Darlie Routier: Doting Mother/Deadly Mother

Blonde, hazel-eyed Darlie was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on January 4, 1970, the first-born child of Darlie and Larry Peck. Doted on as a child, her first encounter with the harshness of life occurred at seven years old, when her parents divorced and the domestic security she knew tilted. A year later, her mother remarried a man named Dennis Stahl and, as Darlie entered her teens, the family moved to the vastly different climate of Lubbock, Texas.

Little Darlie and her siblings two natural and two step sisters got on together well and helped each other through the difficult transition of hometowns and schools. The toughest part of their young lives was having to endure their parents' constant squabbling and sometimes violent fighting. Eventually, the Stahl's marriage faded and Darlie's mother was once again in search of a new spouse and her girls were without a father figure.

Darlie, despite her new surroundings, emerged from a shy cocoon into a blossoming, sometimes (according to classmates) over-showy teenager. Boys were attracted to her, including one named Darin Routier. As a teenager, he worked as a busboy in a Western Sizzler restaurant alongside Mama Darlie. The mother found him a bright, talkative good-looking boy with ambitious plans for his future; he would be, she figured, a good catch for her oldest daughter. Playing matchmaker, she introduced the two kids and by all reports it was love at first sight for both of them. The dark-haired tall boy with wavy hair flipped for the five-foot-three, heart-faced Lubbock belle with the big eyes. And she, in turn, for him.

They dated in high school and continued to correspond after Darin, two years older than she, went away to a technical college in Dallas. A preface of things to come occurred at Darin's going-away party. There, according to a friend named, Darlie showed a possessive and cunning nature that lay hidden under her surface sweetness. Darlie was annoyed that she wasn't getting enough attention, so she left the party. Then she came back frantic, claiming that someone had tried to rape her. That ruse gave her just the attention that she craved.

After graduating high school, Darlie joined her boyfriend in Dallas where he had been hired as a technician at a computer chip company. Landing a job with the same firm, the couple lived together while saving their money until, in August of 1988, they married.  The couple honeymooned first-class in Jamaica.

Returning to Texas, the couple at first moved into an apartment in Garland, close to where Darin worked, learning the computer chip industry, a booming field. Within the year, they relocated to a small home in Rowlett. Here, Darin started a company, Testnec, that tested circuit boards for computers and operated it out of their home.