I Investigated Darlie Routier's Trial And Found DISTURBING Evidence — Transcript

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1. 0:00Ever get that feeling like you're about
2. 0:01to fall down a rabbit hole? A story that
3. 0:03just grabs you and makes you question
4. 0:04everything.
5. 0:05Oh, totally. I live for those.
6. 0:06We've got one of those today.
7. 0:07Okay, I'm ready. Hit me.
8. 0:09Buckle up. We're going deep on Darlie
9. 0:11Lynn Routier.
10. 0:12Routier. Okay, yeah.
11. 0:15I know this one, but it's been a while.
12. 0:16Back in 1996, Dallas County, 911 call,
13. 0:21frantic.
14. 0:22Oh, man. I could already imagine what
15. 0:23happened.
16. 0:24Darlie's on the line saying there's been
17. 0:26an intruder,
18. 0:27stabbing. Her and her two sons, Devon,
19. 0:30he was six, and Damon, five.
20. 0:33Brutal. So, what did they find when they
21. 0:34got to the house?
22. 0:35It was bad.
23. 0:36Really bad. Both boys had been fatally
24. 0:39stabbed.
25. 0:40Oh, god.
26. 0:40Darlie herself had been stabbed, too.
27. 0:42Neck, forearm, and shoulder.
28. 0:44So, classic home invasion scene.
29. 0:45Well, that's what it looked like. Broken
30. 0:47wine glass on the floor, garage screen
31. 0:49ripped, bloody knife on the counter, the
32. 0:51whole nine yards.
33. 0:51Okay, but there's always a twist, right?
34. 0:53Right. Right from the start, you've got
35. 0:55these two completely opposite scenarios
36. 0:57playing out.
37. 0:59Lay them on me.
38. 1:00Darlie's story, she's unwavering.
39. 1:03Intruder, white guy, long hair, saw him
40. 1:06running off.
41. 1:06And the cops?
42. 1:07Not buying it. They're thinking staged.
43. 1:10Life insurance money, the whole motive.
44. 1:12That's rough.
45. 1:13So, where do we even begin to untangle
46. 1:15this?
47. 1:15That's exactly what we're doing today.
48. 1:17Digging deep, figuring out if there's
49. 1:19more to this whole story. News reports,
50. 1:21investigations, the whole lot. We're
51. 1:23particularly going to look at the
52. 1:25forensics and this crazy long wait for
53. 1:27DNA testing.
54. 1:28I'm intrigued. Let's get into it.
55. 1:31Let's start with the prosecution's case
56. 1:32at the trial. They had their timeline,
57. 1:35and it was pretty incriminating.
58. 1:37Okay, what was their take?
59. 1:38They argued that Darlie stabbed her
60. 1:40sons, Devon and Damon, first. Then, to
61. 1:42make it look like a break-in, she set
62. 1:44the whole scene. The broken glass, the
63. 1:46cut screen.
64. 1:47That's where the life insurance comes
65. 1:48in.
66. 1:48Exactly. But, they also said she walked
67. 1:50like 75 yards down an alley to dump a
68. 1:52bloody sock.
69. 1:54Wow.
70. 1:54Before, get this, stabbing herself and
71. 1:56messing up her arms and throat to
72. 1:58complete the picture.
73. 1:59That's a very specific sequence of
74. 2:01events. A lot had to go right for that
75. 2:03to work.
76. 2:03It does, doesn't it? But there's this
77. 2:05whole other layer to the case that
78. 2:09really throws a wrench in things.
79. 2:11Okay, I'm all ears.
80. 2:12Silly String. You wouldn't think it
81. 2:14would be a big deal, right?
82. 2:16No, not really. What's the context?
83. 2:18A few days after the murders, it would
84. 2:20have been Devon's seventh birthday. They
85. 2:22had a gathering at the boy's grave.
86. 2:25TV crew was there and they caught Darlie
87. 2:27on film. She's smiling, laughing,
88. 2:30spraying Silly String on balloons,
89. 2:32singing Happy Birthday.
90. 2:33Oh, boy.
91. 2:34That's tricky territory.
92. 2:36say that again. The prosecution seized
93. 2:38on that. They played this 15-second clip
94. 2:40over and over at the trial.
95. 2:42What was their point?
96. 2:43To show she wasn't grieving, that she
97. 2:45was cold, that she was capable of the
98. 2:47murders.
99. 2:47Yeah, and I can see how that would sway
100. 2:48a jury.
101. 2:49Absolutely. The DA even said publicly
102. 2:51that it made him sick and thought it was
103. 2:53weird, you know, her acting like that so
104. 2:55soon after her kids' deaths.
105. 2:56Yeah, it's hard to watch a mother who
106. 2:58just lost her kids acting carefree.
107. 3:00And it worked. One juror year later said
108. 3:03they replayed that Silly String clip
109. 3:04like a million times while they were
110. 3:06making their decision.
111. 3:07So, that really influenced their
112. 3:08thinking.
113. 3:09No question. It really gets you thinking
114. 3:10about how a tiny snippet of someone's
115. 3:13life out of context can be so powerful.
116. 3:17Context is everything, right?
117. 3:18And it wasn't just the Silly String.
118. 3:19They went after Darlie's character. They
119. 3:21brought up her breast implants, said she
120. 3:23didn't go to church enough, went out
121. 3:25with friends, wore jewelry.
122. 3:27Trying to paint a picture of her.
123. 3:28Yeah, this image of her being selfish,
124. 3:30materialistic.
125. 3:32Okay, I get the strategy.
126. 3:34But what about the defense? What was
127. 3:36their answer to all this?
128. 3:37That's the thing. They didn't really
129. 3:38have a strong forensic counter-argument
130. 3:41at the first trial.
131. 3:42Really?
132. 3:43Nothing to challenge the staging theory?
133. 3:45Her lawyer did bring in medical and
134. 3:47psych experts. They backed up her story
135. 3:49about the intruder and questioned if she
136. 3:51could have stabbed herself like that.
137. 3:53Okay, so they tried that angle.
138. 3:54Yeah, but they didn't have any forensic
139. 3:56people there to really go head-to-head
140. 3:58with the state's theory that she faked
141. 3:59the whole thing.
142. 4:00So basically, they let the prosecution's
143. 4:03narrative stand.
144. 4:05Pretty much. And the prosecution used
145. 4:07that in their closing arguments. Said it
146. 4:09was telling that the defense didn't
147. 4:10bring in any forensic experts.
148. 4:13Ouch. So, what happened?
149. 4:15went with the prosecution. February
150. 4:171997, Darlie was convicted of capital
151. 4:20murder for Damon's death, got the death
152. 4:22penalty.
153. 4:23Wow.
154. 4:24They also charged her with capital
155. 4:25murder for Devon's death, but never
156. 4:27actually held a trial for that one.
157. 4:28Okay, so that's the original story, the
158. 4:30one that led to her conviction.
159. 4:32Yeah.
160. 4:32But you said there were doubts.
161. 4:34Big time. And these aren't just little
162. 4:36details, there's serious problems with
163. 4:38the case that came up in later appeals
164. 4:40and an investigation by Texas Monthly.
165. 4:42Give me the highlights.
166. 4:43Okay, so one of the biggest things is
167. 4:45bloody fingerprints. They found them at
168. 4:47the scene, one on a coffee table,
169. 4:49another on the utility room door.
170. 4:51Okay.
171. 4:52But get this, they tested them against
172. 4:54Darlie, her husband Darren, everyone
173. 4:56they could think of who was in the
174. 4:57house. No match.
175. 4:59So, someone else was there?
176. 5:00Exactly. An unknown person was bleeding
177. 5:03in that house during the murders.
178. 5:05That's huge. It totally undermines the
179. 5:07prosecution's case.
180. 5:08Then you've got the fiber evidence.
181. 5:10The state said a fiber they found on the
182. 5:13bread knife tied Darlie to cutting that
183. 5:15garage screen.
184. 5:16Right, so that puts her at the scene
185. 5:18messing with things.
186. 5:19But hold on. It turns out that exact
187. 5:21same fiber was also in the type of brush
188. 5:24investigators use for dusting
189. 5:25fingerprints.
190. 5:26Oh, so it could have easily come from
191. 5:27that.
192. 5:28Exactly. That link they were pushing
193. 5:30between Darlie and the cut screen falls
194. 5:32apart.
195. 5:33That's a big blow to their case. What
196. 5:35else?
197. 5:35The bloody sock. They found it 75 yards
198. 5:38away from the house, remember?
199. 5:40The one the prosecution said she
200. 5:41planted.
201. 5:42That's the one. Well, it had blood from
202. 5:44both boys on it.
203. 5:45Okay.
204. 5:45But none of Darlie's.
205. 5:47So, how does that support their staging
206. 5:49theory?
207. 5:49It doesn't. The defense said it actually
208. 5:52backs up the idea of an intruder running
209. 5:54off, maybe dropping it as they fled.
210. 5:56Oh, and wasn't that sock Daren's?
211. 5:58It was. So you see this one piece of
212. 6:01evidence could either point towards
213. 6:03Darley or away from her.
214. 6:05It all hinges on how you interpret it.
215. 6:07And then there's the timeline, or rather
216. 6:10how ridiculously impossible it is. The
217. 6:12medical examiner said Damon could only
218. 6:14have lived for about 9 minutes after
219. 6:16being stabbed.
220. 6:17That doesn't give her a lot of time.
221. 6:19Not at all. The 911 call was almost 6
222. 6:21minutes long and the police got there
223. 6:24less than a minute later.
224. 6:25So that leaves what? 2 minutes to do
225. 6:27everything?
226. 6:28Barely. Texas Monthly pointed that out,
227. 6:30too. She'd have to stab her sons, cut
228. 6:33the screen, walk all the way down that
229. 6:35alley and back, stab herself, clean up
230. 6:37and stage the rest of the house.
231. 6:39In 2 minutes?
232. 6:40No way.
233. 6:41It just doesn't add up. And then you
234. 6:42look at the blood spatter and it gets
235. 6:44even weirder.
236. 6:45How so?
237. 6:46They found blood on the back of Darley's
238. 6:47nightshirt. Prosecution said it was from
239. 6:50the knife back splatter when she was
240. 6:52stabbing the boys.
241. 6:53From above?
242. 6:54Exactly. But when they tested it, it
243. 6:56wasn't just the boys' blood, it had
244. 6:57Darley's blood in it, too.
245. 6:59So how did her blood get on the knife if
246. 7:01she hadn't stabbed herself yet?
247. 7:02You got it. It doesn't line up with
248. 7:04their story at all. Then there's the
249. 7:06whole thing with Darley's first defense
250. 7:08team. She had different lawyers before
251. 7:11the trial where she was convicted.
252. 7:13Oh right, I forgot about that.
253. 7:14This first team, they hired their own
254. 7:17forensic people to look at the evidence
255. 7:19and it looks like they found things that
256. 7:21never made it to the trial with her
257. 7:22second lawyer.
258. 7:23Like what?
259. 7:24They said they had info about a guy who
260. 7:27fit Darley's description of the intruder
261. 7:29being seen near their house around 2:00
262. 7:31a.m. that night.
263. 7:32Really?
264. 7:32Yeah. And get this, they were also
265. 7:34thinking about bringing up the
266. 7:36possibility that Daren might have been
267. 7:38involved somehow.
268. 7:39Wow, okay.
269. 7:40And Texas Monthly said that Daren
270. 7:41admitted later after the trial that he'd
271. 7:45thought about an insurance scam before
272. 7:46the murders. He even asked Darlie's
273. 7:49stepdad if he knew anyone who could fake
274. 7:51a break-in.
275. 7:51Okay, so that's suspicious, but did he
276. 7:53do anything about it?
277. 7:54A PI who was working on Darlie's appeals
278. 7:57checked it out, but they couldn't find
279. 7:59any hard proof that he actually followed
280. 8:01through with a scam.
281. 8:02So, a lot of loose ends and unanswered
282. 8:04questions.
283. 8:05And then we have the DNA testing.
284. 8:07Which has been dragging on forever.
285. 8:09You're telling me they finally agreed to
286. 8:12limited DNA testing back in 2008, and
287. 8:15guess what?
288. 8:16Still waiting.
289. 8:17As of like 2019, one source said, and
290. 8:19then another even as late as 2024. Yeah,
291. 8:22they were still waiting on some of those
292. 8:23results.
293. 8:23It's ridiculous how long this is taking.
294. 8:26What are they even testing?
295. 8:27So, in 2014, a judge ordered them to
296. 8:30test that unidentified fingerprint from
297. 8:32the house, the bloody sock, and Darlie's
298. 8:35nightshirt.
299. 8:36It seems like they're focusing on the
300. 8:37right things at least.
301. 8:38Right. And then in 2018, they ordered a
302. 8:40third round of tests. This time both the
303. 8:43prosecution and the defense were on
304. 8:45board.
305. 8:45About time they agreed on something.
306. 8:47I know, right? But going back to that
307. 8:49fingerprint on the coffee table, that's
308. 8:51still a big question mark.
309. 8:52Still no match?
310. 8:53Nothing. Not Darlie, not her family, not
311. 8:56any of the first responders. They tried
312. 8:58running it through national databases in
313. 8:592019 hoping to finally get a hit.
314. 9:02Can you imagine what that would mean for
315. 9:03this case if they found a match?
316. 9:05It would be a game-changer. You also
317. 9:07have to consider the people who are
318. 9:08closest to this.
319. 9:10Their perspectives.
320. 9:11Like Darlie's husband, Daren.
321. 9:13He's always said she's innocent. And
322. 9:15their youngest son, Drake, he's had some
323. 9:17health issues, but he's been there
324. 9:18supporting his mom through it all.
325. 9:20That's got to be hard on him.
326. 9:21And this case has never really gone
327. 9:22away. You know, the public is still
328. 9:24fascinated by it. There have been all
329. 9:26these books about it, each with their
330. 9:27own spin on the evidence.
331. 9:29It's one of those stories that just gets
332. 9:31under your skin, isn't it?
333. 9:32Totally. And all those true crime TV
334. 9:34shows, documentaries, they keep coming
335. 9:36back to it. It's interesting, one author
336. 9:38even wrote a book saying Darlie was
337. 9:40guilty, but has since changed her mind
338. 9:42completely.
339. 9:43Wow. Based on what?
340. 9:44She looked at the evidence again, more
341. 9:46deeply this time, and now she says
342. 9:48Darlie's innocent. She even donated
343. 9:50money from her book to Darlie's family.
344. 9:52Okay, that's a pretty big 180. It shows
345. 9:54you how much we still don't know.
346. 9:56So, even with the conviction and all
347. 9:58these years, we're still left with these
348. 10:00fundamental questions and the
349. 10:01possibility that there's evidence out
350. 10:03there that could clear her.
351. 10:04It's like a puzzle with missing pieces.
352. 10:06And those pieces could be anything. The
353. 10:08fingerprints, the blood spatter, that
354. 10:10impossible timeline, and of course those
355. 10:12DNA tests that never seem to end.
356. 10:15It all adds up to this feeling that we
357. 10:17might never know the whole truth about
358. 10:19what happened that night in the Routier
359. 10:20house.
360. 10:21It's frustrating, right? To think we
361. 10:22might never get closure on this.
362. 10:24It really is. So, here's the bottom line
363. 10:26for everyone listening.
364. 10:28Darlie Lynn Routier was convicted of
365. 10:30killing her son Damon, but there are
366. 10:32strong and valid doubts about the whole
367. 10:34case. The forensic evidence doesn't
368. 10:36really add up, the timeline is crazy,
369. 10:39and there's still this unidentified
370. 10:41evidence out there.
371. 10:41It makes you wonder about the system,
372. 10:43you know?
373. 10:44How can someone be convicted when there
374. 10:45are so many holes in the story?
375. 10:47Absolutely. We're left with this
376. 10:49situation where the legal process grinds
377. 10:51on, waiting for those DNA results, while
378. 10:54we're all stuck with a very different
379. 10:56picture than what we were initially
380. 10:57told.
381. 10:58It really emphasizes the importance of
382. 11:00good forensic work in these cases.
383. 11:02And the need for answers.
384. 11:03So, think about this.
385. 11:05A mother on death row for over 20 years,
386. 11:08accused of killing her own kids, and
387. 11:10we're still left with unanswered
388. 11:11questions.
389. 11:13It's a lot to process.
390. 11:14It is.
391. 11:14Oh.
392. 11:14Makes you think about the limits of what
393. 11:16we can know for sure, even with all the
394. 11:18evidence and experts.
395. 11:19How long should we keep searching for
396. 11:21the truth?
397. 11:22Especially when we know, based on that
398. 11:24evidence, that someone else might have
399. 11:26been there that night. This case shows
400. 11:28us just how crucial it is to have a fair
401. 11:30and thorough investigation, and how long
402. 11:32and hard the fight for truth and justice
403. 11:34can be.
404. 11:35Yeah, it's a powerful reminder that
405. 11:37things aren't always as they seem.
406. 11:39And that sometimes the search for truth
407. 11:41is a marathon, not a sprint.
408. 11:43Couldn't have said it better myself.