From : BAFFauthor@aol.com
Subject : KILLER MOM
Date : Fri, 15 Mar 2002 22:46:05 EST
Killer Mom and Husband Portrayed as the Victims
By Jon Christian Ryter
Copyright 2002 All Rights Reserved
It took her jury less than a hour to find Andrea Yates guilty of capital murder on Thursday, March 13, 2002, about five times the length of time it took Andrea Yates to drown each of her five children: Noah, 7; John, 5; Paul, 3; Luke, 2; and Mary, 6 months in the bathtub of their Houston, Texas home on June 20, 2001. But it took her jury about five times as long to affix her sentence as it did to find her guilty of one of the coldest, most callous murders in recent history. Yates was sentenced to life in prison.
Two jurors failed in their task.
To pass a death sentence on Yates, a sentence mandated by the hideousness of her crime, the jury of eight women and four men had to be unanimous in their decision. They were not. Ten jurors voted for death, two held out for life. Apparently two of the jurors were absent during the testimony when testimony confirmed that when he saw his mother murdering his three brothers and baby sister, seven year old Noah broke for the door and headed out of the house to get help. [Judy's Note: ???? I thought a juror had to be present during ALL phases of a trial.]
Yates, who was busy drowning one of his brothers, bolted to her feet and chased Noah down, dragging him screaming back to the bathroom where he would shortly meet his fate in the crowed bathtub. As he struggled to keep his head above water, little Noah cried out to his mother:
"Did I do something wrong, mama?" he cried out.
"If I did...mama...I'm sorry!"
As he cried out for his life, Yates pushed Noah's head back under the water, drowning out his cries for help. In less than two minutes the stru ggling stopped and the last of her five children was dead, drowned in only nine inches of cold water.
The task she planned for over six months was done.
Calmly, she dried her hands, brushed a wisp of hair from her face, and went downstairs to telephone her husband, Russell, at NASA where he worked as a computer engineer. When she got him on the phone, she said quite simply:
"Well, I did it."
Instead of asking "did what?" Russell Yates, knowing, said:
"How many?"
She replied:
"All of them."
His remarks at that time clearly indicate she had discussed killing her children on at least one previous occasion, perhaps within the past couple of days.
That conversation, reported in the media before the trial started appeared to be forgotten by everyone except those who hoard old newspapers as research material. When Russell Yates stood before the media today after his wife was sentenced, he portrayed both his wife and himself as the victims since, he said, he knew his children had forgiven their mother for killing them since she loved them so much, he indicated when asked, that he had absolutely no reason to believe that his wife posed a threat to his children and that she had never indicated an intent to harm them.
Andrea Yates' remark to the media suggests otherwise. His remark suggests that she had told him she intended to kill her children. In point of fact, she discussed killing them while she was still pregnant with Mary but, on newspaper reported early on, decided to wait until Mary was born so she "...could get them all."
Andrea Yates told authorities that she killed her children because she believed they "...were not righteous" and had they been allowed to grow up, they would have been doomed to Hell. Andrea Yates' lawyer, Wendell Odom argued that Yates believed she was saving her children from damnation.
Prosecutors Joseph Owmby and Kaylynn Williford believed there was a different motive. Their investigation suggested to them that Andrea Yates was the victim of a domineering husband who controlled every aspect of his wife's life and, tired of being mentally abused by Russell Yates, Andrea Yates killed his children as an act of revenge to punish him.
Throughout the trial Odom attempted to portray Andrea Yates as a loving mother who was simply the victim of an uncaring State that failed to properly treat Yates for the severe mental problems she had. In the press conference, with mental health advocates and family members poised for the cameras, Andrea Yates and her husband were presented as the victims of a miscarriage of justice. While chief prosecutor Owmby admitted that he did not seek the death penalty because he thought the jury might buy Yates' insanity plea if the only alternative they had was lethal injection.
Owmby was blowing smoke.
Owmby didn't ask for the death penalty because he doesn't believe in it. Williford does. She asked the jury, in her closing statement, to sentence her to death. And, the jury almost did. Eight voted for death. Two held out for life. I'd almost be willing to bet that the two who held out for life had never given birth to a child.
Was there a miscarriage of justice in the Andrea Yates sentence?
Yes, there was.
Andrea Yates, the jury notwithstanding, should have been sentenced to death. Her crime demanded that punishment.
Texas law argues that to be held not liable for a crime committed, the perpetrator, in claiming not guilty by reason of insanity must not be able to distinguish between right and wrong. It is that simple.
Owmby tried to make it complicated because it is easier to hide the truth behind smoke and mirrors. It doesn't matter if Andrea Yates is clinically depressed, chronically depressed, or an out-and-out fruitcake. She knew killing her children was wrong. If the prosecution was correct in their supposition that Yates killed her children to punish her husband, we can assume that while heartless, Andrea Yates was not medically insane. Her act was not spontaneous. It appears to have been premeditated.
And, what's more, it appears that she discussed the possibility with Russell Yates because, as mentioned, when she completed the deed and called him and said:
"Well, I did it..."
he did not ask what, he asked how many.
He knew.
And the only way he could know was because she told him what she planned to do...someday...to make him pay.
Yes, there was a miscarriage in the Yates sentence.
Too bad it can't be fixed.
The watery cries of five dead babies demanded justice and two jurors let them down.
They will never get it.
I hope the two jurors that let Yates live dream about Noah, John, Paul, Luke and Mary every night for the rest of their lives. It is for sure Andrea Yates won't.
Jon Christian Ryter
Author of:
THE BAFFLED CHRISTIAN'S HANDBOOK
PRINCE ALBERT: PROPHET OF UTOPIA
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO AMERICA?
website: www.jonchristianryter.com
old website: http://hometown.aol.com/baffauthor/jonchristianryter.html
(note: highlighting and emphasis are mine)
Wait a minute, how do they know it? Who was the witness? Yates psychotic memory?
Another thing, the phone conversations - were they recorded, if so why? If not who was the witness.