| Andrea Yates | ||
November 9, 2005:Texas' highest criminal court today let stand a lower court ruling that threw out Andrea Yates' murder convictions for drowning her children in a bathtub in June 2001. Harris County Assistant District Attorney Alan Curry says the case will be retried or a plea bargain considered. The First Court of Appeals in Houston overturned Yates' 2002 convictions because of false testimony from a forensic psychiatrist. April 11, 2002: In a continuous quest to divert blame, Andrea Yates' family asked prosecutors to file charges against a doctor who altered her medication two days before she drowned her five children last summer. Yates' mother and two brothers said in a letter to prosecutors that Dr. Mohammad Saeed's failure to warn authorities that Yates was a threat to the children made him accountable for their June 20 deaths. Saeed referred questions to his attorney. During the trial, Saeed testified that when he saw Yates in June, she showed no evidence of psychosis. March 25, 2002: Texas prosecutors are considering whether to file child endangerment charges against Rusty Yates, husband of infanticidal mom Andrea Yates. Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said he assigned a prosecutor to the case after receiving numerous calls and e-mails suggesting that Daddy Dearest shared culpability for the crime. Andrea's mother and her siblings suggested that Rusty was selfish and controlling and drove his wife crazy. Andrea's brother, Brian Kennedy, said Rusty was "unemotional and inattentive," and claimed he and others had repeatedly begged Rusty to get help for Andrea. In post-trial interviews, Brian supported the idea of possible charges leveled against his brother in law. A doctor testified during the trial that Rusty was warned that if his wife became pregnant with a fifth child she could again sink into a dangerously severe postpartum depression. Yates, a 37-year-old NASA engineer, blamed his wife's lethal rage on incompetent doctors and health insurance limitations. Comning out on the offensive, he added he may sue her doctors for taking her off anti-psychotic medication and not hospitalizing her in the days before she killed their kids. March 22, 2002; Acording to Suzanne O'Malley, an investigative journalist who writes for the series "Law & Order," Andrea Yates owes her life to the NBC hit series. During the Yates trial, forensic psychiatrist and "Law & Order" consultant, Park Dietz testified that Yates was perfectly sane when she drowned her kids. Dietz based his argument on the fact that the Sam Waterston-starrer was Yates' favorite program and that she planned her children's murders after watching an episode in which a mother drowns her kids, claims post-partum depression, and is acquitted. Dietz theorized that Yates used the show as a "blueprint" to escape her rotten life and marriage. Though an interesting theory, O'Malley told Yates' lawyer that no such episode had ever been written. The night before sentencing, Parnham had Dietz admit to false testimony, raising grounds for a mistrial and forcing prosecutors to give up the death penalty. After sentencing Parnham told O'Malley that she had saved Yates' life. March 16, 2002: Infanticidal mom, Andrea Yates, was spared the death penalty and sentenced to life in prison for drowning her five children. The jury of eight women and four men delivered for only 35 minutes before handing out the sentence. After the jury returned its punishment, Russell Yates reiterated his support for his wife, who had pleaded innocent by reason of insanity. "I believe in Andrea," he said. "She's the victim here not only of the medical community but also the justice system." Andrea Yates turned to her attorneys and smiled as she realized her life had been spared. Yates must serve at least 40 years behind bars before she becomes eligible for parole. "Every case involving the death of a child is horrific," Assistant District Attorney Kaylynn Williford said. "Magnify that times five with what these children went through. Everyone is trying to make this a woman's issue or a political issue, but the issue to me is five dead children. None of those children chose to die, they fought for their lives and they need to be remembered appropriately. Someone can be mentally ill and know right from wrong." Defense attorneys in their closing arguments urged the jury to choose a life sentence over death. But prosecutors said Yates' life shouldn't be more important than the lives of her five children. "This crime is the crime of ultimate betrayal: the ultimate betrayal of a mother to her children," Williford said. "Those children never had a chance." Defense attorney Wendell Odom said that Yates killed her children out of love, which "mitigates against the death penalty." March 15, 2002 - In an attempt to conjure sympathy for their client Andrea Yates' lawyers released a letter in which she expressed her love for her children: "Noah, he was my first born. He was so inquisitive and his favorite thing to do was hatching monarch butterflies. John, with his cute grin, he loved to do crafts and was very enthusiastic. Precious Paul, nurturing and loving, he sought to please us and be special friends to his brothers. Beautiful Luke, trying to keep up with his brothers, he also was nurturing, especially to his baby sister. Beautiful Mary, such a loving baby with the big blue eyes. I thank God I was blessed with such a precious family." Rusty, surprisingly, stated he was not angry with her for annihilating his progeny. "I'll always support Andrea. I believe in Andrea. She is the kindest, sweetest, gentlest person I've ever met." Incredulously, he wondered why she never mentioned she was considering killing her children. If he'd known that, he said, the couple would have stopped having kids. After Andrea Yates' two suicide attempts in 1999, a doctor told the couple she would again suffer from postpartum depression if she had another child. But Russell Yates said the couple loved children, wanted more and thought they could "nip it in the bud" by getting the same treatment if Andrea started feeling depressed again. Some have criticized Russell Yates for not helping his wife, who home-schooled the children and had little time to herself. The prosecutor even suggested that Andrea killed the kids to punish Rusty for not helping qith the house and the kids. Rusty, as he surfed the press, said the tragedy occurred because no one recognized the severity of her mental illness. He also said he doesn't know whether he will remain married to Andrea or how often he will visit her in prison. He said he misses the companionship of a wife and may like to have more children. Yates also has thought about changing careers, doing something to help people. He said his job maintaining the NASA web site doesn't seem as significant anymore. "Tonight I'll pray for the kids, talk to the kids a little bit. I'll say hello and ask them to pray for Andrea," he said. "They loved their mommy. I know they don't hold this against her. They know she was sick, and they know she loved them." March 12, 2002 - After 3 1/2 hour deliberation, a jury of eight women and four men found 37-year-old Andrea Yates guilty of murder. The infanticidal mom showed little reaction as she stood between her attorneys during the verdict. Her husband, Rusty, muttered "oh God" and clasped his head with both hands. The charges cover the deaths of three of her children. Deliberations began at midday after prosecutors told the jury that even though Yates is mentally ill, she knew drowning her children was wrong and is thus guilty of murder. "That's the key," prosecutor Kaylynn Williford said. "Andrea Yates knew right from wrong, and she made a choice on June 20 to kill her children deliberately and with deception." The defense argued that Yates suffered from postpartum depression with severe psychosis and thought killing the youngsters would save them from eternal damnation. "If drowning five children by a loving mother isn't a gross psychosis, there isn't any such thing as gross psychosis," defense lawyer Wendell Odom said in his closing arguments. "We can't permit objective logic to be imposed on the actions of Andrea Yates," defense attorney George Parnham added. "She was so psychotic on June 20 that she absolutely believed what she was doing was the right thing to do." Deborah Bell, president of the Texas chapter of National Organization for Women, said she was shocked at the verdict. She held a candlelight vigil night outside the courthouse, where about a dozen people attended, including some of Yates' relatives. "The devil was in her, and that devil's name is schizophrenia," said Bell, who founded the Andrea Pia Yates Support Coalition. "I think a lot of good will come out of this case. Unfortunately, it's too late to save Andrea." March 6, 2002 - A jail psychiatrist testifying in Andrea Yates' capital murder trial, said that the infanticidal mom was delusional when she was jailed after drowning her children. Dr. Debra Osterman said she first saw a glimmer of life in Yates' eyes on July 20, exactly a month after the killings. According to the psychiatrist, her psychosis had completely lifted by August 3. "It took longer than has been typical of other psychotic patients I've treated," Osterman testified. "It was like coming out of a fog." March 5, 2002 - A psychiatrist testifying for the defense said that a Andrea Yates believed she had no choice but to drown her five children to save them from "eternal damnation." Under cross-examination, psychiatrist Phillip Resnick agreed with prosecutor Joe Owmby that Yates knew she was legally wrong when she killed her children. But Resnick added that Yates believed she had no choice. "Because of her dilemma, what she perceived as right was to take her children's life on Earth to prevent them from eternal damnation," he said. According to Resnick, Yates believed she was sacrificing her life in this world and eternity to spare her children from hell. "She was afraid Satan would hear it and make it happen," Resnick said. Yates' mother, Jutta Karin Kennedy, took the stand saying her daughter was a "wonderful mother," and was always watching over her children adn "protecting them." February 22, 2002: Sergeant Eric Mehl testified in court that, after confessing to drowning her five children, Andrea Yates asked him when her trial would be held. In her taped confession, played for the jury, Yates said she intended to suffocate the life out of her children. She also described how she chased her oldest son, Noah, before forcing him into the bathtub. "How long have you been having thoughts about wanting, or not wanting to, but drowning your children?" Mehl asked during the interview. "Probably since I realized I have not been a good mother to them," Yates answered. "What makes you say that?" Mehl asked. "They weren't developing correctly," Yates said. Yates also told him that she had filled the tub two months earlier with the intention of drowning the children, but didn't go through with it. Defense attorneys claimed that Yates filled the tub the first time because she had become concerned about the family's water supply. Yates explained how she filled the tub 3 inches from the top and then began calling her children into the bathroom. Six-month-old Mary was on the floor crying as three of her older brothers, one after the other, struggled to keep from being held beneath the water's surface. The first to day was 3-year-old Paul. Then came 2-year-old Luke, followed by 5-year-old John and Mary. When she called her oldest child, Noah, into the bathroom, Mary's body was still floating in the tub. Noah struggled the most, gasping for air as his mother forced him beneath the surface. Yates took Mary's lifeless body to the bed where her three brothers lay, leaving Noah floating face down in the tub. Then she dialed 911. February 21, 2002: State District Judge Belinda Hill admitted as evidence 29 photographs of the lifeless bodies of Andrea Yates' five children in the capital murder trial against her. Prosecutors plan to show the graphic pictures to the jury. The pictures include on of a 7-year-old floating face down in a bathtub as well as close-ups of bruises on the children's bodies. Defense attornies, who claim their client is taking powerful anti-psychotic drugs suffers from post-partum depression, tried to bar the use of the pictures. It's unclear whether Yates would be in the courtroom when the crime scene photos are displayed. Prosecutor Kaylynn Williford said the court might consider whether the defendant should be present if the issue is raised by defense attorneys. February 20, 2002: Andrea Yates' mother-in-law testified in court that six weeks before she drowned her five children in the bathtub, Yates filled the tub with water unexpectedly one day and said she "might need it." Dora Yates said Andrea was her "very precious daughter-in-law," adding that she was catatonic and "not herself" for several months before she killed the children. Defense attorneys said during opening statements that Yates' delusions had caused her to fear the family's water supply might be interrupted. Prosecutors say Andrea Yates suffered from a mental illness but knew the difference between right and wrong at the time of the drownings. Several police officers have testified that Andrea Yates answered their questions on June 20, looked directly at them and read and signed a consent form for police to search the house. Dora Yates testified that she doubted her daughter-in-law knew right from wrong, "not in the state she was in," because she stared into space for hours, and even scratched her head until she had bald spots. Andrea Yates normally was giving and comforting, but her depression grew worse after her father's death last March, Dora Yates said. Her arms trembled, her foot tapped and she smiled infrequently. Yates said her daughter-in-law appeared somewhat better after a brief stay at a mental hospital last spring. Harris County Assistant District Attorney Joe Owmby asked Dora Yates why she refused to talk with his office or expert witnesses in helping to determine whether Andrea Yates was sane at the time of the drownings. "The prosecution is seeking the death penalty against my daughter-in-law, and I firmly think that is wrong," she said. December 10, 2001: Russell Yates, husband of infanticidal mom Andrea Yates, said he doesn't believe he violated a gag order imposed by State District Judge Belinda Hill by speaking about his wife's medical condition on national television. In an interview for "60 Minutes," Yates blamed doctors and hospitals for not treating his wife properly. "I don't blame her a bit... If she received the medical treatment that she deserved, then the kids would be alive and well. And Andrea would be well on her way to recovery." According to her husband, Yates was last admitted to the Devereux Texas Treatment Network in May 2000 after she filled up the bathtub but refused to tell anyone why. She was discharged, he said, even though her medical chart indicated she still exhibited paranoid thought patterns and impaired judgment. He then said he had hoped his wife would be readmitted for treatment during her last visit with Dr. Mohammad Saeed. "I didn't actually come out and say it. But yeah, we were desperate. She was so sick. And I was at my wits' end." He added that Saeed ended the meeting "by giving her a pep talk," telling her to "think positive thoughts, not negative thoughts." Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal also appeared on the show and discussed why he thought seeking the death penalty is appropriate for Andrea Yates. Both Yates and Rosenthal could face up to six months in jail and up to a $500 fine for contempt of court by granting the interviews. Jury selection is scheduled to begin January 7. August 10, 2001: Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal announced they he will seek the death penalty for Yates. In another courtroom, Yates pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to two charges of capital murder in the deaths of three of her children -- Noah, 7, and John, 5,and her 6-month-old baby daughter, Mary. Prosecutors chose not to indict Yates in the deaths of her two other sons Luke, 2, and Paul, 3. Several days later TV personality Katie Couric took up the cause of the confessed child killer. After interviewing the murderer's brother, Andrew Kennedy, on NBC's "Today" show, Couric told viewers where to send contributions for her defense fund. "Any money left over will be given to women's charities dealing with postpartum depression and psychosis," added Couric. "Today" spokeswoman Allison Gollust said that the producers were not worried that the inclusion of the defense fund address before the case goes to trial might give viewers the impression that Couric and/or NBC News subscribe to the idea that Yates was indeed suffering from postpartum depression and psychosis when she drowned her five children. Nor are they worried that having Couric tell her 6 million viewers this information might lead them to believe that Couric and/or NBC News believe Yates's actions were defensible if she suffered postpartum depression at the time. June 20, 2001: Andrea Yates, a devout Christian home schooler, decided she had caused irreparable damage to her kids and the best thing for her to do was to kill all five of them. And that's exactly what she did by systematically drowning them after her husband left their suburban Houston home and went to work. As news of her infanticide trickled through the air waves, a Houston-area radio disk jockey called her a bitch and said she should be shot. Ironically the squad car taking her into custody was playing that very station and the arresting officer said that only then he saw her show any emotion over what she had done. Her husband, Russell Yates, said that his wife Andrea was driven to commit infanticide because she was suffering from a severe case of post-partum depression. "One side of me blames her because she did it, but the other side of me says she didn't... She wasn't in the right frame of mind," Russell Yates, a computer specialist at NASA, told reporters. Pointing to Andrea Pia Yates on a family picture, he added, "The woman here is not the woman who killed my children." Authorities said that after calling police and her husband at his job at the Johnson Space Center, Andrea led an officer to a back bedroom of her filthy, suburban Houston home, where the wet bodies of four or her five children -- Mary, 6 months, Luke, 2, Paul, 3, and John, 5 -- were under a sheet. The fifth child, Noah, 7, was found dead in the bathtub. The husband arrived at the same time as the cops but was not allowed into the house. The Houston Chronicle, quoting an unidentified investigator, said Andrea described, in a "zombie-like fashion," how she methodically killed the children. One unidentified police investigator was quoted saying that her eledest son Noah walked into the bathroom as she was drowning his baby sister. "What's wrong with Mary," the little boy asked when he saw the body of his lifeless sister floating in the bathtub. His mother told him to get into the tub and he ran away. Andrea then chased the seven-year-old through the house and dragged him back to the bathroom where he was promptly murdered. Her husband, who appeared eerily supportive of his infanticidal wife, said the death of her father three months ago had "sent her spiraling" into depression. Apparently she had her first bout of serious depression after the birth of their fourth. At the time she attempted suicide with an overdose of pills, but was briefly hospitalized, put on medication and made what seemed to be a full recovery. Unfortunately for her kids, she got pregnant again, had a fifth baby, and fell back into depression. This time she did not respond to several brief hospitalizations, multiple combinations of anti-depressants and a round of an anti-psychotic drug. Instead she sunk deeper and deeper into depression, stopped doing any chores at home, and decided her children were damaged by her uncaring ways and had to be killed. Her husband, attempting to explain her actions, said Andrea was taken off the anti-psychotic drug Haldol about two weeks ago, and had gone to a doctor to have dosages of several anti-depressant medications adjusted and to discuss starting therapy. Indicating that the adjustment of medications might not have been a factor in her actions, Andrea told police she began thinking about killing her five children for several months because she believed she was a bad mother and "felt that the children were disabled, that they were not developing normally." "She loves our kids," Russell Yates told a bank of reporters outside his home. "I want to help her through this. I want to show her I love her and support her." Yates recounted his wife's chilling phone call to his office after the murders. "She said, 'I need you to come home.' I said, 'Is anyone hurt?' She said, 'Yes.' And I said: 'Who?' And she said: 'The children. All of them.' My heart just sank." Two days after the quintuple murder, Yates was charged with one capital murder charge for the "death... by drowning" of her two oldest sons, Noah and John. Prosecutors added that other charges in connection with the murders of her other three children could follow. Defense attorney George Parnham said his client was in "a very deep psychosis" and will probably plead insanity. "I've accumulated evidence in the last 24 hours that strongly suggests that the mental status of my client will be the issue, which means entering a not-guilty plea by reason of insanity," he told the Houston Chronicle. Following her arraingment, the Associated Press reported rumors that the infanticidal mom tested pregnant after killing her five children. The pregnancy angle has been impossibnle to confirm and deny due to a gag order imposed on the case to avoid any tainting of the jury pool. The order prohibits any attorneys, police officers or witnesses in the case from talking about it. According to her brother, Andrea thinks she is possessed by the devil. "I think the devil's in me," she told her brother Andrew Kennedy, "How long do you think the devil's been in me?" Kennedy said his family had been increasingly worried about his sister's mental health over the last six months, and one of her longtime friends was concerned enough that she kept a detailed diary of her severe emotional decline. Kennedy said his sister began receiving treatment for her most recent emotional problems this spring after she put a knife to her throat while visiting her mother's house and threatened to kill herself. |
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From: "Denise Davis" Hi my name is Denise and up until now I have not been able to watch or read anything about Andrea Yates. You see my Grandparents were the proud owners of the house were she killed her kids two owners before. I tried to watch but I kept seeing the inside of the house and the bath tub where I once took a bath myself. One of the only times I tried I saw a picture of one of the kids in the back yard also a huge Pecan tree my PaPa planted and I can remember jumping over it as a kid and getting my butt tore up for doing it. We all have pictures of the house and the same family portraits in front of the fire place at Christmas time. I visited my cousin a few weeks ago who also lives on Beachcomer the street that the house is on. She informed me someone bought the house for 130,000.00. Why on earth would someone want that house!!!! If you asked me this all could have been prevented and her husband should be right there beside her in jail. | ||
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Date: Wed, 16 September 2005 (PDT) It is rather disturbing to read all of the uneducated responses to Andrea Yates and her case. There was not and never will be any doubt as to whether Andrea Yates was guilty of her crime. She did it, she called the police and her husband and gave a statement that she was ready to punished for her crimes. What was at issue was whether she was able to distinguish between right and wrong and whether she could differentiate between what was reality and delusions. We may never know what factors sent Andrea "over the edge" but is know that she suffered from mental illness and felt in her heart and mind that her children were going to Hell if she didn't sent them to God first. It is very difficult for a sane person to rationalize the thought processes of a person suffering from mental illness/psychosis. Read more about Andrea Yates and her history and you will discover there are many factors that contributed to her eventually becoming a murderer. | ||
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From: Kent Hi, My name is Kent, Jr. I have a response to your comment about Andrea and her sick husband randy. What about all the woman who are abused by their husbands, and have children, They want to leave, But when the husbands plead for the wife's to stay, the wife's do. The wife's want the abuse to stop, But continue to go back to their abusers. That my friend is mentally sick. I have no sympathy for people like that. And court orders DON'T WORK The reason I say this is because there are lawyers in my family. | ||
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From: "Kendra" Andrea Yates is a cold hearted killer that deserves more then to sit in jail for the rest of her life. I was just watching the Oprah show and I was appuled of how the father can just sit there and protect his wife of what she did. Maybe he is some of the reason of what and why it happened. In my mind he seems like he doesmt even care of what happened to HIS children, he's only thinking of and worried about his cold heated wife KILLER.ITS WRONG WHAT HES DOING AND WHAT SHE ALREADY DID,WHICH WAS KILLING HER CHILREN,ITS WRONG | ||
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Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 16:44:55 -0700 (PDT) I've been following this Andrea Yates trial ever since it came out. I think that what she did to her children is sick and wrong. I think the bitch should have been executed for drowning her children. I think that it is pretty pathetic for everyone to feel sorry for her because of her so-called "post pardum depression". I think that that is just an excuse for her being such a psyco bitch that she is. And for the person who emailed you and calls herself "rosey" I think that person really needs to shut up and lock himself/herself up next to Andrea. | ||
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From: "cindi keller" i think that if she was becoming depressed when she had her first child they should not have aloud her to have any more children. her husband i think is worth nothing. he didn't even make her take her medications when she was supposed to. he could have done a hell of a lot more to help her out. i also think that rusty had something to do with it. i have a baby and i would never think of hurting him. if i had a bad day i would call someone so they could come over to help me with the situation. Andrea could have done that. | ||
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Date: Sun, 28 Apr 2002 02:08:16 -0400 I read a newspaper article that stated the first thing out ofAndrea Yatesmouth when the police got there was " how much jail time will I get for this "! I'm sorry but a mentally impaired person would've had no idea that what they just did was wrong. A mentally impaired person would not know to chase a 7 year old all over the house, drag him into the bathroom, andstruggle to hold him under the waterto kill him. She is using her so called Illness as a defense for the massacre she bestowed upon her family. There shouldn't have even been a trial to determine her guilt or innocence, just a sentencing. The judge thinks it's more punishment for her to remain in jail and live the rest of her life knowing she killed ALL 5 of her kids. I think the same day they arrested her and she confessed, the judge should've sentenced her to death THAT DAY. The same person that throws the switch on the electric chair should've held her down in a tub full of water and slowly killed her. I feel as though her husband should take some of the blame. He knew of her state of mind and he still continued to allow her to get pregnant. Someone in the family should've stepped in and took the children. The family needs to quit putting the blame on other people. Her doctor changing or altering her medicine 2 days prior to the incident wouldn't havehad such a dramatic effect on her mentally. People in the world are so quick to put the blame on anything other than where the blame should lie. She killed. She should be killed. That's justice!!!! Ready to hold her down | ||
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From: SplBtch I think Andrea Yates got exactly what she deserved, now she will have to think about what she did everyday for the rest of her life. The only thing i would add to her sentence is to make her watch the home video of her beautiful children every day for the rest of her life. | ||
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Date: Wed, 3 Apr 2002 14:55:56 -0800 (PST) I've been following this Andrea Yates trial ever since it came out. I think that what she did to her children is sick and wrong. I think the bitch should have been executed for drowning her children. I think that it is pretty pathetic for everyone to feel sorry for her because of her so-called "post pardum depression". I think that that is just an excuse for her being such a psyco bitch that she is. And for the person who emailed you and calls herself "rosey" I think that person really needs to shut up and lock himself/herself up next to Andrea. | ||
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From: Verogg I don't know where to start this whole thing is so sad. I think that Andrea should have been given the DEATH penalty. She isn't !#*@en crazy that !@#*! new what she was doing. Oh and Russell! That sorry excuse for a man. Why didn't he do something to about his wife if he new how crazy she was, if she was down and not the same why did that idiot not say " hey honey I see your going through a tough time and all the kids and house work is overwhelming to you why don't we get you a cleaning lady and a full time nanny". Why let it get to this?!! Can you just imagine Noah kicking and screaming what do you think was going through that child's mind. I have a seven year old of my own and it's hard to picture my child in that situation. I have my moments but never do I think of taking it out on my child. My son is my whole world and her kids should of been hers. She should have just killed | ||
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From: rod1 Russell Yates is just as guilty as Andrea, he kept inpregnating her to keep her out of a social life If you have 5 bad ass kids there is no way you can get anyone in their right mind to watch them all at one time. It takes two to tango use protection, the pill, or the shot would have done great. The women needed help and didn't get it. I am a sufferer from post partum depression I know it sucks you feel worthless it seems like it doesn't matter how hard you try or what you do right in your mind it is wrong. To all the women that have had or is experiencing symptons get help don't let another unadvoidable murder(s) happen. | ||
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Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2002 09:03:25 -0800 Oh man, I watched Larry King Live last night on TV and Russel Yates was being interviewed. I cannot believe that man will probably live on and have other children.He should be castrated! I am totally pissed that we the taxpayers have to support his wife/annihalotor for the next 40 years in the legal system. Maybe someone in prison will be smart enough to annihalate her and say she did not mentally develop correctly and therefore had to be killed. I definitely will contribute to that person's defense fund. Her husband blames everyone and every system but himself. I only find solace in the fact that everyone has a Judgement Day, and it is then that he will be tried for his sins. And then this asshole has the audacity to put up a website for his kids. (yateskids.org) as if they are some kind of martyr for his wife's mental illness. If I was mentally ill, I would be ashamed of him being any kind of spokesperson for mental illness. He turned a blind eye to his wifes illness. She is not mentally ill, she is a murderer, and I thank the prosecution and the jury for realizing that. | ||
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From: HunterExpress God is the ultimate judge of mankind. We cannot understand her frame of mind that terrible day, it is terrible how those children had to die. When and if Mrs. Yates gets her sanity, I pray that she'll repent of this evil. | ||
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Date: Mon, 18 Mar 2002 20:59:55 -0600 I think Andrea is is suffering f rom mental illness but I definitely think she is guilty of being a mass murderer of her own children and I believe she very coldly and calculated the whole murder plot.I believe she was so frustrated by her mentally abusive husband and his ways that she couldn't take it anymore and didn't care what the consequences would be for her crimes because anything was better than being his babymaking slave,that couldn't even get a break and send those kids to school. she was fuckin tired of that shit and the bitch snapped. If she had any common sense she would have left the kids alone and waited until Russell came home from work and serve him up a nice strong "cough,cough" drink .Russell , her husband (or can be called her controlling, demonistic, David Koresh acting ass, insecure and if you ask me he acts crazy too) knew she was nuts but too damned lazy to take a leave of absence and help Andrea with the children. I could go on and on because it makes me mad ,there are so many controlling men out there and thank goodness there are not that many dumb maniacs like Andrea like that anyone else in that situation should just leave, just spare the kids' lives,do whatever you want to the man... Thanks for letting me express myself Melanie | ||
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From: Jmdynaflow where is the emotion the five wonderfull children you have lost , and stop with all this bullshit that everybody else is at fault... your the fault jackass... as far as i'm concerned put this asshole in a tub and drown him.... we don't this guy walking around getting other women knocked up!! | ||
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From: Nawtenurse Well I have seen, heard and have had enough of the Andrea Yates case. I am a RN who had babies very young and suffered from postpartum depression. I had one child right after another like Ms Yates did. I have a strong depression history however I am not insane.But is Andrea Yates? I dont know . I honestly believe no matter what a person does he/she is still accountable for their actions. Believe me, I have a strong psych experience as a nurse and know the field very well. I am also a believer in the patients who is behavior is out of hand need to have consequences put forth in this case-life imprisonment suits me fine. | ||
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From: Lilpiggies I strongly believe that Andrea Yates should receive the death sentence and her husband should receive life in prison. When the time comes for her to be executed he should be forced to drown her. I have no sympathy for a woman capable of that type of brutality, nor do I have sympathy for a man who stands by her. He is just as guilty if you ask me. I find it odd that when she called him at work, the first question that he asked was, "Is anyone hurt?" Sounds strange to me. My God watch over, Noah, John, Paul, Luke, and Mary. Ally | ||
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From: Jncarlos maybe someone needs to check this persons house. seems to be quite a bit of rage here. Its hard to argue the case of a psychotic when you sound psychotic yourself. my point of contention is this: How can we ever execute or imprison any murderer? if you MURDER another human being you are obviously not in your right mind, whether temporarily or permanently | ||
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From: CHRISISM Just wanted to make a general comment to all those who think Yates should have been given leniency due to her mental state - think about this.....if a psychotic man took YOUR child and drowned him/her I can damn well bet you would like him to fry for "what he did to you", what gives a mother (psychotic or not) the right to drown 5 children???? They should have held her head under water in a bathtub until she could no longer breath - once for each of her defensless children - and the final time for the people of the country who have had to be subjected to her insanity!! | ||
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From: "sherry" I think andrea should be handcuffed to the bottom of an elvenfoot pool and left to die! | ||
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Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2002 14:01:06 -0600 this case is quite vexing. I am a journalist but I am also a mother and recently (ahem) married. I feel for Yates but am horrified by what she did. she needs help, not the needle. And her hubby is a weenie.....glad u enjoyed the commentary...its fun to be rude once in awhile. This is the letter that I sent to the Houston Chronicle. It does beg a few interesting questions. I am disgusted and sickened. Has America become a medieval kingdom where women are vilified and burned at the stake? Andrea Yates is insane. Andrea Yates committed a horrible crime whilst in the throes of psychotic delusions. Yet and all, a bombastic prosecutor hellbent on "justice" would rather see this woman treated the same way as a Ted Bundy. Let's fry the bitch right? The male prosecutor said "the children are in a better place now." Does he have proof of life after death? Or is christianity so accepted in Texas that it supercedes points of law? Yeehaw! Texas and the state of Oklahoma seem to enjoy frying folks who are not altogether in the head. Why don't we sell tickets while we are at it? Hell, we can call a prayer meeting! And what of Russell Yates, the man who kept impregnating her? What of the doctor who prematurely released her? What of the preacher whose apocalyptic rantings served to reinforce her inner demons? And what of society in general that places so-called "family values" ahead of women's rights? Why don't we put the aforementioned on trial as well. Hell, I'll buy a ticket to see that! | ||
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Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2002 13:28:16 -0600 You refer to Andrea Yates as a "family annihilator". Why do Americans hold up the "family" as some god-like institution? It was Russell Yate's inability to keep mhis cock in his pants that caused this. The notion of "family" is flawed and outdated. Fuck patriarchy! Fuck Christianity! Fuck control-freak men! Ahhhhh, that is better. Now I can go back to masturbating.
Cheers |
