Andrea Pia Yates (born July 2, 1964) of Houston, Texas, United States, committed the filicide of her five young children on June 20, 2001 by drowning them in the bathtub in her house. Convicted of first degree murder in 2002 and sentenced to life in prison with parole possible after forty years, Yates' conviction was later overturned on appeal. On July 26, 2006, a Texas jury ruled Yates to be not guilty by reason of insanity. Yates was consequently committed by the court to the North Texas State Hospital, Vernon Campus, ^[1] a high-security mental health facility in Vernon, Texas, where she is currently receiving medical treatment and sharing a cell with another woman who committed filicide, Dena Schlosser. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 183rd day of the year (184th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... is the 183rd day of the year (184th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... Nickname: Location in the state of Texas Coordinates: , Country United States State Texas Counties Harris County Fort Bend County Montgomery County Incorporated June 5, 1837 Government  - Mayor Bill White Area  - City  601. ... Filicide is the deliberate act of a parent killing his or her own son or daughter. ... “Children” redirects here. ... is the 171st day of the year (172nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... A bathtub A bathtub (AmE) or bath (BrE) is a plumbing fixture used for bathing. ... is the 207th day of the year (208th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... In a criminal trial, the insanity defenses are possible defenses by excuse, via which defendants may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for breaking the law, as they were mentally ill at the time of their allegedly criminal actions. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Vernon is a city located in Wilbarger County, Texas. ... Filicide is the deliberate act of a parent killing his or her own son or daughter. ... Dena Schlosser, born 1969 in Plano, Texas murdered her eleven month old daughter, Margaret Schlosser, in 2004, amputating the babys arms with a knife and offering her to God. ...

Background

Andrea Pia Kennedy was born in Houston to Jutta Karin Koehler, a German immigrant, and Andrew Emmett Kennedy, whose parents were born in Ireland.^[2] Yates attended Milby High School, where she graduated as class valedictorian. She married Rusty Yates on 17 April 1993, and the couple moved to the community of Clear Lake City, in southeast Houston. Houston redirects here. ... Charles H. Milby High School is a public secondary school located at 1601 Broadway in Houston, Texas with a ZIP code of 77012. ... In the United States and Canada, the title of valedictorian (an anglicized derivation from the Latin vale dicere, to say farewell) is given to the top graduate of the graduating class (the Australia/New Zealand equivalent being dux, although some Australian universities use the American term) of an educational institution. ... is the 107th day of the year (108th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... Clear Lake City is a master plan community in Houston, Texas that was originally developed by the Friendswood Development Company on land sold to Humble Oil and Refining Company (later Exxon Company) by James Marion West in 1938. ...

The Yates announced at their wedding in 1993 that they would seek to have "as many babies as nature allowed," a cornerstone of their newly shared religious beliefs. In 1996, after several children, Andrea began showing outward signs of exhaustion, which became more obvious in 1998 after four children and one miscarriage.

In May, 1998, she and her husband were in Florida and visited with the itinerant preaching family of Michael Peter Woroniecki under whom they had been submitted to together as a couple since 1992. The preacher severely rebuked Andrea and her husband and condemned them both as headed for hell. Rusty would soon have a falling out with the preacher over a bus he purchased from him while in Florida, but Andrea would continue to correspond with the Woronieckis through to the spring of 1999, when she received several harsh letters from them about her unrighteous standing before God.^[3] Woroniecki at the University of Nebraska at Omaha on August 29, 2006, engaged by a counter protester. ...

Two months later in July, 1999, Andrea succumbed to a nervous breakdown, which culminated in two suicide attempts and two psychiatric hospitalizations. She was diagnosed with postpartum depression and psychosis. She was successfully treated and discharged in January, 2000. Postpartum depression (also postnatal depression) is a form of clinical depression which can affect women, and less frequently men, after childbirth. ... Psychosis is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a loss of contact with reality. Stedmans Medical Dictionary defines psychosis as a severe mental disorder, with or without organic damage, characterized by derangement of personality and loss of contact with reality and causing deterioration...

Her first psychiatrist, Dr. Eileen Starbranch, testified that she urged the couple not to have more children, as it would "guarantee future psychotic depression". The Yateses conceived their fifth child only two months after her discharge.

Andrea's problems resurfaced three months after the birth of her fifth child in November, 2000 (and were further exacerbated by the death of her father in mid-March, 2001), Two weeks later, she became so incapacitated that she required immediate hospitalization. On April 1, 2001 she came under the care of Dr. Mohammed Saeed. Andrea was once again hospitalized on May 4, 2001 when she degenerated back into a "near catatonic" state and suspiciously drew a bath of water in the middle of the day for no apparent reason.

Andrea continued under Dr. Saeed's care up until June 20, 2001, when her husband left her alone with the children. In the space of an hour, she had drowned all five of her children.

Religious influence

Andrea Yates was originally raised Roman Catholic by her parents, but she recanted her former beliefs in 1992 when she submitted herself to the travelling preacher and mentor of her then future husband, Rusty Yates.

Andrea's husband had been a disciple of Michael Peter Woroniecki since meeting him at Auburn University in the fall of 1984. He introduced his wife to the preacher in 1992, before they married. Woroniecki promoted a doctrine that his followers should have "as many children as nature allows", which the Yates both announced at their wedding they were going to pursue. Woroniecki at the University of Nebraska at Omaha on August 29, 2006, engaged by a counter protester. ... Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a state university located in Auburn, Alabama, in the United States. ...

In the aftermath of the drownings, investigative reporter Suzy Spencer discovered letters written to Andrea by the Woroniecki family that berated her for her "unrighteous standing before God". A newsletter called Perilous Times, authored by the Woronieckis in 1999, was introduced into evidence at her trials to help establish the central motivating content behind her psychotic delusions.^[4]

Also introduced at the retrial was a video produced by the Woronieckis in 1996. In this video, the preacher condemns what he calls the modern "husband goes to work, wife just exists" hypocritical Christian lifestyle. Although the teaching in the video is not specifically addressed to the Yates, the Yates did receive a copy mailed directly to them from the Woronieckis when it was first distributed. The defense reasoned that the psychotic mother had felt pressured to find an alternative way to save her children. Andrea's delusions followed the rationale of the video that this "hypocritical" Christian life she was living would ensure her children's fate in hell.

Woroniecki taught in the video that parents must preach full time on the streets in order to demonstrate a righteous lifestyle to their children, thus properly training them by example, so they could be "saved;" however, Rusty continued to work at NASA contrary to Woroniecki's instructions, placing Andrea in a perplexing bind.^[5]

Yates told her jail psychiatrist, "It was the seventh deadly sin. My children weren't righteous. They stumbled because I was evil. The way I was raising them, they could never be saved. They were doomed to perish in the fires of hell."^[6] For other uses, see Cardinal sin (disambiguation). ... -1... In religion, evil refers to anything against the will or law of the god(s). ... “The Inferno” redirects here. ...

Yates told Dr. Michael Welner, who interviewed her at length before her second trial, that her husband and his mother spoke openly about his mother leaving the home within a couple of weeks, and that she was a failure as a parent and felt incapable of caring for the children.^PPT Michael Welner, M.D. (born September 24, 1964 in Pittsburgh, PA) is one of America’s most highly regarded forensic psychiatrists. ...

Psychiatric care

Yates had been under psychiatric care for major depressive disorder since the birth of her fourth child in July of 1999, up until she became pregnant with another child in early 2000. In March of 2001, her fifth child still an infant, and after a radical descent into severe depression following the death of her father about two weeks earlier, Yates was forcefully transported to Devereux-Texas Treatment Network by her brother and husband. She was admitted, treated and assigned to a Dr. Mohammed Saeed the following day. There began a series of various psychotropic drug treatments that, according to Andrea's husband, culminated with an abrupt change to her prescribed medication two days before the filicides. Saeed had also abruptly tapered off the antipsychotic Haldol two weeks earlier, a medication that helped Andrea recover in 1999. On June 18, Saeed abruptly increased Andrea's dosage of Effexor, much faster than Rusty's research indicated was proper. On that visit, despite Mr. Yates' reports that Andrea was not improving, Dr. Saeed wrote in his notes that Andrea was doing well, that he told Andrea to focus on "positive thoughts" and suggested that she see a psychologist. Two days later, on June 20, Rusty administered her medication and then went to work, leaving Andrea alone with the children. In the hour between her husband leaving and her mother-in-law arriving, Andrea drowned all five children. Psychiatry is a branch of medicine dealing with the prevention, assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of the mind and mental illness. ... It is common to feel sad, discouraged , or down once in a while, and anyone in this state might say they are suffering from depression. ... An assortment of psychoactive drugs A psychoactive drug or psychotropic substance is a chemical substance that acts primarily upon the central nervous system where it alters brain function, resulting in temporary changes in perception, mood, consciousness and behavior. ... Haloperidol (Aloperidin®; Bioperidolo®; Brotopon®; Dozic®; Einalon S®; Eukystol®; Haldol®; Halosten®; Keselan®; Linton®; Peluces®; Serenace®; Serenase®; Sigaperidol®) is a conventional butyrophenone antipsychotic drug. ... is the 169th day of the year (170th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Venlafaxine hydrochloride is a prescription antidepressant first introduced by Wyeth in 1993, and marketed under the tradename Effexor®. It is used primarily for the treatment of depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and social anxiety disorder in adults. ...

Filicides

On June 20, 2001, after her husband left for work, Andrea filled the bathtub to within three inches of its top, and proceeded to drown her three youngest sons, Luke, Paul and John, placing their bodies next to each other on a bed. During this, the infant child Mary had been in the bathroom in her bassinet, crying. When the oldest, Noah, entered the room, the body of Mary was still in the bathtub; after asking "What happened to Mary," Noah attempted to flee the room. Although Time Magazine reported Houston police saw child sized footprints of water throughout the house implying a chase, Andrea later denied chasing Noah in a letter to author Suzanne O'Malley in November, 2001 ^[7]. Noah was then drowned next to his sister's body. Yates took Mary's body into the other room, laid it next to the first three, and covered all four with a sheet. is the 171st day of the year (172nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... (Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ... Nickname: Location in the state of Texas Coordinates: , Country United States State Texas Counties Harris County Fort Bend County Montgomery County Incorporated June 5, 1837 Government  - Mayor Bill White Area  - City  601. ...

Leaving the body of Noah in the bathtub, Andrea called her husband at work. "You need to come home," she told him, "It's time. I did it." When he asked what she meant, she replied "It's the children ... all of them." When Rusty Yates rushed home, police and ambulances already surrounded his home -- Andrea had called 9-1-1 and calmly asked for the police before calling him, asking for an ambulance only after it was suggested by the operator. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

On arrival, police found the four youngest children lying face up on the bed, eyes still open and covered with a sheet. In the now-filthy water of the tub remained the face-down body of the oldest. Andrea calmly explained what she had done, and offered no resistance to the officers as she was led away from the scene.

Her defense lawyer later contended that she was suffering from a severe case of recurrent postpartum psychosis. She may have been suffering from additional mental illness for some years, since a pattern of such disorders is said to have run in her family. After giving birth, about 70-80% of women experience an episode of baby blues, feelings of depression, anger, anxiety and guilt lasting for several days. ... A mental illness or mental disorder refers to one of many mental health conditions characterized by distress, impaired cognitive functioning, atypical behavior, emotional dysregulation, and/or maladaptive behavior. ...

Her husband Rusty, visibly distraught, was kept waiting outside the crime investigation scene inside his home for five hours as the medical examiner processed the children's bodies. Although shocked and greived, he stated he believed it was "the illness" that led Andrea to kill the children, and swore to stand by his wife during her trial. This he did in fact do; even though, as a witness, he was barred from the courtroom for almost all of the trial, he remained each day seated in the hallway outside. When he became free of the Court's gag order after the first trial, he lambasted the failure of both the medical and judicial communities to protect his children and his wife (from herself). Despite Rusty's pledge to remain by his wife, three years into Andrea's incarceration, he divorced her in 2004 . Rusty remarried on March 18, 2006, two days before her first scheduled re-trial. Rusty asserts he still remains close friends with his former wife, Andrea.^{[citation needed]} is the 77th day of the year (78th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Trials

Yates immediately confessed to drowning her children. Andrea told Dr. Michael Welner that she waited for her husband to leave for work that morning before initiating the attack because she knew he would have prevented her from harming the children.^[8] Police found the family dog locked up after the killings; Rusty Yates advised Dr. Michael Welner that the dog had traditionally been allowed to run free, and was free when he had left the house that morning, leading the psychiatrist to conclude that Andrea locked the dog in a cage to prevent the dog from interfering with her killing the children one by one. Her defense asserted postpartum psychosis as the reason she committed the killings. Although the defense's expert testimony agreed that Yates was clearly psychotic, Texas law requires that, in order to successfully assert the insanity defense, the defendant must prove that he or she could not discern right from wrong at the time of the crime. In March 2002, a jury rejected the insanity defense and found Yates guilty. Although the prosecution had sought the death penalty, the jury refused that option. The trial court sentenced Yates to life imprisonment with eligibility for parole in 40 years.^[9] Michael Welner, M.D. (born September 24, 1964 in Pittsburgh, PA) is one of America’s most highly regarded forensic psychiatrists. ... Michael Welner, M.D. (born September 24, 1964 in Pittsburgh, PA) is one of America’s most highly regarded forensic psychiatrists. ... In a criminal trial, the insanity defenses are possible defenses by excuse, via which defendants may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for breaking the law, as they were mentally ill at the time of their allegedly criminal actions. ... 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for March, 2002. ... Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. ... It has been suggested that Medical parole be merged into this article or section. ...

On January 6, 2005, the Texas Court of Appeals reversed the convictions, because California psychiatrist and prosecution witness Dr. Park Dietz admitted he had given materially false testimony during the trial. Dietz stated that shortly before the killings, an episode of Law & Order had aired featuring a woman who drowned her children and was acquitted of murder by reason of insanity. It was later discovered that no such episode existed; the appellate court held that the jury may have been influenced by his false testimony and that thus a new trial would be necessary. (Later, in 2004, Law & Order: Criminal Intent did air the episode "Magnificat", based in part on Andrea Yates' case.) is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Psychiatry is a branch of medicine dealing with the prevention, assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of the mind and mental illness. ... Park Dietz (born 1951) is a forensic psychiatrist. ... Law & Order is a long-running American television police procedural and legal drama set in New York City. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Law & Order: Criminal Intent is a United States crime drama television series that began in 2001. ...

On January 9, 2006, Yates again entered pleas of not guilty by reason of insanity. On February 1, 2006, she was granted release on bail on the condition that she be admitted to a mental health treatment facility.^[10] is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... A psychiatric hospital (also called, at various places and times, mental hospital or mental ward), is a hospital specialising in the treatment of persons with mental illness. ...

On July 26, 2006, after three days of deliberations, Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity, as defined by the state of Texas. She has since been committed to the North Texas State Hospital - Vernon Campus.^[11] is the 207th day of the year (208th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Responsibility in the tragedy

According to trial testimony in 2006, Rusty Yates did not follow through with Saeed's orders not to leave Andrea unsupervised; she was left alone at the time providing her the opportunity to kill the children.^[12] Without consulting the doctor about his plans, Rusty had announced to a family gathering the weekend before the tragedy that he had decided to leave Andrea home alone for an hour each morning and evening, so that she would not become totally dependent on him and his mother for her maternal responsibilities.^[13] Andrea's brother, Brian Kennedy, told Larry King on a broadcast of CNN's Larry King Live that Rusty expressed to him in 2001 while transporting Andrea to Devereux treatment facility that all depressed people needed was a "swift kick in the pants". ^[14] Andrea's mother, Jutta Karin Kennedy, expressed shock when she heard of Rusty's plan while at the dinner gathering with them, saying that Andrea wasn't safe enough to care for the children. She said that Andrea demonstrated she wasn't in her right mind when she nearly choked her still-toothless infant Mary, by trying to feed her solid food. ^[15] According to authors Suzy Spencer and Suzanne O'Malley who investigated the Yates story in great detail, it was during a phone call Dr. Saeed made to to Rusty Yates during the breaking news of the killings that he first learned that Andrea was not being supervised full time.^[16] Larry King Live is a nightly CNN interview program hosted by broadcaster and writer Larry King. ...

Rusty Yates contends that as a psychiatrist, Dr. Saeed was responsible for recognizing Andrea's psychosis, not him, and that despite his urgings to check her medical records for prior treatment, Saeed had refused to continue her antipsychotic Haldol, the treatment that had worked for her during her first breakdown in 1999. ^[17] Andrea's birth family with the assistance of a Scientology support group and her former husband believe that the combination of antidepressants were improperly prescribed by Dr. Saeed in the days before the tragedy, was responsible for Andrea's violent behavior.^[18][19]

Dr. Lucy Puyear, expert witness hired by the defense team of Andrea Yates countered the family's contention regarding the administration of her antidepressants, saying the dosages prescribed by Saeed are not uncommon in practice and had nothing at all to do with her reemergent psychosis. She suggested rather that Andrea's psychosis returned as a result of her antipsychotic Haldol having been discontinued two weeks earlier. ^[20] Haldol's antipsychotic effect takes about two weeks to dissipate after discontinuation.

Dr. Puryear also told KTRK-13 News, Houston and Good Morning America that although she believed Andrea would have still been ill, she didn't believe Andrea would have ever killed her children had it not been for the religious influence of her preacher, Michael Peter Woroniecki.[2] Woroniecki at the University of Nebraska at Omaha on August 29, 2006, engaged by a counter protester. ...

According to medical records revealed at both trials, Rusty was advised by Dr. Eileen Starbranch, Andrea's first psychiatrist in 1999, that having more children would "guarantee future psychotic depression." Despite this warning, the Yates conceived their fifth child Mary only two months after being discharged from Dr. Starbranch's care in January, 2000.^[21]

Trivia

Heavy metal band Trivium wrote a song about the killings, "Entrance of the Conflagration." It is featured their third album, The Crusade. Heavy metals, in chemistry, are chemical elements of a particular range of atomic weights. ... Trivium is a heavy metal band from Orlando, Florida. ... Entrance of the Conflagration is the third song released from metal band Triviums third studio album, The Crusade, due out October 10, 2006. ... The Crusade is the third full-length studio album by heavy metal band Trivium which was released on October 10, 2006 through Roadrunner Records. ...

Andrea's brother BRIAN STEPHEN KENNEDY, 50, passed away suddenly Friday, August 10, 2007.^[22]

References

• Bienstock, Mothers Who Kill Their Children and Postpartum Psychosis, (2003) Vol. 32, No. 3 Southwestern University Law Review, 451.
• Keram, The Insanity Defense and Game Theory: Reflections on Texas v.Yates, (2002) Vol. 30, No. 4 Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 470.
• Spencer, Breaking Point ISBN 0-312-93871-3, See also author website

Footnotes

The Cable News Network, commonly known as CNN, is a major cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. ... is the 207th day of the year (208th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... is the 65th day of the year (66th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 207th day of the year (208th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... (Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 207th day of the year (208th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 207th day of the year (208th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Houston Chronicle is a daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. ... is the 194th day of the year (195th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Timeline of Andrea Yates' Life and Trial
• Who is Andrea Yates? A Short Story of Insanity, Deborah Denno
• CrimeLibrary review
• About.com profile
• CNN review of case
• Dr. Michael Welner, who examined Yates, lists 68 reasons she knew right from wrong. ABC News.
• PowerPoint evidence presented by expert witness Dr. Michael Welner during trial.