TX - Five Yates children drowned, Houston, 20 June 2001 *Insanity*

[Sally]

If convicted of capital murder, Yates will be sentenced to life in prison because prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty. After the first jury rejected death, prosecutors could not seek it again because they did not find any new evidence

What a shame.

 

[jilly]

I watched Catherine Crier today. Apparently Andrea broke down crying when the played the 14 min video of the crime scene.

She held it together until they showed Noah floating in the bath tub. (This is tooo horrible!).

Noah was in a state of accelerated rigor which means he fought very hard to the end. His arms were up behind his head and his fists were clenched.

Andrea sobbed uncontrollably and they had to take an adjournment.

Rusty on the otherhand apologized to the cops yesterday - the ones who attended the crime scene - saying he is sorry that they had to see what they did and that it will be with them for the rest of their lives.

 

[kk's mom]

I wonder if Russel Yates has this same problem. I doubt it, he seems to be carefree and happy as a lark. I wonder if his new wife loses any sleep over what he did to Andrea Yates.

Well, I don't think she loses any sleep, otherwise she wouldn't have married him, right? I don't understand what the new wife has to do with Andrea Yates retrial? I'd like to come to this forum to read up on what's happening with this case. I just hope it doesn't turn in to harsh comments about the new wife.

Not a big fan of Rusty Yates, and I'm certainly not a big fan of Andrea Yates, not after what she did to those babies, sick or not sick. Yes, she should have had proper supervision and should have been on the proper medication. But when it all comes down to one thing, Andrea Yates killed her children. The fact that she chased the oldes around the house and fought him tooth and nail to drown him just sickens my stomach.

 

[txsvicki]

If that man has any respect at all, he will leave her at home.

Maybe she will stay home and clean house. I remember that comment that Rusty made to LE complaining about the house being dirty and that she "finally did it" after learning of his children's deaths. Mentally ill psychotic women do not need 5 kids and to be off their medication and homeschooling. Rusty was not a responsible husband and it sounds like he is still not if he is running around in a corvette while Andrea rots in jail.

 

[Bobbisangel]

I have watched the videos over and over of Andrea and the kids in their home. Those little kids were so happy and Andrea was always smiling and you can see the love between all of them. This is not a mother who decided to drown her children because she was tired of being a mom or for any other reason. Those videos speak loud and clear.

I just feel so bad for Andrea. She has nothing and nobody now. During the times that her medication is working it must just be hell for her because that is when reality must hit her. I can hardly stand to look at Rusty Yates. He lived with Andrea and the kids. He knew how sick Andrea was. Who in the heck yanked her off of her medication just before she murdered the kids...some dimwitted doctor?

Rusty makes darn good money. I would imagine they had good health benefits too. There is no reason on this earth that Andrea had to be left with the children for an hour inbetween the time he left for work and his mom or her mom came to help out. He could have hired someone to come in for two hours each morning. He KNEW she wasn't to be alone with the kids. I wonder if he feels any guilt for what happened. I think he is probably to busy trying to look like the good guy. He was supposed to be the sane one in the family. I blame him more then I blame Andrea. He should have seen to it that she got the help she needed. If he had this wouldn't have happened.

There were no winners in this case except for Rusty. Those adorable little boys with the infectious smiles are gone and Andrea will be locked up for the rest of her life. It is so sad and shouldn't have happened.

I'm sure he will try to populate the earth with his new wife. They might have time to pop a couple out anyway.

 

[tezi]

I too feel very sorry for AY. She doesn't deserve to be in jail, she needs to be in a mental facility where her needs can be attended to. RY should be in jail, he knew she was sick but yet failed at helping her. Now, he's remarried and running around in a Corvette. I hope the new Mrs. Yates doesn't decide to have children with Rusty.

I also feel that last doctor who was treating AY should have been brought up on charges. He is just as responsible for those children's deaths as AY and RY are. I bet he never lost a night of sleep either though.

 

[Adalena935]

Well, I don't think she loses any sleep, otherwise she wouldn't have married him, right? I don't understand what the new wife has to do with Andrea Yates retrial? I'd like to come to this forum to read up on what's happening with this case. I just hope it doesn't turn in to harsh comments about the new wife.

Not a big fan of Rusty Yates, and I'm certainly not a big fan of Andrea Yates, not after what she did to those babies, sick or not sick. Yes, she should have had proper supervision and should have been on the proper medication. But when it all comes down to one thing, Andrea Yates killed her children. The fact that she chased the oldes around the house and fought him tooth and nail to drown him just sickens my stomach.

Thank you for remembering the children. One thing that could be learned from this is to have a campaign teaching woman if they have a thought about harming children, hit 911 first.

 

[Adalena935]

I watched Catherine Crier today. Apparently Andrea broke down crying when the played the 14 min video of the crime scene.

She held it together until they showed Noah floating in the bath tub. (This is tooo horrible!).

Noah was in a state of accelerated rigor which means he fought very hard to the end. His arms were up behind his head and his fists were clenched.

Andrea sobbed uncontrollably and they had to take an adjournment.

Rusty on the otherhand apologized to the cops yesterday - the ones who attended the crime scene - saying he is sorry that they had to see what they did and that it will be with them for the rest of their lives.

Still not as bad as being Noah.

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

I have watched the videos over and over of Andrea and the kids in their home. Those little kids were so happy and Andrea was always smiling and you can see the love between all of them. This is not a mother who decided to drown her children because she was tired of being a mom or for any other reason. Those videos speak loud and clear.

I just feel so bad for Andrea. She has nothing and nobody now. During the times that her medication is working it must just be hell for her because that is when reality must hit her. I can hardly stand to look at Rusty Yates. He lived with Andrea and the kids. He knew how sick Andrea was. Who in the heck yanked her off of her medication just before she murdered the kids...some dimwitted doctor?

Rusty makes darn good money. I would imagine they had good health benefits too. There is no reason on this earth that Andrea had to be left with the children for an hour inbetween the time he left for work and his mom or her mom came to help out. He could have hired someone

to come in for two hours each morning. He KNEW she wasn't to be alone with the kids. I wonder if he feels any guilt for what happened. I think he is probably to busy trying to look like the good guy. He was supposed to be the sane one in the family. I blame him more then I blame Andrea. He should have seen to it that she got the help she needed. If he had this wouldn't have happened.

There were no winners in this case except for Rusty. Those adorable little boys with the infectious smiles are gone and Andrea will be locked up for the rest of her life. It is so sad and shouldn't have happened.

I'm sure he will try to populate the earth with his new wife. They might have time to pop a couple out anyway.

No, he doesn't feel any guilt or culpability. He pretty much said so himself on Catherine Crier. He seemed really miffed that people have had the audacity to blame him/question his decisions. He's blaming the doc who took her off the anti-psychotic meds, so I bet he's suing for malpractice (or is getting ready to). He's a Real Piece Of Work.

 

[dark_shadows]

news link

Dr. Melissa Ferguson testified Thursday that she evaluated Yates the day after the children — 6-month-old Mary, 2-year-old Luke, 3-year-old Paul, 5-year-old John and 7-year-old Noah — were drowned in their home in June 2001. Ferguson, then the medical director of psychiatric services at the Harris County Jail, said Yates at first showed no emotion but then started crying and yelling.

"She screamed, 'Couldn't I have killed just one to fulfill the prophecy? Couldn't I have offered Mary? Are they in heaven?'" Ferguson said.

Ferguson testified that Yates said her children were not righteous and had stumbled because she was evil, and they could never be saved because of how she was raising them. Yates then paraphrased Luke 17:2, saying, "It is better for someone to tie a millstone around their neck and cast them into a river than to stumble," Ferguson told jury.

She added that Yates did not believe she was mentally ill.

On Thursday, a former case worker testified that the day after the drownings, Yates asked for a razor to shave her head. She said "666" — the "Number of the Beast" in the Book of Revelation — was on her scalp, Corey Washington testified.

Washington said he stood to look at the back of Yates' head and noticed three marks that he was told were scabs where she had picked at her scalp.

"I kind of buckled a little bit," Washington said.

news link
Yates heard messages from cartoon charactors,psychiatrists say;
HOUSTON (AP) — Andrea Yates believed that cartoon characters told her she was a bad mother who fed her children too much candy, a jail psychiatrist testified Thursday.
Dr. Melissa Ferguson, who talked to Yates the day after her arrest in the bathtub drownings of her five children, said the defendant suffered from a major depressive disorder and was psychotic, picking at her lip until it bled.






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My heart hurts for the children.

 

[TexMex]

July 8 Houston Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/drownings/4032430.html

She recalled that Yates was on "suicide watch" while at Devereux and rarely spoke, even when asked specific questions.

"Mrs. Yates was afraid to eat. She clenched her teeth so hard that her jaws would pop. She had a look of terror in her eyes as the fork or spoon came toward her," Steinocher said.

Another former Devereux employee testifying for the first time Friday — licensed clinical social worker Barbara Roberts — said she concluded Yates could not care for her children by herself.

"I didn't believe she was able to function and take care of all those needs on her own. She needed some kind of help," Roberts told the jury.

Roberts described Yates as "the sickest person I've ever seen in a mental hospital," but said the severely depressed woman would not discuss her thoughts.

"She did say, 'My mind is so full of things.' She also said she had to go home to be a mother to her children," said Roberts, who met with Yates on two occasions.

 

[Texana]

No, he doesn't feel any guilt or culpability. He pretty much said so himself on Catherine Crier. He seemed really miffed that people have had the audacity to blame him/question his decisions. He's blaming the doc who took her off the anti-psychotic meds, so I bet he's suing for malpractice (or is getting ready to). He's a Real Piece Of Work.

That is the part that sticks in my craw to the point of acid heartburn. He was the only one who had the power--and the mental ability--to make decisions that would have changed the outcome of this horrible tragedy.

The doctors and nurses couldn't. They could only make recommendations and diagnose, prescribe, etc., but in the end, when Rusty chose to go against them time and again, they did not have the power. Such as when Rusty insisted Andrea hold Mary during her last hospitalization--when she would not even move her arms or look at Mary--"time" to hold Mary he insisted--and the nurses were saying no, and were afraid Andrea would literally drop Mary--Rusty insisted.

Andrea couldn't. She was hallucinating. She heard voices coming from the cartoons. She was incapable of even attending to her own basic hygiene. That is not a person capable of making any kind of logical decision because her mind is so disordered, a does not follow b, a follows z and then m because Satan is rearranging the alphabet, or so she "thinks." If you can call that thinking.

Rusty regarded Andrea's condition as something easily corrected with just a few pills or two. Nothing that would actually stop him from his "baseball team dream" of a family.


And Andrea allowed herself to be convinced by him as well. She bears responsibility for her choices, but in the end, when she was too sick to make any choices, Rusty alone had the ability and power to change the outcome.

I hope I never run into Russell Yates. I'm not sure I could control my reaction.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

'I thought they would go to heaven'
Weeping, Yates explains on video why she drowned kids

HOUSTON, Texas (AP) -- A videotaped jail interview played for jurors Monday showed Andrea Yates weeping after she told a psychiatrist why she drowned her five children in a bathtub.

"In their innocence, I thought they would go to heaven," Yates told Dr. Lucy Puryear about five weeks after the June 20, 2001, drownings. "I just -- since they were so young," she stammered before trailing off and starting to cry.

Puryear, an expert on reproductive-related psychiatric disorders, was called by the defense at Yates' murder trial.

more at:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/07/10/yates.trial.ap/index.html

 

[Jeana (DP)]

Yates drug has possible link to homicidal ideas
Wyeth issued no public warning on Effexor and denies causal effect



12:00 AM CDT on Monday, July 10, 2006
By ANGELA K. BROWN Associated Press


HOUSTON – An antidepressant that Andrea Yates was taking before she drowned her five children in 2001 has recently been found to possibly increase the risk of homicidal thoughts, but Effexor's manufacturer hasn't warned the public, an Austin doctor says.

"Homicidal ideation" was added last year on Effexor XR's label and on the maker's 's Web site as one of the drug's rare adverse events.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration defines rare as occurring in less than one in 1,000 people. In the U.S. alone, about 19.2 million prescriptions for Effexor were filled last year, but that doesn't reflect the number taking the drug because some of those are refills.


more at:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...tesdrug_10tex.ART.State.Edition1.24b091e.html

 

[Adalena935]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/special/drownings/1266294

Transcript of Andrea Yates' confession
Associated Press



MEHL: "..Did you want the criminal justice system to punish you ..

YATES: Yes. ..."

 

[Jeana (DP)]

HOUSTON, Texas (AP) -- Feeling overwhelmed raising four young sons in crowded living conditions in 1999, Andrea Yates thought about hurting them but instead tried to kill herself twice, she told a psychiatrist.

On a hot summer day about two years later when her family had grown to five children -- 7-year-old Noah, 5-year-old John, 3-year-old Paul, 2-year-old Luke and 6-month-old Mary -- she worried she was a bad mother and they weren't progressing properly.

She said she considered suicide.

"That thought did cross my mind," she told the psychiatrist.

Instead, prosecutors said, she held her five children under water in the family's bathtub until their bodies were lifeless.

Jurors in her murder trial Monday watched her 32-minute videotaped interview with Dr. Lucy Puryear, who talked to her in July 2001, five weeks after the drownings.


more at:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/07/11/yates.trial.ap/index.html

 

[fundiva]

What I don't get is if she was so religious why was she listening to Satan in the first place? If Satan was telling her to do something, why would she think that would send her boys to heaven? Satan wouldn't have any interest in their whether they went to heaven or not?

 

[Jeana (DP)]

What I don't get is if she was so religious why was she listening to Satan in the first place? If Satan was telling her to do something, why would she think that would send her boys to heaven? Satan wouldn't have any interest in their whether they went to heaven or not?

Here's what I found about Satan:

Because Yates was medicated that day, Puryear said, Yates could not remember that she told a jail psychiatrist the day after the murders that Satan was living inside her, so she had to be punished in order for Satan to be executed and for her children to go to heaven.

I'm not sure this is the same thing as "listening to Satan." I think in her mind if Satan (living inside her) died (and her along with him), her boys would be safe.

 

[fundiva]

Here's what I found about Satan:

Because Yates was medicated that day, Puryear said, Yates could not remember that she told a jail psychiatrist the day after the murders that Satan was living inside her, so she had to be punished in order for Satan to be executed and for her children to go to heaven.

I'm not sure this is the same thing as "listening to Satan." I think in her mind if Satan (living inside her) died (and her along with him), her boys would be safe.

But in her interview she said she killed them and she thought that they would go to heaven. Then the person asked her if it was God who told her that and she said "no, it was Satan" that told her to kill them. This just doesn't compute to me why she would do what Satan wanted her to as opposed to doing what God would want her to.

 

[Sally]

HOUSTON, Texas (AP) -- Feeling overwhelmed raising four young sons in crowded living conditions in 1999, Andrea Yates thought about hurting them but instead tried to kill herself twice, she told a psychiatrist.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/07/11/yates.trial.ap/index.html

Isn't it interesting that she was unsuccessful at two suicide attempts yet was able to kill five children. Obviously her desire for self preservation was much stronger than the need to destroy herself and hence save her children from a bad mother/residence of satan.