Robert Lee Yates threw fast pitches in high school, but didn't have much of a curve. He dreamed in college of being a doctor, but those dreams fell apart about the same time as his first marriage. He worked his way up to an elite post flying helicopters in the Army, but left two years shy of full retirement. Yates was different things to different people. A stand-up guy, say his high-school friends.
SPOKANE -- The wife of confessed serial killer Robert L. Knew something was wrong when he started going through the family's bills. For years, the bills had. Serial Killers from A to Z. Serial Killer Robert L. Robert Lee Yates Sr. Talked about his and his wife's joy at their son's birth.
A heck of a teacher, say Army subordinates. A family guy.
A single parent. Spokane authorities now say Yates is a serial killer. European newspapers call him the 'notorious Washington Ripper.' Investigators from 30 states and two countries have called about him, wondering if he can be linked to their unsolved killings. Yates, born in Anacortes, sits now on the other side of the state, in jail on a $1.5 million bond.
He is charged with killing Jennifer Joseph, a 16-year-old prostitute. But evidence ties Yates to the deaths of 11 more women killed since 1996 in Spokane and Tacoma, says Spokane County Sheriff Mark Sterk. 'There's absolutely no doubt,' says Sterk, adding that DNA links Yates to eight of the deaths. Detectives are also investigating whether Yates might have killed five women found dead between 1990 and 1995 and a woman who disappeared in 1998. All 18 women used drugs, worked as prostitutes or lived on the streets. They were shot and dumped like yesterday's yard clippings. No Cd Patch Civilization 3 Complete.
Yates is 47, a father of five, a silver-anniversary husband. Nondescript, he is most often described as 'typical.'
'I don't believe it. I know him too well,' says Al Gatti, who met Yates in sixth grade in Oak Harbor, then a town of fewer than 5,000 people on Whidbey Island anchored in the Navy and farming. As a kid, Bobby Yates liked peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches. The Principles Of Engineering Materials Barrett Pdf more.
He didn't eat pork. He sang in the choir, pitched baseballs, hunted deer. He had a dog named Lassie. As an adult, he was a man's man, a soldier. Akruti Marathi Font Software For Windows 7. He liked cars, especially muscle cars.
He flew helicopters and once shot a pig from one. Outside the Army, Yates had a tough time holding jobs. But inside the Army, he learned to fly helicopters so well that he taught other pilots how to teach flying. He served in Germany, Haiti and Somalia. Yates retired from the military after 18 years and rented a home with his family in a maze of Spokane subdivisions. He admitted slapping one of his daughters because she was disrespectful. Police say he drove his 1977 white Corvette down East Sprague Avenue and picked up prostitutes.
His wife, his three youngest daughters and his son moved to a motel after his arrest, and it's not clear where they are now. His wife and her family have declined interviews. So has his father, who says he's acting on the advice of lawyers.
Yates' father and three sisters gave only one public statement: 'Bobby is a loving, caring sensitive son; a fun-loving and giving brother; an understanding, generous and dedicated father, who enjoys playing ball, fishing and camping with his kids. Bobby is the type of person you would want to have as your best friend.'
Richard Fasy, the Spokane County public defender assigned to Yates' case, says police statements implying Yates' guilt are premature and inappropriate. Given the publicity surrounding the arrest, Fasy is likely to seek a change of venue to move the case out of Spokane County but wonders whether his client will be able to get a fair trial anywhere in Washington state. He declined to comment on the specifics of the case: 'The place where I do battle is in the courtroom.' Whidbey Island is full of Youderians. No trace of criminals on either side, points out Ernest Youderian, Yates' uncle, and no way is his nephew capable of such horrific acts. Henry Youderian first spotted Whidbey Island in World War I, when he was in the Army cavalry, stationed at Fort Casey. In 1916, he bought land.
He and his wife had six children, including Yates' mother, Anna Mae. Anna Mae and her first husband had two daughters. After that marriage ended, she married Robert Yates, a solid man known more for being religious and polite than anything else at the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, where he kept track of inventory. 'I don't believe I ever heard him use a profanity,' says Gordon Kidder, his boss of 25 years. The couple had a son and then a daughter. They raised their four children as Seventh-day Adventists, who believe in the Second Coming, when Christ will separate the saints from the wicked and start his 1,000-year kingdom.