For bloody murder committed with absolutely no remorse, few cases in American history hold a candle to the killings of Devon (6) and Damon (5) Routier, on June 6, 1996. These brutal murders took place in Rowlett, Texas (near Dallas), right in the heart of gun country. The murder weapon, though, was a kitchen knife. Money was the motive, but not at all in the way you might think.

Darlie Routier, the boys' mother, did make a frantic 911 call at 2:30 A.M., hysterically describing the crime scene. But, almost from the beginning, things just didn't add up.

When the police arrived, the boys were dead, and Darlie had a superficial neck wound. Even as she was brought to the hospital, it was noted by the nurses that she wasn't reacting at all like a woman who had just lost two of her sons.

It was to come out later that Routier staged the entire crime scene, and gave herself the neck wound. Only her fingerprints were found on the murder weapon, and all kinds of jewelry was left around, undisturbed by Routier's fantasy intruder. Moreover, what in God's name would be the motive for any intruder to simply break in to kill two little boys, leaving the only witness very much alive?

The conclusion was inescapable, to all but her husband and certain other relatives: Darlie Routier stabbed her two sons to death.

Forensic evidence would further show that Damon was still barely alive after his brutal attack, so dear Mommy came back, to finish the job. "That's the most horrible part of this case, said prosecutor Greg Davis. "He opened his eyes and he saw who was murdering him. He saw her. He saw his mother."

In addition, acoustic studies of the 911 tape indicated that Routier was moving from room to room with her portable phone during the call, sanitizing incriminating aspects of the crime scene.

The killings were pre-meditated. She arranged for the boys to fall asleep in front of the television downstairs with her, while dear hubby Darin was upstairs, and out of the way with the baby. How he could have possibly slept through the mayhem was never revealed. I believe that he was far more complicit than was ever emphasized, but the prosecution must have reckoned that getting the jury to accept that a mother could perform these acts was going to be difficult enough. Adding the angle of a complicit husband might have made it too painful for the jury to bear.

Routier received the death penalty, and is sentenced to die by lethal injection.

So, what was the motive?

The prosecution contended that Darlie committed the killings because "she was no longer the glamorous, blonde center of attraction." The court was told that Routier and her husband had created the apparently ideal lifestyle. They had a Jaguar and a power boat, but no savings or pension plan, and they had been refused a loan of $5,000 the day before the murders.

The $10,000 in burial insurance on the two boys would be enough to get the Routiers partially out of the hole. Darlie revealed this much to her maid, Halina Czaban.

The jury was informed that Darin's circuit board testing business could not sustain the lavish lifestyle, and the couple owed $20,000 in credit card and tax debts. When the third son, Drake, was born, Routier became obsessed with the idea that she was losing her looks. She had breast implants and began taking slimming pills. "The real Darlie Routier is a self-centered woman, a materialistic woman and a woman cold enough to murder her own sons," said Davis.

Other stories began to surface. The boys were let to run loose on their busy street; Darlie gave drugs to her 16-year-old babysitter; and she was know around town as being rude, tacky, and absolutely self- possessed.

Life goes on after the verdict, but we wonder what will happen the day little Drake figures it all out.