"Deep in the Heart of...Injustice" - Part III-The Evidence (Lifestyle)

Now that you have the background of the story, and a glimpse at the 911 call, let’s go over some of the evidence used in court. I think, to try and stay focused, I’ll take one piece of evidence at a time. We’ll look at it from the view of the prosecution and the defense, then I’ll give my view. You can decide for yourself how you want to view everything. This post will not deal with whether or not the evidence was handled properly (that’s coming soon), just the evidence itself, from different views.
I’d like to start with the evidence the prosecution used to say that Darlie murdered her two children because they were in the way of her “lifestyle”. The prosecution claimed financial and marital problems as well as post-partum depression drove Darlie to murder. How many of us have these issues occur to us at least once in our lives? I’d imagine quite a few.
First, let’s look at the financial problems. According to the prosecution, Darlie was used to the finer things in life. The Routiers’ had a $250,000 home, expensive cars and toys, and Darlie was always fashionably dressed with nice jewelry. The prosecution claimed that Darin’s business was faltering, they were financially strapped and behind on house payments. These so-called facts are disputed.
As far as the business went, Darin had $26,000 on the books and said business was stable. He did acknowledge that there were good weeks and bad weeks, but this can be said of most businesses, no matter the product or service. Even big corporations have bad quarters; it doesn’t mean financial despair. Besides, Darin made circuit boards for computers. We all know computers are here to stay. I can not believe that business was “bad”.
The prosecution also tried to claim that the Routiers’ were behind on their house payments, and used this as evidence. However, from what I’ve been able to find, the only house payment that was late was June’s payment. I would think this would be understandable, considering their sons were killed just days before the payment was due. Who would worry about a now insignificant house payment after a tragedy like this? No one in their right mind. I find it absolutely disgusting that the prosecutor would use this against a person who had just lost their children! It proves NOTHING!!!
The Routiers’ bank account was another piece of evidence used to show financial problems. On the day of the murders, they had less than $2,500 in their savings account. However, the day of the murders is what the prosecution focused on. As a juror, I would want to know about the account before and after, as well. So I watched… I will touch on what I found when I get to “Trial Errors”.
The prosecutor also claimed marital problems contributed to Darlie’s mental state. She had been suffering from post-partum depression since the birth of their then 7-month-old son, and occasionally had trouble sleeping. Because of this, Darlie and Darin sometimes slept separately. This is reason to assume marital problems? Really Mr. Prosecutor? I’ve had back surgery, and quite often can’t sleep in the bed very long. More times than not, I will end up in the living room sleeping on the recliner. Does this mean my marriage has problems? NOT. Sometimes, life happens.
This is the first part of the evidence that I wanted to go over. I wanted to touch on “lifestyle” evidence first, because I don’t see it as solid. I generally look at this part as “puzzle pieces”. They fall into place, or not, after the rest of the evidence is gathered. In this case, I don’t think the pieces fit. You can decide as we uncover the rest of the evidence.
Most of the information in this part I actually got from a show made for TruTV called “The Investigators”. It was Season 4, Episode 10, and it originally aired Thursday, April 29, 2004.