One of the most comprehensive accounts of the Darlie Routier case is Barbara Davis’ book, Precious Angels, published in 1999. She left no doubt in the readers’ minds that Darlie was guilty as charged. As explained in Statement 3, she did an about-face after her book came out, proclaiming that she’d discovered “hidden evidence” that proved Darlie was innocent. This revelation brought Ms. Davis a good deal of media attention – a real plus for book sales – but strangely enough, she has never retracted any of the content in her book. Content that was, and is, extremely damaging to Darlie. Such as:
“Once a doting mother, she became a screaming tyrant who ordered the kids to stay the hell out of the house. Jackie Rogers, a family member, says, “She was always yelling stuff like, ‘Get your asses outta here’ or ‘Get your ass downstairs.’ She ordered little Devon around so bad and beat him down, it was in my opinion emotional abuse of that child.” (p. 81)
“Jenny Lankford put it this way: ‘Darlie was content as long as the boys were gone. She didn’t care anymore where those boys were as long as they weren’t around her.’ Family and friends also witnessed screaming matches between Darin and Darlie on an increasingly frequent basis.” (pp. 86-87)
“Darin grew furious with Darlie about her weight. One day he arrived home early from work, when unknown to him, Karen Neal had Drake in the living room, changing his diaper. Darlie was in the family room and Darin started screaming at her, ‘You’re just a fat pig!’ He warned his wife in no uncertain terms that she would either lose the weight in a month, or he would find somebody else. Karen calmly walked in, looked at Darin & said, ‘Well hello, Darin.’ The embarrassed husband immediately dropped the subject.” (p.92)
“On Wednesday, June 5th, one of the Routier’s neighbors stepped out to get the mail. She heard Darlie yelling at Devon and Damon she’d “had enough of their bullshit” and they were going to be in “major fucking trouble” when their father got home. That same day, when Darin arrived home, he picked up the portable phone to call the VCR repair shop where he’d dropped a unit off earlier that day. Sam Greer answered just as the recorded message started playing, and the conversation continued to record. As Darin explained what needed to be fixed, Mr. Greer’s recorder taped Darlie in the background yelling at the kids and Darin. Mr. Greer flinched with every “fuck this” and “fuck that.” (pp.98, 99)
“During one of Patterson’s visits at the hospital to check on Darlie, he mentioned that the dog had been barking like crazy and would not shut up. He told her a neighbor had to help calm him down just to pick him up and take him out of there. Darlie looked at the detective and responded, “Oh, he always goes off like that when someone he doesn’t know walks in the door.” Patterson was immediately alert. “Did you hear him bark the night of the attack?” Darlie paused, then calmly replied, “Come to think of it, no, he didn’t.” (p.121)
“After the funeral, Darin and Darlie and the rest of the family gathered at Darlie Kee’s house. Darlie proceeded to announce that she and Darin had already made future plans. Darin was going to take Darlie to Europe to have the light scar on her throat removed. While they were there, she was going to conceive the little girl she had always wanted. One of the relatives present said, “I was shocked…it was like, this is what we want to happen, so it will. I lost two children but, I’ll be replacing them soon.” (p. 138)
“Darlie asked Mercedes Adams to go with her to see what damage the police had done to the house. Mercedes anticipated that Darlie would be overwrought upon revisiting the scene of her children’s murders, but as the two women entered the living room, Darlie shocked Mercedes by placing her hands on her hips and angrily declaring, “Look at this fucking mess! It’ll cost a fortune to fix this shit!” I put my hands on Darlie’s shoulders and said, “Darlie, look me in the eye and tell me you didn’t kill the boys.” She looked me in the eye and said, ‘I’m gonna get new carpet, new drapes, and fix this room all up.’ I couldn’t believe it.” (p.141)
“At a pre-trial hearing, the prosecutor asked about rumored deals with Paramount Entertainment concerning movie or book rights to the Routiers’ story. Darin steadfastly denied the rumors. It later came out in the press that Darlie, Mama Darlie, and Darin had signed a contract with an agent to place Darlie’s life story.” (p.172)
“Darlie took a private polygraph test on October 4th, 1996. Mama Darlie waited at the jail to visit with her daughter as soon as the six-hour test was over. When the deputy escorted Darlie back to her cell, mother and daughter embraced and Darlie began to sob. Curiously, Mama Darlie would vehemently deny she ever knew about the polygraph test. Instead, time after time before the case went to trial, she protested that the police were refusing to give Darlie a polygraph test. (p.178-179)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPT1lnBWQU0 (marker 10:25)
“I conducted a reenactment of the crime to test the defense team’s contention that Darlie couldn’t possibly have had time to murder her children and slit her throat. Regarding the 30-40 second sprint down the alley to ditch the sock, I made it in 50 seconds, and I’m a good twenty years older than Darlie.” (p.310)