Criminal Profile Paper on Andrea Yates
The Crime
On June 20th 2001, a mother of five did the unthinkable and killed her five children within one hour (O'Malley, 2004). The woman, Andrea Yates confessed to drowning her four sons and one daughter in the bathtub within the family’s house. The crime shocked American society and brought a lot of consideration to the psychological health of mothers and possible risks it presented for the family (Ewing, 2008).
On the morning of the crime, Russell Yates Andrea’s husband left his wife alone in the house with the children. This was a routine he had started a few weeks prior to the crime. He believed that it would help his wife to become a bit more independent (Ewing, 2008). He hoped that by giving her some time alone with the children, she would be able to reawaken her maternal instincts and enable her to start caring for her children. Rusty was doing this despite the doctor’s advice not to leave his wife unattended. This was because her psychiatric assessment had shown that she was in no frame of mind to take care of the children. In the window of time, it took Rusty to leave for work and his mother to arrive to help with babysitting, Andrea was able to commit the crime.
In her confession, Andrea revealed that she had been thinking about killing her children for two years before the incident (O'Malley, 2004). People privy to the tapes of her confession described it as chilling. She recounted how she methodically drowned her offspring one after the other. She even explains how when she was done, she made a call to the police to report herself.
On the morning of June 20th, Andrea awaited the departure of her husband before she undertook the grotesque task of ending the lives of her own children. She filled the bathtub with water and started by drowning the youngest boys before her baby girl. The eldest son was the last to die. At 7 years old, he quickly understood what his mother was doing and put up a tremendous fight.
Luke her 2 year old was drowned first followed by 3-year-old Paul than John who was 5 at the time of death. She then carried of the children’s bodies to her bedroom, placed them on her master bed covered each with a bed sheet. It was while she was drowning her 6 month old baby, Mary that her eldest son Noah walked in on her. He quickly asked his mother if there was anything wrong with Mary. When he realized what was going on, he fled in terror as his mother chased after him. She caught up with him and dragged him to the same fate that befell his siblings.
After ending the lives of her children, Andrea then called the police in a disturbing attempt to turn herself in. In the call, she only said “Its time.” Her cryptically put message could not possibly prepare the police for the horror that was her crime. Next, she called her husband Russell who was at work. She told her husband to come home urgently. He responded by asking her if anyone was hurt. She responded in the affirmative and added that all the children were hurt (O'Malley, 2004).
In the weeks that followed the high profile murders, the world waited to see how the courts would handle the case. Since Andrea had confessed to the crime, her defense team had the difficult task of proving that she was innocent. The star witness for the defense was the expert testimony of her doctor who confirmed that the accused was psychotic. They pleaded insanity in the defense of their client. The trial, which took 3 weeks, found Yates guilty on 3 counts of capital murder (Claiborne, 2006). She was sentenced to life imprisonment on the 22nd of March 2002. She would be eligible for parole in 40 years. She was committed to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The jury opted out of the death penalty, which had been recommended by the prosecution (Claiborne, 2006).
In an interesting twist, the Texas Court of Appeal nullified the ruling made. This was after one of the key witnesses of the prosecution admitted having given false evidence. Dr. Park Dietz’s testimony was key in establishing that the state of mind of the defendant and her ability to consciously commit the crime (Meier, 2002). His testimony was refuted by another expert who presented evidence that he had lied in part during his testimony. The weight of this revelation carries the successful appeal. The appellate court ordered a retrial.
During the retrial, Andrea entered a plea of not guilty as she had pleaded during the initial trial. Her plea was on the grounds of insanity. This was on the 9th of January 2006, 22 days later; the court released her on bail but on condition that she remained in the custody of a mental health facility. The jury in the retrial arrived at a not guilty verdict on 26th July 2006. This was 5 years after the crime. The court of appeal also committed Andrea to a state hospital in North Texas (Claiborne, 2006). She was later transferred to a low security mental hospital located in Kerrville, Texas.
Andrea Yates’ History
Andrea Pia Kennedy was born in Houston, Texas on 2nd of July 1964. She was the last born child of Jutta Karin Koehler and Andrew Emmet Kennedy. Her mother was an immigrant with roots in Germany while her father was of Irish descent. Andrea was raised catholic. Andrea graduated as a class valedictorian from Milby High School in 1982. She was the captain of the school’s swimming team and also an officer of the National Honor society. She undertook a pre-nursing course at the University of Houston. The program took two years. She proceeded to the University of Texas where she graduated from the school of nursing.
Andrea’s working life lasted for eight years. She worked in the M.D Anderson Cancer Centre at University of Texas between 1986 and 1994. She met her future husband in 1989 at the Sunscape Apartments where they were neighbors. They moved in together and were later married in 1993 at a wedding ceremony held on April 17th. During the ceremony, they announced that they planned to have as many children as it was biologically possible.
In February 1994, Andrea gave birth to the couple’s first child, Noah. At the time, they were living in a spacious four bedroom apartment. Shortly afterwards, Russell accepted a new job in Florida. The young family kept their belonging in storage and relocated to a smaller trailer home in Seminole. As the young family grew, rusty was forced to find a bigger home. He decided to purchase a refurbished motor home. The bus belonged to Michael Peter Woroniecki a prolific preacher whose messages greatly captivated Andrea.
Soon after, Russell Yates moved his family to a bigger house. It was believed that the cramped conditions of the motor home and the responsibility of raising a baby with toddlers aggravated Andrea’s symptoms. The fact that she was a stay at home mother also meant that she had to deal with the pressure of tending to toddlers all day. Her children were born one year apart and were therefore very demanding. The small space in the bus meant that she had little room to relax from her maternal duties. The move did not help much because Andrea had 2 other suicide attempts which were accompanied by psychiatric hospitalizations. Her doctors diagnosed her with postpartum psychosis which made her a threat to herself and her family.
The first psychiatrist who treated her, Dr. Eileen Starbranch advised the couple against having more children (Hyman, 2004). This was because future pregnancies would guarantee additional postpartum depression. Despite this advice, Andrea conceived 7 weeks after being discharged from hospital. She gave birth to Mary on the 30th of November 2000. She stopped taking her medication which included Haldol and seemed to have stabilized. Her condition turned for the worst when her father died in 2001.
Her father’s death triggered episodes of self-mutilation and fervent sessions of reading the bible. She stopped attending to her baby. She also starved the other 4 children and became incapable of fending for her or the children. She was immediately admitted to hospital on April 1st 2001. Her new doctor, Dr. Mohammed Saeed examined, treated and later released her. Her first attempt to drown the children was on 3rd of May of the same year. She drew a bath which she intended to use to drown her children but had changed her mind. On a scheduled psychiatric visit, her doctor decided to hospitalize her believing that the bath incident was a suicide attempt on her part. The doctor assumed that Andrea was suicidal and had intended to drown herself in the bath tub.
Dr Saeed continued to treat Andrea Yates until the day that the crime was committed. During the period, the doctor had advised the family to maintain 24 hour supervision on Andrea. The doctor believed that she posed a serious threat to herself due to her suicidal episodes. It was during a lapse in the supervision that Andrea finally found the window to commit the crime.
Mental Health
As a teenager, Andrea suffered from bulimia. This is an eating disorder which affects many teenagers. The condition is characterized by excessive eating accompanied by attempts to rid the body of the food already consumed. The patient may induce vomit, swallow a laxative, or engage in excessive exercise (Coodley, 2002). Another method used to shed weight gained from the food is to undertake long periods of unhealthy fasting. Antidepressants are usually prescribed as treatment for bulimia. Patients with bulimia often have a history of impulsive behavior just like Andrea. Others have a troubled family history of substance abuse. Andrea’s father is reported to have been an alcoholic.
Andrea’s first known case of depression occurred when she was much older. Andrea did not date much until she was 23 because she was reserved in nature. Her first relationship ended in heartbreak. Consequently, she became depressed. When she met her future husband, she was still healing her broken heart (Coodley, 2002). She overcame her reserved nature and initiated the relationship which culminated in marriage.
Both Andrea and Russell were religious. The early part of their relationship was spent in prayer and biblical study. Their decision to have as many children as nature allowed was also based on a religious ideology. The Yates family followed a Quiver full lifestyle which encouraged its adherents to produce many children. This lifestyle led to her first bout of postpartum depression which escalated to postpartum psychosis. Andrea’s unplanned pregnancies and short recovery times put excess pressure on her mental and physical health.
Andrea was finally diagnosed with postpartum depression in July 1999. Her doctors’ efforts were watered down by surrounding circumstances. The pressure of a large young family, an influential preacher and the death of her father all pushed her to the edge. The minister Mr. Woroniecki gave sermons and publications which drove Andrea to believe that she was an evil mother and that her children were also evil.
Analysis
Andrea Yates committed the murder of her 5 children when she was under treatment for postpartum psychosis (O'Malley, 2004). Her doctor had already determined that she should be put under surveillance because she posed a threat to herself and her children. Her medication had side effects which included unexplained violent behavior towards others. Without proper supervision, Andrea was fully capable of killing herself and her children.
Andrea’s depression could have been aggravated by the deplorable conditions they lived in during the birth of most of her children. Her husband decided to run the family on a small budget. He did not see the need for the luxuries they had at the beginning of their marriage. A demanding baby together with the other young children pushed Andrea to depression. She probably had little time to sleep or even take care of herself. When the family eventually moved to a bigger house, the damage was already done (Vatz, 2005).
Her exposure to the controversial preacher contributed to her psychosis. The preacher strongly condemned evil mothers and claimed that they raised evil children who would end up in hell with their mothers. Andrea strongly believed that she was an evil mother and that her children were equally evil. She determined that if she killed them, they would have the chance to go to heaven. Her own soul would be saved by the state which would surely sentence her to death. The later part of her plan did not go as she had planned because she was acquitted.
When all these factors are examined closely, it becomes clear that Andrea Yates was a victim of circumstances, which could have been avoided. Her family should have taken the doctor’s advice seriously while the doctor should have explained Andrea’s condition to her husband. The two parties could have averted the crime had they collaborated in providing the much needed support that Andrea required.
Claiborne, R. (2006). “Andrea Yates: The Next Chapter.” Good Morning America (ABC).
Coodley, L. (2002). “Commentary on Andrea Yates. Postpartum Depression: Voice from
a Historian.” Paediatric Nursing. 22(3): 300
Ewing, C. P. (2008). Insanity: Murder, Madness, and the Law. Oxford University Press
Hyman, R. (2004). “Medea of Suburbia: Andrea Yates, Maternal Infanticides, and the
Insanity Defence.” Women’s Studies Quarterly. 32 (3/4):192-210
Meier, E. (2002). “Andrea Yates: Where Did We Go Wrong?” Paediatric Nursing. 22(3):
296-299
O'Malley, S. (2004), "Are You There Alone?" The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates.
Simon & Schuster
Vatz, R. E. (2005). “Will Justice Be Served on Andrea Yates?” (March 2005) USA
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