278. 12:37revolved around the three children and
  279. 12:40that various Child Focus items in and
  280. 12:43around the home suggested that he said
  281. 12:46that dar's life in particular revolved
  282. 12:48around her children and that friends and
  283. 12:51family and neighbors would all testify
  284. 12:53to
  285. 12:54that he further questioned the state's
  286. 12:57logic that a doating and loving mother
  287. 13:00would turn into a psychotic killer in
  288. 13:02the blink of an eye he further added
  289. 13:05that she did not only turn into a
  290. 13:07psychotic killer but also a forensic
  291. 13:10expert such that she could stage a whole
  292. 13:14crime scene too he said that the
  293. 13:16evidence of dar's wounds would show that
  294. 13:19they were defensive in nature and not
  295. 13:22self-inflicted as the state would
  296. 13:24suggest he further stated that the
  297. 13:27prosecution had failed told to mention a
  298. 13:29sock found 75 yards down an Alleyway
  299. 13:33behind the Routier home with both boys
  300. 13:36blood on
  301. 13:37it he further suggested it was
  302. 13:39ridiculous to think she had run down the
  303. 13:42alleyway to plant the sock he said that
  304. 13:45the evidence would show that from 6:00
  305. 13:47a.m. in the morning police had focused
  306. 13:50on darly they ignored any evidence
  307. 13:53pointing away from her including several
  308. 13:56reports about a black car seen around
  309. 13:58around the area on the night of the
  310. 14:01crime that had not been followed up and
  311. 14:04they had failed to identify it to this
  312. 14:06day he pointed to the states evidence
  313. 14:09and suggested that their Theory had
  314. 14:11changed several times they kept going
  315. 14:15back to the crime scene and conducted
  316. 14:18additional testing to fit their Ever
  317. 14:20Changing theories which were all focused
  318. 14:23on darly as the
  319. 14:25perpetrator he further suggested that
  320. 14:28the states interpretation of the
  321. 14:30evidence such as the mulch outside the
  322. 14:32cut screen and dust undisturbed on the
  323. 14:36window sill were false conclusions
  324. 14:38considering the placement and size of
  325. 14:40the window perhaps the most chilling
  326. 14:43part of the defense opening statement
  327. 14:46was when mosty stated to the court the
  328. 14:50true murderer is still on the streets
  329. 14:53day one of the trial was not going to be
  330. 14:56an easy day for anyone in the courtroom
  331. 14:58not least for Dary who had to relive the
  332. 15:01horrifying night her boys were murdered
  333. 15:04in the most graphic
  334. 15:06way the first witness called with the
  335. 15:09state were the medical examiners Janice
  336. 15:12towns imp parchment and Dr Joanie
  337. 15:15mlan according to the book Hush little
  338. 15:18babies this testimony was accompanied
  339. 15:21with Grizzly autopsy photos which were
  340. 15:25passed around the jury and when darly
  341. 15:27caught a glimpse she had grimaced and
  342. 15:30turned away Dr Joanie mlan had carried
  343. 15:34out the autopsy on Devon Routier in
  344. 15:37heartbreaking testimony she described
  345. 15:40receiving Devon's body wearing Power
  346. 15:42Ranger shorts along with a Power Ranger
  347. 15:45pillowcase and
  348. 15:47blanket she said that Devon weighed 46
  349. 15:51and measured 46 in a little under 4T
  350. 15:55tall he had suffered four sharp force
  351. 15:58injures injuries which she described in
  352. 16:00detail alongside a video depicting each
  353. 16:03wound she said that the mechanism of
  354. 16:06death was blood loss and he would have
  355. 16:08died within a few minutes up to 5
  356. 16:11minutes after his injuries were
  357. 16:14inflicted wound one was a stab wound to
  358. 16:16the upper left chest and went between
  359. 16:19the fourth and fifth ribs and went
  360. 16:21through the pulmonary artery the right
  361. 16:24lobe of the lung and perforated the
  362. 16:27right posterior chest between the
  363. 16:29posterior seventh and eighth ribs the
  364. 16:32wound penetrated 5 in and all the wounds
  365. 16:36went from front to back left to right
  366. 16:38with no up or down
  367. 16:40deviation she further noted that on
  368. 16:43wound one there was a sharp and a blunt
  369. 16:46angle that suggested to her that a
  370. 16:48single-edged blade had been used to
  371. 16:50inflict this wound mlan said that due to
  372. 16:54the child's ribs being softer because
  373. 16:56they had more cartilage than and adults
  374. 16:59that it wouldn't take much force to
  375. 17:01inflict the wounds to the
  376. 17:03chest wound two was another Stab Wound
  377. 17:07slightly lower on the chest and
  378. 17:09penetrated 2 and 1/2 in and went through
  379. 17:12the right e rib and right intercostal
  380. 17:15muscle and went into the right lung
  381. 17:18wound free was an incise wound to the
  382. 17:21left forearm and was 1 and 1/4 in in
  383. 17:24length with an estimated penetration of
  384. 17:271/8 of an inch wound four was a stub
  385. 17:31wound 1 and 1/2 in into the left midline
  386. 17:34of the left leg the wound was 3/4 of an
  387. 17:38inch in length and 3/4 of an inch
  388. 17:41penetration when asked by the
  389. 17:43prosecution if Devon could have made a
  390. 17:46noise after receiving those stab wounds
  391. 17:49the doctor said that it was possible and
  392. 17:51that his wounds would not have precluded
  393. 17:54him from doing so she further estimated
  394. 17:57that Devon would have survived no longer
  395. 18:00than 5 minutes after his injuries were
  396. 18:03inflicted under cross examination Dr
  397. 18:06mlan said that she could only determine
  398. 18:09that one of the wounds were inflicted
  399. 18:11with a single-edged knife and that a
  400. 18:13double-edge knife could not be ruled out
  401. 18:16in the three other
  402. 18:18wounds she conceded that she could not
  403. 18:20say with certainty all the injuries were
  404. 18:24caused with the same
  405. 18:27instrument addition only Dar and Damon's
  406. 18:30blood was found on the
  407. 18:32knife which could indicate that a second
  408. 18:35weapon was used however as only four
  409. 18:39samples were taken from the knife it is
  410. 18:42possible that the testing was not far
  411. 18:44enough to find it she concluded that
  412. 18:48there was no way to tell in which order
  413. 18:50the wounds were inflicted she further
  414. 18:52added that a determination could not be
  415. 18:55made on either the width or the length
  416. 18:57of the knife refused to inflict the
  417. 19:00wounds she explained that this was due
  418. 19:03to the lines of ler and the loosening of
  419. 19:05the skin tissue on the
  420. 19:07surface therefore the only conclusions
  421. 19:10that can be made is the depth the knife
  422. 19:12had penetrated the body which is not an
  423. 19:15accurate measurement of the size of the
  424. 19:18knife
  425. 19:20used under redirect she said that the
  426. 19:23knife in question States exhibit number
  427. 19:2667 could have been used used to inflict
  428. 19:29wounds one and two and there was nothing
  429. 19:32to exclude it from being the murder
  430. 19:34weapon however under recross she said
  431. 19:38that although it was a possibility she
  432. 19:40could not say it was the knife used just
  433. 19:43that it was
  434. 19:46consistent she went on to say that she
  435. 19:48had been asked by investigators to look
  436. 19:51for previous signs of child abuse she
  437. 19:55admitted that Devon was a good weight
  438. 19:57for a boy of his age
  439. 19:58she found no broken bones or healing
  440. 20:01wounds or any signs of previous injury
  441. 20:04besides the wounds that caused his
  442. 20:07death she concluded that she did not
  443. 20:10find any signs of child abuse this was
  444. 20:13also true for Damon and a subject we
  445. 20:16will return to later in the series when
  446. 20:18we look at filicide
  447. 20:21research it was the state's contention
  448. 20:23that Devon was stabbed by darly and died
  449. 20:26where he lay sleeping
  450. 20:29there are several physical Clues at the
  451. 20:31crime scene and autopsy that debunk this
  452. 20:33notion if we look at the position of
  453. 20:36Devon's pillow it is facing towards the
  454. 20:39television which is where Darren said he
  455. 20:41was positioned when he had last seen him
  456. 20:44the evening
  457. 20:45before however Devon's body was found
  458. 20:49lying face up with his feet towards the
  459. 20:51sofa darly was sleeping
  460. 20:54on moreover the blood pattern down the
  461. 20:57front of Devon's short shorts slows down
  462. 20:59the front towards his feet and towards
  463. 21:01the ground meaning when he was bleeding
  464. 21:05he was in an upright
  465. 21:07position it has been speculated that the
  466. 21:10blood on his shorts came about through
  467. 21:12Darren's attempts at
  468. 21:15CPR however Darren testified that blood
  469. 21:18spurted out of his chest which would
  470. 21:21have created a spatter or cast off
  471. 21:23pattern we see on Devon Short's
  472. 21:26saturation of blood and the flow
  473. 21:29indicating blood was running for a
  474. 21:31period of time down the front of his
  475. 21:33shorts furthermore I believed that if
  476. 21:36Devon was on the carpet he would have
  477. 21:39some scrapes or marks to his back
  478. 21:43additionally there were no defects in
  479. 21:45Devon's comforter and none of the fibers
  480. 21:48found on the knife belonged to the
  481. 21:50comforter on the contrary both fibers
  482. 21:53from dar's night shirt and from Damon's
  483. 21:56t-shirt were found on the murder weapon
  484. 21:59further indicating the possibility of a
  485. 22:02second weapon and even a second
  486. 22:05perpetrator let us look at the angles of
  487. 22:07Devon's wounds for darly to have stabbed
  488. 22:10him lying down she would have had to
  489. 22:13have stood on or aside his left leg and
  490. 22:16arm and twisted her body over to the
  491. 22:20left his wounds went front to back left
  492. 22:24to right with no up or down
  493. 22:26deviation
  494. 22:28darly would have needed to lean to her
  495. 22:30left in an unnatural angle and stubbed
  496. 22:34at a slight
  497. 22:35angle a video created by blood spatter
  498. 22:39expert Tom Beville who would later
  499. 22:41testify for the state shows him
  500. 22:44reenacting a stabbing motion to create
  501. 22:46blood patterns on the shirt he suggested
  502. 22:49that to achieve the blood patterns on
  503. 22:51the shirt that she would be standing
  504. 22:53over him stabbing in a clean front to
  505. 22:56back stabbing motion
  506. 22:58how do you get an angled Stab Wound from
  507. 23:00a straight on stab this was a criticism
  508. 23:04of blood spatter analysis later
  509. 23:06mentioned by Dr Deo that it does not
  510. 23:09consider the different types of wounds
  511. 23:12the difference between individual people
  512. 23:14and circumstances of
  513. 23:17events Darren stated he was blowing into
  514. 23:20Devon's chest and blood had sprayed out
  515. 23:23he said that while he was doing this
  516. 23:25Dary had brought a towel over to Devon
  517. 23:27and was trying to hold his wounds close
  518. 23:30where was she when you were blowing into
  519. 23:32his mouth right over the top of him what
  520. 23:35was she doing she was trying to stop the
  521. 23:38bleeding she was trying to hold his
  522. 23:40chest together many have speculated that
  523. 23:43this was a lie made up by Darren prior
  524. 23:46to trial to cover for Dary however
  525. 23:49according to Larry bford the ENT that
  526. 23:52rode with Dary to the hospital he
  527. 23:55recalled Dary telling him she had given
  528. 23:57SE CPR to one of the boys you've told us
  529. 24:01about the defendant's comments about
  530. 24:03when are we going to get to the hospital
  531. 24:06do you recall her making any other
  532. 24:08statement or was she relatively quiet on
  533. 24:11the way down there she had remarked once
  534. 24:14about doing CPR on one of the boys
  535. 24:17neither Dary nor Darren knew that Dary
  536. 24:20was a suspect at this point and had no
  537. 24:23clue about the state's case how could
  538. 24:26they preempt such a lie darly further
  539. 24:30mentioned in her first written statement
  540. 24:32that she had put a towel on Damon's back
  541. 24:35however she did not go into detail about
  542. 24:38wetting towels or her first aid
  543. 24:41attempts again it is likely that this
  544. 24:44seemed insignificant to the routiers at
  545. 24:47the time that they were unaware that the
  546. 24:49police were looking at darly as a
  547. 24:52suspect after all bloody towels were
  548. 24:55strewn all over the crime scene surely
  549. 24:58they did not need to explain them also
  550. 25:01if everything that happened their own
  551. 25:03CPR attempts were the least of their
  552. 25:06worries in addition they had never been
  553. 25:08asked or prompted by police or
  554. 25:11investigators in regards to the tows or
  555. 25:14the kitchen sink we further see that
  556. 25:17this is because investigators were
  557. 25:19forming their own theories and were not
  558. 25:22attempting to corroborate dar's version
  559. 25:24of events with the physical evidence
  560. 25:26that the crime scene
  561. 25:28the state suggested that darly did
  562. 25:31nothing to help the boys as they lay
  563. 25:33dying and that she stayed by the kitchen
  564. 25:36bar tending to her own
  565. 25:38wounds however the state's own DNA
  566. 25:41testing found that both Dar and Devon's
  567. 25:44blood on Devon's pillow meaning darly
  568. 25:47was actively bleeding around Devon this
  569. 25:50further supports dar's account that she
  570. 25:53had been given Aid to Devon while she
  571. 25:55herself was actively bleeding
  572. 25:58which was further confirmed in Darren
  573. 26:00rouer's later testimony when he
  574. 26:02described darly running back and forth
  575. 26:05between the boys with towels on a post
  576. 26:08tral episode of the Lisa Gibbons show on
  577. 26:11dar's case juror reene away amongst many
  578. 26:15other ignorant and bizarre comments
  579. 26:17claimed that Devon received the wound on
  580. 26:20the back of his leg when he was quote
  581. 26:22lying on his back kicking the crap out
  582. 26:25of her this comment is not only ignorant
  583. 26:29but it makes no logical sense Devon had
  584. 26:32no other knife wounds on his lower body
  585. 26:35or his feet if Devon was soall kicking
  586. 26:38the crap out of darly as she was
  587. 26:40stabbing him his defensive wounds would
  588. 26:43have been present in that area by
  589. 26:46contrast Devon's defensive wound was on
  590. 26:48his arm more consistent with him being
  591. 26:51in an upright position when considering
  592. 26:54that the arm wound was said to be
  593. 26:56related to chest wound
  594. 26:59one a fact further confirmed By Janice
  595. 27:03Town's EMP parchment when she spoke of
  596. 27:05the nature of defensive
  597. 27:07wounds they're also seen on the
  598. 27:11forearms sometimes if the person winds
  599. 27:13up essentially fighting off the as
  600. 27:15salent with his or her legs you'll see
  601. 27:19them on the feet and the lower legs
  602. 27:21moreover the single wound to the back of
  603. 27:24Devon's leg has rounded edges and signs
  604. 27:27of hemorrhaging around the entrance
  605. 27:29which indicates blunt force trauma from
  606. 27:32an object that broke the
  607. 27:34skin it is common that these types of
  608. 27:37injuries can be miscategorized due to
  609. 27:39the fact that they can appear like stab
  610. 27:42wounds when looking at the crime scene
  611. 27:45the only item that has a sharp enough
  612. 27:47Edge to create this type of wound is the
  613. 27:49glass table Daren said in his earlier
  614. 27:53police statement that the table was
  615. 27:55knocked over we further see from the
  616. 27:58crime scene photos that the glass table
  617. 28:01is not in line with the base which
  618. 28:03indicates that someone had placed the
  619. 28:05glass back onto the base in a halfhazard
  620. 28:09way this was also confirmed in Darren's
  621. 28:12later trial testimony when asked about
  622. 28:14the table he
  623. 28:16said where was the table the table was
  624. 28:20completely down it was Fallen the
  625. 28:22flowers are completely fallen off the
  626. 28:24table when asked if the table was just
  627. 28:27slightly a skew Darren reiterated that
  628. 28:30the tabletop was off the base no it
  629. 28:34wasn't on its base it was completely
  630. 28:36down to the ground he further added that
  631. 28:39the paramedic who attended to Devon had
  632. 28:42moved the top back onto the base to make
  633. 28:45room to give him first
  634. 28:47aid in addition we see blood which was
  635. 28:51later revealed to be dar's had rolled
  636. 28:54down the table indicating the table was
  637. 28:56turned over while Dary was
  638. 28:59bleeding the table is on the right side
  639. 29:02of Dary as she got up and her arm was
  640. 29:04already bleeding considerably at this
  641. 29:07time the state further contended that
  642. 29:10darly had knocked the table over as part
  643. 29:12of the Stag however if Dar was already
  644. 29:15bleeding when she staged the table there
  645. 29:18would have been far more blood bloody
  646. 29:21smears and even dar's bloody
  647. 29:23fingerprints instead we see the blood
  648. 29:26had hit the table and his dripping down
  649. 29:28the
  650. 29:29tabletop considering this evidence it is
  651. 29:32more probable that the glass table had
  652. 29:34been knocked over and it is my belief it
  653. 29:38occurred during the struggle as Devon
  654. 29:40had gotten up to go to Dary on the
  655. 29:43sofa next up to testify was Janice
  656. 29:46Town's imp parchment who had carried out
  657. 29:49Damon rouer's autopsy and had inspected
  658. 29:52dar's wounds at the hospital at the
  659. 29:55request of the rowet PD
  660. 29:58she recalled that she only received
  661. 30:00Damon's body along with the t-shirt that
  662. 30:03had been cut away with one or more
  663. 30:06defects however she could not remember
  664. 30:08if the defects were on the front or the
  665. 30:10back of the Garment she stated that
  666. 30:13Damon weighed 40b and measured 43 in in
  667. 30:17length he had suffered six wounds
  668. 30:20included four stab wounds and two incise
  669. 30:23wounds which she also described in
  670. 30:25detail along with photo phot and videos
  671. 30:28of the autopsy wound one was an incised
  672. 30:31wound which measured 1/8 of an inch in
  673. 30:34depth wound two was another incise wound
  674. 30:37that measured 3/4 of an inch in depth
  675. 30:41wound one was a stub wound which
  676. 30:44perforated the left eighth rib and the
  677. 30:47left seventh intercostal muscle and
  678. 30:49penetrated the lung wound two was
  679. 30:52another Stab Wound which went through
  680. 30:54the rate rib and into the intercostal
  681. 30:56muscle and penetrated the lung 3/4 of an
  682. 31:00inch wound three was a stub wound that
  683. 31:03went through the eighth intercostal
  684. 31:05muscle between the right eighth and
  685. 31:07Ninth ribs and was 1 and 7/8 of an inch
  686. 31:11wound four was another Stab Wound going
  687. 31:14through the intercostal musculature
  688. 31:17through the right lung the diaphragm and
  689. 31:19into the liver with a max depth of
  690. 31:21penetration of 3
  691. 31:23in she testified that Damon's wounds
  692. 31:26were consistent with a single-edged
  693. 31:28knife with one sharp edge and one blunt
  694. 31:31Edge she went on to say that the butcher
  695. 31:34knife was consistent with the injuries
  696. 31:37inflicted on Damon she further stated
  697. 31:40that his wounds would have oozed rather
  698. 31:42than gushed blood as no major blood
  699. 31:45vessels were cut she stated that Damon
  700. 31:48would not have died instantly and that
  701. 31:51he could have walked 10 to 15 ft after
  702. 31:54all four stab wounds had been inflicted
  703. 31:57she conceded that he would also have
  704. 31:59been able to make noise and that it is
  705. 32:02not until significant blood loss occurs
  706. 32:05that a person loses Consciousness until
  707. 32:07such a time they are still able to move
  708. 32:10around and make noise she conceded that
  709. 32:14Damon could have survived as much as 8
  710. 32:16to 9 minutes when asked if the kitchen
  711. 32:19knife was consistent with Damon's
  712. 32:21injuries she said that it could not be
  713. 32:24ruled out and that it was consistent
  714. 32:26with the wound
  715. 32:28however under cross-examination she said
  716. 32:31that the wounds could also be consistent
  717. 32:33with several other knives including
  718. 32:36pocket knives buck knives and kitchen
  719. 32:39knives she explained that this was
  720. 32:41because the portion of the blade can be
  721. 32:44less than the wound tract left behind
  722. 32:47she further acknowledged that it can
  723. 32:49also be dependent on motion the motion
  724. 32:52of the body in addition to the motion of
  725. 32:54the knife and conceded that Damon's
  726. 32:57injuries could have been inflicted with
  727. 33:00a much smaller knife or
  728. 33:02instrument she went on to say that there
  729. 33:04was no way of knowing if all the wounds
  730. 33:07were inflicted with the same instrument
  731. 33:10or if they were inflicted by the same
  732. 33:13perpetrator Greg Davis took this
  733. 33:16opportunity to try and purport the
  734. 33:18theory that Damon had been stabbed first
  735. 33:21as he lay asleep and then again when he
  736. 33:24had reached the hallway where he was
  737. 33:26found
  738. 33:27after all how would they explain the
  739. 33:30sock down the alleyway with both Devon
  740. 33:32and Damon's blood on it and reconcile it
  741. 33:35with the 9 Minute upper limit time frame
  742. 33:37given by the medical examiner darly was
  743. 33:40on the phone to 911 for over 5 minutes
  744. 33:43which could give darly but a few minutes
  745. 33:46to run 75 yds down the alleyway to drop
  746. 33:49the sock run back to the house another
  747. 33:5275 yards slick the screen in the garage
  748. 33:55Put The Knife back in the knife block
  749. 33:58slit her own throat stub herself in the
  750. 34:00arm twice once to the Bone make another
  751. 34:04scrape marks and scratches on her body
  752. 34:07smash the wine glass on the floor
  753. 34:09without taking it out of the wine rack
  754. 34:12cleaning up the kitchen sink but leaving
  755. 34:14blood all over it throwing over the
  756. 34:17Hoover turning over the glass table and
  757. 34:20calling Darren furthermore the
  758. 34:23prosecution's theory does not consider
  759. 34:26that if Damon was not mortally wounded
  760. 34:28at this point he would have been able to
  761. 34:31go to get help with Darren or even
  762. 34:33possibly gone out into the street whilst
  763. 34:36sty was away from the house which begs
  764. 34:39the question if Dary had stabbed the
  765. 34:41boys why leave Damon alive when calling
  766. 34:45911 Jack Colby the paramedic who
  767. 34:48attended to Damon at the scene said that
  768. 34:50he saw the light fade in his eyes after
  769. 34:53working on him for 2 minutes inside the
  770. 34:55home which was after the 911 call had
  771. 34:59ended this would leave Dary around a
  772. 35:02minute to do all the above which is
  773. 35:05physically impossible even with the
  774. 35:07prosecution's theory that Damon was
  775. 35:09stubbed a second time it would only give
  776. 35:12her an extra minute which again is
  777. 35:16impossible this was as mostly said in
  778. 35:19the opening statement a part of the
  779. 35:21state's Ever Changing Theory to try and
  780. 35:24make the evidence fit when asked by the
  781. 35:27prosecution if the wounds could have
  782. 35:29been inflicted at a separate time she
  783. 35:32stated that it was possible however
  784. 35:35under Rec she stated that there was
  785. 35:37nothing to suggest that the wounds had
  786. 35:40been inflicted at different times there
  787. 35:42was really no way of knowing this was
  788. 35:46just one example of the prosecution's
  789. 35:48use of speculation and wild theories
  790. 35:51that were unsupported and ungrounded in
  791. 35:54fact or physical evidence
  792. 35:57while we cannot tell from the autopsy
  793. 35:59whether Damon was attacked in separate
  794. 36:02locations we can look at whether the
  795. 36:04physical evidence at the crime scene
  796. 36:06supports this if we look at the area
  797. 36:09where Damon was found it is close to a
  798. 36:12wall meaning if Damon had been stabbed a
  799. 36:14second time at this location there
  800. 36:17should be evidence of cast off or signs
  801. 36:20of a struggle in that area the only
  802. 36:23blood found on that wall was higher up
  803. 36:26and that was
  804. 36:27as she switched on the light once she
  805. 36:29was already bleeding
  806. 36:31significantly which further supports her
  807. 36:33account that after picking up the knife
  808. 36:36she went back to the family room and
  809. 36:38turned on the light Damon's blood was
  810. 36:41not found on the light switch if Dary
  811. 36:44had stabbed him next to the wall we
  812. 36:46should see a mixture of both dar's and
  813. 36:49Damon's Blood on the light switch the
  814. 36:52perpetrator would likely have the
  815. 36:54victim's blood at least on their
  816. 36:56dominant hand Dary would likely have
  817. 36:58transferred Damon's blood to both the
  818. 37:01light switch and the knife handle had
  819. 37:03she been the one who had stabbed him DNA
  820. 37:06analyst Caroline vanwinkle testified
  821. 37:09that the handle contained a possible
  822. 37:11mixture of darly and one of the boy's
  823. 37:15blood however her DNA report states that
  824. 37:18dar's blood was the only blood found on
  825. 37:21the knife handle once again the
  826. 37:24investigators were trying to collect
  827. 37:26idence to fit their Theory instead their
  828. 37:29own DNA testing did little to
  829. 37:32incriminate Dar and in fact supports
  830. 37:35dar's recollection of events many social
  831. 37:38media commentators that believe in dar's
  832. 37:41guilt have further questioned whether
  833. 37:43Damon could have even walked at all to
  834. 37:46where he was
  835. 37:48found disqualifying the obvious that
  836. 37:51Damon was found some feet from where he
  837. 37:53originally lay indicating he walked to
  838. 37:56where he was found there are several
  839. 37:59other clues that refute this if we look
  840. 38:02at Damon's injuries along with the jeans
  841. 38:05he was wearing we see again just like
  842. 38:08Devon shorts there is blood that runs
  843. 38:10down the back of Damon's jeans to the
  844. 38:12point of
  845. 38:14saturation meaning that Damon was in an
  846. 38:16upright position for a period of time
  847. 38:19whilst he was actively bleeding the
  848. 38:22first responding officer David wle
  849. 38:25stated that Damon was laying on the
  850. 38:27floor by the wall when he arrived at the
  851. 38:29scene in addition there was a bloody
  852. 38:32child's handprint in Damon's blood found
  853. 38:34in the family room in the area where
  854. 38:37Damon had fallen asleep which indicates
  855. 38:40that Damon had gotten up after he was
  856. 38:42already stabbed and bleeding this was
  857. 38:45further confirmed by Toby Shook on an
  858. 38:47episode of death R Stories the youngest
  859. 38:51one put down a bloody handprint in the
  860. 38:53carpet to help himself
  861. 38:55up several DNA samples also revealed
  862. 38:59that Dary was bleeding in the same area
  863. 39:02at the same time as Damon dar's blood
  864. 39:05was found on both the front and back of
  865. 39:07Damon's jeans and both Damon's and dar's
  866. 39:11blood was found on the couch that darly
  867. 39:13had slept on and in the area Damon had
  868. 39:16gone to
  869. 39:17sleep this supports dar's version of
  870. 39:20events and further shows that Dary was
  871. 39:23close to Damon and that she had tried to
  872. 39:25help her boy
  873. 39:27as she herself was severely injured and
  874. 39:30actively
  875. 39:32bleeding Dr Townson parment went on to
  876. 39:35say that she had taken and sent blood
  877. 39:37samples to the top floor criminal
  878. 39:40investigations lab for
  879. 39:42analysis she further stated that
  880. 39:45although she took Damon's Footprints she
  881. 39:47did not take his fingerprints or Palm
  882. 39:51Impressions a detail that would become
  883. 39:53of great importance in relation to the
  884. 39:55friend IC evidence at the crime scene
  885. 39:59and more importantly in showing the
  886. 40:01presence of an intruder and thus
  887. 40:04supporting dar's claims of
  888. 40:06Innocence she claimed the reason she did
  889. 40:09not take fingerprints is because they do
  890. 40:12not usually take them at such a young
  891. 40:14age however in one photo we see that
  892. 40:17Devon's left hand was bagged by the
  893. 40:20coroners and Damon's hands were also
  894. 40:23bagged at the
  895. 40:24hospital victim's hand f are bagged to
  896. 40:27preserve possible crucial forensic
  897. 40:29evidence particularly in a close contact
  898. 40:32to T why would you go to the effort of
  899. 40:36preserving evidence if you are not going
  900. 40:38to test it in addition the investigators
  901. 40:41knew that they had a bloody fingerprint
  902. 40:43found on a coffee table behind the North
  903. 40:46End sofa of the family room it would
  904. 40:49have been their job to request the
  905. 40:50doctor take the Fingerprints of the boys
  906. 40:53for comparison
  907. 40:55purposes this further shows that either
  908. 40:58they had already made up their minds
  909. 41:00that Dary was guilty or they were
  910. 41:02inexperienced in homicide and crime
  911. 41:05scene investigation or both the defense
  912. 41:09did not ask if she took any nail
  913. 41:11scrapings something I would expect would
  914. 41:14be of particular interest in that the
  915. 41:16boys were murdered in a close contact
  916. 41:18attack and there may have been DNA
  917. 41:21evidence of the perpetrator Left Behind
  918. 41:24similarly they did not take finger nail
  919. 41:26scrapings from
  920. 41:28darly Patterson had claimed at the bond
  921. 41:31hearing that darly did not have any
  922. 41:33nails so he did not attempt to take any
  923. 41:36however fingernail scrapings are taken
  924. 41:38from underneath the free edge of the
  925. 41:40nail and can be found even under very
  926. 41:43short nails Dary had said that she was
  927. 41:46in a struggle with the suspect again
  928. 41:48making it a possibility that she had
  929. 41:50some of the perpetrator's DNA underneath
  930. 41:53her fingernails Rich prer asked darly
  931. 41:56about this on a visit to Gatesville she
  932. 41:59stated that they did take fingernail
  933. 42:01scrapings but she did not hear of any
  934. 42:04testing or results relating to the
  935. 42:07sample this further points to the fact
  936. 42:10that the investigators were not looking
  937. 42:12for an intruder and therefore felt they
  938. 42:15did not need to run the appropriate
  939. 42:17tests that would be carried out in any
  940. 42:19other homicide case it has been reported
  941. 42:23by many over the years that Devon was
  942. 42:25stabbed all the way through his body
  943. 42:28however neither boy had any Exit Wounds
  944. 42:30which completely debunks the statement
  945. 42:32made by first responding officer wad in
  946. 42:35an interview with wner Herzog for the
  947. 42:38documentary on death row they were
  948. 42:41stabbed hard enough to where the knife
  949. 42:43went through their body and actually
  950. 42:45chipped the concrete floor underneath
  951. 42:47them he said this has fur been echoed by
  952. 42:51prosecutor Toby Shook on an episode of
  953. 42:54death R stories when describing Devon's
  954. 42:57injuries he stated 6-year-old Devon
  955. 43:00rutier had two devastating wounds to his
  956. 43:03chest they went completely through his
  957. 43:06body he was impaled by a large knife
  958. 43:10while some of the boy's wounds were
  959. 43:12indeed deep there is no evidence in the
  960. 43:15autopsy to support these
  961. 43:18statements this raises the question as
  962. 43:20to the motive of the prosecutors and law
  963. 43:23enforcement in this case is it just
  964. 43:26Chinese Whispers where a story becomes
  965. 43:28more exaggerated or completely different
  966. 43:31over time or is it a deliberate attempt
  967. 43:34to distort the truth and perpetuate The
  968. 43:37Narrative of darly as the folk devil the
  969. 43:40worst of the worst a mother who killed
  970. 43:43her own flesh and blood in the most
  971. 43:46brutal way one of the main tenants of
  972. 43:49the state's case against Dary was that
  973. 43:51while the boy's injuries were deep and
  974. 43:54penetrating dar's were superficial
  975. 43:57surface wounds they called several
  976. 43:59witnesses to show that dar's wounds were
  977. 44:02not only superficial but that she
  978. 44:05herself had inflicted them to be
  979. 44:08continued

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