Chainsaw Massacre
Darlene
Saturday 30th June 2007
As soon as my daughter, Darlene finished her last bite of cake, she was making her excuses to leave the restaurant.
'What's the rush?' I protested.
'I've got to get to deaf club,' she signed back.
It was typical of Darlene, 42 — so many social engagements to juggle. My husband, Gene, 65, and I had driven an hour from our home to have dinner out with Darlene, our younger daughter, Sandra, 39, and Sandra's husband, Jeff, 38. Darlene and Sandra had both been born deaf, but it hadn't held either of them back.
Sandra had been married to Jeff for 10 years now, but Darlene was too busy to settle down.
She worked for a shipping company in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and had lots of friends. I was so proud of them both.
'Have fun,' I told her now.
'Thanks. I love you ' she signed.
As she dashed off, I chuckled to myself. Would that girl ever slow down? Probably not.
Then, two weeks later, Gene got a phone call from Darlene's boss.
'She's missed work for the past two days,' Gene told me.
'That's not like her,' I frowned.
We phoned Sandra, but she hadn't seen her sister either.
Panicking, we jumped in the car and headed straight for Darlene's. When we pulled up, Sandra was waiting outside.
'Her car's missing,' she told us.
Had Darlene gone on holiday? Or perhaps sneaked off with a new boyfriend for a few days?
We didn't have a key to her flat, but the building manager let us in. As soon as I stepped inside, I knew something was wrong. Her two cats, Sheba and Millie, were meowing by their empty bowls.
'She wouldn't go without getting someone to feed her cats,' I said.
There was a pile of bills ready to be posted on the kitchen table. Her mobile phone, which she used for texting, was on her chest of drawers.
'She always takes her mobile with her,' Sandra insisted.
We looked at each other in horror.
'I'm going to phone the police,' I said shakily. 'Something's wrong.'
Within an hour, an officer arrived.
'She's probably just with friends. She'll turn up,' he reassured us.
We gave him a list of Darlene's friends to investigate. Hours ticked by with no news.
After a dreadful night's sleep, Gene and I drove back to Darlene's flat first thing the next morning. Sandra was there.
'Read this,' she said, shoving a piece of paper into my hands. It was a printout of some emails someone had written to Darlene. You're a useless fatso, it read. No one likes you. Stay away from Sallie Collins or else.
'Who's Sallie Collins?' I frowned.
'She's a friend from deaf club,' Sandra explained.
For some reason, whoever sent the emails didn't like the fact my daughter was friends with Sallie.
'Darlene was so worried by it, she asked me to print out the emails for her,' Sandra went on.
I remembered a conversation I'd had with the girls a couple of months back. Sandra had gossiped about an argument Darlene had had with some woman. I reminded her of it now.
'Oh yes, that was Daphne Wright,' she explained.
She was from deaf club, too. What had they argued about? Had Daphne sent these emails?
Sandra called the police and they took Darlene's computer away.
The next day, they called again.
'We've found Darlene's car parked outside the local Pizza Hut,' a police officer told us.
'Why would she abandon it?' I gasped, my heart sinking.
I was trying to figure out what could have happened when two of Darlene's friends turned up.
'Hi, I'm Sallie Collins,' one of them introduced herself. 'This is my friend, Daphne.'
Alarmed, I caught Sandra's eye. She gave me a subtle nod. Sallie gave me a hug, then Daphne stepped forward.
'We both hope Darlene's found safe and well,' she smiled.
'Didn't you have an argument with my daughter?' I asked.
Daphne smiled sweetly.
'A little disagreement,' she said. 'But we sorted that out weeks ago.'
Before I could quiz her further, both women left.
Five days after we'd reported Darlene missing, the police told us they'd proved the threatening emails had been sent by Daphne.
'We're going to search her flat,' they revealed.
Three days later, they called Gene and me to the station.
'We've found fragments of tissue in Daphne's flat,' the officer told us. 'It matches your daughter's DNA.'
'No!' I sobbed.
What had happened to her?
When the police started searching the local landfill site, I felt sick. We knew she was never coming home. The following day, we went back to the police station. The police officer shifted awkwardly in his seat.
'I-I don't know how to tell you this…' he stuttered. 'We've found Darlene's legs and feet at the site.'
No words can express how we felt. The pain was indescribable.
'Why, Mum? Why?' Sandra sobbed when we broke the news.
It was a mystery. What could our lovely Darlene have done to have enraged someone so much that they'd kill and dismember her? Police arrested Daphne Wright and charged her with murder. Ten agonising days later, they discovered Darlene's lower torso in the landfill site. They couldn't locate her upper body.
Knowing they might never find it, we decided to hold her funeral. On 23 February 2006, 400 people packed into the First Christian Reformed Church, Sioux Falls, to say goodbye. The police hadn't released Darlene's remains, so an empty casket sat at the front of the church.
A week later, we got her remains back and held a private funeral. To bury her twice was double the pain. So imagine how terrible it was burying her three times.
A month later, the police called.
'Darlene's upper body has been found in a ditch,' they said.
I was relieved her body was whole again, but having to exhume the coffin almost killed me.
What kept us going was our desperate need for answers. We didn't have to wait long.
'Daphne Wright and Sallie Collins were a couple,' our lawyer told us. 'We think Daphne believed Darlene was trying to split them up.'
'Rubbish!' I gasped. 'Darlene wasn't a lesbian.'
In April 2007, at Minnehaha County Courthouse, Daphne pleaded not guilty to kidnap
and murder. The court heard Sallie had told her she was just friends with Darlene, but she hadn't believed her. They'd argued and Sallie had called the police.
'You'll regret this,' Daphne had vowed before storming out.
A few days later, Daphne was spotted meeting Darlene in the car park of Pizza Hut. It was the last time our girl was seen alive. Several days later, Daphne's housemate saw her remove carpet from her basement. Police later found fragments of Darlene's tissue on it.
Then came the horrific details. We left the courtroom as a forensic pathologist showed the court images of Darlene's injuries. Her skull had been fractured with a blunt object and a plastic bag wrapped round her head. Then he told the court a chainsaw had been used to chop her up. A chainsaw? For the love of God…
In a bid to destroy Darlene's remains, Daphne had set them alight, then dumped them. It sounds like the most stomach-churning horror film, doesn't it? I felt nothing but relief when Daphne was found guilty and sentenced to life. But it won't bring Darlene back.
To think she was murdered because of a jealous woman's misunderstanding makes me sick. Nearly three months on, we miss Darlene more than ever. The hole she's left in our lives will never be filled. And I'll never get over the fact she was killed for something she hadn't done.
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