Washington State breeds them or is it the water?
Serial Killer Robert L. Yates, Jr.
Spokane, Washington
A middle-aged father of 5, Robert L. Yates Jr., a decorated military helicopter pilot, and National Guardsman was convicted of 15 murders but suspected of as many as 18. The most prolific serial killer ever sentenced in Washington state, he now sits on death row.
He came from a solid, loving home with encouraging Support , a moral upbringing and Christian teaching from the time he could walk. He was an obedient child, a dedicated student, and a team player on the Oak Harbor High School football team.
Yates was a car buff frequently seen washing the Corvette and his other vehicles.
He liked to cruise through the red-light district in a white Corvette, where the Army veteran murdered women 8 of at least 13 of his victims.
Washington state prosecutors suspect Yates is responsible for the slayings of as many as 18 women, many with a history of drug abuse and prostitution. Victims were shot in the head. The first body was found Feb. 22, 1990, and the killings continued for a decade.
"Bobby is a loving, caring and sensitive son, a fun-loving and giving brother, an understanding, generous and dedicated father, who enjoys playing ball, fishing and camping with his kids," the three-paragraph statement said. "We feel deeply for the families who have experienced loss," the statement said. "We ask that all judgments be reserved until the timely due process of law has been completed."
Signed "the Robert L. Yates family members."
In 2000, Yates, 50, pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of one woman and the killing 10 other women in Spokane County from 1996 to 1998. He's also admitted to two slayings in Walla Walla in 1975 and the killing of a woman whose body was found in 1988, in Skagit County. A judge sentenced him to 408 years in prison.
Pierce County prosecutors then brought Yates to Tacoma to be tried on the aggravated murders of Connie LaFontaine Ellis and Melinda Mercer.
During the 5 1/2-week trial, prosecutors told jurors this was Yates "his evil hobby." He killed for thrill of it and because he enjoyed sex with his dead victims. The death penalty was sought in this trial.
Robert Lee Yates Sr. talked about his and his wife's joy at their son's birth, and his pride as Yates became a boy who never "sassed" him and always obeyed. Yates played baseball and football, and fished and hiked with his father.
Attorneys showed photos of Yates as a baby, in a tiny suit, with his little sister, and through the years in a military uniform and later with his children.
The elder Yates acknowledged that his son didn't confide in him and that he married his second wife before divorcing his first.
Recently, Yates Sr. said, his son has returned to his Seventh-day Adventist faith.
"He fell away from God," the father said. "He went to the depths. But he's come back, and I really feel it's sincere." Crying, he continued, "I love him so much, and I've told him a good many times. I abhor what he's done, but I love him just the same."
Yates cried during his father's testimony and when his victims' parents described their pain.
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