To his comrades in the Black Watch, Sgt Michael Ross was nothing other than a hero. When his armoured vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2004, he put himself in danger to administer first aid before organising the evacuation of his wounded men. When a black soldier under his command died, he wept openly.
Yesterday, a different and horrifying side to the 29-year-old decorated soldier was revealed in Glasgow’s High Court when a jury convicted him of murdering a Bangladeshi waiter by shooting him in the head in front of diners at a restaurant in the Orkneys, in 1994. Ross, who had hidden his face behind a balaclava or ski mask, was aged just 15.
Moments after the verdict was delivered, Ross tried to escape from the court, managing to run through a side door before he was wrestled to the ground by an official and handcuffed by police. The Independent online article 21st June 2008
ROSS, MICHAEL: Making a Monster TV -
Michael Ross was one of the most brutally sadistic serial killers the world has ever seen. But to most his name remains virtually unknown. Yet what makes Michael Ross unique amongst serial killers is how he turned himself in and was prepared to discuss his crimes in unparalleled detail, offering an insight into the mind of a serial killer. Making a Monster s1e8: Making a Monster, CI 2020
‘I just felt like I was on the edge.’ ibid. Ross to rozzers
Parental Neglect … Killing Animals … Construction of a Fantasy World … Fantasy Turned into Reality … Stalking … Hunting Ground … Signature … ibid.
Michael Ross was executed by lethal injection on the 13th of May 2005. He had waived his final right to appeal, insisting he wanted to die for his crimes. ibid.
ROSSUM, KRISTIN: Crime Stories TV - Huffington Post online -
Investigators exposed a deadly cover up. Crime Stories: Pretty Poison
The caller is twenty-four-year-old Kristin Rossum. She tells the dispatchers that Greg [deVillers] may have taken drugs to kill himself. ibid.
Toxicologists find something even deadlier in his bloodstream – a painkiller called Fentanyl. ibid.
And who was in charge of the drug inventory log-book? None other than Kristin Rossum herself. ibid.
Once Kristin Rossum’s federal appeal was rejected by the US Supreme Court last year, I figured that the attractive toxicologist had finally run out of options.
Since 2002, Rossum has been serving a life sentence without parole at Chowchilla state prison after being convicted of poisoning her husband with Fentanyl, a powerful and fast-acting narcotic painkiller 100 times stronger than morphine, then staging a suicide scene by sprinkling red rose petals over his body here in San Diego.
But I was wrong. The case is heating up again. I was woken up this week by a national morning show producer, asking if a crew could come to my house in a couple of hours to interview me – the author of the authoritative book on the case, Poisoned Love – about the latest developments, which I promptly researched.
Turns out that Rossum has yet another new attorney, who submitted a motion in June. It is essentially based on the same issue and arguments as Rossum’s previous state and federal ‘ineffective counsel’ appeals, which seemed to have run their course – only this time, Rossum is citing a state law that allows new discovery or reconstruction of a death penalty or LWOP case file. The motion was denied without prejudice this week, which means the door is still open. Huffington Post online article 19th November 2012
ROTH, RANDY: True Crime Recaps 2023 -
His first marriage ends in divorce, his second wife tumbles off a cliff and falls to her death, his third wife leaves him after a dangerous rafting trip – she could have sworn he tried to kill her and his fourth wife drowns in a lake. Is Randy Roth the unluckiest groom in the world or the deadliest? True Crime Recaps: The Dark Tale of Randy Roth, Youtube 18.52, 2023
They uncovered numerous lies in insurance scams dating back to the late ’70s. ibid.
ROUTIER, DARLIE: Mother on Death Row TV - 911 Call - Crime Stories: The Wrong Man TV - Werner Herzog on Death Row TV - Death Row Women with Susanna Reid TV - True Crime Recaps 2022 -
The couple built it from scratch, a business and a life with their three sons. Then one summer night it was taken away. Was there an intruder? The police didn’t believe the tearful mother. Mother on Death Row, 2001
2.30 in the morning on June 6th 1996 ... The evidence did not seem to match Darlie’s account. ibid.
A striking difference between Darlie’s wounds and those of her sons. ibid.
Defence attorneys accused the authorities of sloppy work in the collection of evidence. ibid.
The jurors announced she was guilty. ibid.
February 4th 1997: Darlie Routier was sentenced to death. Darlie Routier is now on death row. ibid.
There were evidence photos the jurors did not see. ibid.
Investigators found one bloody partial fingerprint on the Routier’s coffee table. ibid.
The trial transcripts were found to be full of errors – 33,000 errors. ibid.
Darlie: Some man came in and stabbed my babies, stabbed me. Darlie Routier’s 911 call
Two young boys brutally murdered. A mother searches for the truth while on death row. But can a new investigation uncover the truth? June 6th 1996, 2.30 a.m. Crime Stories: The Wrong Man
A gash across her throat. ibid.
Sentenced to death by lethal injection. For over ten years Routier has maintained her innocence. Claiming she and her children had been attacked during a botched robbery. ibid.
‘We have serious doubts whether Darlie Routier is the right person.’ ibid. rozzer
New DNA evidence that points to a male perpetrator. ibid.
In an alley almost a football field’s distance from the house lay one of her husband’s socks, splattered with spots of blood. ibid.
Kill her own children and slash her own throat? ibid.
Why isn’t she finished off? ibid.
‘He [Husband] failed on a number of questions.’ ibid. rozzer to mother
This is Darlie Routier, sentenced to death for the murder of her two children. Werner Herzog on Death Row, Discovery 2014
From the moment of her arrest she has proclaimed her innocence. ibid.
In Texas a housewife has been found guilty of murdering her five-year-old son and could now get the death penalty. Death Row’s Women with Susanna Reid: Darley Routier, news report, ITV 2020
If ever there was a crime that warranted the death penalty in America this was it: two young boys murdered, their mother convicted and sentenced to death. But the case against Darlie Routier is far from simple. ibid.
‘If they choose to kill me, my innocent blood will be on their hands.’ ibid. Routier
When the police arrived the house was covered in blood. ibid.
In the 23 years that Darlie has sat on Death Row, 15 women have been executed in America. ibid.
‘Darlie should not be where she is today when she is yet to have a fair trial.’ ibid. Stephen Cooper, present pro bono brief
Darlie Routier is sitting on death row for the 1996 murder of two of her sons. True Crime Recaps: Killer Moms, Youtube 44.29, 2022
Starting with the hysterical 911 call Darlie Routier made at 2.31 in the morning on June 6th 1996. ibid.
Her slashed throat: two millimetres deeper and doctors say her carotid artery would have been cut and she would have bled to death. ibid.
One of Darren’s socks was found in a back alley about the length of a football field away from the house. It had two drops of blood on it, one from each of the boys. ibid.
Prosecutors jumped on the couple’s financial issues. ibid.
The jury saw her literally dancing and laughing on her sons’ grave. ibid.
Why couldn’t she seem to land on one believable story? ibid.