Do you think Darlie Routier was guilty?

[mikewho]

I know she was convicted but curious if you think she actually did it?

[Wawwie]

Originally Posted by mikewho

I know she was convicted but curious if you think she actually did it?

Of course she did it. The fibers of the torn screen were found on a knife from their kitchen knife block. Guilty.
Has this dumb bitch been put to death yet?

[mikewho]

Last I saw she was still on death row

A coworker thinks she's 100% innocent but the evidence seemed pretty straightforward

[Hot Jock]

Originally Posted by Wawwie

Of course she did it. The fibers of the torn screen were found on a knife from their kitchen knife block. Guilty.
Has this dumb bitch been put to death yet?

Yep. 100% guilty without a doubt in my mind. For anyone that feels otherwise, I implore you to watch the Forensic Files episode about her case. The forensic evidence against her is beyond overwhelming. She is absolutely responsible for the murders of her sons.

[James T]

Yes, hopefully this DNA testing gets done soon & it can be put to rest that she was the perpetrator.

[TheCars1986]

I have zero doubts that she murdered her two sons.

[Latka Gravas]

I'd been aware of this DR case for a while, and last year saw the old UM segment - which led me to do more research on this 26-year old crime.

This is an extremely clear-cut case & it's very obvious that DR murdered her sons, cut herself to look like she was a victim, and ended up blaming fictitious "intruder/intruders." It strongly reminds me of the 1970 Jeffrey MacDonald case; there are a lot of similarities here.

She is exactly where she belongs. Glad a jury got this right the first time. Also glad the authorities didn't arrest & convict an innocent person in this case - especially since these miscarriages of justice have happened before.

Not only is she a murderer of her defenseless children, but it's appalling that DR tried to blame her innocent neighbor for the crime(s).

As far as "why" she did it? It's possible that because her marriage/life was falling apart, she just "snapped". I don't see her as insane/mentally ill, just an entitled woman who thought she could literally get away with murder.

Whatever the reason, she is definitely guilty. Anyone supporting her is in denial. The physical evidence that she committed these murders is overwhelming.

[BDR]

The Forensic Files episode really nails home the evidence against her. She is guilty but I think that she is going to be spared the death penalty.

[Hot Jock]

Originally Posted by BDR

The Forensic Files episode really nails home the evidence against her. She is guilty but I think that she is going to be spared the death penalty.

I completely agree with both of those sentences.

I’d also like to give props to the prosecution on this case. If you look, you’ll see that they only put her on trial for the murder of one of her sons. They knew she was so obviously guilty that they didn’t want to take any chances of her beating the case due to it being such a big media sensation at the time. Couldn’t risk another O.J. type situation. By only putting her on trial for one of the murders, that left room for them to put her right back on trial for the murder of her other child had she somehow beaten the original case. Pretty shrewd move by the prosecution and I think it’s awesome that they still have the other murder hanging over her head, as it were, to make sure she never sees the light of day again.

[Latka Gravas]

Thanks for the recommendation of the FF episode focusing on DR. Just saw this. It's excellent, and I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to find out more about the case:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsAs5Zd5fKc

[James T]

Originally Posted by BDR

The Forensic Files episode really nails home the evidence against her. She is guilty but I think that she is going to be spared the death penalty.

Highly likely-the number of women executed in the US is incredibly low, as opposed to men, only 17 since 1976 when it was reintroduced. Bad news for her is Texas is number one for doing it with six of them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...tes_since_1976

[Labonte18]

Originally Posted by James T

Highly likely-the number of women executed in the US is incredibly low, as opposed to men, only 17 since 1976 when it was reintroduced. Bad news for her is Texas is number one for doing it with six of them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...tes_since_1976

Yeah.. i honestly don't know which way to fall here on this. I mean, this is a slam-dunk case. She didn't plead guilty. This is what the death penalty was made for right here, pretty much. And they've already sentenced her to death and if it gets knocked down on appeal, well, they can always then try her for Devon's death and try to get it again.

And then.. I remember that Susan Smith is up for parole in just over 2 years.

[Allierain]

Originally Posted by Latka Gravas

Thanks for the recommendation of the FF episode focusing on DR. Just saw this. It's excellent, and I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to find out more about the case:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsAs5Zd5fKc

Thank you for the link. I found out some interesting things I didn't know before, including that the Routiers were not the picture-perfect family as they tried to portray themselves (of course). Learning that the husband wasn't so involved with the raising of the children, I actually started to feel a tiny but of sympathy for Darlie. I feel the same way about Andrea Yates. We still live in a very patriarchal society and many wives are literally forced to bear children that they cannot handle raising while the man is out doing his thing, nor are they able to access mental help or other support. That would be a failure on the mother's part. Barefoot, pregnant in the kitchen, keep your mouth shut. I believe it was Andrea's religion and her husband that prevented her from getting help when she needed it, and then she snapped. I wondered if this was what happened to Darlie. What still confuses me is how she had the time to go plant the sock before inflicting her own wounds and then calling 911. And why she left her 7 month-old unharmed. I'm still not 100% convinced she did it but with no scientific evidence pointing to an intruder, I don't know what else to believe. Very similar to how I feel about the Jeffrey MacDonald case.

As for the birthday party at the graves, let me just say this: When you lose a child, you do strange things. I have first-hand experience with this, and it's something I would never wish on anyone. If you have children, hug them tonight and tell them you love them ok? You do NOT want to go through losing them, believe me. The birthday party at the graves itself doesn't bother me, but inviting the press was tacky and there was nothing....genuine....about it. It was clearly an act. As for doing strange things, I'm upgrading my baby's urn because it looks a little cheap and babyish (the one I have now was provided at no charge by the funeral home). Most people would look at me and think I was totally crazy for doing such a thing. But I don't feel that way. It's just one more thing I can do to honor my son and my angel, and how he changed my life for the better in the few days he was here.

[Latka Gravas]

I don't feel sorry for DR at all. No one pointed a gun to her head & forced her to get married & have a family. If she didn't want to do this, she didn't have to. In DR's case, she was a house-wife & completely dependent on her husband financially. But, again - it didn't have to be that way.

Also, she was very calculating when committing this horrible crime. She staged this & not only claimed a fictitious intruder did this, but went on to blame an innocent neighbor. And, as horrific as this crime was - it would also have been horrible if DR was believed & the innocent neighbor had gone to prison for the rest of his life - for a crime he didn't commit. Note that her guilty verdict could easily have gone another way, and she could have walked. Glad that this didn't happen that way.

[Allierain]

Originally Posted by Latka Gravas

I don't feel sorry for DR at all. No one pointed a gun to her head & forced her to get married & have a family. If she didn't want to do this, she didn't have to. She grew up in an era when women were going to college & having careers, etc. In DR's case, she was a house-wife & completely dependent on her husband financially. But, again - it didn't have to be that way.

Also, she was very calculating when committing this horrible crime. She staged this & not only claimed a fictitious intruder did this, but went on to blame an innocent neighbor. And, as horrific as this crime was - it would also have been horrible if DR was believed & the innocent neighbor had gone to prison for the rest of his life - for a crime he didn't commit.

Well, it is true that nobody put a gun to her head and made her get married and all. But like it or not, there have been other cases where mothers with post-partum depression, sleep deprivation and other issues have harmed their children or gone off the rails in other ways. I'll say it again, Andrea Yates is a good example of what happens when you push someone too far (raising too many children on her own) and ignore their needs and health. Denying it won't fix it. Maternal psychoses is real. If someone is experiencing a psychotic episode due to home life pressures and their mental health needs are being ignored by their immediate family, how is that entirely their fault?

I missed the part where she blamed a neighbor. I've been searching online but I haven't been able to find anything that confirms that fact. All I can say is that this case is incredibly sad. I tend to have great sympathy for people dealing with mental illnesses, however I know most people do not. Mental illness is really one of the last great taboos of our society. Even today it's judged unfairly.