Annie Elise

It didn't add up.

Then, of course, there was also the nail in the coffin.

I mean, the video.

The footage of Darlene at the pond, returning to the scene of her own cover-up, looking right where the murder weapon had just been found.

I mean, hello, try explaining away that one.

So just after five hours of deliberation, the jury came back with a verdict.

guilty.

Darlene was sentenced to 60 years in prison.

And despite her legal team's big talk about how confident they were, Darlene didn't seem shocked at all.

She just sat there calm, almost detached.

She quietly just took off her earrings, she placed them on the table, and she let the deputies take her into custody.

I don't know, maybe she knew it was coming, maybe deep down she knew that she would never get away with what she had done.

But even still, Darlene has maintained her innocence over the years.

And then, a full decade later, in 2017, her lawyers filed an appeal arguing that her first trial had been unfair.

They claimed the court had made multiple errors, which let me just read them for you.

Denying her motion to suppress...

mishandling the findings of fact, refusing a change of venue due to pretrial publicity, blocking medical records that could show third-party motive, and lastly, not polling the jury about a newspaper article that had ran during sentencing.

The appellate court reviewed every single claim and rejected them all, so her conviction stood.

And with that, Darlene will not be eligible for parole until 2037.

So after the trial, Keith's parents were awarded full custody of the couple's three sons.