The Last Defense

After surviving the brutal stabbing that leaves her two sons dead in 1996, Dallas housewife Darlie Routier urges police to find the intruder she claims is the killer. To her horror, she becomes the No. 1 suspect. In his first interview in nearly 15 years, Darlie’s husband, Darin Routier, gives an emotional telling of the events leading up to her arrest while the prosecutors, Greg Davis and Toby Shook, walk through the crime scene as they prepare their case.

Amid a media frenzy, Darlie Routier’s trial begins in the small, conservative town of Kerrville, Texas. Prosecutors know they will be up against a formidable adversary when Darlie’s family hires one of Dallas’ top attorneys, Doug Mulder. For the first time in the series, we hear from Darlie on death row and her first-hand account of what happened that night, an account investigators say was 100% fabricated after Darlie staged the crime scene. The state’s investigators will present its evidence pointing to Darlie as the killer, but 20 years later, defense experts examine their theories, one by one.

The trial of Darlie Routier heats up. Facing one of Texas’ top defense lawyers, the prosecution argues that Darlie’s actions and demeanor are not that of a grieving mother but of a person capable of murdering her own children. The defense strikes back by questioning the state’s theory of motive and the characterization of Darlie. However, when the prosecution presents a video of Darlie having a party at her children’s gravesite in the now infamous “silly string video,” it seems her fate is sealed. Author Barbara Davis, who was at the original trial, gives a firsthand account.