Darlie Routier

On 6th June 1996, two young boys were stabbed to death in their home in Rowlett, Texas. Their mother, Darlie Routier, also sustained several wounds, however it was later claimed that these wounds were self-inflicted. Darlie was suspected of murder.

It is still unclear exactly what Darlie’s motive was, but prosecutors claimed that Darlie had murdered her two sons over anger regarding the Routiers’ financial problems. Darlie may have seen killing her children as a way out of their financial troubles.

Darlie claimed that an intruder or intruders entered their home and killed her children. However police believed otherwise, dye to certain suspicious facts. The two boys had died from deep, penetrating knife wounds to their torso, whereas Darlie has shallow slashes to her neck and arms. Why would an intruder attack in different ways? Darlie claimed that she had ran through the kitchen barefoot to call for help. The kitchen floor was covered in glass, yet Darlie had no cuts on her feet.

A while later a video was shown publicly of Routier and other family members throwing a birthday part at the graves of their sons. At one point the video even showed Darlie cheerfully spraying silly string on her sons’ graves.

Darlie was tried and found guilty of murdering one of her sons, and she was sentenced to death. Prosecutors had not tried her for the death of the second son, because they had been holding his murder trial in reserve in the case of Routier’s acquittal on the first trial. There is still some doubt over whether or not Darlie actually is guilty.