Crime Weekly - S3 Ep304: The Murders of Devon and Damon: The Case Against Their Mother, Darlie Routier (Part 1)

Episode Date: May 23, 2025

911 Call Transcript: https://web.archive.org/web/20040210090811/http://www.fordarlieroutier.org/911Call/transcript.html In the early morning hours of June 6, 1996, a frantic 911 call came in from a quiet neighborhood in Rowlett, Texas. On the line was 26-year-old Darlie Routier, who said she and her sons had been stabbed by an intruder while they slept in the downstairs family room. When first responders arrived, they found a horrific scene—six-year-old Devon and five-year-old Damon lying on the floor with multiple stab wounds, while Darlie was walking around, bleeding from several knife injuries of her own. As officers cleared the house and paramedics worked to save the victims, Darlie repeated the same story: a man in dark clothing had come into the family room, stabbed her and her children, then fled through the garage—leaving the knife behind. But as investigators began to process the scene and piece together what had unfolded in the Routier home, a new set of questions emerged—about Darlie’s version of events, the physical evidence, and what she did—and didn’t do—after the attack. We're coming to CrimeCon Denver! Use our code CRIMEWEEKLY for 10% off your tickets! https://www.crimecon.com/CC25 Try our coffee!! - www.CriminalCoffeeCo.com Become a Patreon member -- > https://www.patreon.com/CrimeWeekly Shop for your Crime Weekly gear here --> https://crimeweeklypodcast.com/shop Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CrimeWeeklyPodcast Website: CrimeWeeklyPodcast.com Instagram: @CrimeWeeklyPod Twitter: @CrimeWeeklyPod Facebook: @CrimeWeeklyPod ADS: 1. https://www.HelixSleep.com/CrimeWeekly - Get 27% off sitewide and a FREE bedding bundle! 2. https://www.StartPhotoBooth.com/Crime - Check out their FREE profit calculator! 3. https://www.PDSDebt.com/CrimeWeekly - Get your FREE debt assessment today! 4. https://www.Ollie.com/CrimeWeekly - Use code CRIMEWEEKLY for 60% off your Welcome Kit! 5. https://www.EatIQBAR.com - Text WEEKLY to 64000 for 20% off ALL IQBAR products and FREE shipping!

In the early morning hours of June 6, 1996, a frantic 911 call came in from a quiet neighborhood in Rowlett, Texas. On the line was 26-year-old Darlie Routier, who said she and her sons had been stabbed by an intruder while they slept in the downstairs family room. When first responders arrived, they found a horrific scene. Six-year-old Devin and five-year-old Damon lying on the floor with multiple stab wounds, while Darlie was walking around bleeding from several knife injuries of her own.

As officers cleared the house and paramedics worked to save the victims, Darlie repeated the same story. A man in dark clothing had come into the family room, stabbed her and her children, then fled through the garage, leaving the knife behind. But as investigators began to process the scene and piece together what had unfolded in the Routier home, a new set of questions emerged about Darlie's version of events, the physical evidence,

and what she did and didn't do after the attack. Hello everybody. Welcome back to Crime Weekly. I'm Stephanie Harlow. And I'm Derek LeBasser. So today we're covering a case that, I mean, how long have we been doing Crime Weekly now? Almost five years. It'd be five years, December 4th. So this case has been requested for about five years. It'll be five years December 4th. So this case has been requested for about five years. Yeah

Since we started there's always people in the comments asking us to cover the Darley Routier case and I can see why I mean Did you cover this on your channel? No, no Okay, it's a highly controversial case As I had mentioned on Crime Weekly News, I know how I feel about it. But there are a lot of people who believe that Darlie is innocent.

And there is even, I believe, at least one website that is active still that is just focused on proving her supposed innocence. Well, when you were just reading the teaser, I said to myself, oh, we're about to step into one of those cases. Yes, yes, yes. And it's interesting the timing of us covering it.

And it's not intentional. But when you think about Karen Reed and how there's very strong opinions on both sides, depending on who you listen to, they'll give you a quote unquote convincing argument for whatever they believe. So, yeah, we're gonna get into one. This is, you know how some series we do and we can all agree on, like, Peggy Clinky is a great series. It's a story that we can all learn from and we're all kind of on the same page.

And then there's some other ones where you either love us or you hate us. And we'll be getting name called for sure. Yeah, I'm sure there'll be people who are angry and wanna prove something, but listen. You know what we're gonna do? We're gonna call it how we see it. We are gonna call it how we see it, and I will say that-

I'm not gonna let you influence me. No, I don't think I'll need to. Okay, okay, I'll see you're, but that right there is a tactic. I really- I don't think I'll need to. Listen, this series- Like it's so obvious what it is, Derek. This series is based on thousands of pages

of police and court documents. This is heavily researched. The facts are the facts. Okay. And I think that, you know, you can say that, like there's people who are like, oh, it's cause she was a woman. Yeah, there's always gonna be some sort of excuse

or some sort of reason. I mean, look at what's going on with the P. Diddy trial. People are saying like, oh, the government's going after it. Like I can't believe that there's people defending him. But of course there's people defending him. So you're always gonna have it, but I think the evidence speaks for itself. And I guess we'll see, right?

We will see. We will, I'm gonna go through it I don't know much about this case. I've heard the name before Yeah, who has it? I don't know all the details all the nuances of this case. I'm gonna give it a fair shake I'm going into a blind but just a little something different Right now while you're starting this video pause it for a second Let us know what you think right now based on what you know about this case, guilty or innocent, and do me a favor. I'm going to ask this question

again when we finish this series and this is going to be a multi-parter. This is old school crime weekly. We're probably looking at four or five parts. At the end, let us know what you think and whatever final part it is and if that opinion's changed. Because there is a lot of people who are out there and listen to a series and then go, you know what, I thought one thing and now I think something different. Yeah. I mean, I think that, uh, as far as like comparing it to Karen Reid is so difficult because I'm doing that with a very ignorant understanding of this case. I don't know. I just, I don't think Karen Reid can be compared

to anything. This is unlike anything I've ever seen. We're in the middle of the second trial. It's, it's dragging on the, the, we're going over the same evidence through a different lens. It's very exhausting to be honest. Stephanie, I was, I think I mentioned this or maybe I didn't. I was high on pain meds doing a live from my hospital bed in Toronto and I had made a comment and I stand behind it and when this isn't about Karen Reed So I'll make it long, but I basically said to paraphrase, you know, regardless of what happened She's probably gonna walk because the case was fucked up exponentially But I do think she hit him I might me personally I think she hit him and and I said there's nothing to say

definitively she didn't and Somebody clipped to that little part, posted on Twitter. I was getting, I was wondering when I was getting all this hate on all my, uh, social media. And it's like, nobody knows what happened in that case. Maybe even Karen Reed, nobody knows. So I don't know how someone's so sure of one thing or the other, whether you think she's guilty or innocent. I don't know how you can say it with

zero percent uncertainty because Nobody truly knows and so that that to me is what's always interesting when someone who lives in Oregon Can tell me definitively Karen Reed did not do it because of what they know when Karen Reed herself Has made certain comments that suggest she doesn't even know for sure. So that's what's fascinating to me. It's crazy. It's I've never seen anything like it. It's just it's crazy. We're going to do a crime weekly news eventually on that again. We're kind of letting things marinate and unfold. We know that everybody's covering it, but we're going to wait till it's all we covered it already, but we're going to

wait until it's adjudicated to give our last thoughts on it And it'll probably be a crime weekly news. Yeah. Yeah, God. I don't want to do it But can I even be just making a comment about it now? We'll have comments over how could you say that made me exhausted? When you said we're gonna cover it again, I got exhausted. Can I say one thing before we get started real quickly? Criminal coffee summers here. We're all happy about it case You guys are waiting for a discount on the hoodies and the crewnecks It's all on sale right now So if you want to grab something while the weather is still a little cool with spring, right?

You might be able to wear it here and there now would be the time to do so. There's certain colorways We're not going to carry after this summer. But whatever we have in stock right now for the for the winter slash Colder gear is on sale right now. So criminal coffee co for the winter slash colder gear is on sale right now. So criminalcoffeeco.com. If you wanna get yourself a little extra discount, now would be the time to do so. Yeah, I mean, the nights still get cool in the summer. I'm still wearing it.

I'm at softball practice, I'm wearing them. Exactly, what better event, like you're at a bonfire in a summer night, you're at a field party. Yeah, field. What's that again? You're at a field party, wearing your criminal coffees, sweatshirt, it's perfect. Yeah, pick it up. that again? You're at a field party wearing your criminal coffees, watch her. It's perfect.

Yeah, pick it up. They're great. So as always, to understand what happened at the end, we have to go back to the beginning. And Darlie Lynn Peck was born on January 4th, 1970 in Altoona, Pennsylvania to parents Larry and Darlie. And yes, before you ask, her mother's name was also Darlie. In fact, Darlie Lynn was the fourth woman in her family to have that name. Her father was in the military and served in Vietnam when she was born.

And not long after he returned home, her parents split up. Eventually, her mother remarried a man named Denny and the family settled into a home more than 1,500 miles away in Lubbock, Texas. Now, when Darlie was about 10 years old, her mother gave birth to another daughter, Dana, and then had another girl, Danelle, three years later. Now, because of the age difference,

Darlie quickly took on a nurturing role, and many people described her as being like a second mom to her younger sisters. People who knew Darlie back then said she was sweet and thoughtful and generous and she had a quiet kind of goodness that made people feel drawn to her. In 1985, when Darlie was 15 years old, her mother was working at a Western Sizzlin steakhouse in Lubbock. And that spring, she introduced Darlie to one of the assistant managers, a 17-year-old named Darren Routier. The two hit it off right away, quickly becoming inseparable, and not long after they met,

they took a ski trip to Colorado. While riding the lift together, Darren proposed, and even though she was still in high school, Darlie said yes. So on August 27, 1988, after graduating from high school, Darlie married Darren, and the couple honeymooned in Jamaica. Once they returned home, they moved into an apartment in Garland, Texas, and they both took jobs at a circuit board manufacturing company called Cuplex. Darren eventually started a side business called Testneck, testing circuit

boards out of their home, and continued working full-time at Cuplex while the business gained traction. Now, by all accounts, the couple had a good relationship. Darren's mother later testified that she and Darlie were very close. They talked on the phone every week for an hour or two at a time, and she said that Darlie was the kind of daughter-in-law anyone would be lucky to have. Darlie's best friend Barbara agreed that Darley and Darren seemed happy, at least for the most part, and she believed the two were faithful to one another, though she also noted that Darley tended to be the more dominant one in the relationship. On June 12, 1989, the Routiers moved into a house on Bond Street in Rowlett, Texas, about

30 minutes outside of Dallas. And just two days later, Darley gave birth to their first child, a son named Devin Rush Routier. A couple years later, while still living in the same home, Darley gave birth to their second son, Damon Christian Routier, February 19th, 1991. At that time, Darren's business, Test Neck, was continuing to grow and by 1992, it was doing well enough for Darren to quit Cuplex entirely and move the company into its own space. Darley started managing the books while Darren brought on her best friend Barbara and

her younger sister Dana to help in other roles and the business thrived. Darren started pulling in six figures and this gave the Routiers a level of financial freedom that they hadn't had before. But according to Barbara, who remember is Darlie's best friend, it was also around that time that Darlie began to develop a taste for material things. She shopped constantly and started embracing a lifestyle that was a little bit flashy and extravagant. Still, Darlie didn't keep the money to herself. She was known to shower friends and family with gifts

and she often donated to charity. Well, that's good she's donating, but this is a story that we see a lot where people start to, they don't come from money and then once they get it, I think it's a human thing, right? You have these dreams and aspirations and everyone wants to be wealthy.

And everyone wants to have financial security. And when you finally achieve that, you start to live out those dreams that you maybe had as a kid. Those things you didn't get to buy when you were younger that now you can. And you start to not really consider the actual price tag or how the bank account may be going down faster than what you're spending

and it can cause some problems. We see it even with like huge celebrities. Seeing it with Justin Bieber right now, have you seen that? They're saying like he blew like basically all his money and he owes like millions to different people. One guy being Scooter Braun who's from what I understand is a just complete jerk. As a Swifty, Scooter Braun is the devil incarnate.

He's not a good guy, but apparently he owes him money and all these other things. So no matter how much money you make, you can outspend it. And we have a lot of people who find themselves in financial troubles because even though they're doing well, they're not taking care of the back end, the accounting part of it. So I do like the fact that she's not only spending

on herself, but she's spending on people in need. But I have a feeling you're mentioning this because it's gonna become part of the story. I mean, I will also say with Justin Bieber, he got his money very young. Oh yeah. So I think that's another sign of something. When you're young and your brain's not fully developed

and then all of a sudden you have all this money, of course, no one ever taught you how to handle it or manage it and yeah, you're gonna be like a kid, very impulsive, you're gonna buy everything. You hear about these stories and you think it's impossible from the spend all their money, but apparently it had a lot to do with, he made like hundreds of millions of dollars, right?

But what happened is he canceled that tour because of like health issues and stuff and There was a lot of money that was lost on that and then you know, there's still bills that come in There's still obligations that your contractually obligated to so when you don't achieve those there's penalties and all that stuff And when you're someone who just has what it appears to be an unlimited, you know funding You just keep spending and the things that he's buying are not small price tags. We're talking like Lamborghinis and houses and all these things.

So. Of course, all the status symbols, right? Yeah, so three, 400,000 a pop might not seem like a lot when you're making his type of money, but if you're doing it over a period of time and the money's not coming in like it usually does, it's usually at late in the game when your accountant comes forward and goes,

hey, that check bounced. You know, like, and you're like, wait, what? comes forward and goes, hey, that check bounced. And you're like, wait, what? And you're like, how? I'm rich. Exactly. I'm rich. I've never had to worry about what's in the bank account. And then you also have people, and this is a different story

for a different day, but people who are skimming off the top, taking more than they're entitled to, and you just have so much money, you need a team of people to kind of keep track of everything, and if that team is also taking money, they shouldn't, it's gonna be easy to miss it, and before you know it, you're out millions of dollars. Well, I think with someone like Darlie, she obviously didn't grow up wealthy, right?

And a lot of people, if a low financial status, it can come with shame sometimes so for them money can become a symbol of success, of course, worth, social standing. Success is a big thing for all of us and yeah it is by how big your house is, what kind of car you drive for sure. And so these people might spend you know conspicuously on clothes, cars, vacations, to sort of like put more distance between themselves and their past. Like, I am finally someone, people see me differently now. And this validation comes with material wealth.

It can be really addictive, especially if they have felt less than for most of their lives, or if they have felt like, oh, I shouldn't be, you know, struggling financially. Like, I'm not somebody who should be doing that. This can also make them more sensitive to how others perceive their wealth or lack of it. And, you know, Darlie could have been somebody

who was very conscious of how she was perceived by others. I get it. And I don't even think that's like a bad thing. I think a lot of us are susceptible to that approach and wanting people to respect you and see you as successful. Listen, we got Real Housewives coming to Rhode Island. I'm concerned.

I might be on camera somewhere. They might catch me. I want to be perceived as someone, you know. Who's got it together? Yeah, who's got it together. Did you know Real Housewives Rhode Island? Greenlit. Are they, where are they going?

Like what city in Rhode Island? I think they're gonna, I mean Rhode Island suits so small, it's probably the whole state. They're taking over the whole place. Yeah, it's like, hey, they're everywhere. No, I think I'm sure it's gonna be in the more- They're gonna be scattered from one end to the other. I'm sure it's gonna be in the richer areas.

Yeah, that is very- Maybe down by T. Swift. I mean, yeah, I mean, by the way, you haven't let me stock Taylor Swift's house in Rhode Island. I already told you, come on down, I'll take you by. Alright, so we'll wait till the Real Housewives get there, and then we'll do a double, like, stock T. Swift and try to photobomb the Real Housewives. Wait till you see how big Taylor's house is.

Oh, I've seen it in pictures, trust. It's a mall. I know, it's gorgeous. It's a mall, and she just added on to it. Right on the water. It's ridiculous. It's so gorgeous. Alright, we can talk about Taylor Swift.

Let's take a quick break, we'll be right back. We're gonna dive back into the case, because maybe not everybody cares about Taylor Swift. Let's take a quick break. We'll be right back. We're gonna dive back into the case because maybe not everybody cares about Taylor Swift. I know Stephanie. Impossible. Impossible. We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back. Okay, real talk. Let's get into sleep for a second because if you're anything like me, you know the struggle of tossing and turning all night, waking up with random aches, or dealing with night sweats like you're training for a sauna competition. I used to think that was just normal until I got my Helix mattress. Now, I'm not exaggerating when I say it changed the game for me. I did the Helix sleep quiz,

took like two minutes, and it matched me with a perfect mattress based on how I sleep. According to my Apple watch, I'm finally getting consistent deep sleep, like actual restorative sleep. We wanted to partner with Helix because this is something that we genuinely use and believe in. We both have Helix mattresses. I think we have the same one, the Midnight Lux, right? Midnight Lux, exactly. Yep. We've both had our Helix mattresses for a while now, like years.

So if you're ready to upgrade your sleep, and I promise you, you won't regret it, Helix is running their Memorial Day Sale right now through June 1st. And Crime Weekly listeners get 27% off site-wide, plus a free bedding bundle, which is a sheet set and a mattress protector when you order a Lux or Elite mattress. Yeah. All you got to do right now, it's really simple. Helixsleep.com slash Crime Weekly, Memorial Day sale now, May 12th through June 1st, 2025. That's 27% off site-wide plus a free bedding bundle. And as Stephanie said, that's a sheet set and mattress protector with any Lux or Elite mattress. So like Stephanie was saying, we have the Lux mattress right now. If you order that

you get 27% off plus the bedding bundle. And this is actually an exclusive offer for our listeners at Crime Weekly. So definitely check it out. Definitely use our code. You can't beat it. Go check it out. Helixsleep.com slash Crime Weekly. Okay. We are back. By 1993, the Routiers decided to upgrade their home, right? Like we're talking about. You have financial stability now and you have to show others that you are in this new income

tax bracket, sort of. I'm doing well. Yeah. So they bought a large corner lot house at 5801 Eagle Drive in Rowlett. The house had a fountain in the front yard, okay? If you have a fountain in your front yard, that's it, you've made it. I'm actually looking at the house right now, it's gorgeous.

Yeah. Brick house, monstrous, it's on the corner right there, like you said, it's got the pillars in the front. Great landscaping. Yeah, it looks awesome. Yeah. It looks awesome, great house. So they got a fountain in the front yard,

they got a hot tub in the back and extravagantly decorated rooms. And the couple, they kept spending money just as fast as they were making it. Darren collected expensive sports memorabilia and he drove a Jaguar. Didn't you say Justin Bieber bought a Jaguar? It's Jaguar.

It's Jaguar. Jaguar, like the animal. Jaguar, like the animal. Is the animal also called Jaguar. It's Jaguar. Jaguar, like the animal. Jaguar, like the animal. Is the animal also called Jaguar? I don't know what you're saying. You're saying Jaguar. Okay, it's Jaguar. Jaguar.

And that's also what the animal's called. Yeah, Jaguar, the animal. Listen, I'm not a car person, okay? You know, there is a Jaguar on the car. Yeah. Jaguar. I've been just walking around. I think it's more your accent than mispronunciation. I've been walking around the jungle calling these animals Jaguars You're kind of saying that's probably why they're not that's probably why they're not responding to them when I'm calling you're kind of saying

It right to be honest like I'm hearing it different ways and when you say and it's closer than other you know what I mean I know what you mean. I'm also not gonna call a Porsche Porsche. I'm not gonna do it. No, me neither. By the way, I'm not seeing the fountain in front of this house, so they must have added it afterwards or maybe this photo's older,

but I know some of you, like me, like to see the real estate are gonna look it up. Okay, the fountain is closer to the door and it's like white, kind of, so it kind of looks like it kind of melts of melts into the the pillars the white pillars okay so maybe it's behind those shrubs if you're looking at the photo well I have a photo up on the screen for the YouTube people but yeah it's I'm not seeing the fountain I'm sitting here being a looky-loo and I'm being nosy and I was looking for

this massive fountain. Derek click on the hyperlink fountain in the in the script. Oh let me click on that. Okay, so there's another, let's see the front yard. So we'll put that one up too. Oh, yeah, no, I'm looking at that first photo where it's like, it looks like a realtor photo. That's the one I'm referring to where you look at that one and then you look at your fountain photo, the fountain ain't there. That is the realtor photo, yeah.

But if you thought the fountain was bad, okay, wait till you hear this. So Darlie had her husband Darren build cages so she could raise and sell Persian cats. And they already had five of these Persian cats of their own, plus a small Pomeranian named Domino. Okay, so she's got a fountain and she's raising Persian cats. It's like a tiger king over here. They wore designer clothes. Darlie was often seen in fur coats, cashmere sweaters, She's got a fountain and she's raising Persian cats. It's like a tiger king over here.

They wore designer clothes. Darlie was often seen in fur coats, cashmere sweaters and flashy jewelry. And the boys were always dressed in the nicest outfits and had the best new toys. In fact, the family had so many electronics and games. The neighborhood kids nicknamed their place the Nintendo house. And this, my friend, is what they call new money. Okay? This is not only I need to have money to make sure I have financial security and stability to make sure my kids and their futures are taken care of. This is I need everyone to know who I am now and I'm rich. And I think it sometimes, I couldn't speak for Darren, but maybe for Darlie,

it comes from a lack of self-worth like she didn't think too much of herself So she needed to make sure that people saw her as somebody who was to be respected and admired Based on what having money? Yeah, we said I'm not even holding it against her. We see it every day Yeah, I don't think it's weird I see we see people overspending every day as a status right to try to gain some level of classification that Maybe you're doing better than than you. And so it's not a good thing, but it's also, I've even been guilty of it. You know, you throw something on the car because you're proud of it and you want it to look, but you know, you put rims on your car or whatever.

Do you need them? Are they functional? Do they make your truck not fit into certain parking lots? Yes, I'm there. I'm that guy. My flex is making sure my IRAs are in good condition. That's a lie. You have a pool and stuff. You got some nice stuff too. Yeah, cause I bought the house with the pool,

but let me tell you, man, like when I was growing up, we were broke. So to me, I'm in starvation mode all the time and I'm always afraid cause I'm like, I could lose everything any day. And then what, you know, so no, I'm not buying Jag I'm like I could lose everything any day. Yeah, and then what you know, so no I'm not buying jag jaguars Jaguars by all appearances

Obviously looking from the outside in the routiers were living the dream and they were loving every minute of it The business continued to grow and by the summer of 1995 things were going really well and Darley and Darren were expecting their third son. At that point their older sons Devin and Damon were six and four years old. According to Darley's best friend Barbara the boys were happy, rowdy, and smart. They loved being outside, they loved playing with their friends and watching their favorite shows which was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers. Same. They also enjoyed family outings to Wet and Wild, Six Flags, The Zoo, and Medieval Times.

Now, Devin, he had developed the personality of a jokester. He loved to make people laugh and he was always pulling pranks or mimicking funny things he saw or heard, but he was also polite, even when his mother wasn't around. He had a thing for jewelry like his mother, you know, kids are gonna mimic you and Darlie's over here decked out in fur coats and jewelry like a mob wife. And so Devon would rarely be seen without a necklace and a watch, which is

adorable. He loved swimming, music, and video games and he was known for singing around the house. Damon was a lot like his older brother. He loved the water, he was very smart, and he could be strong-willed. Barbara described him as a little moody and stubborn, the kind of kid who might ignore you if he didn't feel like talking. On October 18th, 1995, Darlie gave birth to her and Darren's third son, Drake. So obviously we see a pattern here by the way. We've got Darlie and Darren, both D names, and then they named all three of their sons D names,

Devin, Damon, Drake, which I find to be obnoxious. A lot of people do that. My parents did that. My parents did that. And so that's why I can say that. And let me tell you, we're Stephanie Samantha Serge. And when my mother was yelling at any one of us, she would have to go through the entire cadre of names

before she got to the right one. I've been doing because I'm horrible with names. And I- You're horrible with your own kids' names? You're like, which one are you? No, I constantly call Tenley Payton, Payton Tenley. And that's why I just go T and P. For some reason, it's easier for me.

But when I'm yelling at them, I just feel like I constantly mix them up. Yes. Well, my mom did that too. Stephanie, Sam, Serge. And we would laugh at her. But I will say, love you, P. If you see this one day, usually I'm yelling at Payton. We would always make fun of my mom and she like, it would make her even more mad, but you just had to because you were like, wait, which who's in trouble here?

Which one of us? So Drake is born. And after he was born, Darlie stepped away from her role at her husband's company, Test Neck. She was doing bookkeeping. She stepped away from that to focus on raising her boys full time, a role that she seemed to embrace wholeheartedly. She later said, quote, Darren and I spent all of our extra time that we had with Devin and Damon. Devin and Damon were very much a big part of our lives. I should hope so. Your children. Yeah.

She continues and says, I don't remember doing too many things without Devin and Damon. End quote. I think it's weird that she felt that she needed to express that Devin and Damon were a big part of her and her husband's lives. Like I goes without saying, right? I mean, yeah, I could see, I don't know why you have to voice it, but you don't know the rationale, the context behind it.

I don't know. She's like, trust me, our kids were a big part of our lives. So Darren's mother said that Darley loved Darren and their children, and Darren's brother, Dion, described Darley as a very devoted mother. He said, quote, she did everything for those kids, end quote. Dion's wife echoed that sentiment and said Darley was the kind of mother she wanted to be, quote, very giving and very loving and very kind with her time, end quote.

So Darren's brother is also has a D name, Dion. I wonder if Dion's wife has a D name as well. Like do they search out women with D names so they can keep the D legacy going? It would make sense though, because more than likely it does, maybe Darren's parents did the same thing, so he's just carrying on the tradition.

Once again, even at this point, from the outside, things still looked good in the Routier home, they seemed to have it all. But by December 1995, business had started to slow down. And it kept slowing until it nearly came to a halt. By June of 1996, barely any money was coming in, and the family's financial situation had taken a serious turn. They were two months behind on their mortgage.

They owed $10,000 in back taxes and had racked up $12,000 in credit card debt. Even making the minimum payments had become a struggle. And see, this stresses me out. This is exactly what I worry about. This is why I try to keep expenses low because that makes me feel like suffocated thinking that just overnight, I mean, from the end of 1995 to mid 1996, suddenly things went from like perfect, you know, they're living the lives of movie stars to all of a sudden they can't even make

the minimum payments on their credit cards. That's crazy. It's a story that has repeated itself many times over. A tale as old as time. You can't live above your means. And like you just said, even if you're not living above your means, you don't want to max yourself out.

You want to give yourself a buffer there, a margin so that if, God forbid, something happens, you can find other ways to make that difference. But if you're maxing out and something goes wrong and it's not consistent in what you're used to getting, it could be some problems. Yeah. And as the business declined, Darlie's friend Barbara said that she noticed a change in Darlie's demeanor.

She said Darlie became nervous and depressed and was fighting with Darren more frequently. The arguments weren't physical, but they happened often, and they were usually about money. Barbara recalled that at one point, Darlie went to the shop and threw things at Darren, saying stuff about how money wasn't coming in and there were lots of bills to pay. There was just no money. So despite the mounting stress, Darlie continued to shop

and even hired help around the house, including babysitters and housekeepers. And listen, I cannot feel bad for people like this. When money's tight, you cinch the belt. You do what it takes, you sacrifice, you don't need to be out shopping anymore, you don't have to keep up your image. You certainly don't need to hire babysitters and housekeepers when you're a stay at home mother and you don't have the money to hire these people.

Like it's great to have help if you can afford it. But if you can't. Like you said, you gotta pick up the slack when things are rough. Yeah, you figure it out. She was definitely relying on Darren for the money and and she could have helped in a different way She's a stay-at-home mom. That's a big responsibility But like you said, you know pick up some of the chores around the house while Darren tries to course-correct on the business Or I mean at this point like try to get a part-time job. Yeah, you know

Oh, yeah, if you're gonna hire babysitters and housekeepers, then you should be working out of the house trying to bring in money There's a favor what you're spending. Yeah for sure and it really does feel like money was I don't know if it always was for Darlie important, but it became super important and at some point She was like I can't live without this money and it reminds me of the last season Season three of white lotus, which is a great show Derek. I don't know if you've watched it. I've watched season 1 Season 2 is the best season by the way There's the be so you have to watch season 2 but season 3 just came out and there's this family and While they're on vacation in Thailand that the dad realizes that something happened

That's gonna really cause them to basically lose all their money. They're loaded They're gonna lose all their money and he's like talking to his wife and his Three kids about it because he doesn't want to tell them what happened and he's like How would you feel if we didn't have money and and the wife was like, I don't know if I'd want to live I don't think I could even why would I even want to live at that point? Question is each season its own thing? Yes. So I could watch season two right now and I don't have to, it wouldn't, or I could watch season three

and it wouldn't affect me if I hadn't watched season two. You could watch season three, but you should watch season two because it is the best season. I've watched it eight times. I could do an entire like five hour analysis. You know there's gonna be a hundred comments now saying, no, season three is better, but I'm intrigued.

Nobody thinks season three is better. Okay, all right. Season two is the best. You know there's gonna be a hundred comments now saying, no, season three is better, but I'm in truth. Nobody thinks season three is better. Okay, all right. Season two is the best. You know there's gonna be a comment. Season three was odd, but yeah, she said, I basically don't even know if I'd want to live because she became so accustomed to this lifestyle of being able to swipe the credit card

and not even worry about what the bill was, that it's like, I can't imagine having to go back to that. I refuse, I won't do it. And I think that's kind of where Darlie was mentally, because it was almost like she was delusional. Like a part of her knew they didn't have the money and they weren't paying the bills, but she kept spending almost as if,

hey, if I just keep doing what I'm doing, this part isn't real. The part where we're running out of money. That's not real. I'm just going to keep doing this in a delusional way, which just caused more harm. Obviously, with Darlie doing her thing and not changing her behavior, the financial strain kept getting worse. And on May 8th, Darlie and Darren received a letter from their mortgage company stating they were in default and that if a payment wasn't received by May 23rd, they risked foreclosure. Still, the family held onto expensive plans for their summer. They were supposed

to take a two-week trip to Pennsylvania for a family reunion in mid-June, and Darley had plans to go to Cancun in July with a friend, but they didn't have the money for either trip. So on June 1st, Darren applied for a $5,000 personal loan, but just a few days later, he was denied due to credit issues. So that's not good. So not only do you not have the money in cash liquid, but now you can't even get a loan to Bridget because the creditors are seeing that you've you probably this is probably the third or fourth loan

That he has out already. You're not paying your mortgage. So you're in default. That's gonna show It's not and credit is king. Okay, can't make your minimum payments on your credit cards So that's gonna show so in the the you know, very short time where they went from having you know Being financially comfortable to not having any money. they racked their credit. Not good. Unfortunate. Especially, I even think about it just now and I know we're way past this and I heard the teaser so I know where this is going. But even at this moment, the struggle that you see with all the families out there right

now in the world where it's not only affecting the parents, it's affecting the kids in multiple ways, mentally, physically, financially. I mean, they're impacted by just a terrible situation where you're on top of the world in 1995 like you said or 1994 and by 1995-96 the wheels have fallen off. Yeah but people right now are struggling, they're struggling because like eggs are expensive. Yeah they're struggling to pay for their food. They're struggling to like you know maybe they're taking loans out to pay their bills like they're stealing from Peter to pay Paul kind of thing. They're not taking out a loan so they can go to

the plumbing for the fountains yeah yeah to keep the fountain running keep the water bill going on the fountain and it reminds me of it just being in a boat that has holes in it and you're scooping out the water scooping out the water scoop and then every time you turn around there's a new hole and you're just barely staying above water at that point. It's very stressful. So let's take a quick break. We'll be right back. Okay, Derek, quick story. I recently went to a friend's wedding

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you can check out their free profit calculator at startphotobooth.com slash crime. That's startphotobooth.com slash crime. Once again, startphotobooth.com slash crime. We are back and it's just getting worse for Darley and Darren. By June 5th, there was only $64 in the Routier's bank account. Their home was on the verge of foreclosure. They couldn't get a loan. They were out of options. And as bad as things were, it was about to get much, much worse. At around 2.30 a.m. on June 6th, Darlie called 911 and frantically reported that she and

her two sons had been stabbed inside their home on Eagle Drive. The call is just under six minutes long, and I'm going to play it for you in full, because this call has been broken down and analyzed and reanalyzed dozens of times. And I think it's important that that after, ma'am. I forgot my baby. I forgot it. What's going on, ma'am? Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!

Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!. Oh my God, my baby's forgotten. What's going on, ma'am? Oh my God!

Oh, my baby's forgotten. Oh my God! I don't know what to do. 911, I know medical emergency. 911, Eagle Grove, I know people in there. Public renovation and removal. Attention 911, medical emergency. Oh my God! Lady in hospital, stand in front of it. and I need you to calm down and talk to me. What?

What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What?

What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What?

What? What? What? What? What? Ma'am, ma'am, listen, listen to me. I need you to... Oh my God! Can you check the radio clip? Ma'am, I need you to talk to me. I said I can't. I said I can't hear you. I can't understand you. You're going to have to Slow down. Calm down.

Talk to me. What is going on? Somebody's keeping her on. Please, I need my little boy to sleep in downstairs. I need him. I need him. Stand up, baby. Stand up, little girl.

Look out. I'm trying to get him to wake up. He's going to grow up. It's very nightly. My son is dying and dead. Oh, my God. Down the toilet. Oh, my God.

Oh, my God. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm week. My son is a giant and dead. Oh my God. Down the toilet. Oh my God. Just about one.

Hold on, honey. Hold on. Hold on. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Ma'am, there's a whippy. Ma'am. What? with you. Ma'am! What? Is there anybody in the house? Besides you and your children? No, my husband, he just ran downstairs.

He's helping me, but he's dead. Oh my God! Okay, okay. How many little boys? Is it two boys? No, no, no. Six. Oh my God!

I'm in the house! Okay, listen to me. Calm down. Calm. I'm going to be a boy. What? I'm going to be a boy. What? I'm going to be a boy. What? I'm going to be a boy.

What? I'm going to be a boy. What? I'm going to be a boy. What? I'm going to be a boy. What? I'm going to be a boy.

What? I'm going to be a boy. What? I'm going to be a boy. What? I'm going to be a boy. What? I'm going to be a boy. Oh my god. I want to see him. I want to see him. Ma'am, how old are you boys? What? How old are you boys? No. Okay.

Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh ma'am, can you hear me? Oh my god. Your name? Dolly? Can I click right there?

Oh my God! There's nobody in here. You don't know who this is? Don't kill him, baby! Oh my God! And everyone else is going to live sleeping! My baby! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!

Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! They left a knife! There's a knife, don't touch anything! I already touched it! Anybody out there? I don't know. Okay, Liam, listen. There's a police officer. Is your friend doing well? Yeah, he's playing the game.

He's very crazy. If I was getting here, I'd be like, Dad, my doctor's here. Please help. Okay, there's 82 out on the eagle. Huh? I'm sorry, I didn't go. Oh my God, I'm sorry. 82, you out.

Oh my God. Oh my God, why would they do this? Why would they do this? What do you say? Why would they do this? Okay, listen ma'am, you need to let the officers in the front door, okay? What? What? What? What? What?

What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What?

What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What?

What? What? What? What? What? What? We walked in here and did it there. Okay, Lam? Lam, is the police officer there? Okay, go talk to him, okay? Yes, that's okay. Go talk to him. Okay. So we are going to include the transcript for this 911 call in the links, show notes

and in the links for YouTube so that you can read through it if you want. I would actually have the note, the script up while you're listening to it made it a lot easier for me. I will also, yes me too. I will also mention that this is the recording that was played at trial. It was enhanced by prosecutors beforehand. Darley's supporters claim that this recording is inaccurate and was essentially doctored by the prosecution.

I mean, I just don't know how they could have done that in the 90s. Like, what are they using AI to mimic her voice? Like, in what context do they believe that it's altered? I'm sure we'll get into it. Yeah. That was obviously difficult to decipher. So let's break down the important moments from the call. When the dispatcher answered, Darley said, somebody came here, they broke in, they just stabbed me and my children, they just stabbed me and my kids, my little boys. When asked who did that, she did not answer directly. Instead, she said, my little boy is dying. Oh, this is so sad. The dispatcher told Darley that she was trying to get an ambulance right after that, 29 seconds into the call, Darley said,

Oh my God, my babies are dying. Just one second later, Darren's voice can be heard for the first time, although it's not clear exactly what he said. The dispatcher asked what was going on and Darley responded, Oh my God, there's some unintelligible conversation in the background. Then Darley said, thought he was dead. Oh my God. You can hear Darren say something, once again, unclear,

and Darley replied, I don't even know. A second later, she repeated herself, I don't even know. The two of them continue talking, some of it's muffled and hard to understand. Darley asked if they were still laying there, and then just a few seconds later, she cried, oh my God, what do we do? Just after the one minute mark, Darley said,

"'My baby's dead. "'Damon, hold on, honey.' Then she said, "'I saw them, Darren.'" Now the dispatcher asked Darley to calm down and to talk to her. Darley asked, "'Didn't you get my address?'

And the dispatcher repeated the address she had given earlier. Darley confirmed it was correct and said, "'We need help,' before turning to Darren again and saying, "'I don't know who it was.' She said it again, just a moment later and saying I don't know who it was. She said it again just a moment later I don't know who it was. The dispatcher tried to keep her grounded and calm asked more questions but Darley

said my babies are dead. The dispatcher then urged Darley to stay with her and keep talking and Darley explained that she was talking to her babies who were dying. When asked what was going on Darleylie said, somebody came in while I was sleeping. Me and my little boys were sleeping downstairs. Some man came in, stabbed my babies, stabbed me. I woke up, I was fighting. He ran through the garage, threw the knife down. My babies are dying, they're dead.

Oh my God, hold on honey, hold on. Yeah, so this is where listening to the audio and reading the transcript gives a different dimension because if you're reading the script, nothing really stands out to me too much there. But to me, just first listen, you guys are hearing my opinions right after listening to it. One thing that stood out to me during that entire five minute and 39 second call was she was very frantic and you know erratic

understandable right considering the circumstances if you're taking it at face value but she was very clear and deliberate when she said somebody came in while I while I was sleeping when she's talking to Darren it to me sounded like she was saying to him somebody came in while while I was sleeping, Darren, like, you know, who this is that that's kind of how I took it. Now that could totally change based on context, but to me, it sounded angry. Almost to him. Yeah. I don't know. Maybe replay it for yourselves out there right now,

but it was almost like somebody came in while I was sleeping. Darren. I thought it sounded kind of defensive, actually. Like, okay, great. Interesting. Like somebody came in while I was sleeping Darren. I thought it sounded kind of defensive actually Okay, great. Interesting like somebody came in while I was sleeping like I didn't do this, you know, like okay interesting I could also think I didn't do this but saying like, you know how guilty people sometimes when you just say Innocent benign things to them and then they get defensive. It's because they have a guilty conscience. Yeah, I That's interesting. I want everyone to, to weigh in down below in the comments. Let us know what your initial reaction is to this tape.

What do you take away from it? There's a lot more we could, we could pull out of this as well. Cause then you got to start thinking about the dynamics of it. She was downstairs with the kids, Darren's upstairs. They're a married couple. Why that's, you know, unless the kids and, and, and Darlie fell asleep while they were sleeping, sitting on the couch, why are they in different areas of the house? Yeah, was this common?

Was this common? Was there something going on that night? Was there a fight or was this a normal night and something went down? Also there's really no mention of Drake either. And I know it's a newborn at this point, but if you had this intruder in the house and she was sleeping during the initial encounter did anybody go check on Drake to see if he was okay there's no mention of Drake baby Drake in that all yeah and I know that's what I was saying that's a little interesting

you don't hear like check on Drake check on Drake or something like that or I don't really even hear Darren in the background maybe once or twice but I would think you would hear him screaming too, but there's a lot going on. But that call, just taking it right now, I'm halfway through this episode, not knowing any of the evidence. It's a very tough call to hear, and it sounds like a mother who is watching her two kids die.

That's my initial impression. But that would be true if she had done it herself or if somebody else had done it. She would be true if she had done it herself or if somebody else had done it. She would be a mother watching her two kids die. That is also an accurate statement, yes. Alright, so the call sort of continues and we'll keep trying to clarify here. The dispatcher asked if there was anybody else in the house. Darlie said no, my husband, he just ran downstairs, he's helping me, but they're dying, oh my god, they're dead.

The dispatcher asked how many boys there were and she said there were two boys. Then she asked out loud, who would do this? I feel really bad. I think I'm dying. She asked repeatedly when help would arrive. The dispatcher told her they were on their way and Darlie responded, I gotta just sit here forever.

Oh my God, who would do this? Once again, no mention of the baby. And yeah, I would think if, if an intruder had come in the house and stabbed you and your children, there would be a thought of can someone can, Darren, can you check on the baby? Is the baby okay? Like did, did this strange man who came in and stabbed us randomly for no reason, did he also get to the baby? Where is the baby? Is the baby upstairs in a bassinet with Darren in his room? Is the baby in his own room in a crib?

What's going on? Where's the baby? She does not mention the baby at all. Yeah, and that's something I'm considering as I'm going through the evaluation. I also try to put myself in her shoes. Oh my God, God hope that never is the case. But what she's visually seeing at that moment

is a shock, right? Her two sons bleeding to death. And is it possible? Can I acknowledge that it's possible in that moment? She has tunnel vision on that and she's not thinking about Drake. Not that she loves him any less, but that's not on the top priority.

Also, add into the equation. Would it not be in the top if you're putting yourself in her shoes? Yeah. And this is happening to you and you had a third child in the house and somebody just came in and stabbed your two kids and you, would you not be, would you not be concerned? Would it not be at the forefront of your mind? This, this sounds like I'm playing the fence, but how I would react and how others would react to trauma is different. Now I would like to think... You said putting yourself in her shoes what would you do putting yourself in her shoes? I would like to think in that moment I'd be thinking of the third child as well but if put in that situation I'm watching I don't even want

to say names because I just don't like to put them into the world but my children bleeding out and I'm trying to administer some type of life-saving care while I'm also bleeding, maybe that's not my top priority. Maybe that it's about preservation of what's in front of me. I don't know. I don't know. I'm not looking too deep into it at this point. Oh, she didn't mention the baby. I'm noting it, but I'm not thinking, oh, red flag. But again, that could change based on the evidence. So then the dispatcher asked how old the boys were Darley said they were seven and five and just as a note Devin was technically six his birthday was June 14. That's right. He was about a week shy of his seventh birthday So Darley kept repeating. Oh my god

He's dead at that point a police officer joined to the call and instructed her to look for a rag to help stop the bleeding. So this is another thing that sticks out to me because you said she's, you know, if I'm in her shoes and I'm trying to administer life-saving, you know, stuff, it doesn't even look like she got anything to stop the bleeding, that she just kind of sat there. Maybe she was using her hands. Yeah, pressure, we don't know.

It's tough, it's tough because it's only one dimensional with the audio, you know? Police officer comes in, says, go get a rag to help stop the bleeding. She responded, they killed our babies and the officer told her to sit or lay down. And Darlie said, y'all look out in the garage, look out in the garage. They left a knife laying on. And then the dispatcher jumped in and told her, don't touch anything. But Darlie replied, I already touched it and picked

it up. So here's another thing that's always bothered me. Your children are, you know, like you said, bleeding out in front of you. Why are you wandering around and going into the garage and seeing that a knife was left there and then you're touching it and picking it up instead of sitting next to your children because they could die. And this could be, and you don't want to leave them alone while they're dying, you wanna be there in their view, holding them so that someone's with them. Why would you go into the garage like, oh, I happened to just go into the garage

to like, you know, get a Pepsi and saw a knife laying on the ground and then I picked it up. Yeah, I had written some notes. Why would you pick it up? Why would you pick it up? I had written some notes here. I'm gonna respond to that.

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and find the best option for you right now at pdsdebt.com slash crime weekly. That's pdsdebt.com slash crime weekly. One more time, pdsdebt.com slash crime weekly. One more time, pdsdebt.com slash crime weekly. Okay. We're back from break and I'm with you. I need to know more about what happened in there. And I'm hoping that as we cover this episode, the series, you're going to tell

me, especially when, wherever this goes, Darlie's account of what happened that night where it happened what happened right after she was stabbed what happened when she woke up Why she went out to the garage why she picked up the knife. I want to hear her thoughts on that I want to hear what her account is of what happened during that to see what I think afterwards, but yes initially 100% with you I'm envision, without knowing much of the story at this point, that they're on the couch or they're on some like a love seat or whatever, they're sleeping, she wakes up to them being stabbed, and then the person runs out of the house.

And to your point, I agree, at that point, you're looking at your kids and you're gonna stay with them and try to help them immediately and call 911. You're definitely not gonna be going and looking for evidence of you know, of the person and how they did this. So- And I don't think you'd be grabbing it and picking it up.

Why, why, why would you do that? What's the, what is the point in doing that? I completely agree. I don't have an explanation for it. It doesn't make sense to me. That's why I'm looking forward to hearing her rationale behind that. And we'll see what we think at that point.

Mm-hmm, oh yeah, we will. to hearing her rationale behind that and we'll see what we think at that point. Oh yeah, we will. So then Darlie was asked if she'd seen anyone outside. She said, I don't know. I was sleeping. The dispatcher then said there was an officer at the front of the house and asked if the door was unlocked. Darlie said, yes. Then asked again where the ambulance was, stating they're barely breathing. If they don't get it here, they're gonna be dead. Hurry, please hurry. Now, Darlie goes back and forth in this call, they're dying, they're dead, they're dying, they're dead. Multiple times, and that's also something

that kind of gets at me. Like, why do you keep saying they're dead, and then you go back to they're dying, or they're not gonna be alive if the ambulance gets here. If, you know, like, they're dying, they're dead, they're dying, they're dead. Which one is it, kind of? Like, why would you keep stating they're dead

if they are still conscious or still breathing or still alive? Yeah, it doesn't, you know, I always go back to trauma. I've seen so many people react certain ways that as the person arriving and not experiencing that trauma firsthand, I'm listening to them and watching them and it doesn't make sense how they're reacting. I had a woman one time and I'll try to spare the details but I show up she got ran over and it was her ran over by her boyfriend

and she was still under the car she was actually her legs were up inside the engine bay and believe it or, I took out my phone and I laid next to her while she was stuck under the car and I just started hitting record voice memo because I thought she was gonna die. So I just started recording our conversation because it may be the only thing I ever get. And fortunately she survived,

but she wanted to talk about a clothing store. That's all she wanted to talk about a clothing store That's all she wanted to talk about and I was like, okay, but what happened? Can you give me some insight? She's like, yeah, but I have to return that stuff tomorrow now in that moment She can't she doesn't even she's not even processing what's going on correctly. She's in pain She's in shock. And so I can't sit here and tell you why she was talking about this particular thing She ended up surviving. It wasn't even like she was on her way out, but yet in her mind, at that moment it made sense what she was saying. So I try not to criticize too much of how people react in a moment that's this

intense, but I think it's our responsibility to, after the fact, talk about it because we can always say how we react and maybe we're right, but I think if we ask 10 different people, they'd probably have 10 different opinions. So it's important to talk about it, but I always try to give the benefit of the doubt, at least on the surface, when it comes to

how people respond in a moment of trauma. Do you also find it odd, or am I reading too much into it, that the dispatcher was like, is the front door unlocked? And Darlie said yes. How would she know that the dispatcher was like, is the front door unlocked? And Darlie said yes. How would she know that the front door was unlocked? Once again, is she wandering around the house as her children lay there bleeding out?

Or did she know that she left the door unlocked before she went to bed? And in that case, why would you leave the door unlocked before you fall asleep with your children kind of thing? Like, did she just feel super safe in her house until she knew the door was unlocked because she typically left it unlocked at night. Yeah, I don't know why we'd be leaving the door unlocked

if we're in for the night. And then also, and this might be explained later, but the intruder, I guess we're to assume the intruder came in through the front door that was unlocked. And yeah, it sounds like just from the phone call that the intruder exited through the garage. Through the garage, right. So how do they know the layout of the of the property?

I'm going back. If I'm if I'm a robber coming in there for the first time, I'm going in the same point. The ingress and egress is going to be the same for me. Yeah, because how does he know how to open the garage door? How did he know that that was going to even be accessible to him? Yes. I'm assuming it's dark. How do you how do you where you find in that button? And how did he even know where the garage was located?

Yeah, so there's a, I have a lot of questions, a lot of questions. So the dispatcher told Darley to let the officers in through the front door and seconds later Darley could be heard saying, I assume to the police officers, his knife was lying over there and I already picked it up. And the dispatcher responded, okay, it's all right, it's okay. And Darley continued, God, I bet if we could have gotten the prince maybe She then turned to Darren and said somebody who did it intentionally walked in here and did it Darren. Yep That's the part I'm talking about. Yeah, that's the phrase not the first one. That's where she sounds defensive in my opinion

Okay, so that I want everyone to listen to that one again because that was two different interpretations both hearing that same thing But yes, I don't know exactly what he said to her But I would assume that he asked her what happened who did this like how could this have happened? And she was like somebody who did it intentionally walked in here did it Darren and she sounds defensive. That's fair. I couldn't hear him I don't know if it was a question that she was responding to or if it was just her looking towards him and saying Somebody who did this intentionally walked in here and did it, Darren. Yeah, she does have like an aggressive edge to her voice. Very different tone than everything else that in that conversation. It stood out to me and it was very clear, very clear on the call what she was saying. And to me

it sounds defensive because it's just a normal question. He's in the same position. He's like, what the hell happened here? How could this happen? And she gets a little defensive. And to me it reminds me of when somebody who has a guilty conscience, but the other people don't know they're guilty of anything and they ask just a benign question. So for instance, like, let's say you're a cashier and a employee, like a coworker walks up to you and they're kind of smiling and they're like, Hey, I heard there's money missing from the register. Do you know anything about that? Now, if you were guilty of something, you might respond defensively, like, well, why would I know anything about that?

What? What? What are you talking about? But if you had no idea what they were talking about and you hadn't done anything, you'd be like, who is there? Is there tea here? What's happening? Who do you think stealing from from the register? Like sometimes liars would just give themselves away by acting defensively when somebody didn't even wasn't even questioning them in an accusatory way. I'm with you. The only thing I would caution everyone is we don't know that she was asked a question.

I didn't hear her asked a question. What you're saying is true if he asked her a question. Or if he even just said, what happened here? If he said anything, I'm with you. If he said anything and she responded, everything you just said what happened here, you know, yeah if he said anything I'm with you if he said anything and she responded everything you just said holds true But if what I just I heard without knowing and not being there if she's in the moment like oh my god They're dying. They're dying and then looks at him and goes somebody who did it intentionally walked in here Darren Mm-hmm. That's different to me that that makes it a different context where now it's like she's taking a moment as she's collecting

Her thoughts to realize that this wasn't a random act of violence this was retaliation or something like that and she's thinking already Darren who'd you piss off that's that's again this is so early my opinion could change in the next five minutes if it's a question I'm with you if she just randomly said this and looks at Darren while her kids are dying in her lap to say this that could mean something else. For some reason Darley then added there's nothing touched there's nothing touched. The dispatcher asked if the officer was there and Darley said yes the dispatcher told her to go speak with him and that's where the call ended. Can I say one more thing I just want to point out that I am concerned about her concern over the

processing and the evidentiary value of what's there at this moment. To me, I, I, you're not going to get a disagreement out of me that in and of itself, mentioning the knife, mentioning things being touched, not touched. I have a very strong suspicion that if I was in this situation, I can't tell you everything I would do based on trauma, but I would not be concerned about the evidentiary processing of the crime scene after the fact. And you're a former police officer.

I would be sitting there worrying about the preservation of my kid's life, not even my own, but just my kids. I would not be like, Hey, nobody touched the knife. We're good there for prints. You know, and that wouldn't even cross my mind. Yeah. Yeah. not be like, hey, nobody touched the knife. We're good there for prints. You know, that wouldn't even cross my mind. Yeah. Yeah. She's like, Oh, maybe we could have gotten the prints. You know, so that is concerning to me at this point. That seems out of the ordinary that she would be concerned about the investigatory aspect of the case while we're still in this situation.

And you said that you don't believe you would be, and you're a former police officer. So of all people, of all people who would be thinking about that, you think a police officer, a former police officer would be one of them, even despite the circumstances. And you don't even feel that you would be like that. No, no, I do not. It's easy to forget something like a Drake or something. If you're tunnel vision on something else. But what she's proving in that moment is although she's looking at her sons, she's also thinking about something else.

That's indisputable. She's concerned about the evidentiary value of the knife and anything else in the scene. That is not something that I would be thinking about at that moment. She's thinking about an investigation. She's thinking about an investigation in a moment where she's allegedly trying to save her son's life. So that is concerning to me. Yeah, I agree. So the officer who had arrived at the house

was Officer David Waddell. Later, he would testify that as he drove toward the Routier home, he didn't see anyone fleeing the scene, no cars speeding away, no people on foot, nothing that struck him as suspicious, which is, that's understandable actually. No, it doesn't bother me at all. Yeah, it's been quite a mind time. The person's not going to be hanging around. What do you think you're going to see? Like a shadowy figure running off when you've been

on the call for five minutes already? The person's not going to hang out in the bushes waiting for a cop car to pull up and then say, now's my time to get away. This person's long gone by then. Yeah. Between the time, we don't know how long she took to call the police. Could have been a couple of minutes as well.

Well, we'll talk about that. Okay. So exactly. And we know that the 911 call is like, I think a little bit over six minutes. Yep, five minutes, 39 seconds. Yeah, it makes complete sense that of course, if somebody did this, they wouldn't still be hanging around

waiting for a cop car to drive by. Officer Waddell said everything was still and quiet, which made the chaos he was about to walk into even more jarring. As Waddell pulled up to the house, Darren came walking out the front door and told him that his children had been stabbed. Waddell followed him inside and watched as Darren

crossed the family room to reach Devin, who was lying on the floor towards the corner next to a couch. Waddell could also see that Damon was on the ground. He was close to the floor towards the corner next to a couch. Waddell could also see that Damon was on the ground. He was close to the entrance of the family room. Darlie was standing close. She had a towel pressed to her neck and her phone still in her hand. Waddell later described her as upset and hysterical. She was screaming and yelling and it was difficult to get her attention. Yeah, I want to point out to everybody, I know there's a lot of people who listen to us just on audio. Do yourself a favor when

you have a moment, now while you're driving, pull over, pull up this YouTube video, fast forward to this timestamp. As I'm speaking right now, there's a map on the screen of the house layout. You need to see this. In order to understand what we're talking about, you need to see this map. And understand what we're talking about You need to see this map and on this map You will see where Darley was laying where Devon was where Damon was But also at this point in the story there may there's gonna be other things that are on this map that aren't applicable yet We're gonna talk about him but you can see where the family room is and you can see where the garage is.

You can also see where the entry to the house is. And if this person comes in, they're going to have to go to their left to get to the family room and they're going to have to then cut through a kitchen and like a utility area, a nook, that this person more than likely is not familiar with but is going to be able to navigate and get out of. It's a lot to take in and it seems like the easiest way to get out of there as fast as possible would be to go back in, go back out through the entry. So do yourself a favor, look at this map, take it all in, process it for yourself. But at this point,

there's some big questions just based on the layout of the, of the, of the house. Now, once again, to be fair, cause I'm trying to be unbiased. In cases like this, it is difficult. Okay. Cause they have kids involved and I don't know if you could tell. I think she's guilty as hell, but I think that everybody with a brain and a set of ears and eyes has picked up on that. Yeah. You know me. Yeah. But I will say, if I'm an intruder, and maybe I do happen to know the layout of the house because maybe I've been there before, or the family's known to me,

I probably would, after committing this crime, go out through the garage because it's gonna bring you to the back of the house instead of walking out the front where maybe a car passing by could see you. I mean, it's two o'clock in the morning. There's not gonna be people walking around, it's dark. But still, just to be safe, I might go out the garage because it leads in the morning. There's not going to be people walking around. It's dark, but still just to be safe.

I might go out the garage because it leads to the back of the house and I have less chance of being seen. I'm glad you're saying this and I'm so proud of you for saying that because we're very early in this. We got a long series to go, but we're just talking about first impressions and that's okay. Right. Initial theories and we got a lot more to go. But to add on to what you just said, And we got a lot more to go. But to add on to what you just said,

if this is somebody who knew Darren or knew Darley or knew the house, and you just got done telling us about all the financial struggles that Darren was having, could he have made some enemies along the way? Maybe people he owed money to, maybe someone who's been there before who was originally a friend. Maybe he got a debt. Maybe he got a debt with somebody who was on Savory. Exactly. Who was a friend at first, but now is a foe. All of what you said would apply and would make sense. Those puzzle pieces would fit if that's the reason, the motive behind it. So you just took the words out of my mouth.

When we're exploring all scenarios, that is a possibility. So yes, there's also the possibility that this has all been staged. But I love that you just said that because it's absolutely true based on the context of what we know about their financial situation at the time of this incident. So you saved, you stole my thunder. Oh, I'm sorry. I love it though. I love it.

That's great. Now I do want, I want to get further in the case before we talk about the positioning of where the kids were located, where Darlie was located. I want to get more into the case before we talk about the positioning. So much to talk about. Yeah, where the kids were located, where Darlie was located. I want to get more into the case though. I know. Before we discuss where in the room they were located because at first glance,

it really doesn't make a lot of sense, but we're gonna hear what she has to say about it first. Okay. Officer Wedel asked Darlie who had stabbed the children. She said she didn't know. She didn't have a description but insisted that the person was still in the garage. Waddell turned to Darren and told him to apply pressure to the wounds and Darren got on his hands and knees besides Devin. Waddell

could not tell whether Darren was doing CPR or trying to slow the bleeding but either way it wasn't working. Darren said air was just coming out of his son's chest through the stab wounds. Waddell told Darlie to grab a towel and put it on Damon's back and try to stop the bleeding, but she didn't move. She stayed in the same spot she'd been in when he entered. She didn't go to Damon. She just repeated that the suspect was in the garage. This will forever be suspicious to me. I would be glued to my child until they took their last breath. I'm with you.

I think this goes back to what I was just talking about. I'm not going to say her name, but the woman under the car. I'm in agreement with you sitting here behind my desk in this air conditioned space thinking about my kids and how I would run through a wall for them. In that moment where maybe she looks down and sees that she's also stabbed as well, she might not be in the right mindset. I'm not defending her. I don't know this woman.

I'm just talking from my perspective and the things that I've seen and how people react when injured or faced with certain things. But I'm not discrediting what you're saying. There's some truth to what you're saying. Derek, she's very aware that her children are dying. She keeps saying it over and over again. Yep. So, yeah, she could be in shock, but not enough shock to not know that her children are laying

there on the floor, dying. So I would get the rag and I would be next to my children and you wouldn't be able to budge me from that's fair enough I'm not gonna dispute how what you would do. I Know we're gonna have a lot and feel free that keep it keep it respectful But I you had said at the top of the show. There's a lot of people that believe she's innocent I wouldn't say a lot. Well, okay Well, not a lot but make your case make your case down in the comments. Why if we're wrong again

We're so early in this that I'm changing every single sentence But you know, feel free to weigh in let us know so Darley's insisting Perpetrator still in the garage makes no sense. But okay, okay, even though she She went in the garage and touched the knife So if you went in the garage and touched the knife would why why didn't the perpetrator come at you and finish the job? Yeah, what what it was he standing in the corner and you went and touched the knife? He's like, hey, what's up? It's just me I'm assuming she's gonna say she gave chase to this guy and she followed him in there because why would you go that far? Like if you went to the kitchen to grab like rags or something for this for the kids

I can understand that but why are you running into the garage after the suspect? I I don't know why she would do that, but if that's what she's gonna say, I'm assuming that's the only justification for it. I got stabbed and I chased after him. Because again, if you're looking at this map, it's a far distance away. You gotta run through the kitchen to get to the garage. But if you chased after him

and he's still in the garage. Yeah, what are you gonna do? What happened now? What happened then? You guys just exchanged polite hellos and then you went back inside and called 911? What the hell are you talking about? Yeah, I don't get it.

I don't get that so far. So Darlie says, suspect still in the garage. Officer Wedel stepped halfway into the kitchen on his way to the garage and he saw a broken wine glass and then blood on the floor. He looked through the utility area that led to the garage but he couldn't see or hear anyone. He didn't go in because he didn't have a clear line of sight and he wasn't confident the

suspect wasn't still in the garage or somewhere else in the house. Obviously he wants to wait for backup. He's just a solitary officer at this point. He doesn't have the protection that he would need if he's going to confront somebody. And I know there'll be some people that have a negative reaction to that. It makes sense at that point. The best thing for him to do is stay with the family. He's protecting. That's what he said. Yep. That's what he said.

That's what you should be doing. You wait for backup. You have someone who's with the family, because if this person is in another area of the house, you go into the garage and now they can finish the job in the other room. So you would stay with the family. That's priority number one. And minister aid. When other people show up, you do what would stay with the family. That's priority. Number one is minister aid. When other people show up, you do what's called cutting the pie. And when you're going through that door, you cut it into segments as you slowly round into there.

So you're getting an angle on that interior of that, of that room slice by slice. It gives you a better chance to see them before they see you. So if you got to take a shot, you can take the shot, but you're not going to do that by yourself. So anyone who's like, like why wouldn't he why wouldn't he pursue him he could get away number one priority is to get make sure the family's Okay, there's a million reasons why he wouldn't pursue him But he he did say he didn't want to leave the root TAs in the family room without protection and he later Testified that if he walked into the garage and came face to face with the intruder and that person killed him Then there would be no one left to protect the family. So he made the decision to wait for another officer to arrive to help clear the entirety of the house.

And I haven't read your script before this, and I'm assuming it was something that he was criticized for, for sure, especially from outsiders. And I get it. I don't know if he was or if it's just, you know, when they're in a trial, know We've seen it with Karen Reid like well, what did you do then? Why did you do that? It probably just I I can't imagine you're a solitary officer in a home where the the the homeowners telling you the intruder is still there You have to wait for backup. It's protocol. You know, you know, there's other worlds where I don't agree like school shootings and stuff like that You have these coward cops who don't go in we had it down in Texas. We had it in Florida as well Cowards shouldn't be cops. You got to go in at that point This is a different situation that the offender if they're in the garage, they're not hurting anybody at that point There's nobody in danger inside that garage. Your goal is to protect the family now if there was a kid inside the garage

Well, then you got to go in You got to go you got to go and if you don't make it that's what you signed up for Now if there was a kid inside the garage, well then you gotta go in. You gotta go. You gotta go and if you don't make it, that's what you signed up for. But if you have everybody that you're supposed to protect in one area behind you, that's where you stay. So Waddell then returned to the family room. The boys were still in the same positions and so were Darlie and Darren. Darlie hasn't moved.

Hasn't moved after being instructed to go administer some type of care. While her husband is administering care to one of their sons and the other son has no care. So Waddell asked Darley again if she could describe the person who did this and she said she didn't know if it was a white man or a black man but that he was wearing a black shirt, dark pants, and a ball cap. Waddell asked what happened and Darley told him she got into a fight with someone who broke into the house.

She said the struggle happened at the end of the bar, which was right off the living room in the kitchen, and then the man ran across the room and into the garage. After Darley was done explaining what happened, she and Waddell walked a few steps toward Damon, and that's when Waddell was able to get a better look. Damon was lying on his stomach with the left side of his face pressed to the ground and he was looking up at them making sounds like he was trying to breathe. Waddell told Darlie once again to get a towel and put it on Damon's back to stop the bleeding. But she still didn't do it. Waddell didn't go to Damon either, not because he didn't want to but because he still didn't know where the suspect was. So he positioned himself

between the family in the family room and the rest of the house. He stayed there until a backup officer showed up. And I almost feel, I almost feel like Darley did this intentionally, told the police officer, Oh, the cop, the, the suspect is still in the house so that he would be focused on kind of protecting them and like cordoning off the area they were in and not able to give medical help to her child. Oh, interesting. She wasn't going to do it, right?

So now he's on guard. He's got to remain hypervigilant. He can't have his back turned to anything, giving medical aid to a child because he's got to, you know, hold the perimeter and make sure that if somebody comes barging out of the garage with a knife or a gun or whatever, that he is there to protect this family. Right. So your rationale is she intended on killing them, she doesn't want them to survive,

because if they survive, they might implicate her. They can name her, yes. So she needs them to die at this point, and now that there's a first responder there that could potentially save them, she has to distract him. Yes, and Waddell would later testify. Listen, officers are trained to clear the house

before they provide any medical assistant. That is second on their list Preserving the crime scene is number three. So he's he's torn here. He's like I am told that the suspect's still in the house I don't know if the suspect is still in the house There's a child dying on the floor near me. The ambulance is on its way I've asked to this child's mother more than once multiple times to get a rag and help stop the bleeding. And she has not. I mean, at that point I would have, I would have, I would have backhanded her and been like, go get a rag. I could picture the scene. I mean, cops are human beings.

You walk in, you have two young kids that are stabbed to death on the, on the rug. The mom's telling you at that moment and you're believing her, the guy who did this, he's still in the house and maybe still have the knife. So the last thing you're going to do, even if it's just human instinct to protect yourself, the last thing you're going to do is turn your back to the garage where the suspect allegedly is. So I'm sure it was a very frantic scene for him and he's probably looking back, looking forward, looking back, trying to keep eyes on all ears because he doesn't know. He's waiting for any moment for this guy to come running at him with a knife. And there's a thing called the 21 foot rule. rule That house I don't know the dimensions of it, but it's probably not longer than 21 feet to any point of direction

So if that guy starts running at him even after shooting him It has been proven that someone can still reach you if they're within 21 feet if they have a knife They could still stab you so it's a really dangerous Heightened situation at this point for this police officer that he just walked into alone. He's got a lot to go on that's going on and a lot to deal with. Let's take our last break and we can kind of gather ourselves or when I say we, I mean me and we'll be right back. Okay dog parents, this one is for you.

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Go check it out. You will not regret it. I'm not kidding. Instead of putting a towel on Damon while Waddell stood guard, Darlie started talking about the knife. Waddell later testified, quote, she kept telling me that when she chased the suspect

across the kitchen, that he dropped the knife by the utility somewhere over here in this area, and that she had picked up the knife and brought it back and set it on the counter. And she told me that she thought she had messed up the fingerprints. End quote. Yeah, that is a huge, huge red flag to me.

I don't understand it. I guess. That's a problem for me. You picked the knife up. Like the fact that that was even on her mind this early is concerning to me. And here's another thing. If you're aware of things like fingerprints

and like preserving evidence, you're not somebody who's just like, I don't know and I'll pick up the knife. You seem to understand that touching the murder weapon is probably not great, but you still did it. Right. And now, and if you're someone who'd committed the crime, you want your fingerprints to be on that knife. You want police to know your fingerprints are going to be found on that knife. So I'm with you. You mean if she's the one that did it, she's gonna try to explain

preemptively, like set a narrative, Oh, if you find my fingerprints on the knife, it's only because I picked it up and that she's like setting the stage already. And to, to give you a little bit more credit here, if we're to take everything at face value with the officer sandwich, there's really no reason at this point for him to lie. He's not in question here. He's saying she won't get off the couch to administer aid, but she had enough thought to get off the couch to go check on the knife and then put it on the counter. And she had enough thought when she should be administering aid, her son is still alive.

Yeah, they're still laying on the ground. Once again, I'm going to be there in his eyeline telling him everything's okay, baby. Everything's going to be okay. You're going to be fine. I love you. Mommy loves you. That's what I'm going to be doing. Even if I can't save him, I'm not going to be sitting there like, you know, Matlock, you know,

my prints might be on the knife and the suspect and the utility closet. And I pursued him. This is not even on my radar at this point. Yeah. And you said something that I don't think we gave enough attention. And I think it deserves a second round right here because we kind of skated over it, but it's a really good point. And I want everyone to stop right now and think about this, how you would react as well, because maybe we're just the outliers. If you were in the same situation

where you're fighting with this guy and he stabs your kids, are you chasing him down? I know everyone wants to think they're a hero, but if you don't have a gun or you don't have a knife or you don't have a bat in your possession and you know what this guy just did, are you going towards the kids to check on them or are you running after this guy to be a hero?

Yeah, no. Maybe there's a few of you out there that would. I think there's some people who would be like, oh yeah, I would, but even still in that situation, they wouldn't. And where do you believe that she knew her kids were injured at that point, correct? Of course, yes.

So then, I mean, to me, it's a no-brainer. You're going towards the kids to see if they're okay. And at the end of the day, yeah, I just I don't like we can all sit here, you know Like I watch Erin Brockovich all the time. It's like one of my favorite movies and I'm always like yeah. Hell yeah I would do the same thing I'll go after this chemical company and you know, put myself and my kids fam my kids lives in danger. I would do that Realistically, I probably wouldn't, okay? Because now they're after her, BP's after her,

they're running her off the road, your life's in danger, they're threatening you. I probably wouldn't, but when I'm in my safety of my own home, like you said, sitting here in this air conditioned room talking about it, I can be like, yeah, I definitely would be strong enough and heroic enough to do that.

But logically and intelligently, I know, I would not. So even the people who say, yeah, I would chase after that guy. No, you wouldn't. He still got the knife. He didn't drop it until he almost got into the garage. He still has the knife. Why are you chasing him?

He could turn around and stab you again. Yeah, I don't think we gave that enough time the first time. I think it's an important note. And I'm trying because of where you're coming from, your perspective, which is okay. You've done the research, you've already come to your conclusion, I'm trying to play the other side to this,

and there are certain things that I can't defend, and this would be one of those things. I agree. So that's where I am on that. Well, finally, the backup officer, Sergeant Matthew Walling, arrived. Once he was on scene, he and Waddell walked together through the kitchen toward the garage. They once again saw the broken wine glass and blood on the floor. Sergeant Matthew Walling arrived. Once he was on scene, he and Waddell walked together

through the kitchen toward the garage. They once again saw the broken wine glass and blood on the floor. Walling would later recall also seeing a vacuum cleaner tipped over nearby. Waddell didn't remember seeing it, but acknowledged that he may have stepped over it. They entered the utility room, opened the door

to the garage, and surprise, surprise, found it dark and empty. So while... Garage doors closed? Uh, we're not there yet. Okay, okay. I'm getting, I'm getting excited. I'm not going to try and get too ahead, but okay. When the officers returned to the family room, Darren was still by Devon and Darlie was still standing near the bar right where she'd been before. There was no towel on Damon and she hadn't moved to help him. At that point, two paramedics arrived, Jack and Brian. Waddell told Darlie and Darren to get out of the way and directed them toward the sliding glass doors that led from the family room into the backyard. Jack immediately went to Damon while Brian focused on Devin. Jack found Damon

lying face down in the carpet in the family room. He was wearing a black shirt and jeans and he had been stabbed four times in the back. Later, it was determined that one of the wounds, one and three quarter inches deep, punctured his left lung. Another nearly four and a half inches deep penetrated the right lung. A third wound almost two inches deep also struck the right lung. The fourth went three inches deep and punctured the right lung, diaphragm, and liver. In addition to those, Damon had two incised wounds, one that extended one eighth of an inch into the muscle of his left shoulder and another that reached three fourths of an inch into the

muscle of his upper back. There were also abrasions on his back, right arm, and both feet. So Jack carefully rolled Damon onto his back. When he did, he saw that Damon's eyes were still open and for a moment he thought there was still a light of life left in him. But then Damon gasped. It was his last breath. Jack watched the light go out. He started CPR right away but it wasn't working. So Damon is alive up until the point paramedics get there. Yeah and she's not helping at all. And she's not comforting him, and she's not doing anything.

I was giving her a little bit of a benefit of the doubt when it's like maybe she's on the couch and she's laying there trying to protect herself, but she's standing. She's standing at the bar. One other thing that you noted right there that I think is important, what did you describe Damon as wearing?

Jeans and a black shirt. Doesn't sound like he was ready for bed. Doesn't sound like bedtime apparel, right? Yeah, I agree. So that's another thing that's an issue for me. I agree. So the scene inside the house was too chaotic. So Jack the paramedic carried Damon out to the ambulance. At this point Damon had no pulse and wasn't breathing. He wasn't even bleeding anymore. Once inside the ambulance, Jack continued CPR until another unit arrived. A second paramedic, Coleman, joined him.

And while Jack performed CPR, Coleman attempted to intubate Damon. They continued trying to save him during the 15-minute ride to the hospital. During the ride, Jack inserted an IV into Damon's jugular and administered epinephrine, but Damon didn't respond. And he was tragically pronounced dead at the hospital. While Jack was working on Damon, the other paramedic, Brian, focused his attention on Devon, who was lying on

his back shirtless in the middle of the room. Devon had been stabbed four times. One of the stab wounds was in the upper left part of his chest, five inches deep, entering between the fourth and fifth ribs, traveling through the lung and striking the pulmonary artery. Another was located in the mid-left section of his chest, entering between the sixth and seventh ribs, penetrating the liver at a depth of two and a half inches. A third wound was on his left forearm, about three inches above the wrist, but that one was shallow. It was only about an eighth of an inch deep, damaging only soft tissue. The fourth wound was on the back of his left thigh.

It was three-fourths inch deep and also involved only soft tissue. In addition to the stab wounds, Devin had abrasions on his arms, palms, back, and legs. He didn't have a pulse and his eyes were open. Brian described his expression as one of surprise, of kind of like, help me. Brian quickly realized there was nothing he could do. Devon was already gone. With no chance of saving him, Brian turned his attention to Darlie, who was still by the counter, kneeling, holding the towel to her neck. Waddell would later testify that he never heard her ask about the condition of her children. Not when Jack carried Damon out to the ambulance and not at any

point during the chaos in the room. Now, once again, putting yourself in her shoes. Once the paramedics get there, she was so concerned about the ambulance getting there. Once the paramedics get there and they've done a preliminary like analysis, are you not going to ask? Are they okay? Are they alive? Can you save them? Well, you know, I definitely want to know more about Darlie's injuries to her neck, because what we have here with Damon and Devon is intentionality. The intent was to kill them.

So I want to know more about her injury. But just talking about Damon and Devon without being at the crime scene, without doing the autopsy, it looks to me like, just based on injuries, you have Damon who was stabbed four times in the back, but all in vital organs, all in critical areas. Very deep.

And then you have Devin, who has a couple injuries that are defensive in nature, the forearm, and then also the back thigh. I wonder if maybe Devin had woken up during the assault and maybe had a blanket on him at that point, and the offender couldn't see exactly where they were hitting, but because they were stabbing erratically,

maybe they got him in the leg. So yeah, it does appear to line up with were stabbing erratically, maybe they got him in the leg. So yeah, it does appear to line up with someone who's erratically stabbing them, but I'm left with the question, why, why are they killing these kids? Like whether the motive is financial in nature or to send a message, why wouldn't you just kill the wife or kill, kill Darren? Why, why are you stabbing the kids? So I'm still not understanding it, but that's what we have right now.

But it does seem like the intent was to kill them. And the fact that they didn't kill Dara Lee just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. So here's what I'm wondering what happened because Devin did not have a shirt on. So Devin could have been sleeping. His most of his wounds are to his front chest. So I believe he was probably sleeping. He was stabbed in the chest. Damon, who's wearing jeans and a t-shirt, maybe walks in on this, sees what's happening, and turns around to make a run for it, which is why his body is found closer to the entrance of the living room going towards the outdoors, and which is why his wounds are all to the

back. Somebody pursued him. Once he interrupted the stabbing of Devon, followed him and stabbed him in the back, which is where he fell by the entrance to the living room, headed to the front door. Yeah, I see what you're saying, especially where the placement of if you look at that map where where Damon is, my only question would be and again, we're not there. We're just we're kind of speculating would be the stab wounds to the back of Devon's thigh and then also the abrasions to the forearm which would suggest being awake at least for some of it and trying to defend yourself. And he may have like curled up, tried to maybe bring his legs to his chest which is how he

got a wound to the back but either way we will see because that wound only involves soft soft tissue it does seem like a defensive wound where you know why would somebody stab there if they're trying to kill someone no that he was he was not staying still I hate to be too descriptive here but to me Devin was absolutely conscious while this was happening he was awake yes I hope I'm wrong I don't think at first yeah maybe not the first strike but but he was was absolutely conscious while this was happening. He was awake. Yes. I hope I'm wrong. I don't think at first. Yeah, maybe not the first strike,

but he was definitely kicking and screaming and moving and around, and he wasn't making himself an easy target. Yes. So then, Brian, the paramedic, he goes to help Darlie, right? She's got wounds too. Yeah, let's hear about these wounds. Yeah, he noted that while she was clearly upset,

she was not crying or screaming. She asked who could have done this to her babies, but showed no signs of being in shock. Brian suggested they move out to the front porch. He thought it might be helpful to get her away from the scene. And obviously she can't listen to anybody when they tell her to go help her her kid, but she goes right out to the front porch. No problem. She's got no problem moving at that point. And once outside, he began dressing the wounds. A three and a half inch cut on her neck and a one inch wound on her forearm.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. You said, you must've said that wrong. You said cut. Three and a half inch cut on her neck. Are you sure? Wait, it was a cut? It wasn't a stab wound? No, it was a cut.

A cut. Mm-hmm, like that. So four deliberate stabs to each of the children. It wasn't a stab wound? No, it was a cut. A cut. Mm-hmm. Like that. So four deliberate stabs to each of the children. No chance of survival. Mm-hmm. Luckily, she's the one who engages with this guy, and she gets a nick on the neck. Well, just slashed her.

Probably like a slash across the neck. So no puncture. So he decided to change up his attack mode. That seems off to me. But okay. Yeah, with the adult adult who'd you think you'd Charlie? I'm trying to I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt here, darling. I'm trying No stab wounds is what you're telling me I mean at this point it looks like whoever came in that house had an issue with the kids, right?

They those kids made some serious enemies because they're the ones that got the brunt of it if she was sleeping and I'm the attacker I'm stabbing her first She's gonna be the biggest problem because you're the adults. got the brunt of it. If she was sleeping and I'm the attacker, I'm stabbing her first. She's going to be the biggest problem. Because you're the adults. I'm stabbing her first. Yep. So while all of that was going on, officers Walling and Waddell went upstairs to clear the area and they were surprised to find nearly eight month old Drake sleeping in his crib. Neither Darley nor Darren had mentioned having a third child in the house. So these cops go upstairs and they're like, well, there's a baby up here. Now because there didn't appear to be an intruder upstairs, they left him there sleeping. When they got back downstairs, a neighbor named Karen, who was also a nurse, had arrived

and offered to help. Waddell told her that since paramedics were already on the scene, they didn't need assistance. Where the hell were you, Karen? You know, 20 minutes ago. Another Karen in this great So she stayed outside at that point and eventually officers allowed her to go upstairs and retrieve the routiers Pomeranian who had been barking from an upstairs room and apparently the baby's sleeping through all of this Which is absolutely crazy like the chaos downstairs

The screaming during the nine-morning call the Pomeranian domino barking his little head off, baby still is asleep. So Waddell remained at the front door to preserve the crime scene. Darlie, meanwhile, was still on the front porch being treated by Brian and Larry, another paramedic who had responded, and while she was being treated, Officer Walling asked her a few questions. He later testified, quote, she had told me that she was asleep on the couch and that she had been awakened and felt somebody standing over her. Then she realized that she had been stabbed and she began struggling with the person at the couch and that they had run out through the kitchen door into the garage, end quote. And that's really not what she told the first

officer. She said she had chased him into, you know, through the kitchen and that he had dropped the knife in that utility room and then he went into the garage. But now she's chasing him into the garage. And Darlie described the intruder as a white male wearing a dark colored ball cap, a black t-shirt and blue jeans. So now she has a description of him. Now she can say, oh, he's a white dude

and she can even give the color of his shirt and his jeans. So, you know, it's really good that her memory is clearing up. And just to go back to what her own words, and I have a major problem with it, we talked about the injuries to Damon and Devin. Deliberate, intentional, they were lethal in nature. The intent was to kill them.

And what she's telling us is that she woke up to a guy standing over her, and then she realized she had already been stabbed. She opens her eyes and she's like there's somebody standing over me who's gonna stab you and then stand there and wait for you to wake up. This is what you have to believe if you believe Darlene that's fine if you do. That he was standing over her and the guy who was direct hits on the two kids smaller mass smaller target and yet was pretty accurate and yet when he stabbed Dley he was he missed her completely while she was sleeping and just nicked her neck and whatever else other spark

Like she's got a cut she's got a cut but totally missed her and decided at that point he was gonna stab the two kids because you have to assume he stabbed the kids first before he went over her and He stabs the two kids the way he does but then with her it would be harder for him to Nick her like that on the neck than it would be to stab her so the fact that he did that it just doesn't align with the The the MO of the killer at that point it doesn't align it doesn't align With logic because you're gonna sleep through your two kids being stabbed. No, I'm also by the way. I already said it I'm stabbing the adult first.

Yeah, but that's not what happened because she chased him out. So he stabbed the kids first. So he had stabbed this guy, stabbed the kids first who would be less of a threat to him and left the adult who could have woken up and done something about it. But she didn't wake up.

And you've got Damon who clearly made a run for it. He's probably gonna be screaming, mom, help me, mom, help me. She doesn't wake up. Get out of here. It's not adding up at this point. It's not adding up for me. And we're very early in this episode.

Well, we're very early in the series. So once the paramedics finished their initial assessment, Larry and Brian placed Darlie on a stretcher and loaded her into the ambulance. Once they were inside, Larry began cutting away her night shirt while Brian started a saline IV and took her blood pressure, which was 140 over 80. Darley still didn't appear to be in shock, and she wasn't given any pain medication, just the saline.

At one point, Larry realized he had accidentally taped a necklace beneath the bandage on Darley's neck. He hadn't noticed it earlier on the porch. When he tried to remove it, Darlie grimaced in pain, so he left it alone. This necklace is going to become very important in later episodes, so put a pin in it, remember it. Necklace. Got it.

Brian later testified that while he was in the ambulance with her, Darlie asked, quote, why would someone do this to my babies? End quote. But aside from that, she was quiet. She didn't say another word. She didn't ask about her kids. Nothing. So once they were ready to go, Larry and another paramedic transported Darley to the hospital

while Brian, the other paramedic, stayed behind at the scene. Larry said her demeanor during the ride was anxious. She kept asking, how much further to the hospital? Are we there yet? At one point, she mentioned doing CPR on one of the boys But she never asked about the condition of either child back at the house Brian examined baby Drake who was completely fine He also looked over Darren, but didn't find any injuries just blood on his hands and arms Brian then called in a chaplain to support first responders at the scene. He had never experienced a call like this before. Obviously it was hard to

process. He wanted to make sure that the team was taken care of, which is a good call. Officer Walling began putting up crime scene tape while Waddell joined a K-9 officer and his dog in searching the neighborhood, but they didn't find anyone. At this point, the Rowlett police were in over their heads. They rarely handled murders, let alone a double homicide involving two young children in a very wealthy neighborhood. One officer later testified that in five years on the force, he had only responded to a single other homicide. It quickly became clear that the department wasn't equipped to process a crime scene of this complexity. So they called in James Cron, a crime scene consultant who had recently retired from the Dallas County

Sheriff's Department after 29 years. By that point, Cron had worked more than 21,000 crime scenes. Oh yeah, that's a lot. That's some experience. And he did this both during his time in law enforcement and later as a consultant. He was experienced and most importantly, qualified to take the lead.

And I have to give credit to the Rowlett police. Self awareness. For doing this, being like, hey. Love it, no ego. Yeah, we look at the John Benet Ramsey case and they're in Boulder and they're like, we had never seen a murder, we had never seen an abduction like this,

we've never seen anything like this. And they're like, but we can handle it, because it's a pride thing, an ego thing. I will tell you without saying names There is a very prominent investigator that was called in to consult on that case and he declined and the reason he declined is because a

Lot of things had already been messed up and he said you're on your own Yeah, I'll never say the details of that but we'll just say that. This police department immediately they're like this is out of we're out of our depths here let's call somebody in. We want to make sure that this is handled properly. That's the number one priority right to get it right. Yeah. Bring the best people in. I love it. So James Cron arrived before 6 a.m. and he got right to work trying to figure out what had happened inside the Routier home just hours earlier. And what Cron found would spark one of the most scrutinized murder investigations in modern true crime history.

But I know Derek's gonna be mad because he's into this now. I am. I'm all sweating and stuff. Yeah, I know. I've got that like cortisol sweat. I can feel it. Yeah. I mean, my takeaway from the first episode is, and this is, we just, you asked me at the top of the show, how long have we been doing this? Five years. Yeah. And we've had a lot of debates.

We've had a lot of long series. I'm struggling to stay in the middle, which is a struggle that happens in investigative work sometimes. I'm trying to consume all the material and take it at face value and be as objective and unbiased as I can be. And listen, I've done it before with you where you've had an opinion, right? It's not difficult to do that, but based on what has been relayed so far and just based on the layout of the house and some of the statements that have been made by

Darlie already and where her concerns were focused, there is a lot of red flags here and I have, I'm always going to be honest, even if it doesn't allow me to be devil's advocate the way I like to be, I like firing you up, but this one's hard. It's hard to do that. Yeah. It's difficult talking about kids, not going to bring them back what we cover here, but if Darlie is responsible for this, I don't even know if she was found guilty for this, but well, wait, I'll I won't look it up

I have gone this out long without looking it up So I think I can go a couple more weeks but fascinating case glad recovering it I want to see if there's any twists and turns that I'm not anticipating yet, but Final words to you. I mean like I said, there's been points during this episode where I've tried to be unbiased where I could be, right? Okay, maybe you went out the garage because you didn't want to be spotted going out the front door. Okay, maybe Darlie was in shock and, you know, couldn't move at first, but then she starts

moving. She just doesn't move towards her kids. She doesn't do anything to help her kids. And to me, that goes against everything that a mother stands for, especially a mother who was a good one, like everybody described Darlie to be. We have seen mothers lift cars off of their children, okay, to somehow, which they could never do, if not under the stress and duress that they were,

because they wanted to save their children's lives. We have seen women exhibit incredible strength to save their children, and yet you can't even go get a rag and put it on your child's open wounds. I have a problem with this. I think that this woman is a hundred percent guilty and the motive, the motive for why she did it, I believe was financial. So. Well, and then we haven't even got into motive yet, and so that's gonna add other layers to this, because then the question becomes whether it was somebody else or it was Darlie,

what's the motive? What's the reason behind killing these innocent children? What would be the need to do that? And I'm sure. They had life insurance policies, didn't they? There you go, there you go. And so that's what we gotta get into. Life insurance policies that were large enough

to fix their financial issues and maybe keep her in the same lifestyle she had become accustomed to. And I get the context. I understand where this is going. We'll see. Everyone, let us know what you think down in the comments below. Weigh in. Do you agree with Stephanie?

Do you agree? Do you not agree with her? Are you in the camp that believes Dararlene was not guilty of this? And I don't know again if she was found guilty or not. I'm gonna try not to look it up. But if she was found guilty, do you believe they got it wrong? Is that why there's a website out there

trying to prove her innocence? Let us know what you think. We're gonna be back next week. We're gonna keep on going with this. There's a lot more to cover. I can see based on what we covered here, we haven't even gotten to the trial or anything yet. So this is gonna be a decent series.

I would say five parts. Five parts. So buckle up, it's coming. Final words from me, criminalcoffeeco.com. If you wanna go grab your sweatshirts, make sure you grab them. We'll be back next week. Until then, everyone stay safe out there.

Have a good night. Bye.