Why? What was the motive?

[White Rain]

Molly - I know you were not asking me, but I would like to put 2 cents in. I believe that Darlie was suffering from PPD. Back in 96 PPD wasn't really discussed or treated as it is today. I don't think that she had bonded with him. I have to admit that I had this after the birth of my son. I loved my son by words, but I didn't bond at first. I really can't explain the thoughts and emotions I was feeling. NOW, I never once thought of hurting him. I just didn't play and bond like you normally do. It got so bad that I was placed on medication to get ME back to normal. It took several months before I finally felt the love that I should of normally felt. I felt like such a terrible mother and human being. I love kids. All of them. Always have and for me not to feel close to my old child almost killed me.

So I just don't think she loved him the way she loved Devon and Damon at the time.

She probably didn't..but that should have made it all the more easier for her to kill Drake is she really was considering murder/suicide.

 

[whitywendy]

She probably didn't..but that should have made it all the more easier for her to kill Drake is she really was considering murder/suicide.

Yea, I know what you are saying. I guess that is what keeps us all talking about it.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

Jeana, do you think she regrets them only because what she is now facing, or do you think her regret is for what she did to those boys?

I think she regrets the murders. I think she was under a tremendous amount of stress and now that she's got no "day-to-day" type of stress (I hope that makes sense), I think she's had time to realize that there were a million different things she could have done to better her situation. I don't believe she hated the boys and unless she did, she can't be happy she did what she did. (Sorry, its early and I'm not making much sense).

 

[CyberLaw]

Often people regret the murders they committed, in hindsight especially when they are sitting on death row or are in prison for life. Too bad, that no one can go back and bring the dead back to life.

Darlie may regret what she did, only because a)she got caught b)she is in prison and c)that she was sentenced to death and d) now she may realize that she could have made different choices.

That is why we tell our kids: Make good choices, one choice can ruin or alter your life forever. Think about what you do. When you choose to behave in a certain way, you choose the consequences of that choice.

If Darlie did regret truly what she did. She would not still be lying and trying to get out of prison. She hopefully would admit the truth and take responsibility for it. But no she still has this "blame" another person mentality.

 

[whitywendy]

Often people regret the murders they committed, in hindsight especially when they are sitting on death row or are in prison for life. Too bad, that no one can go back and bring the dead back to life.

Darlie may regret what she did, only because a)she got caught b)she is in prison and c)that she was sentenced to death and d) now she may realize that she could have made different choices.

That is why we tell our kids: Make good choices, one choice can ruin or alter your life forever. Think about what you do. When you choose to behave in a certain way, you choose the consequences of that choice.

If Darlie did regret truly what she did. She would not still be lying and trying to get out of prison. She hopefully would admit the truth and take responsibility for it. But no she still has this "blame" another person mentality.

Yea, she continues to blame others for her actions. Just as my cousin does to this very day as he sits in prison. He has never ever done any of the crimes that show up on his extensive record. I don't understand how he can sit there and still deny, deny, deny and expect me to believe every word he says. It just goes to show, imo, that something isn't working right in both of their brains.

 

[White Rain]

Often people regret the murders they committed, in hindsight especially when they are sitting on death row or are in prison for life. Too bad, that no one can go back and bring the dead back to life.

Darlie may regret what she did, only because a)she got caught b)she is in prison and c)that she was sentenced to death and d) now she may realize that she could have made different choices.

That is why we tell our kids: Make good choices, one choice can ruin or alter your life forever. Think about what you do. When you choose to behave in a certain way, you choose the consequences of that choice.

If Darlie did regret truly what she did. She would not still be lying and trying to get out of prison. She hopefully would admit the truth and take responsibility for it. But no she still has this "blame" another person mentality.

Thats what I think too.

 

[mollymalone]

Often people regret the murders they committed, in hindsight especially when they are sitting on death row or are in prison for life. Too bad, that no one can go back and bring the dead back to life.

Darlie may regret what she did, only because a)she got caught b)she is in prison and c)that she was sentenced to death and d) now she may realize that she could have made different choices.

That is why we tell our kids: Make good choices, one choice can ruin or alter your life forever. Think about what you do. When you choose to behave in a certain way, you choose the consequences of that choice.

If Darlie did regret truly what she did. She would not still be lying and trying to get out of prison. She hopefully would admit the truth and take responsibility for it. But no she still has this "blame" another person mentality.

I agree. So many stories, and always someone else to take the blame.

 

[mollymalone]

Molly - I know you were not asking me, but I would like to put 2 cents in. I believe that Darlie was suffering from PPD. Back in 96 PPD wasn't really discussed or treated as it is today. I don't think that she had bonded with him. I have to admit that I had this after the birth of my son. I loved my son by words, but I didn't bond at first. I really can't explain the thoughts and emotions I was feeling. NOW, I never once thought of hurting him. I just didn't play and bond like you normally do. It got so bad that I was placed on medication to get ME back to normal. It took several months before I finally felt the love that I should of normally felt. I felt like such a terrible mother and human being. I love kids. All of them. Always have and for me not to feel close to my old child almost killed me.

So I just don't think she loved him the way she loved Devon and Damon at the time.

That may well be true that she felt a lack of a bond with him.

 

[mollymalone]

Thank you Workingmom, you've expressed what I've been trying to put my finger on for some time. Both Darlie and Darrin do come across as teenagers, adults who didn't quite mature. Darrin's obsession with her boob size, and Darlie's obsession with possessing "pretty things" that she equated with class and money.

 

[mollymalone]

Darrin's support of Darlie might possibly stem from feeling guilty about something he may have said during their arguing. IF Darlie had threatened to leave Darrin and said she was taking the children with her, and he responded angrily that she wasn't having the children and said some nasty things about her mothering style, those comments on top of everything else that Darlie was thinking or being emotional about could have been just one more thing that piled into her emotional outburst and set her off.

It's just one more theory, and it's just a what if.

It's possible she was experiencing problems emotionally after the birth of the baby, but from what she and everyone else has said, and her own actions both before and after the killings, I question whether she really was experiencing anything other than "What Darlie wants, Darlie Gets and since she wasn't getting she was angry."

 

[HarleyGuy]

Well I have been lurking here for some time but thought I would make a comment here.

Not sure I even believe what I am about to propose but thought I would put it out for the experts here to analyze.

What if Darlie really did have some sort of short term rage as most in this thread are suggesting and murder the children. BUT when she comes out of the rage she is so shocked at seeing what she has done that her brain blocks it out. Blocks the memory. Like when someone in a car accident cannot remember anything about the accident......

Its far fetched but it does explain two things. One it fits Darlies memory loss story that she stuck to in various forms. And it also explains he insistance in her innocence. As many have said she is not really very mature. I can see in a childlike mind being able to feel very indignant and justified when you really don't remember doing it. I mean a falsely accused the world is persecuting me, everything is all about me mode is really classic Darlie. I think that somewhat explains why she is more focused on her suffering than that of the children......

Well I hope it was not too crazy for a first post.......

 

[CW]

Wecome to WS HarleyGuy. I'm watching a movie on Life Time Move Channel regarding a true case where a mother "Diane Downs" shot three of her precious children. I don't think we'll ever get into the minds of these evil woman that murder their precious children.

 

[CyberLaw]

Darlie gave 16 different version of the same story. She changed her story to fit the evidence. The cops were onto her very quickly as her story did not match the crime scene. She manipulates and lies. It is very generous for some one to say that she blocked out the bad memories. But at the crimes scene she took an active part in ensuring that the one child who was hanging on by a thread, was not going to be helped by her to live.

Darlie sees the world from only what Darlie wants and needs. She is the most important person in the world. No one else matters.

Don't be fooled by the "writings" of Darlie, because the premise is: If I killed my two little boys, I would not write such wonderful poems that I miss them so much. You see a mother who killed her little boys, would not write poems for them and mine are from my heart as a grieving mother unjustly convicted of killing my boys. I loved them so much I write poems in their memories.

Nothing Darlie does is for anyone except Darlie and only Darlie, only for the benefit of Darlie. She just expects the rest of the world to be manipulated and conned.

In one interview she said: The boys lived a full life. Now to us that is strange and weird. But to Darlie that is perfectly normal.

 

[mollymalone]

Wecome to WS HarleyGuy. I'm watching a movie on Life Time Move Channel regarding a true case where a mother "Diane Downs" shot three of her precious children. I don't think we'll ever get into the minds of these evil woman that murder their precious children.

I've read about that case too. Amazing that the prosecutor and his wife ended up adopting the two surviving children. But it gave them better lives than they had with a freaky mother who's only concern was herself.

That's how I see Darlie. Her only concerns are for herself. That's why she's so willing to blame anyone or anything else for her predicament.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

There is one other thing that I would like to look at related to motive. I have always believed that even though the argument

that evening/early morning was the immediate cause of the two boys being stabbed, the incident would not have
happened without the involvement of a long-standing, not recent, emotional problem. I believe evidence of that
long-standing problem is found in that "suicidal thoughts" entry in Darlie's diary a little more than one month before
the murders. I went out and found the exact quote, set forth in Skip Hollandsworth's article in the magazine Texas Monthly,

"Maybe Darlie Didn't Do It" (July 2002): "My life has been such a hard fight for a long time, and I just can't find the strength

to keep fighting anymore." What I hope you readers will do is determine what it was she was referring to; I would have to

agree that she doesn't say it directly, but rather cryptically references some long-standing problem. I believe the second part,

"and I just can't find the strength to keep fighting anymore" is a nod to the Routiers' money problems, so I am really only

interested in what "My life has been such a hard fight for a long time," means. In typical Darlie fashion, her writing refers

to a long-standing problem, but when asked about what she had written, she said that she had a fertility problem for about

one year, so what she wrote and her explanation don't match.

 

[CW]

Jeana could she possibly of meant from "My life has been such a hard fight for a long time," that she has struggled with her weight and looks for a long-time that she had taken diet pills knowing what they can do causing mood swings and sleepless nights and she had finally got down to her "perfect" weight and she finally felt good about her looks as well and then she gets pregnant with Drake I believe her last baby boy and she felt that she had to start all over loosing weight one again and getting her body back in shape. Darlie IMO is a self centered person and I'm sure her weight and looks was her number one concern and then add money problems on top of that as well. And if she where back on the diet pills I can see those two factors finally pushing her over the edge and striking out and murdering her precious boys. But of course this is jmo.

 

[mollymalone]

There is one other thing that I would like to look at related to motive. I have always believed that even though the argument

that evening/early morning was the immediate cause of the two boys being stabbed, the incident would not have
happened without the involvement of a long-standing, not recent, emotional problem. I believe evidence of that
long-standing problem is found in that "suicidal thoughts" entry in Darlie's diary a little more than one month before
the murders. I went out and found the exact quote, set forth in Skip Hollandsworth's article in the magazine Texas Monthly,

"Maybe Darlie Didn't Do It" (July 2002): "My life has been such a hard fight for a long time, and I just can't find the strength

to keep fighting anymore." What I hope you readers will do is determine what it was she was referring to; I would have to

agree that she doesn't say it directly, but rather cryptically references some long-standing problem. I believe the second part,

"and I just can't find the strength to keep fighting anymore" is a nod to the Routiers' money problems, so I am really only

interested in what "My life has been such a hard fight for a long time," means. In typical Darlie fashion, her writing refers

to a long-standing problem, but when asked about what she had written, she said that she had a fertility problem for about

one year, so what she wrote and her explanation don't match.

I too believe that even if the argument was instrumental in what happened, it would not have happened if there hadn't been some preceding, underlying problem with Darlie's character (or lack thereof.)

Perhaps she meant "her life had been such a hard fight for a long time" to mean that she fought hard to not always be "poor?" Or perhaps it was a veiled reference to fighting with Darrin a lot?

 

[mollymalone]

Jeana could she possibly of meant from "My life has been such a hard fight for a long time," that she has struggled with her weight and looks for a long-time that she had taken diet pills knowing what they can do causing mood swings and sleepless nights and she had finally got down to her "perfect" weight and she finally felt good about her looks as well and then she gets pregnant with Drake I believe her last baby boy and she felt that she had to start all over loosing weight one again and getting her body back in shape. Darlie IMO is a self centered person and I'm sure her weight and looks was her number one concern and then add money problems on top of that as well. And if she where back on the diet pills I can see those two factors finally pushing her over the edge and striking out and murdering her precious boys. But of course this is jmo.

Yes, and being self-centered, the reference to "fight" could mean that she had been fighting with Darrin over some of these issues for a long time. Taking diet pills, obsessing about getting down to a specific weight probably made her very irritable, singleminded about it all.

 

[CyberLaw]

In Darlie's mind, if the whole world did not revolve around her, if her life did not go "perfectly" scripted as per her expectations. If she could not go on vacations, buy what ever she wanted. Then of course she "feels" that life is a fight.

Raising two boys is a fight, struggling financially after living the high life is a fight. Being a mom is a fight.

Remember Darlie has "certain" expectations of how her life should be and want she wanted in material items.

 

[whitywendy]

Honestly, IMO I think that when Darlie wrote in her diary: "My life has been such a hard fight for a long time, and I just can't find the strength to keep fighting anymore", that she was just depressed more so than normal due to PPD and she was having a seriously sad day. I think she was dwelling in her "misery" at the time and took to paper to let it out.

I think that Darin and Darlie had most likely been having major relationship issues for several months prior to her getting pregnant with Drake. It makes me wonder if she thought that by having another child that it would bring back the love that was possibly missing from their relationship. The money problems didn't surface until the beginning of 96 and Drake was born in 95.

I have a question: WHY were they planning on "renewing" their wedding vows in 98? IMO it seems a little strange considering how young they were and how long they had actually been married. I always thought that couples renewed their vows after 25 or so years or because they want to erase something bad that has occurred to the marriage and "start over" with a clean slate.

I think the tables had turned on Darlie. I think that Darin was playing off of the emotions Darlie was experiencing. And for once felt like the one in control of the relationship and where it was going. I think the loss of control in the marriage was Darlie's breaking point.