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tonight on unsolved mysteries a vicious
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murder of two defenseless children their
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mother a waste execution for the crime
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but her family claims to have new
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evidence that proves her innocence
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it has ghostly red eyes enormous wings
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and can reach speeds of over 100 miles
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per hour what is a strange creature
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stalking the woods outside a Point
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Pleasant Virginia the hundreds who have
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seen it have given it a name
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the Mothman a modern-day Bonnie and
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Clyde are on the loose in the American
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West bank robbers by day and lovers by
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night maybe you can help end their crime
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spree join me for this intriguing
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addition under saw mr. eyes
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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[Music]
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darlin routier a Rowlett Texas housewife
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and mother of three makes a harrowing
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call to 911
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[Music]
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[Music]
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within five minutes the first police
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officer arrives he walks into a scene of
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unbelievable bloodshed darlie's eldest
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son Devin just three days shy of his
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seventh birthday is dead four gaping
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knife wounds have ended his brief life
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his brother five year old Damon has also
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been savagely attacked with a knife
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Damon gasps his last breath in the care
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of a paramedic Darlie is a deep gash in
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her neck and wounds on her arms she is
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immediately transported to a local
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hospital for emergency surgery and
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survives
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we the jury find the defendant Darlie
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Linn routier guilty eight months later
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Darlie routier is convicted of killing
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her two little boys she is sentenced to
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die by lethal injection
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it is a verdict that her mother Darlie
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ki will never accept I never thought
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that Darlie did this Devin and Damon's
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killer is running free and that's what
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this is about the truth and finding
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justice for Devon and Damon you know I
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live my life every day for Darlie and
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everything else has to come second
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because that's the most important thing
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is for you know we've got to save her
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life before they execute this innocent
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girl after her conviction
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Dottie Lynn routier agreed to be
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interviewed in the visiting room with a
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Gatesville state prison while behind
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bars her bleached blond hair has
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returned to its natural color
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I've been wrongfully convicted I'm
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innocent
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I've been done wrong there has been a
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lot of terrible wrong things that have
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been done to me me and my family
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Darin routier was convicted of a crime
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that most of us find incomprehensible
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but is she guilty
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unlike other high-profile cases of
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mothers killing their own children
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Dottie has always proclaimed her
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innocence her mother and family have
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mounted a massive campaign to free
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Darlie insisting that overlooked
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evidence exonerated
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a juror who voted to convict her is not
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convinced he made a mistake but
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authorities argued that the case against
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Darlie is overwhelming join us as we
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examine both sides of this tragic story
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and judge for yourself if the true
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killer of Damon and Devon routier is
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behind bars
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when Darlie Linn met Darin routier 18
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years ago it was love at first sight
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within the next several years Darlie and
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Darin were married and had two children
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Damon and Devon when Darlie was 26 she
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was blessed with a third son whom she
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named Drake it was only in the aftermath
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of Drake's birth that Darlie is usually
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cheerful mood darkened she did have a
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little bit of postpartum depression and
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that pretty much I mean it was like
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maybe a four-week period that she was
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kind of stressed and depressed I didn't
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see any signs of depression at all after
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that small short period of it after the
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baby
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in fact by all accounts the root ears
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were living the American dream
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three beautiful children a happy healthy
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marriage and a majestic house in an
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affluent suburb of Dallas but in one
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night the root ears would lose it all
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On June 6 1996 Devon and Damon were
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murdered and Darlie claims she was
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viciously attacked her youngest son
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Drake was unharmed
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this is routier can you tell me anything
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at all about Robert police detectives
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interviewed Darlie shortly after surgery
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while she was still sedated I was asleep
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on the couch Darlie told investigators
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that on the night of the attack
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she Devon and Damon had fallen asleep in
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the downstairs family room while
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watching TV
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her husband Aaron slept upstairs with
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eight-month-old Drake a coating to
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Darlie at 2:30 a.m. she suddenly awoke
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and saw a man hovering over her with a
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knife and then she saw the back of the
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guy leaving the house so she followed
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him and when she went out the door she
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saw the knife in the utility room she
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picked it up to defend herself if he
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came back in Darlie told police that it
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was only then that she realized she was
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injured and her boys had been attacked
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did you see any any body at all when you
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came down the stairs besides your wife
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her husband Darren was also interviewed
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by Rowlett homicide detectives I hear
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this scream I run down the stairs
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Dalia at that point is yelling Devon
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Devon Devon Devon Devon Devon I mean
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she's just freaking and I get to Devon
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and he's got these two huge gashes in
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the top of his chest he's laying face-up
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I mean just blank in his eyes and
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you know I'm thinking CPR I pop his head
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back I start blowing into his mouth and
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as soon as I blow into his mouth air
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comes out of his chest
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blood splatters all over me not only
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have you just been woken up to the worst
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nightmare in your whole life your your
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child is dying in front of you and you
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just you don't know what to do it's okay
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just just take your time investigators
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did not question dara'a account but they
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were immediately troubled by several
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aspects of Darlie story
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how could she have slept through her
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attack and the children's murders and
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why couldn't she give a clear
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description of her assailant can you
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tell me what this person looked like yes
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sir can you tell me when it came time to
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describe the so-called suspect she was
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unable to describe the person even
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though the person was supposedly
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kneeling or sitting standing on top of
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her at the crime scene investigators
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reportedly were not finding evidence to
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corroborate darlie's version of events
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they discovered the alleged entry and
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exit point of the killer an open window
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in the garage that had his screen
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slashed yet there was an undisturbed
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layer of dust on the sill suggesting
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that nobody actually came through it
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detectives also found a long bleached
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blonde hair in the cut screen at the
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time Darlie routier had long bleached
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blond hair
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[Music]
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police found nothing missing from the
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home and ruled out robbery as a motive
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they also felt that the blood evidence
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did not support the story of an intruder
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the lack of a blood trail leading from
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the crime scene continuing out the path
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that the intruder supposedly took was
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problematic to say the least
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this individual miraculously manages to
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keep any sense of blood or any evidence
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off of him doesn't leave any footprints
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all the Bloods contained in one area
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that was one of the things that again
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did not jive with her story
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a final strange clue was discovered in
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an alley three houses down from Donnie's
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home a tube sock with small amounts of
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blood from the two murdered boys
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splattered on it one of the
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characteristics of cases where mothers
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are involved in the killing of children
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are that after the fact there's a very
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amateur is to cover up I believe the
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sock is is part of the part of the
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cover-up amateur istic way of trying to
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throw the police off the trail I don't
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want to believe you did it
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but all the evidence points that way a
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week and a half after the murders Darlie
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was interrogated by a detective
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reportedly known for extracting
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confessions from suspects will you push
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to the edge will you push to the limit
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Darlie was stated that if she did it she
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didn't yet being the murders she didn't
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remember kind of a strange thing to say
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the red flags started going out the
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detective who conducted the interview
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asserts that it was not recorded at to
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say for yourself
00:11:02
darlie's family insists she never made
00:11:05
the incriminating statement
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should have been audio taped and
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videotaped but yet on this high-profile
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case he didn't have an audio tape or a
00:11:15
videotape which i think is a total lie
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I think he has both he just won't
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produce it because then it would prove
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that darlie's telling the truth and then
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he's lying no one wants to believe that
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a mother would do something like this to
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their children that's even police
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officers don't want to believe that but
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at some point when you're presented with
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this type of overwhelming physical
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evidence you have to start accepting
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some of it I never suspected that they
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were looking at Darlie I thought at the
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hospital they were looking at Darin but
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never Darlie I mean but they didn't know
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Turley like I knew Darlie and then on
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the news there was breaking news and it
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showed darling in handcuffs and I
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started screaming and crying we went up
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to the role at police department and the
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lead detective was out there smoking a
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cigar and high-fiving all his detectives
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and told me to get the hell out of his
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police station and you know just
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unbelievable Darlie routier was charged
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with capital murder incarcerated and put
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on suicide watch attorneys and
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investigators hired to defend Darlie
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challenged the accusations according to
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them evidence used to secure the arrest
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warrant was hopelessly flawed when the
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officers examined the window which had
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been cut they found there was no dust
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disturbed on the windowsill and also
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found a blonde hair stuck into the
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screen area they assumed that blonde
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hair was darlie's later that hair
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through DNA examination was determined
00:12:47
to belong to a riot police officer
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though that the windowsill is 10 inches
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off the floor if you went through the
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window and crouched down and put one leg
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through the window it's more probable
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you wouldn't disturb the dust than you
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would disturb the dust
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[Music]
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but the heels of justice were already
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moving rapidly against Darlie Linn
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routier her bail was revoked and the
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trial was transferred to Kirk County a
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conservative community in south-central
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Texas with a high rate of conviction and
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death penalty cases still Donnie Lynn
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routier held out hope that she would
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ultimately be vindicated you keep
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thinking that you know you're innocent
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and you know you keep waiting for them
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to come back and tell you that oh we've
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made a terrible mistake and we're so
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sorry and you know we found who did this
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I just could not believe you know what
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was happening
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[Music]
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Darley Lynne routier a young Dallas
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housewife stood accused of viciously
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stabbing to death two of her children
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her trial began on January 6th under
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intense media scrutiny ladies and
00:14:06
gentlemen I want you to listen very the
00:14:08
prosecution opened their case by
00:14:09
offering the state's theory of the crime
00:14:11
according to the state Darlie routier
00:14:14
was a greedy selfish and vain woman
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whose extravagant lifestyle was being
00:14:19
threatened by the responsibilities of
00:14:21
motherhood
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the prosecution insinuated that if her
00:14:24
two boys were dead dotty could collect
00:14:27
on their life-insurance and resume her
00:14:29
wild ways the DA argued that Darlie in
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the throes of postpartum depression
00:14:36
murdered two of her children slit her
00:14:39
own throat and then tried to make it
00:14:41
appear that an intruder had committed
00:14:43
the crime
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and I know it sounds diabolical but the
00:14:49
evidence shows that she went they were
00:14:51
crucifying her character trees to make
00:14:53
this very conservative jury hate Darlie
00:14:55
and it was all a buncha lies if the
00:14:58
children were interfering with her
00:15:00
lifestyle when you think it would be the
00:15:02
newborn baby that would be the biggest
00:15:03
problem I mean why would she kill two
00:15:06
and not three and why wouldn't she kill
00:15:08
the baby versus the two boys it's my
00:15:10
opinion that the crime scene was staged
00:15:13
that the medical examiner testified that
00:15:16
darlie's wounds were superficial and
00:15:18
self-inflicted dramatically different
00:15:21
than the wounds sustained by the young
00:15:22
victims but the defense introduced
00:15:24
medical records showing that the knife
00:15:26
slashed to darlie's neck came within one
00:15:29
sixteenth of an inch of severing her
00:15:30
carotid artery and killing her
00:15:34
photographs taken at the hospital show
00:15:36
extreme bruising on darlie's arms but
00:15:40
the notes that you took that you tell
00:15:42
darlie's defense attorney also attacked
00:15:44
the prosecution's contention that she
00:15:46
committed the murders to collect on her
00:15:48
boys life-insurance policy and how long
00:15:50
did you talk to Darren Madhu why not
00:15:52
kill her husband who was insured for
00:15:54
$800,000 far more than the small
00:15:56
policies taken out on Damon and Devin
00:15:59
they're trying to say she did this for
00:16:00
the money
00:16:01
was $5,000 life-insurance on those boys
00:16:05
that's ridiculous
00:16:06
it cost thirteen thousand to bury them
00:16:08
Your Honor can we ask the witness to
00:16:11
step down for demonstration well when
00:16:15
you are the prosecution countered with a
00:16:18
blood spatter expert
00:16:20
his testimony focused on a tiny blood
00:16:23
stain on the back of Darlie shirt this
00:16:25
spot contained both Devin and Damon's
00:16:28
blood
00:16:29
a shirt that Darlie was wearing it had
00:16:32
cast-off blood on the back over the
00:16:35
shoulder area and this would have come
00:16:38
as the knife was being pulled out of the
00:16:40
children's body and being brought over
00:16:42
her shoulder and then dripping and the
00:16:44
analysis of the DNA indicated it
00:16:45
belonged to the children and that was a
00:16:47
very important piece of evidence how did
00:16:50
that blood get there if not that manner
00:16:52
all the blood evidence was handled by
00:16:55
police officers that were not
00:16:56
experienced with collecting evidence and
00:16:58
instead of drying that evidence that
00:17:00
bloody evidence out and putting it the
00:17:03
proper way for storing for the trial
00:17:05
they threw it into bags and multiple
00:17:09
pieces of blood on top of each other so
00:17:11
that the blood stains could transfer
00:17:13
from different areas we were very
00:17:17
careful and methodical in our gathering
00:17:19
of evidence our officers have been
00:17:21
trained in it just like officers across
00:17:22
the nation we haven't just fallen off
00:17:25
the hay wagon recently do you recall any
00:17:27
state ultimately however the prosecution
00:17:30
moved away from the physical evidence
00:17:31
and once again focused on their central
00:17:34
thesis Darlie routier was an unfeeling
00:17:37
self-centered woman more than capable of
00:17:39
murdering her own children and approved
00:17:42
their point they played this videotape
00:17:45
for the jury
00:17:47
eight days after the murders the routier
00:17:51
family decided to celebrate Devon's 7th
00:17:53
birthday posthumously having just been
00:17:56
released from the hospital Darlie was on
00:17:58
painkillers antibiotics and
00:18:00
antidepressants a news crew captured
00:18:03
what happened next
00:18:04
[Music]
00:18:12
this does not appear to be the behavior
00:18:14
of a grieving mother and all right fine
00:18:19
let's discount it she grieves
00:18:21
differently than everybody else in the
00:18:23
world but what about all this other
00:18:25
preponderance of evidence that's still
00:18:26
out there we can't ignore all the rest
00:18:28
of it that was a celebration of Devin's
00:18:31
birthday we had everything ready to have
00:18:35
his birthday we had invitations sent out
00:18:38
we had the presents already bought and
00:18:43
he was murdered three days before we got
00:18:48
to have his party now some people might
00:18:53
not choose to use silly-string we use
00:18:55
silly string because Devon and Damon
00:18:57
always played with silly string it was
00:18:59
one of their favorite things it's dead
00:19:01
out of a memory of them they twisted
00:19:04
that and made that into something ugly
00:19:06
they made it into something that
00:19:09
completely wasn't we decided that the
00:19:12
kids couldn't from the neighborhood that
00:19:14
were invited to Devon's birthday could
00:19:16
come up and that they could bring their
00:19:18
gifts to Devon there and I remember
00:19:21
telling darling not to scare the kids
00:19:23
you know because we were ho so
00:19:25
hysterical at times that with little
00:19:28
children around you wouldn't want to be
00:19:29
screaming and hollering and bawling and
00:19:32
crying because you'd be terrifying those
00:19:36
kids you know so it was not like it was
00:19:39
real anyways it was like we were in some
00:19:42
sort of a dream
00:19:45
during deliberations the jury watched
00:19:48
the so-called silly-string video eight
00:19:50
times it took them only ten hours to
00:19:55
reach a guilty verdict Darlie routier
00:19:58
was immediately taken to deathroll at
00:20:00
Gatesville state prison till the boys
00:20:03
[Music]
00:20:06
but darlie's family and attorneys are
00:20:09
outraged by her conviction and are
00:20:11
spearheading a drive to overturn the
00:20:13
verdict they claim that during the
00:20:16
investigation and trial crucial details
00:20:18
were overlooked darlie's family contends
00:20:24
that the photos of her extensive wounds
00:20:25
were not properly presented to the jury
00:20:27
after the trial one of the jurors had
00:20:30
convicted Darley charles sanford had a
00:20:33
chance to take a close look at the
00:20:34
pictures after I saw the pictures that
00:20:37
made me feel that she's not guilty she
00:20:41
did not cut herself and that she put up
00:20:43
a heck of a fight to protect her own
00:20:46
self I believe with all my heart that
00:20:49
Darlie routier is innocent there's not a
00:20:52
doubt in my mind darlie's defenders also
00:20:57
point to the mysterious tube sock found
00:20:59
75 yards from the crime scene the sock
00:21:02
contains both boys blood and probably
00:21:05
epithelial or skin DNA of Darlie there
00:21:08
are no blood stains that belonged to
00:21:10
Darlie on the sock so it obviously had
00:21:13
to be touched by someone after both boys
00:21:16
have been stabbed who also had contact
00:21:19
with darlene accoding a dolly supporters
00:21:23
the tube sock makes the prosecution's
00:21:26
account of the murders
00:21:27
impossible medical testimony established
00:21:30
the damon who didn't die until
00:21:32
paramedics arrived could not have lived
00:21:34
for more than nine minutes after
00:21:36
receiving the fatal wound Darlie was
00:21:40
talking to a 9-1-1 operator for five
00:21:42
minutes and 40 seconds of those nine
00:21:44
minutes the police secured the scene for
00:21:47
an additional two minutes before
00:21:49
paramedics were allowed in that leaves
00:21:51
Darlie routier approximately a minute
00:21:54
and a half to place the sock down the
00:21:55
street
00:21:56
stasia crime scene and then cut her own
00:21:59
throat I believe that the intruder had
00:22:03
the sock on his hand probably used as a
00:22:06
glove or something and I believe that he
00:22:07
was covering her mouth
00:22:10
I don't believe she did sleep through it
00:22:12
I believe that she was a fixie ated i
00:22:13
believe that she was completely
00:22:14
unconscious and then she became
00:22:16
conscious and during the time of her
00:22:19
becoming conscious as when she says I
00:22:21
woke up in addition darlie's family
00:22:26
believes unidentified fingerprints at
00:22:28
the crime scene will identify this
00:22:29
intruder a fingerprint on the door
00:22:32
leading to the garage and a second print
00:22:34
on the credenza behind the couch have
00:22:36
never been positively ID'd by
00:22:38
investigators they're not darlie's
00:22:44
they're not Darren's and they're not
00:22:46
either of a two boys now it may not be a
00:22:50
problem in the sense that that's the
00:22:53
end-all be-all of the case but I think
00:22:54
it shows the overall problems with the
00:22:56
case that the state did not investigate
00:23:00
the case fully that they focused on
00:23:01
Darlie from not day one but minute one
00:23:04
as far as I'm concerned it's the most
00:23:07
important piece of evidence that we have
00:23:09
to prove that that Darlie routier is
00:23:11
innocent and that an intruder did come
00:23:14
into my house and that that man does
00:23:16
exist and that he's walking free while
00:23:19
my wife is on death row for something
00:23:20
she didn't do
00:23:23
but who would have murdered two innocent
00:23:26
boys and stabbed Darlie and why darlie's
00:23:30
family believes the attack may have been
00:23:31
a sexual assault gone awry a series of
00:23:36
violent rapes occurred in the Dallas
00:23:38
area at the same time as a routier
00:23:40
murders these crimes exhibited a
00:23:43
striking similarity to the attack on
00:23:45
Darlie and her children the assailant
00:23:47
entered the unlocked homes of victims
00:23:49
accosted them with knives found in the
00:23:51
kitchen and wore tube socks over his
00:23:54
hands to avoid leaving fingerprints
00:23:57
recently a suspect has been arrested for
00:23:59
the rapes Darlie supporters feel that
00:24:02
Authority should consider the accused
00:24:04
rapist a suspect in the routier case
00:24:07
Brown at police however have stated that
00:24:10
no one has contacted them with any
00:24:12
information indicating a connection
00:24:14
between the two crimes today Darlie and
00:24:24
Darin sole surviving son Drake is now
00:24:26
five years old Darlie was stripped of
00:24:29
custody after the murders and the boy
00:24:31
now lives with Darren and his parents
00:24:36
for the past four years
00:24:38
dougherty's only contact with her child
00:24:40
has been through a plate of bulletproof
00:24:42
glass
00:24:45
I feel like I've been cheated out on so
00:24:49
much because I've missed all the first
00:24:53
things that he's done I've missed
00:24:58
holding him i I've miss singing him to
00:25:02
sleep giving him a bath wiping his face
00:25:05
when it's dirty all the things that you
00:25:08
do when you're a mother is they've taken
00:25:15
that from drink they've taken that for
00:25:17
me shortly after dolly root ears
00:25:24
conviction the official court transcript
00:25:27
of her trial was found to contain more
00:25:28
than 30 thousand errors
00:25:30
doggy's lawyers hope that this fact
00:25:32
alone will sway the court to grant her a
00:25:34
new trial unless her appeal is
00:25:37
successful dolly Ellen routier will die
00:25:40
in the execution chamber at Gatesville
00:25:41
state prison
00:25:44
[Music]
00:25:58
these crumbling buildings outside of
00:26:00
Point Pleasant West Virginia are home to
00:26:03
one of the most bizarre and terrifying
00:26:04
creatures ever to walk the earth or some
00:26:08
what have you believe
00:26:12
I could see something standing there
00:26:14
that looked like a man but yet it wasn't
00:26:17
a man it was some kind of a creature
00:26:20
[Applause]
00:26:22
stood seven feet taller better enormous
00:26:25
glowing red eyes bat-like wings man-like
00:26:30
legs that was biggest by far and the
00:26:34
ugliest bird and I do mean bird I've
00:26:38
ever seen him alive and I hope in this
00:26:40
lifetime I never see it for anything
00:26:43
like it again you have your your
00:26:46
percentage of citizens who feel that it
00:26:49
was a hundred and one percent of hoax
00:26:50
you know I personally think that there
00:26:55
was something up there that scared the
00:26:57
Wits out of most of the people who came
00:26:59
face-to-face with it what is a strange
00:27:04
creature countless theories have been
00:27:07
offered ranging from the far-fetched to
00:27:09
the credible but answers have remained
00:27:11
elusive nevertheless one thing is
00:27:14
certain
00:27:15
hundreds of ordinary people have seen
00:27:17
something they cannot explain in the
00:27:19
woods outside Point Pleasant Virginia
00:27:21
they call it the Mothman
00:27:27
on November 15th 1966 Linda Scarberry
00:27:31
her husband and another couple left
00:27:33
Point Pleasant and headed for an area
00:27:36
known as the TNT abandons us World War
00:27:40
two the TNT got his nickname from once
00:27:43
being a munitions factory it was here
00:27:46
that the Mothman would make his debut as
00:27:59
they approached it the headlights hit it
00:28:01
and the red eyes were prominent it was a
00:28:06
very huge creature with a wingspan an
00:28:11
estimated eight to ten to twelve feet as
00:28:17
a Mothman let out a horrific screech the
00:28:19
two couples fled in a panic even though
00:28:23
their car approached a hundred miles per
00:28:24
hour and became apparent that they had
00:28:26
not escaped as they drove off the
00:28:30
creature followed them from time to time
00:28:32
hitting the top of the car it flew above
00:28:35
the car gliding from side to side but
00:28:38
never getting in front of the car
00:28:41
and as they approached the lights of the
00:28:43
city the creature backed off and fled
00:28:48
but the Mothman sightings were only
00:28:51
beginning the next day
00:28:53
Marcella Bennett left her brother's
00:28:55
house with her four-year-old daughter
00:28:57
after a short visit when I got to the
00:29:03
car and rich for the door handle then I
00:29:06
saw what looked like legs I kept going
00:29:11
up looking through the feet up and when
00:29:14
I did I could see that I was looking at
00:29:18
something that I had never saw him
00:29:19
before what the creature was something
00:29:33
that looked like a man but it was over
00:29:36
six foot tall and it had feathers
00:29:38
instead of skin the way it looked I mean
00:29:43
it was there something I never in my
00:29:46
wildest imagination would have ever
00:29:48
thought that would be standing out there
00:29:50
she's done believable
00:30:02
then as quickly as it appeared a Mothman
00:30:05
vanished a few days later Tom URI was
00:30:09
driving near the TNT area he is one of
00:30:12
the few people who have seen the Mothman
00:30:14
in the clear light of day I caught
00:30:18
something out of the corner of my eye
00:30:20
just looked like a helicopter coming
00:30:22
over the trees first until I saw it it
00:30:25
was a bird a huge bird that proceeded to
00:30:28
circle my car making big loops but every
00:30:33
time it make a loop it would get lower
00:30:35
lower lower and getting a little bit
00:30:39
scared you know what this thing is
00:30:42
curious about my car and I sure didn't
00:30:44
want to be breakfast and then it made a
00:30:48
loop back to the left and went back over
00:30:51
the riverbank and I went on to Mason
00:30:55
West Virginia and called the Sheriff's
00:30:57
Department in Point Pleasant West
00:30:59
Virginia over the next year sightings of
00:31:04
the Mothman increased in frequency the
00:31:07
descriptions of the creature were eerily
00:31:08
similar part man part bird with huge
00:31:12
wings and hypnotic red eyes the national
00:31:15
media descended on the small town
00:31:17
thousands swarmed into the TNT area
00:31:20
hoping to catch a glimpse of the Mothman
00:31:22
it was a sheer pandemonium the world had
00:31:28
focused its attention on its Point
00:31:29
Pleasant West Virginia the press was
00:31:31
everywhere and everyone just seemed to
00:31:34
be on edge just waiting to see what the
00:31:37
outcome of the sightings would be as
00:31:41
everybody searched for the Mothman other
00:31:43
weird occurrences began residents of
00:31:47
Point Pleasant would go out on farms and
00:31:50
find their animals dead and maybe just a
00:31:54
blood out or the heart going they reach
00:31:57
someone and removed the heart of the
00:31:58
animal the town also began to receive
00:32:02
visits from enigmatic strangers their
00:32:05
penchant for dressing in black from head
00:32:07
to toe has earned them the nickname the
00:32:09
many
00:32:10
black the men in black were strange
00:32:14
out-of-town visitors and who seemed to
00:32:16
want to pretty much just quiet
00:32:18
everything down they would show up in
00:32:20
people's doorsteps and show up at their
00:32:23
house at night and basically just say
00:32:26
hey you know let's just keep quiet for
00:32:28
now and they terrified a lot of the
00:32:30
original witnesses who were these out
00:32:34
strangers some believe they may hold the
00:32:37
answer to the Mothman mystery one of the
00:32:40
theories is that the Mothman was a
00:32:43
government experiment gone awry and it
00:32:46
escaped which would explain a little bit
00:32:49
of the men in black and a lot of people
00:32:51
tied all that in with the government as
00:32:53
a government experiment others believe
00:32:56
that there is a more logical explanation
00:32:58
for the rash of sightings eyewitnesses
00:33:01
were actually seeing a large bird
00:33:03
specifically the sandhill crane
00:33:05
indigenous to the area the sandhill
00:33:10
crane stands nearly as tall as a man and
00:33:12
has two red patches of flesh that under
00:33:16
extraordinary circumstances might be
00:33:18
mistaken for red eyes that's the basic
00:33:22
the reason why the sandhill crane theory
00:33:24
came up but none of the rest of the bird
00:33:26
fits the description
00:33:27
not even close one final theory focuses
00:33:31
on the region where most of the Mothman
00:33:33
sightings occurred the TNT the area was
00:33:37
originally a bird sanctuary World War
00:33:40
two brought the mass production of
00:33:42
armaments to the region along with
00:33:43
immense pollution one of the theories is
00:33:47
that the Mothman is a mutant bird which
00:33:49
was created from the TNT residue left
00:33:51
over from the plants from during the
00:33:53
World War two effort and combined with
00:33:56
the genes of the animals during 1966 and
00:33:59
formed a mutant bird type creature
00:34:02
whatever the explanation the Mothman
00:34:05
terrified all who saw it
00:34:07
and some even believe that the creature
00:34:09
is somehow linked to the greatest
00:34:10
tragedy ever to befall Point Pleasant
00:34:15
after nearly a year of sightings a
00:34:17
silver bridge leading out of town
00:34:19
collapsed killing 46 people one witness
00:34:24
claimed to have seen the Mothman on the
00:34:25
bridge just prior to the disaster a
00:34:28
debate has raged ever since about
00:34:30
whether the Mothman somehow played a
00:34:32
role the Silver Bridge collapsed was
00:34:35
attributed more to a structural fault in
00:34:39
the in the metal most of the key
00:34:43
witnesses don't feel that the Mothman
00:34:44
sighting had anything to do with the
00:34:46
collapse of the Silver Bridge today the
00:34:51
bridge has been rebuilt
00:34:52
although Mothman sightings are virtually
00:34:54
stopped thousands still travel each year
00:34:57
to Point Pleasant with the hopes of
00:34:59
spying the mysterious creature books
00:35:02
have been written and a major motion
00:35:04
picture made real or not the Mothman is
00:35:08
more famous now than ever the Mothman
00:35:12
has always been there and it'll always
00:35:14
be there it'll never go away it's a
00:35:15
legend it's a it's a local legend now
00:35:17
it's them it's a worldwide legend they
00:35:20
don't ever fade away
00:35:22
[Music]
00:35:35
the Klamath First Federal Bank in Bend
00:35:38
Oregon is just seconds from closing bank
00:35:43
teller Rhonda dent looks forward to a
00:35:45
serene evening at home with her husband
00:35:47
and four children to control and he he's
00:36:00
scared as he intimidated us he doesn't
00:36:11
because you're the one who's gonna kill
00:36:13
there was no thought in anybody's mind
00:36:16
of trying to set an alarm off so he made
00:36:21
us all go in to the ball and then he had
00:36:25
me fill the bags after I was done doing
00:36:28
that he told me to go over and get on my
00:36:31
knees and he tied me up if I was scared
00:36:38
I was terrified at that point because I
00:36:39
thought he's gonna shoot us all coming
00:36:42
out are we clear
00:36:44
ta'rhonda is relief the armed thief
00:36:47
harms Muller the professionally executed
00:36:49
robbery is just one of 12 perpetrated by
00:36:53
two elusive partners and crime to Wallis
00:36:56
lovers still on the loose the names are
00:37:01
Craig Pritchard and Nova Guthrie but
00:37:03
they become known as a modern-day Bonnie
00:37:05
and Clyde over the past four years they
00:37:09
made off with over half a million
00:37:10
dollars they conduct the robberies with
00:37:13
military precision and banished to live
00:37:16
the high life among the wealthy perhaps
00:37:19
you can help bring their good times on
00:37:21
their spree of terror to an end
00:37:24
Craig Pritchard once seemed destined to
00:37:27
gain Fame of a whole different kind a
00:37:29
baseball scholarship at Arizona State
00:37:31
University was to be his ticket to a
00:37:34
bright future Craig was a rising star he
00:37:37
was doing very well and I'm sure he
00:37:39
probably projected himself to be in the
00:37:41
majors probably making a lot of money at
00:37:43
some point in time the Barry Bonds came
00:37:47
along and was offered a scholarship to
00:37:48
ASU and once Barry Bonds got there
00:37:51
Craig pretty much was sitting on the
00:37:54
bench or was in the shadows if you will
00:37:57
I think that was devastating to him and
00:38:00
he had these high career aspirations of
00:38:02
making a lot of money and didn't have
00:38:05
any means to do it I think that led to a
00:38:07
quick immediate gratification which was
00:38:09
bank robbery
00:38:11
Craig pritchards lust for the quick
00:38:13
score led him to Las Vegas not to the
00:38:16
casinos but straight to the banks over
00:38:19
the next several years he committed an
00:38:21
unknown number of robberies in 1992 his
00:38:24
luck ran out a bank teller identified
00:38:27
him in a lineup he was arrested and
00:38:30
convicted and sentenced to five years in
00:38:32
an Arizona Penitentiary five years is a
00:38:36
long time to spend in prison and he met
00:38:38
other people that had robbed banks and
00:38:41
from past experience of cases I've
00:38:43
worked they exchanged thoughts I did way
00:38:47
too perfect robbing a bank better the
00:38:50
next time he actually learned how to
00:38:52
commit bank robberies and in a better
00:38:54
way than he had previously there was a
00:38:56
couple of
00:38:57
I can show you in New Mexico shortly
00:38:59
after his release
00:39:00
Craig met 24-year old Nova Gus yeah they
00:39:05
did have dinner and they hit it off
00:39:08
sparks were flying they were very
00:39:11
mutually attracted to each other I'll
00:39:13
take you out I think I could stay a
00:39:15
couple of more days and within a week or
00:39:18
so Craig had moved in with Nova Nova
00:39:23
Guthrie comes from a very small town and
00:39:25
she was raised in a very strict
00:39:27
conservative very spiritual family
00:39:30
setting and I think she's not had much
00:39:32
excitement in her life until she met
00:39:34
Richard
00:39:38
after meeting they they went on a bank
00:39:40
robbery spree and that included the
00:39:42
states of Colorado Arizona New Mexico
00:39:45
Washington Oregon - across the south and
00:39:48
northwest pritchard would enter the bank
00:39:52
wearing a disguise
00:39:53
he was always armed with an assault
00:39:55
weapon he had a police scanner so he
00:39:58
could monitor any of the police in the
00:40:00
area in the getaway car nova alerts
00:40:04
Craig to any dangers via radio after
00:40:09
each robbery they drive to a
00:40:10
pre-designated location to abandon their
00:40:12
car they transfer to a second vehicle
00:40:15
and flee the area they're kind of
00:40:20
natural-born rule breakers they love a
00:40:22
challenge
00:40:23
and what's more thrilling than robbing a
00:40:25
bank in broad daylight and my guess is
00:40:29
that after these robberies you know it's
00:40:32
it's in Tibet it's a thrill it's
00:40:35
exciting they just want to keep the
00:40:36
thrill going in between the robberies
00:40:40
there were sightings of them really
00:40:42
leading a very lavish lifestyle they
00:40:45
liked frequent nice places the ski
00:40:48
resorts ocean resort areas they look
00:40:52
like a very nice normal couple there is
00:40:55
nothing that's going to stand out that
00:40:56
is going to make them different from
00:40:58
others
00:41:02
two years into their crime spree craig
00:41:05
anova risk capture by visiting Nova's
00:41:08
family in phoenix at the time however
00:41:10
Nova was unaware that only Craig was a
00:41:13
wanted fugitive the FBI had no evidence
00:41:16
linking her to the robberies but Nova's
00:41:21
family resented Craig for enticing her
00:41:24
to a life of crime
00:41:25
beer yeah I just want to talk to you
00:41:29
outside for a minute
00:41:32
Novus brother confronted Craig what's
00:41:36
going on you're leaving right now you're
00:41:39
gonna get in your fancy little car he
00:41:40
didn't like what he had done and what he
00:41:43
had gotten over involved with go and he
00:41:48
didn't want her to be any part of Nova's
00:41:49
life
00:41:56
nobody's gone without Craig Nova was
00:42:01
uncertain what to do next
00:42:07
confused and contrite she heeded her
00:42:10
sisters advice to meet confidentially
00:42:12
with police chaplain William fain what
00:42:14
is it you want to tell me
00:42:16
I think deep in her heart she wanted to
00:42:18
be forgiven but didn't know how to go
00:42:19
about it at that point I took my Bible
00:42:23
and I began to share Scripture with her
00:42:25
I said what do you think it is now that
00:42:28
God would have you do Novus said turn
00:42:31
myself in I said let's go
00:42:35
we interviewed Nova Guthrie and she
00:42:38
provided information regarding her
00:42:40
involvement in the bank robberies and
00:42:42
just the manner in which they were
00:42:44
committed we didn't arrest Nova at that
00:42:48
point in time because we had not done
00:42:50
any investigation to corroborate her
00:42:52
story and we had insufficient probable
00:42:55
cause to have the United States
00:42:57
Attorney's Office authorize on an arrest
00:42:59
warrant the FBI hoped that would Nova's
00:43:03
help they could bring Craig to justice
00:43:06
but after her surprising choice to
00:43:08
cooperate
00:43:09
she made an equally astonishing
00:43:11
turnabout she disappeared
00:43:14
back to a life of crime with Craig
00:43:16
Pritchard
00:43:19
when she first went McCreight she didn't
00:43:21
quite realize what a big decision she
00:43:23
had made she had second thoughts about
00:43:26
it step back from the brink and then
00:43:29
realized his boring back here I'm going
00:43:32
back to the brink and that's what she
00:43:34
did I've read publications for Nova and
00:43:38
Craig of Inc all the modern-day Bonnie
00:43:40
and Clyde and tried to romanticize it if
00:43:42
you will I don't buy it personally I
00:43:45
don't think it's romantic if you walk in
00:43:48
and stick a gun in someone's face from
00:43:50
two feet you threaten them just because
00:43:54
they haven't shot anyone and they
00:43:56
haven't used their weapons doesn't mean
00:43:57
that people aren't getting hurt you take
00:43:59
a look at the victims and the victim
00:44:01
tellers specifically it's very traumatic
00:44:03
for them you know I'd like to tie him up
00:44:07
and stick a gun in his face I'd like to
00:44:10
have him feel that same helpless feeling
00:44:15
being terrified for your life thinking
00:44:19
that you're gonna die
00:44:29
[Music]
00:44:37
[Music]
00:44:43
[Music]
00:44:49
join me for more stories that challenged
00:44:52
the mind and the imagination on the next
00:44:54
edition of unsolved mysteries
00:45:02
[Music]
00:45:09
[Music]
00:45:31
[Applause]
00:45:32
[Music]
00:45:33
[Applause]
00:45:35
[Music]
