Jury Rejects Intruder Tale, Convicts Mom

A suburban housewife who claimed an intruder stabbed her two sons to death before slashing her throat was convicted Saturday of killing one of the boys.

Darlie Routier, 27, sobbed before the verdict and continued crying afterward, insisting “I did not kill my babies.” Her husband and other relatives, many wearing shirts with pictures of the boys, wept.

Darlie Routier could be sentenced to death by injection or life in prison, with arguments scheduled to begin Monday. Prosecutors are seeking the death sentence.

“We didn’t lose. She’ll come home,” her husband, Darin Routier said.

Darlie Routier, on trial only for the death of her 5-year-old son Damon, was convicted of capital murder for killing a child under 6.

“We are relieved,” prosecutor Greg Davis said. Outside the courthouse, a female relative of Darlie Routier’s screamed, “Greg Davis is a killer! He’s going to burn!”

Prosecutors said Darlie Routier killed Damon and 6-year-old Devon on June 6, 1996, because she was angry over family money problems and weight she had gained during a recent pregnancy. They said she slashed herself in an attempt to fool police.

Darlie Routier also was charged with a second count of capital murder for the deaths of both sons. Davis said she was tried on the charge of killing a child under age 6 because he thought it would be easier to win than a case in which he had to prove she killed two people.

Darlie Routier, who’d been sleeping on a couch a few feet from the boys, claimed she awoke and saw a man dressed in dark clothing who fled toward the garage of the family’s home in Rowlett, 20 miles east of Dallas.

She said she picked up a knife he had dropped then realized she and the boys had been attacked. She was arrested 12 days later.

Darin Routier supported his wife’s claim of innocence. He said he was asleep upstairs with their infant son, Drake, the night of the killings and awoke to the sound of glass breaking and his wife screaming.

He said he didn’t hear or see an intruder, but recalled seeing his wife frantically trying to help her little boys, grabbing towels to cover their gaping wounds.