In June 1996, Darlie Routier murdered her two young sons as her husband and baby slept upstairs. Darlie staged the crime scene but didn't make a very good job of it, and the finger of suspicion was soon pointed at her in spite of her self-inflicted injuries.
Although the prosecution overplayed its hand, in particular with the incident of the silly string, there can be no doubt whatsoever about Darlie's guilt. People often behave in bizarre ways following trauma, a particularly striking and sad example of this is Michael Payne, whose slow motion suicide after the murder of his eight year old daughter was played out over a fourteen year period.
Werner Herzog is a long time opponent of the death penalty, and here he speaks to Darlie - whom he clearly doesn't believe, her new lawyer, and her prosecutors among others. What does this achieve? Not a lot, and eight years on, not only has Darlie still not been executed but the world is still being promised new exculpatory evidence which somehow never seems to materialise.
Although the prosecution overplayed its hand, in particular with the incident of the silly string, there can be no doubt whatsoever about Darlie's guilt. People often behave in bizarre ways following trauma, a particularly striking and sad example of this is Michael Payne, whose slow motion suicide after the murder of his eight year old daughter was played out over a fourteen year period.
Werner Herzog is a long time opponent of the death penalty, and here he speaks to Darlie - whom he clearly doesn't believe, her new lawyer, and her prosecutors among others. What does this achieve? Not a lot, and eight years on, not only has Darlie still not been executed but the world is still being promised new exculpatory evidence which somehow never seems to materialise.
