Documents: Routier planned insurance scam before slayings
Posted on 06/21/2002 6:08:03 PM PDT by MeekOneGOP
Documents: Routier planned insurance scam before slayings
06/22/2002
Darin Routier asked his father-in-law whether he knew anyone who would burglarize his home as part of an insurance scam months before his sons were killed, according to affidavits made public Friday by his wife's defense lawyers.
Robbie Gene Kee, stepfather of convicted child-killer Darlie Routier, first told his wife about the conversation two years ago, according to the lawyers. He wrote out his affidavit last month.
Last year, a private investigator hired by the defense confronted Mr. Routier, who first denied having made the statement, the affidavit said.
AP Darin Routier |
"Mr. Routier ... then admitted that he did tell Mr. Kee but that he did not follow through," investigator Richard Reyna wrote.
Ms. Routier's family fears that Mr. Routier mentioned the plot to others, who broke in on their own, one of her attorneys said. They think this is possibly why an intruder targeted the Routier home.
Neighbors said they saw a black car watching the house before the June 1996 night when Devon and Damon Routier were fatally stabbed as they slept downstairs with their mother.
Prosecutor Toby Shook questioned why Mr. Kee didn't mention this before Ms. Routier's trial. He also said that prosecutors proved in court that no intruder existed and that Ms. Routier killed her boys.
"If someone was coming to break in the house, how come they didn't take anything?" Mr. Shook asked. "How come they murdered the children? That's the same [defense] argument we heard during the jury trial."
Mr. Kee and Mr. Routier, who has stood by his wife and always said that neither was involved in the crime, could not be reached for comment Friday.
Mr. Kee wrote that Mr. Routier told him a burglar could arrive while the family was away and "remove 'gobs' of stuff and take the items somewhere."
AP Devon (left) and Damon Routier |
"Darin Routier said he would retrieve the items after his insurance company paid off and that he would pay the 'burglar' out of insurance proceeds," Mr. Kee wrote.
Mr. Shook noted that prosecutors alleged at trial that the Routiers' financial strains and the boys' insurance policies, worth a combined $10,000, were her motive for the killings.
"At trial, under oath, Darin and Darlie Routier said they were under no financial difficulty, so now their story has changed," Mr. Shook said. "Those were allegations that both the Routiers and the entire Routier family denied ... except now we have to consider why Darlie Routier lied."
J. Stephen Cooper, an attorney seeking to overturn Ms. Routier's capital murder conviction, said his client's account never wavered. The family spent $14,000 on the boys' funeral and didn't receive any financial gain from the deaths.
"Their financial status at the time did not appear to be in dire straits; they had debts like anybody else," Mr. Cooper said. "Whether Darin was thinking of doing something to make some money I don't think necessarily means that things were financially dire. He testified in court that their business goes up and down and that he had a bunch of receivables he expected to collect on."
Mr. Cooper said he has asked Mr. Kee why he never mentioned the conversation until two years ago. The lawyer said Mr. Kee's reasons were that he didn't think Mr. Routier's scam idea could be connected to the slayings and that he and Darlie Kee, Ms. Routier's mother, separated for a time after the killings.
Mr. Cooper also said Mr. Kee told him his wife was adamant that neither Routier was responsible for the slayings, so he didn't think she would be receptive to the news.
Ms. Routier's throat was slashed and her arms cut during the crime, but prosecutors said she staged the scene and cut herself.
Mr. Shook said the affidavits don't warrant an investigation.
FILE / DMN Darlie Routier |
"Curious how they don't ever tell us who these people were, so we don't have a suspect we look at," he said.
Mr. Cooper responded: "It's a mystery, and Darin won't tell us about it. I don't reasonably expect the prosecution to look into any of the issues that have been brought out since the trial."
This information comes two weeks after a forensic anthropologist hired by the defense said he thinks a bloody fingerprint left on a coffee table probably belongs to an adult not one of her slain children as alleged at trial.
Mr. Shook said he could not comment on the fingerprint. The fingerprint analyst who worked the Routier case has disagreed with the findings, saying the analysis is not scientific evidence.
Mr. Cooper said the affidavits and anthropologist's work would be part of the next phase of Ms. Routier's appeal to show that his client is innocent. Her appeal on allegations of trial error is pending.
E-mail hbecka@dallasnews.com
Prior Routier murder discussion on FR.......
State's highest criminal court hears Darlie
Routier's appeal - Baby killer may get off?
http://www.FreeRepublic.com/focus/news/654749/posts
Exactly!! This doesn't make any sense.
There is simply no question that this woman had motive to kill her kids, and did kill them.
Maybe she'll claim "mental retardation" and try to escape the needle.
Also, I grew up in the town where the trial was held. Kerrville, TX. One of the jurors is a cousin of mine. He told me all the jury felt Darin had something to do with it, but of course he wasn't the one on trial. I still think she is guilty, but I don't think she did it alone. I guess we will never know.
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