Lindsey Clancy - Memories of Andrea Yates 25 years ago

quote:

---

Andrea Yates (Houston/Clear Lake, Texas area, 2001).



On June 20, 2001, Andrea Pia Yates (then 36–37), a former nurse with a documented history of severe postpartum depression, postpartum psychosis, and related mental illness (including prior hospitalizations and suicide attempts), drowned her five children—Noah (7), John (5), Paul (3), Luke (2), and Mary (6 months)—one by one in the family bathtub while her husband was at work. She then placed most of the bodies on a bed, called 911, and told police what she had done. She later described delusional beliefs that she was saving the children from damnation or that Satan was involved.


In her first trial (2002), she was charged with capital murder (tried specifically in connection with three of the deaths). The jury rejected her insanity defense under Texas law (which focuses on whether the defendant knew the act was wrong/illegal), convicted her, and—after prosecutors sought the death penalty—sentenced her to life in prison (with parole eligibility after 40 years).


In January 2005, a Texas appeals court overturned the convictions because a key prosecution psychiatric expert (Dr. Park Dietz) had given false testimony. He claimed a Law & Order episode about a mother with postpartum depression drowning her children and being found insane had aired shortly before the crime (suggesting possible influence or patterning); no such episode existed. The court held this required a new trial.


At the 2006 retrial, a jury found Yates not guilty by reason of insanity. She was committed to a state psychiatric facility (initially North Texas State Hospital, later transferred to Kerrville State Hospital in Texas), where she has remained under treatment and periodic review

---