Poll: Did Darlie Routier murder her children?

[sharkeyes]

It's just those darn bruises that puzzle me. I have a thought or two about them, but usually talk myself out of them.

What are your thoughts? I used to think it happened while she was stabbing the boys...(she was kicked while holding them down...etc.), but I've ditched that theory - I figure she used only one arm in the stabbing and the bruises are on both arms/hands...so now I'm leaning toward self inflicted...maybe slamming them in a door, or someone helping her slam them...I don't know, drives me crazy sometimes...:banghead:

 

[santos1014]

What are your thoughts? I used to think it happened while she was stabbing the boys...(she was kicked while holding them down...etc.), but I've ditched that theory - I figure she used only one arm in the stabbing and the bruises are on both arms/hands...so now I'm leaning toward self inflicted...maybe slamming them in a door, or someone helping her slam them...I don't know, drives me crazy sometimes...:banghead:

I bounce around either self inflicted or Darin, or a little of both. They seem very consistent to me..wrist to underarm. I think if it was the boys, there would have been hit and miss bruises, if that makes any sense. Not a continuous bruise. Hey...she cut her own neck...wouldn't be out of the way to do something else as well.
Can't wrap my mind around it really.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

I bounce around either self inflicted or Darin, or a little of both. They seem very consistent to me..wrist to underarm. I think if it was the boys, there would have been hit and miss bruises, if that makes any sense. Not a continuous bruise. Hey...she cut her own neck...wouldn't be out of the way to do something else as well.
Can't wrap my mind around it really.

I agree with you completely.

 

[cami]

I think all of you are right. "Frightening" just doesn't make sense. Espcially after you've seen your kids attacked so savagely. "I was trying to kill him" would have make a heck of more convincing story.
The only way I could see myself "frightening" an intruder is if I had a gun pointed at him. JMO

She had to lie and say she said frightening and not fighting. If she'd been fighting for her life with a knife weilding intruder...that room would have been a shambles ..it's not.

Darlie wasn't intelligent enough to realize the cops weren't just going to take her word for it hence her stupid explanations then her Tramautic Amnesia.

 

[cami]

I firmly believe that Darlie is innocent.

I think we all just ignored you Mrs. Norwood. Maybe you can tell us why you believe Darlie is innocent?

Thanks

 

[Jeana (DP)]

I think we all just ignored you Mrs. Norwood. Maybe you can tell us why you believe Darlie is innocent?

Thanks

I didn't ignore her on purpose. There wasn't much to comment on - as you pointed out.

 

[cami]

I didn't ignore her on purpose. There wasn't much to comment on - as you pointed out.

Oh Oh I wasn't suggesting that. I just thought I would answer her lone post sitting there, LOl.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

Oh Oh I wasn't suggesting that. I just thought I would answer her lone post sitting there, LOl.

Yeah, I'd like for her to finish what she started and tell us what she thinks

 

[mamamelly]

There are so many reasons why Darlie wouldn't have done this, she was a clean freak and would never done something so messy, she is a beautiful woman and knew she could get any man she wanted, and it seems to me like she had the boys downstairs for a reason...maybe to protect them from something, or someone. I think if the police looked harder they would have found Darins bloody cloths near that sock, it just makes sense over all else. Men react oddly when their beautiful wife ignores them and doesn't want anything more from them. Mothers don't kill their children unless there is a mental illness involved, and Darlie seems just fine to me. Also, why would the vaccuum cleaner be in the living room...could Darlie have used it to vaccuum the floor before the boys slept on it, and if so, that doesn't sound like the actions of a callous mom at all.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

There are so many reasons why Darlie wouldn't have done this, she was a clean freak and would never done something so messy, she is a beautiful woman and knew she could get any man she wanted, and it seems to me like she had the boys downstairs for a reason...maybe to protect them from something, or someone. I think if the police looked harder they would have found Darins bloody cloths near that sock, it just makes sense over all else. Men react addly when their beautiful wife ignores them and doesn't want anything more from them. Mother don't kill their children unless there is a mental illness involved, and Darlie seems just fine to me.

Actually honey, if you look at statistics, mothers kill their children all the time without the benefit of mental illness. Moreover, it was Darlie who felt that Darin was ignoring her and not the other way around. Please do your homework on this and other cases involving mothers who murder their children and then we'll talk.

 

[SadieMae]

What bothers me most about Darlie's injuries is the lack of defensive wounds on her HANDS. Every photo of her wounds show no hand wounds. I have visited some pretty sick sites on forensics and crime scene photos. Every one of them that involved a knife attack showed the victim (dead or alive) with a lot of cuts on the palms and fingers. I just don't get how she can have a neck wound and other knife wounds while fighting an "intruder" and no knife injuries to her hands. I find that pretty impossible.

 

[Gozgals]

There are so many reasons why Darlie wouldn't have done this, she was a clean freak and would never done something so messy, she is a beautiful woman and knew she could get any man she wanted, and it seems to me like she had the boys downstairs for a reason...maybe to protect them from something, or someone. I think if the police looked harder they would have found Darins bloody cloths near that sock, it just makes sense over all else. Men react addly when their beautiful wife ignores them and doesn't want anything more from them. Mother don't kill their children unless there is a mental illness involved, and Darlie seems just fine to me.

mamamelly:

Everyone is entitled to their opinion but this one is not backed up by facts that even resemble evidence. To say a person would not kill because they are a neat freak is totally off base. This is not a factual premise for forming an opinion on guilt or innocence.

I guess I can only answer your statement that Darlie is beautiful by saying that- "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" because I never considered Darlie beautiful physically or to be mentally attractive either.

I can assure you LE did a very thorough job when obtaining and processing the evidence from the crime scene. If they thought Darin was responsible for the crime, (though I do think he is culpable too) he would be behind bars and not Darlie.

Many women murder their children and are not mentally ill. You can find various cases on this board and search the internet and I'm sure you will see mental illness is not the leading cause of these types of homicides. It might be to your advantage to study this case further so at least an opinion can be based on facts.

Gozgals

 

[Jeana (DP)]

The only thing that was damaged in that house that night, except for the children, was the carpet. Easily remedied. Here's but a small list of women who murdered their children for reasons other than "mental illness:

Juana Leija
Kenisha Berry
Debbie Milke
Susan Smith
Mary Beth Tinning
Marie Noe
Christina Riggs
Diane Downs
Marie Hilley
Kathleen Folbigg

I'm sure there are more, you can simply read here at Websleuths to get another handful of women, who murdered their children for no good reason, much less mental illness.

 

[mamamelly]

This is my personal experienced opinion only. I know what a depressed mother feels like, I know how my husband reacts to that mood and how angry and resentful towards me and my son he can feel, on a small scale of course. When I feel depressed, or when I was post partum when I had my son, I didn't want anything but the best for my child, and I ignored and treated my husband a bit nasty. I became obsessed with other men, I admit. This is only an opinion, of a woman alot like Darlie. I admit I am vain, I am a clean freak, and I would have vaccuumed the floor before my kids slept on it just like she did, even if I was overcome with depression. I don't know where you did your research but I doubt Darlie was feeling ignored after Darin came downstairs with a pillow and a blanket, kissed her and told her to dream about him. He was obsessed with her, in reality his world was going down the drain, not hers. She deep down knew she could have any man she wanted. Darin told the paramedics this as well right after the kids were killed. If you would like to talk, thats great, I am all for other opinions, but don't knock mine, Honey.

 

[mamamelly]

Well I do stick to what I said about mental illness, but I am going to say I am wrong about making it seem that Darlie did not have a mental illness, because I do think she had the most common illness of all and was depressed, and so were these women on your list. But this is all my opinion, and I want other opinions and I would love for Darlie to go free if she didn't do this crime. Men think in such strange ways sometimes. Like tunnelvision. I don't know and have things figured out but with the sock and all, Darin being the guilty one is all I can envision.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

This is my personal experienced opinion only. I know what a depressed mother feels like, I know how my husband reacts to that mood and how angry and resentful towards me and my son he can feel, on a small scale of course. When I feel depressed, or when I was post partum when I had my son, I didn't want anything but the best for my child, and I ignored and treated my husband a bit nasty. I became obsessed with other men, I admit. This is only an opinion, of a woman alot like Darlie. I admit I am vain, I am a clean freak, and I would have vaccuumed the floor before my kids slept on it just like she did, even if I was overcome with depression. I don't know where you did your research but I doubt Darlie was feeling ignored after Darin came downstairs with a pillow and a blanket, kissed her and told her to dream about him. He was obsessed with her, in reality his world was going down the drain, not hers. She deep down knew she could have any man she wanted. Darin told the paramedics this as well right after the kids were killed. If you would like to talk, thats great, I am all for other opinions, but don't knock mine, Honey.

Darlin, I understand what you're trying to say, but you've got it all wrong. Darlie was feeling neglected. Darlie asked for a separation that night. All was not right with her world, so him brining her a pillow and a blanket and kissing her is ridiculous when you consider the fact that they had an argument so horrible that she asked him for a divorce. They did NOT have a happy marriage and many believe that she was of the opinion that he was cheating on her. She was stuck at home all day long with a broken down car and three kids while, in her mind, he was out in the world. Her world was going down the drain because she wanted to do thing that they could NOT afford to do. In the world of Darlie Routier that was a disaster. In her mind, she did NOT feel that she could get any many she wanted because she felt "fat." Being a woman, surely you know that is a self esteem nightmare. I suggest that you read the transcripts to begin with. Once you get yourself up to speed on the case, I'll be happy to discuss this case with you, but I'm not about to educate you in all aspects.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

Well I do stick to what I said about mental illness, but I am going to say I am wrong about making it seem that Darlie did not have a mental illness, because I do think she had the most common illness of all and was depressed, and so were these women on your list. But this is all my opinion, and I want other opinions and I would love for Darlie to go free if she didn't do this crime. Men think in such strange ways sometimes. Like tunnelvision. I don't know and have things figured out but with the sock and all, Darin being the guilty one is all I can envision.

Nothing in this post makes any sense to me so I cannot reply.

 

[mamamelly]

Where do you think I got the pillow and blanket thing in the first place. In Darins own words, that is what he did that night, after the fight. Darlie wanted a divorce, even worse for the guy. I am thinking in a psycological point of view here, I've stewed over it and read a lot about the case. I am not thinking about any CSI shows when it comes to this either. With the sock outside, where were the rest of his cloths? Don't you want to know? Gotta go to work. Later.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

Where do you think I got the pillow and blanket thing in the first place. In Darins own words, that is what he did that night, after the fight. Darlie wanted a divorce, even worse for the guy. I am thinking in a psycological point of view here, I've stewed over it and read a lot about the case. I am not thinking about any CSI shows when it comes to this either. With the sock outside, where were the rest of his cloths? Don't you want to know? Gotta go to work. Later.

There are any number of places the clothes could be. A laundry hamper. A laundry basket, etc. There was laundry in a basket in the laundry room. She could have picked up the sock right there while all of this was going on. They both told so many different stories that night there is absolutely no way to be sure what actually took place. The ONLY thing that we can be certain about is that there were no intruder(s).

 

[StellaTravers]

Where do you think I got the pillow and blanket thing in the first place. In Darins own words, that is what he did that night, after the fight. Darlie wanted a divorce, even worse for the guy. I am thinking in a psycological point of view here, I've stewed over it and read a lot about the case. I am not thinking about any CSI shows when it comes to this either. With the sock outside, where were the rest of his cloths? Don't you want to know? Gotta go to work. Later.

I don't see the statement about the pillow and blanket and Darin telling her he loved her in the same light as you do. I feel a lot of what both Darin and Darlie won't say about that night is included in the words they make a point to say in those statements. When I first read the statement that made a point to say that what their loving good night remarks were, it struck me as odd. When they were making a statement about the incidents of that evening, that would not be something that would pop in someone's mind. But it seemed as if they made a point to include that comment. It just didn't flow. Years later I heard the rumor that they had had a huge arguement that night and a separation/divorce was discussed. At the time, this was vehemently denied by the family. Later, they admitted it. Why did they so strongly deny it in the first place unless it had some sort of importance to what went on that night? At that point, both of them would have been under so many emotional reactions that the fight would have seemed insignificant, the separation forgotten as they grieved together. Yet they wanted to give the impression that they were saying all these loving remarks etc. Why worry about this remark? Of course, I can't PROVE he isn't telling the truth about the pillow and I love yous but we do know neither of them told the entire truth in their statements because not one of them mentions the arguement. It is glossed over as "we had some words", but that was not the extent of it, according to them now.
I totally wanted to believe she is innocent, but there is too much evidence to the contrary. It is easy to believe in her innocence if you buy into the stories you hear, but when you read the transcripts and look at human behavior, there is no way there she isn't involved.