A suburban housewife who said 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 that phase of the trial 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, who was on trial only for the death of her 5-year-old son Damon, was convicted of capital murder for killing a child under age 6.
"We are relieved," prosecutor Greg Davis said. Outside the courthouse, a female relative of Darlie Routier 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.
"My belief was that that was the best case to try because it was simpler," Davis said. He said it was too early to know if she will be tried on the second charge.
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, a suburb 20 miles east of Dallas.
She said she picked up a knife he had dropped then realized she and the boys had been attacked. In her call to 911, she cried: "Somebody came in, they broke in and just stabbed me and my children!"
She was arrested 12 days later, and the trial was moved to Kerrville, 220 miles southwest of Dallas, because of publicity.