At a glance, Robert Lee Yates looked like a typical, everyday sort of person. He was a military veteran, he was the married father-of-five, they had a perfectly normal life in Spokane, Washington — until, that is, he was arrested for a series of murders that had targeted sex workers and left at least 13 people dead. Yates was actively killing between 1975 and 1998, was arrested in 2000, and when DNA evidence was recovered from his car and definitively linked him to several murders, what more could the prosecution ask for? They got it — in the form of a body that he'd buried in the front yard of his home.
Yates pleaded guilty on the condition that he wouldn't be given the death penalty, but over the years, that's sort of been up in the air. He was actually sentenced to death in 2002 and given an execution date, but the cast got caught in limbo when Yates opted to plead mental illness. That may have been a completely legit defense, but the county prosecutor was quoted as observing (via The Cinemaholic), "I don't think Mr. Yates helps his cause by relying on the fact that he's a necrophiliac."
Yates was still given new hearings, and was still fighting when — in 2018 — the state declared the death penalty unconstitutional. That applied to him, and he's currently being held at the Washington State Penitentiary. The death penalty was off the table, but so is the possibility of parole.
If you or anyone you know needs help with mental health issues, may be the victim of sexual assault, may be the victim of child abuse, has experienced a hate crime, is struggling or in a crisis, contact the relevant resources below:
