April 5, 2000 - The fibers removed from the white Corvette match fibers found on Jennifer Joseph's shoes and a towel found near her body, police say. Yates was 20 when he married Shirley Nylander. Linda was at work one day when the police called to inform her that a body had been discovered in the yard. Henry Youderian first spotted Whidbey Island in World War I, when he was in the Army cavalry, stationed at Fort Casey. Joels widow did not want a longer term. Two months later, she asked Yates for a divorce. He also confessed to killing a total of 18 women in several counties. April 1997 - He joins the Washington National Guard as a Chief Warrant Officer 4, assigned to A Company, 1st Battalion, 185th Aviation, a component unit of the 66th Aviation Brigade Headquarters at Fort Lewis near Tacoma. He would say, `I think there might be a better way,' " Merrill says. After high school, Yates bounced from job to job, town to town, never straying too far from Oak Harbor. The attempted murder charge involved the 1998 shooting of a prostitute who subsequently escaped from Yates and survived. . Meet the candidates and likely candidates vying for your vote Anna Mae and her first husband had two daughters. You'd think you were talking to a professor. And I said, Oh my God. I turned ice cold," Linda Yates said. Yates displayed anger only once, another co-worker says. Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty for Serial Killer", "State high court upholds death penalty for Yates", "State Supreme Court grants Yates stay of execution", "Serial killer Robert Yates Jr. seeks federal appeal of death sentence", "Washington state to suspend death penalty by governor's moratorium", "Inslee halts executions in state while he is governor", "Supreme Court rejects serial killer Yates' petition to overturn death sentence", "List of inmates whose sentences are changed from death row to life in prison". The deceased was a man in his 30s. He also admitted to killing five other women in the surrounding area. Linda Brewer met Robert Lee Yates when he was working at the Washington State Penitentiary as a corrections officer, and they married in 1976. She . Robert Yates, a master engine builder and longtime NASCAR team owner, died Monday. The elder Yates said he did not think that molestation was relevant in his son's case. Robert Lee Yates Jr. kept trying to hold his life together. The company has supplied not only the Roush and Yates teams, but also . Stenhouse finished eighth in the race. [53], Yates had killed the following individuals:[5][1]. Reward offered as manhunt for Texas shooting suspect reaches "dead end" Last month, the Washington State Patrol crime lab matched the carpet fibers from the Corvette to fibers found on Jennifer Joseph's shoes and a towel left near her body. #inline-recirc-item--id-922979d6-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d ~ .item:nth-child(5) { "If something didn't go his way, he would try to take charge," says Chazz Wellington, a former crew leader. Although Yates was ultimately convicted and sentenced to death, Washington Gov. Detectives are still investigating, taking the house apart, piece by piece, looking for evidence. The .25 caliber bullet casing was still in her hair. After Joseph's parent's divorce, she dropped out of high school and moved to Tacoma. Here's how. In October 1998, the final body linked to the serial killing was found, in Tacoma. Her partially nude body was badly decomposed and dumped in a wooded area near a school bus stop. 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. 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[15], Heather Louise Hernandez Wasn't tall, wasn't short. She had been missing since October 29, 1997. - by Sarah Firth. "If you've got two of those, you've probably done a heck of a good job somewhere," says Martha Rudd, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon. A mother-of-pearl button was found that matched one missing from Joseph's jacket. [3], Yates left the active duty Army in April 1996, apparently a year and a half short of being eligible for his full retirement benefits and pension. Summers, he worked with Gary Berner harvesting peas, making $1.80 an hour. [50] His case was further complicated by Washington Governor Jay Inslee's 2013 declaration that he would not sign death warrants for anyone on death row while he is in office. Yates decided he wanted to be a doctor. Summary of Robert Lee Yates. Washington State Department of Corrections, List of serial killers in the United States, List of serial killers by number of victims, "Robert Yates: Son, husband, athlete, father, pilot, teacher, murder suspect", "One killer, two standards Experts say some inconsistency is expected", "Robert Lee Yates was the Spokane serial killer", "Police Looking for Worldwide Trail of Death", "Yates tells authorities about trail of killings", "Skagit skeleton not that of missing woman", "Few clues in death of young female transient", "Spokane shooting victim was Tacoma girl", "Authorities identify body of slain women", "Spokane seeking link in prostitute slayings", "Photos let mother reach the memories that daughter's killer could not erase (1/2)", "Photos let mother reach the memories that daughter's killer could not erase (2/2)", "3 Women sought for help in Spokane slayings", "Spokane task force looks for possible serial killer", "Two more women found dead in Spokane; task force at work", "Police prove mother's worst fears true (1/2)", "Police prove mother's worst fears true (2/2)", "Sixth victim tied to serial killings (1/2)", "Sixth victim tied to serial killings (2/2)", "Woman considered ninth serial victim (1/2)", "Woman considered ninth serial victim (2/2)", "Yates judge won't instruct jury on mercy, sympathy", "Spokane woman believed to be eighth serial killing victim", "Woman's death tied to serial killer (1/2)", "Woman's death tied to serial killer (2/2)", "Wash. [48], In 2013, Yates's attorneys filed a habeas corpus petition in federal district court, stating that Yates is mentally ill and, "through no fault of his own suffers from a severe paraphilic disorder" that predisposed him to commit murder. He received a classical education in New York City and later studied law with William Livingston. Yates confessed to picking up Hawn, who was working as a prostitute, in his van nearby. The house has been assessed at $113,000. The children's birth years range . Yates is 47, a father of five, a silver-anniversary husband. When the Oak Harbor Seventh-day Adventist Church burned to the ground, Robert Yates Sr. took it personally, co-workers say. She was buried beneath his bedroom window. A single parent. Yates shot a pig in Somalia from his helicopter. Yates, born in Anacortes, sits now on the other side of the state, in jail on a $1.5 million bond. Robert Yates, who won three Daytona 500 and the 1999 Cup title as a car owner, died on Oct. 2 at 74 after a year-long battle with liver cancer. On Sunday, November 1, 2020 Robert Yates, loving husband and father of two children passed away at the age of 85. [45] On September 19, 2002, Yates was convicted of those murders and subsequently sentenced to death by lethal injection on October 3, 2002. Linda also recalled feeling suspicious when her husband went "hunting" because he "was dressed up nice and had cologne on.". On June 14, 1996, Shannon Zielinski, 38, was found shot in the head in Mead. These dates are when their bodies were found, not necessarily when they were killed. They were last seen the day before, on their way for an afternoon swim and picnic. Whidbey Island is full of Youderians. He floated through high school without making many solid connections. The prosecution sought the death penalty for the deaths of Melinda L. Mercer in 1997, and Connie Ellis in 1998, which were thought to be linked to the killings in Spokane County. The cities are working on plans for the paved trail that would generally follow high-tension power lines west of Highway 9. Yates, Robert Lee - Radford University Profile from Radford University Dept of Psychology students, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_Lee_Yates&oldid=1152090421, Crimes against sex workers in the United States, People convicted of murder by Washington (state), Prisoners sentenced to death by Washington (state), United States Army personnel of the Gulf War, Violence against women in the United States, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 28 April 2023, at 03:59. The next day, he was charged in Spokane County District Court with killing Jennifer Joseph. } Police say he drove his 1977 white Corvette down East Sprague Avenue and picked up prostitutes. March 1999 - He applies to fly helicopters for the only air ambulance service in Spokane. He told them he never patronized prostitutes in Spokane. The next year, Robert Lee Yates signed up with the Army. In 1976, Robert Yates and Linda Brewer had a second wedding ceremony - this time in Oak Harbor, with Brewers' parents as the witnesses - most likely because his divorce hadn't been final the first time. ", When Yates was a teenager, the only fast-food restaurant in Oak Harbor was Kow Korner, where burgers cost 19 cents. He later works as a janitor in a hospital and as a theater usher. Yates bought a new home for $122,000, a tan split-level about a mile away from the rental. He sweats, police say. As reported by Seattle Times, Robert Lee Yates Jr.'s parents were devout Seventh-Day Adventists, and Robert joined the church when he was 14 years old. Police later say they found a button matching one missing from Joseph's jacket and traces of blood on a seat and seat-belt buckle. Yates was sentenced last month in Spokane to 408 years in prison for 13 murders 10 women in Spokane since 1996, a woman in Skagit County in 1988 and a couple near Walla Walla in 1975 and one attempted murder. Yates retired from NASCAR at the end of the 2007 season, turning over ownership of Robert Yates Racing to his son. However, Seattle Times reports his death sentence was commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole following the Washington Supreme Court's decision to abolish capital punishment. He was 74. 1965 - Anna Mae Yates and Robert Lee Yates Sr. are baptized into Seventh-day Adventist Church in Oak Harbor. She was killed just a month after arriving in Spokane. Last week, the 48-year-old Army veteran and National Guard helicopter pilot admitted to 10 Spokane-area slayings from 1996 to 1998, the murders of a young man and woman in southern Washington in 1975 and the murder of a woman in the state's northeastern corner in 1988. Son Kyle born - starts neglecting daughters. He is unemployed for several months. He says the prostitute is a friend's daughter he's driving home. May 1991 to June 1995 - As a platoon leader, he teaches soldiers to fly Kiowa helicopters in the 3rd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, Assault Helicopter Battalion, Fort Drum, N.Y. Yates takes another warrant-officer course. They flirted with being park rangers and game wardens. In 1990, he returns to the United States to take a survival course. "The worst thing I know about Bob is he wouldn't play football his senior year," says Berner, now a dentist. Those who do recall a quiet boy who turned in assignments when they were due, the average Joe, the pitcher. 38. Yates once worked at the hospital, and might have known Hesselgrave. McClenahan also struggled with heroin, and was arrested early November for forging a check during a binge. [26][27][28][20], Shawn Ann McClenahan and Laurie Page Wason Patience like you wouldn't believe.". [41][20], Christine Smith C'EST FINI !!! They avoid meat, drugs and alcohol. Miles Merrill, who learned to teach flying from Yates, thought the man he spent time with seven hours a day for eight weeks was a single parent. Authorities seized the Corvette. "He never used any profanity. He drilled for seven hours a day with two students. Nylander takes back her maiden name. May 27, 1952 - Born in Anacortes to Anna Mae and Robert Lee Yates.