EP. 184: TEXAS - Andrea Yates: The Mother Who Drowned Her 5 Children In A Bathtub (PT. 1)

In today's episode, we examine the disturbing crimes of Andrea Yates, one of the most infamous mothers in American history. In 2001, a brutal crime rocked a suburb of Houston, Texas. A mother had snapped and drowned 5 of her children in the bathtub of her home. But her backstory and the lead up to the crime runs deeper than one could ever have possibly imagined. - Listen to our new show, "THE CONSPIRACY FILES"!: -Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5IY9nWD2MYDzlSYP48nRPl -Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-conspiracy-files/id1752719844 -Amazon/Audible - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/ab1ade99-740c-46ae-8028-b2cf41eabf58/the-conspiracy-files -Pandora - https://www.pandora.com/podcast/the-conspiracy-files/PC:1001089101 -iHeart - https://iheart.com/podcast/186907423/ -PocketCast - https://pca.st/dpdyrcca -CastBox - https://castbox.fm/channel/id6193084?country=us - Stay Connected: Join the Murder in America fam in our free Facebook Community for a behind-the-scenes look, more insights and current events in the true crime world: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4365229996855701 If you want even more Murder in America bonus content, including ad-free episodes, come join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/murderinamerica Instagram: http://instagram.com/murderinamerica/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/people/Murder-in-America-Podcast/100086268848682/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MurderInAmerica TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theparanormalfiles and https://www.tiktok.com/@courtneybrowen Feeling spooky? Follow Colin as he travels state to state (and even country to country!) investigating claims of extreme paranormal activity and visiting famous haunted locations on The Paranormal Files Official Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheParanormalFilesOfficialChannel - (c) BLOOD IN THE SINK PRODUCTIONS 2025 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:31Speaker 01

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• 1:24Speaker 02

  Free at Ha. Libre, the original eau de parfum. Yves Saint Laurent.

• 1:30Colin Brown?

  Warning: The following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects.

• 1:42Courtney Brown?

  Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children.

• 1:48Colin Brown?

  This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned.

• 1:52Courtney Brown?

  When you hear the names Mary, John, Luke, Paul, and Noah, what comes to mind? For most people, they will recognize that they are biblical names. But if you were to ask that during the summer of 2001, you might get a different answer. For many people who followed true crime back then, those names would have been very familiar as they were plastered across TVs and newspapers all over the country. But an even more recognizable name that will still turn heads today over two decades later is the name Andrea Yates. In June of 2001, the Yates family was living in a quiet residential neighborhood in Houston, Texas. However, their home,

• 2:37Courtney Brown?

  located at 942 Beach Comber Lane, would soon be the site of a media frenzy after the world learned that five young children had lost their lives inside the home's primary bathroom. On the day in question, Andrea Yates filled up the bathtub and one by one she held each of her children's heads underwater until they stopped breathing. And from that point on, nearly every household in America knew the names of Mary, John, Luke, Paul, and Noah, the five young children murdered at the hands of their own mother. So this is the story of Andrea Yates. I'm Courtney Brown.

• 3:17Colin Brown?

  And I'm Colin Brown.

• 3:18Courtney Brown?

  And you're listening to Murder in America.

• 4:26Colin Brown?

  Andrea Pia Kennedy was born on July 2nd, 1964 in Houston, Texas. Her parents, Andrew and Karen Kennedy, had five children altogether. There were the three boys, Brian, Patrick, and Andrew, their daughter Michelle, and then Andrea, who was the youngest. Andrea's father was a former Air Force pilot who had flown bomber planes in World War II, and he would actually meet Andrea's mom in Germany, where she was from. At the time, Karen was working as a German translator during the war. And upon meeting, she and Andrew fell in love and got married. Following the war, Andrew would bring her back to the United States, where they settled down in Houston, Texas and started a family. From there, Andrew worked as a teacher at Humble High School,

• 5:10Colin Brown?

  and Karen stayed home with the kids. The Kennedys were a simple Catholic, middle-class family. Growing up, the kids lived very normal lives. Andrea was described as a shy little girl who kept to herself, much like her father. Their family lived directly across the street from the Glenbrook Golf Course, and she and her brother loved to collect stray golf balls and sell them for a profit. On the weekends, the Kennedy children liked to ride their bikes through the neighborhood, swim at their local YMCA, or on special occasions, their family would go to the beach and boat around the Gulf.

• 5:43Courtney Brown?

  Ironically, Andrea loved the water. She learned how to swim at a very young age, and her parents always knew that she'd be safe swimming at any depth, which is pretty important when you live near the water, like the Kennedys. Andrea loved swimming so much, she would eventually join the swim team at her school. Now, one- Thing about the Kennedy family was that they were very goal oriented and they set high standards for their children. So Andrea decided that she was going to be the best swimmer on her team. And she was. For years Andrea would spend two hours after school, Monday through Friday, swimming laps and perfecting her craft. She even became her swim team's captain.

• 6:28Courtney Brown?

  Her coach Lana Dunlap would later say, quote, "She got along with anybody and everybody. She was very mature for her age compared to a lot who come through here. She seemed to be focused on what she had to do for her schoolwork. Focused on completing her assignment, staying in the swimming pool. She's not one that you had to yell at to quit playing in the water and finish up. I wish I'd had every one of them on there just like that. It'd make coaching a whole lot easier." End quote. Now on top of swimming Andrea was also very intelligent. She worked hard in school, earning her a membership in the National Honor Society. Her former biology teacher, Mrs.

• 7:10Courtney Brown?

  Judy Bradley, said, quote, "She had good character, good morals. She would sit on the quiet side of the student body in the classrooms, but she would participate in class discussions and class activities and certainly was friendly, but she was not the very outgoing, glad-handing type of student. She seemed to enjoy her relationships with the other students. She was definitely more of a participant rather than a leader." End quote. And this is what a lot of people said about her. Andrea Kennedy had a good group of friends. She was well-liked, but she definitely didn't want to be the center of attention. Andrea preferred to blend in with the crowd.

• 7:52Courtney Brown?

  She never attended any school dances or social functions, and she liked to dress modestly. On the weekends, she preferred to stay home with her family. Marlene Wark, who was her best friend from eighth grade up until college, would later say that while most kids their age wanted to be away from their parents, Andrea loved spending time with hers. In her free time, she would often sit in her room and read books about biology and chemistry. Her family and teachers said that she was a very curious girl, who was always asking questions and wanting to learn about the world around her. Education was important. And in 1982, she would actually graduate valedictorian of her class.

• 8:37Colin Brown?

  After graduation, Andrea attended the University of Texas Health Science Center. And throughout college, she worked at a grocery store to help pay the bills. Now, there isn't much out there about her college experience, but one can assume it wasn't very eventful. Andrea wasn't the party type. She was religious and very studious, so she took her education seriously and eventually earned a bachelor's degree in nursing. This was the perfect job for Andrea. Throughout her whole life, she loved to help people. In fact, her brother Brian would later say that Andrea had a helpful spirit for her entire life. When she was younger, she would even help the elderly people in her neighborhood. So a career in nursing was the perfect fit.

• 9:19Colin Brown?

  Following college, she would get a job at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in downtown Houston. It was a big deal for Andrea, as M.D. Anderson is a celebrated research hospital and one of the best cancer hospitals in the country. During her time there, she rented out a small apartment in southeast Houston and mostly kept to herself. Outside of work, she didn't do much. Occasionally, she would grab lunch with a friend, visit her parents in town, and run errands. But other than that, her life was pretty mundane. She definitely wasn't putting herself out there in the Houston dating scene. In fact, at this point, Andrea had never even had a boyfriend, not one. But she didn't mind. She knew her husband would come along when the time was right.

• 10:01Colin Brown?

  But one thing Andrea did enjoy doing around this time was floating in her apartment's pool. Throughout her life, the water seemed to bring her comfort, especially in the scalding hot Texas summers.

• 10:13Courtney Brown?

  In the summer of 1989, the pool at Andrea's apartment complex became crowded with people trying to escape the Texas heat. One of these people was 25-year-old NASA employee Rusty Yates. That day, he made his way down to the pool with plans to lay out in the sun and listen to music. But as he spread his towel out on the lounge chair, he couldn't help but notice a tall, thin brunette woman in a bikini floating in the water. Rusty thought she was beautiful. He even approached her and tried to make small talk, but she didn't seem very interested. When Rusty left the pool that day, he wanted to get to know her more.

• 10:56Courtney Brown?

  And luckily for him, this wouldn't be the only time the two would cross paths.

• 11:01Colin Brown?

  Russell Edison Yates Jr., otherwise known as Rusty, was born in New York but raised in a small town called Hermitage in north-central Tennessee. And unlike Andrea, he was very social and popular. Growing up, he had a lot of friends and was an all-star football player at DuPont High School. According to people that knew him, he was one of those charismatic jocks that everyone knew. But he was also very religious. Every single Sunday morning, Rusty would go to church, and on Sunday evenings, he would meet up with his youth group for Bible studies. In the summers, when he wasn't practicing football, he would travel with the Methodist Youth Fellowship for summer camps and various other church outings like trips to amusement parks and movie nights.

• 11:43Colin Brown?

  One of his high school friends, a woman named Tracy Alvarides, stated, "He could be so carefree at times, then at the next minute, he could be very serious about his religion, whatever." Religion was very important to him then, especially. And the one thing he and Andrea had in common was their intelligence. During his senior year of high school, Rusty was in multiple advanced placement classes, was president of the National Honor Society, was a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and he worked as a library aide. It was ironic for everyone that knew him, because not only was he your typical football jock, but he was also incredibly smart. His friend Tracy stated, "I think what stuck in our minds was that he played football, but was in all the advanced classes.

• 12:26Colin Brown?

  You were either a jock, or very intelligent, or one of the kids that did drugs." It seemed as if Rusty Yates had it all at DuPont High School. He was even elected Mr. DuPont by his peers. And he was chosen for who's who among American high school students.

• 12:41Courtney Brown?

  Now even though Rusty was considered popular, he never really had many girlfriends. His senior year of high school, he had his first girlfriend, but it didn't last. He was more focused on his plans for after high school. During his senior year, he received a scholarship for Auburn University's Navy ROTC program. So in 1982, after graduating third in his high school class, he made his way to Alabama for college. During the first two years at Auburn, Rusty did really well for himself. He even served on a Navy destroyer. But in 1984, he decided that the military program was no longer for him.

• 13:23Courtney Brown?

  So he gave up his scholarship and switched his major to Mathematical Engineering. And to help pay for his classes, he often tutored college athletes. It's also around this time when Rusty went through some self-discovery, as most people do when they're on their own for the first time. You see, throughout Rusty's life, he had always been a devout Methodist. But while in college, he met this traveling evangelical preacher named Michael Warren Eche, and he would change his entire perspective. Michael came to preach at his campus one day, and his sermon was about following Jesus, not the church. And as Rusty listened to his sermon, he felt awakened.

• 14:07Courtney Brown?

  Afterwards, he even called his mother to tell her about it. But as you will soon see, Michael Warren Eche is known to have some controversial fire and brimstone-type teachings. In his sermons, he has talked about how organized religion has watered down God's message over time. He tells his followers that the entire world is evil, especially many women. He believes that since all women come from Eve, we are naturally more evil than men, and that we need to be subservient to them so they can help guide us. Now, I'm not talking poorly about anyone's religion. These are just some teachings of his that have been controversial,

• 14:49Courtney Brown?

  and it will play a very important part of this story later on. But after Rusty met this pastor and started following his teachings, the two would actually keep in touch for years to come.

• 15:02Colin Brown?

  While Rusty was finishing his last few years of college, he was actually selected to be a part of a NASA cooperative program in Houston. This was a very big opportunity for him. The students who were picked got to spend three semesters at NASA, designing and building parts of a shuttle, while working with some of the smartest people in the country. And at the end of this program, many of the students were even offered a job at NASA. This was huge for Rusty. They only picked a handful of students to be a part of this, and he was one of them. Before he knew it, he was moving out to Houston, Texas. The three semesters at NASA went by in the blink of an eye, and Rusty made a good impression there. After graduating summa cum laude from Auburn, NASA even offered him a job as a junior engineer.

• 15:45Colin Brown?

  And during his time there, Rusty was considered to be a great employee. He always showed up on time and did exactly as he was told. But according to his coworkers, he was unremarkable. One of his coworkers said, "He was a pretty quiet guy to himself, you know? He's not one of these high-energy types. He was smart and knew what he was doing. He'd like to have a good time, laugh at the jokes. If something crazy happened in the lab that was funny, he would laugh. He wasn't like the class clown. He wasn't anything like that. But when the situation would arise, he would laugh just like everyone else. Nothing bizarre, nothing strange, back then."

• 16:19Courtney Brown?

  By 1989, Rusty was working at NASA full-time, and he was living at the Sunscape Apartments. The very apartment where he had been mesmerized by the beautiful brunette in the pool. After seeing her for the first time, Rusty hoped to run into her again. But by that point, the summer had turned to fall, so there weren't many people out by the pool anymore. It seemed as if Rusty had missed his opportunity with her. But luckily for him, one night, when he was sitting in his apartment, he heard a knock on his front door. And when he opened it, there she was. The woman introduced herself as Andrea Kennedy, and she wanted to know if Rusty had seen anything unusual in the parking lot the night before.

• 17:04Courtney Brown?

  Apparently, someone had hit her car and left without leaving a note. And while this story was true... Andrea would later admit that she purposefully knocked on his door that night because she had seen Rusty around the apartment complex and she too wanted to get to know him. Over the next few weeks, Rusty and Andrea would get to know each other more. And eventually, he asked her out. Andrea would later say that she was happy with Rusty. He was her very first boyfriend. And the past few years of her life had been a bit lonely. Andrea really liked him. Rusty seemed to have felt the same way about her. The two were undeniably compatible. Both were religious, smart.

• 17:49Courtney Brown?

  She was a nurse at MD Anderson and he was an engineer at NASA. So they were both successful in their careers. Rusty was also more of the social type, while Andrea was more reserved. So they complemented each other well. The two would go on to date for the next three years before they decided to move in together in 1992. And it was during that summer when Rusty introduced Andrea to his evangelical pastor friend, Michael Warren Ecki. He also introduced her to Michael's wife, Rachel. Now, like we mentioned earlier, Michael had been a huge inspiration to Rusty in college. And he wanted Andrea to hear their teachings as well.

• 18:31Courtney Brown?

  Around this time, Andrea even started writing letters to Rachel Warren Ecki. Now, we don't know exactly what she wrote in these letters, but Rachel did write her back. In one letter, she thanks Andrea for sending cookies. And in another, she thanked her for sending money. I guess she and Rusty were sending them funds so they could continue preaching around the world. But in one of the letters that Rachel sent to Andrea, there was a picture of her husband Michael standing under this banner that read, quote, "All that matters is that you are a sinner headed to hell," end quote. In the second letter, Rachel instructed Andrea to, quote, "Seek Jesus" instead of Rusty, her boyfriend.

• 19:16Courtney Brown?

  Now Andrea seemed to really love the Warren Ekkies. Like Rusty, she valued their teachings. And they would go on to play a big part in their lives.

• 19:26Colin Brown?

  In December of 1992, after three years of dating, Rusty proposed to Andrea and she happily said yes. To him, Andrea was the exact type of woman he wanted in a wife, someone who followed the same religion, someone who was subservient to him. To Rusty, that was very important, as he believed that wives' roles are to be agreeable, and Andrea was just that. She wasn't really the type of person that was outspoken. If she didn't agree with something, Andrea would keep it to herself to keep the peace. She wasn't one to argue her point, or to talk back. She followed her husband's lead with whatever he wanted, and that dynamic seemed to work out for them. On April 17, 1993, the two would get married in a small chapel in Clear Lake Park, and a non-denominational pastor

• 20:11Colin Brown?

  officiated the ceremony. And with that, Andrea Kennedy was now Andrea Yates, a name that is now known all across the world. But after exchanging vows, the newlyweds celebrated with over a hundred guests at their reception. It was a new and exciting chapter in their lives, and all of their friends and family were so happy for their union. The following week, Rusty and Andrea would honeymoon in Cancun, Mexico, and when they came back to Texas, they had their new home waiting for them. Rusty had purchased the small brick house in Friendswood, Texas, for $90,000. And although it was the smallest house in the upper-middle-class neighborhood, it was perfect for the two of them, especially because just two months after their wedding, Andrea found out she was pregnant with their first child.

• 20:55Courtney Brown?

  On February 26, 1994, their son, Noah Jacob Yates, would make his way into the world. Andrea wanted to have a natural birth, so she opted for no epidural, and in the end, it was all worth it. Noah would completely change their lives. Andrea was described as "a good mother." With Rusty's salary of $80,000 a year, Andrea chose to quit her nursing job and focus solely on parenting their son. For that first year, Andrea spent all of her time taking care of their son. She breastfed him, played with him, read to him, cleaned up After him and eventually taught Noah how to walk.

• 21:39Courtney Brown?

  Andrea liked being a stay-at-home mom. It was a traditional life where Rusty provided and she stayed home to do her wifely duties, which in their mind was just how God intended. And in the beginning, it seemed to have worked for them. But before they knew it, without even trying, Andrea was pregnant with their second child. She and Rusty used to joke about how easy it was for her to get pregnant. He even called her the nickname Fertile Myrtle. But with their growing family, Rusty Yates had a pretty strict way of running their household, especially when it came to their finances. That year, Rusty had purchased a filing cabinet with all of these labeled files inside like

• 22:25Courtney Brown?

  groceries, gas, clothing, utilities. And each month, he would fill each file with a certain amount of money. He called it the bank. And anytime Andrea needed money for, let's say, food, she would open up the cabinet, go to the grocery tab, and pull out however much money she needed for the day. This system seemed to work for them, and they were pretty well off, even with Andrea staying home. On December 15th, 1995, Andrea would give birth to their second child, a son named John Samuel Yates. And while she absolutely loved him, life with two children was overwhelming to say the least.

• 23:07Courtney Brown?

  Newborns need constant care, and toddlers need to be watched at all times. Then on top of that, she was also in charge of cleaning the house, doing laundry, cooking dinner, giving the boys their baths at night, and getting them ready for bed. She was having to do it all by herself. But Andrea didn't like to burden her husband. So even when she felt like she was drowning in responsibilities, she never complained. She was the type of wife where when she got groceries, she never asked her husband to help carry them inside. Instead, she would pile as many bags in her hands as she could and do it all herself. But that's not to say that Rusty wasn't a good husband or father. He loved his family.

• 23:52Courtney Brown?

  When he would get home after a long day of work, he would sometimes even take their oldest son Noah out of the house so that Andrea could have a break and a moment of peace.

• 24:03Colin Brown?

  Things were about to get a whole lot more difficult for the Yates family. Because in 1996, Rusty found out that NASA was transferring him to Honeywell Aerospace in Clearwater, Florida. Now, he would only work there for less than a year, so instead of buying a house, Rusty decided that he and his family were just going to live out of a small travel trailer. For years, he always liked the idea of living a minimalist life, with few worldly possessions. The Warrenakis had actually been preaching that owning a big home and having a lot of stuff wasn't godly, so this was their opportunity to live a life that honored God. Now, it's unclear what Andrea thought about this move, but considering she was hardly one to complain, she likely trusted that her husband had their best interests at heart.

• 24:47Colin Brown?

  She did, however, message Rachel Warrenaki about the move, and she told her that they were moving to Florida. Sadly, she also said that she had been feeling really lonely lately. A few weeks later, Rachel responded and told Andrea to explore that loneliness and what that's telling her about her salvation. She also instructed her to read the Bible, verse Titus 2, which states, "Teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God." Rachel made sure to emphasize that women should be the ones taking care of the home,

• 25:32Colin Brown?

  and stated that it went against what modern women thought. She even added, "Jesus knows how wicked you are, how weak and vulnerable, but God is able to sympathize with your weakness. Even the loneliness works to draw you to seek and find security in Him."

• 25:47Courtney Brown?

  By October of 1996, the Yates family had officially purchased their small travel trailer that they hooked up to their blue Suburban, and they started getting ready for their move to Florida. They even rented out their home in Friendswood, and they sold a bunch of their stuff, like their furniture and wedding gifts. Their goal was to only keep the possessions they truly needed. But after a few weeks... They had finally packed up the trailer and were ready to start this new chapter of their lives. On October 12th, 1996, Rusty, Andrea, Noah, and John arrived at the Lazy Days RV Campground in Hitchcock, Texas. They only planned on staying there for a few weeks before they

• 26:32Courtney Brown?

  officially made the move, but the RV manager Belinda Green would later say that the family seemed in good spirits. Rusty even talked with her about how he was debt-free and ready to live a life of simplicity. But these first few weeks were definitely an adjustment for them. They went from having a house to a 38-foot trailer. But of course, Andrea wasn't one to complain. And by November, they officially set off for Clearwater, Florida. Upon arriving, Rusty immediately started work at his new job, and Andrea explored her new life with her children in a new state. Now, something she really loved to do when the children were

• 27:15Courtney Brown?

  younger was pull out their recorder and film special memories. In early January 1997, Andrea filmed a video of Rusty and little Noah cramped inside the trailer's bathroom, and Noah is pretending to shave his face, just like his dad. Andrea can be heard in the background laughing at the special moment. In May of that year, she filmed another video of Noah riding his bicycle through the RV park. Andrea can be heard saying, quote, "There's our boys," as one-year-old John waddled behind his big brother. This time period was a happy one for their family, before everything would take a dark turn. Andrea was even pregnant with their third child.

• 28:01Colin Brown?

  Hey, everybody. Courtney and I have a favor to ask of you. If you love Murder in America, you love our show, please leave us a five-star review wherever you listen to your podcasts, whether that's Apple Podcasts, Spotify. If you love our show and you want to help us grow, definitely consider leaving us a five-star review. Also, it helps the show so much when people share our Links to our program. So if you're listening and you're loving what we're doing here, share us on your Instagram story, shout us out on X, post one of our shows on your Facebook, and let the world, your friends, your family know that you're listening to Murder in America. It seriously helps us so much, helps us grow the show. We couldn't do this without all of you listening at home. Seriously, thank y'all. But let's get back to the story.

• 28:47Colin Brown?

  By June of 1997, just eight months after arriving in Florida, Rusty's contract at Honeywell Aerospace had officially ended. So on June 17th, they packed up all of their things and drove back to the Lazy Days RV Park in Texas. The RV Park's manager, Belinda Green, was happy to see them again. She enjoyed watching the little boys play outside and laugh, and she was surprised to see that Andrea was pregnant again. By that point, she was actually just a few months away from giving birth. And this time, Belinda gave them the best spot in the park, so the children had plenty of room to run around and play. The Yates family was happy to be back in Texas. Rusty immediately started back with his work at NASA. Andrea spent her days with her children,

• 29:30Colin Brown?

  like she always did. When she had free time, she liked to take the boys to the community pool, walk them around the park to pick flowers, and go to the small pond on the property that contained an assortment of bugs that Noah loved to play with, especially the butterflies. By all accounts, Andrea appeared to be a great mother. She was patient with her boys. She was also kind but firm when it was appropriate. And because of that, Noah and John were good kids. Belinda Green would later say that the oldest, Noah, would often bring her drawings of flowers and butterflies, two of his favorite things.

• 30:05Courtney Brown?

  On September 13th, 1997, Andrea and Rusty welcomed their third son, Paul Abraham. Paul was a wonderful addition to the Yates family, and Andrea couldn't wait to show him off to Belinda. They all seemed so happy. From the outside looking in, Andrea and Rusty were the perfect doting parents of three young boys. But Belinda was able to get a firsthand account of what their family looked like. After all, she saw them every day. And something she noticed was that their family wasn't very affectionate. There were never any hugs or kisses, no positive affirmations, words of encouragement,

• 30:48Courtney Brown?

  or even I love yous from what she saw. And that's not to say it didn't happen. Belinda just never saw it. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Every family is different. However, Andrea was described as calm but almost robotic. She didn't show a lot of emotion. And at times, Belinda said she looked detached. Andrea's older brother Andrew noticed this too, but she wasn't always that way, he said. In fact, he noticed this shift in his sister after she started having children. He would see this blank look come across her face. But when Andrew would ask if she was all right,

• 31:31Courtney Brown?

  Andrea was always quick to say that she was fine. However, Andrew knew better. He would later say that he had seen that same blank robotic stare on their father's face after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Like her father, Andrew said that Andrea was physically present, but her expressions were vacant and not wanting to burden anyone. She always kept everything to herself.

• 31:57Colin Brown?

  But under the surface, Andrea was struggling. Her entire life had been confined to a 38-foot travel trailer. She had no social life outside of her children, and she barely even had time to care for herself. Instead, she spent her days taking care of her three boys. In February of 1998, their family would celebrate Noah's fourth birthday. But there were no friends or family members there for the occasion, just Andrea, Rusty, Noah, John, and Paul, all singing happy birthday to him in their trailer. The Yates family kept their circle small, but the one family they did interact with was the Warren Ekkies. In late May of 1998, they would actually take a family trip to Miami, Florida, where the Warren Ekkie family was living at the time.

• 32:43Colin Brown?

  Rachel had been there with their six children evangelizing at college campuses. And their kids were even involved in their work, handing out pamphlets to college students as they walked by. One of their daughters, a girl named Ruth, mentioned to one of the students that she and her siblings didn't have any friends and that they were homeschooled. In addition, Rachel Warnecke had given a statement to the Indiana Daily Student where she stated, "Seek Jesus not in the church or religion and not in the system. The system cannot save you because it is based in Satan. The world offers nothing else, and the world does not have answers."

• 33:17Courtney Brown?

  While the Yates family was in Miami, they met up with the Warneckes. Not only because they looked up to them, but the Warneckes were also selling this Greyhound bus. It was an old, beat-up one, but Rusty decided to buy it from them. He wanted to eventually fix it up and travel the country with his family. And the trailer they had back home just wasn't the right bus for that, so they bought this one and brought it back to Texas. Now, the entire time they had been living in the RV park, they had been renting out their house in Friendswood. But in October of 1998, they officially sold that house and used the money to renovate this new Greyhound bus that they bought from the Warneckes.

• 34:02Courtney Brown?

  So as you can imagine, it was a pretty chaotic time for their family. They now had three young boys living in this small trailer, they're renovating this new bus, and Andrea found out she was pregnant with their fourth child. But throughout this time, the one person that Andrea seemed to keep in contact with was Rachel Warnecke. And in their letters to each other, Rachel talked a lot about eternal damnation. In one letter to Andrea, Rachel told her that she, quote, "must get right with God before it's too late," end quote. She continued by saying, quote, "The window of opportunity that God has opened up for you at this time, through us, will only stay open for a certain time."

• 34:49Courtney Brown?

  All the rebuke, confrontation, and sharing that went on between us was intended to affect your souls for salvation. If you allow Satan to come in and steal the understanding, the consequences will be tragic.

• 35:05Courtney Brown?

  Now again, I am not talking poorly of anyone's religion, but fire and brimstone teachings like this can be really scary for people, especially for people who are not mentally well. And as you'll soon learn, Andrea Yates's mental health was about to take a downward spiral.

• 35:23Colin Brown?

  On February 15th, 1999, Andrea would give birth to her fourth baby, another son they named Luke David Yates. By this point, Rusty had sold their first travel trailer, and their family of six was now living in their renovated Greyhound bus, which was better because now they had a bit more room, but it was still incredibly crowded. With four children, all under five years old, their new bus was filled with toys, clothes, dishes, you name it. There was this one portion of the bus that they originally used to store luggage, but with how crowded things were, they now had to use it for a makeshift bed for Noah and John. And it's around this time when the RV park manager, Belinda Green, noticed that Andrea hardly ever left the bus. Throughout the day, she stayed cramped

• 36:08Colin Brown?

  up inside with her four young boys. And on the rare occasion she did step outside, everyone said she looked overwhelmed and exhausted.

• 36:17Courtney Brown?

  After the birth of her fourth son, something changed in Andrea. She was no longer seen walking her children around the park. She didn't stop by the office to chat with anyone. And she grew even more withdrawn from the outside world. The weight of postpartum depression had crept in and taken its hold on her. Every day felt like a constant cycle of cooking, cleaning, entertaining the children, and changing the reusable cloth diapers that they used. And there was nothing to help relieve any of this pressure. Andrea didn't have many friends. Her husband worked all the time, and she spent all day, every day alone with her boys.

• 36:58Courtney Brown?

  June of nineteen ninety-nine, Andrea was on the verge of a mental breakdown. For years, she had tried her best not to complain about her mental struggles. But for the past few weeks, she finally opened up to her husband about feeling, quote, "sad and depressed." She said she tried to pray these feelings away, but nothing seemed to help. And then finally, on June sixteenth nineteen ninety-nine, while Rusty was at work, Andrea called her husband and told him to come home immediately. When Rusty finally arrived, he found Andrea sitting in the back of the bus in a state of extreme distress.

• 37:39Courtney Brown?

  She was physically shaking, biting her fingers, and her legs were bouncing up and down. It's here where she told her husband that she desperately needed help. But sadly, instead of taking her to a doctor, Rusty took her and the boys on a walk along Galveston Bay. The next morning, June seventeenth, Rusty drove Andrea and the boys to her parents' house, hoping that maybe seeing family members would help her feel better. But unbeknownst to him and everyone, Andrea Yates needed a lot more than that. Because that day, while her boys napped, Andrea snuck into her father's bathroom,

• 38:19Courtney Brown?

  opened up his medicine cabinet, and swallowed over fifty trazodone pills. Trazodone is a strong sedative, and with everything going on in her life, Andrea was hoping to take them and fall asleep forever. She no longer wanted to be here, and if it wasn't for her mother, she likely would have died that day. But soon after taking the pills, her mom walked in the bedroom to tell her that Luke had woken up from his nap and needed to be fed. However, Andrea responded that she couldn't feed Luke because of all the pills she just took. Immediately, Karen Kennedy called nine-one-one, and Andrea was taken by ambulance to the emergency room.

• 39:03Courtney Brown?

  Once there, they fed her charcoal to induce vomiting, and once she was stable, a doctor diagnosed her with major depressive disorder. And because she had tried to take her own life, she was then transferred to the psychiatric unit at Methodist Hospital.

• 39:19Colin Brown?

  Andrea's family was devastated over what happened, but there was a long history of mental illness in her family. Two of her siblings had been diagnosed with depression, her father suffered from depression, and one sibling had bipolar disorder. It was also reported that there was a history of alcohol abuse somewhere in the family. But once at the psych unit, Dr. James Flack diagnosed Andrea with "major depressive disorder, single episode, severe, and suicidal ideation." For the next week Andrea was closely monitored to make sure she was no longer a danger to herself. And during that time, she opened up to a nurse about her mental struggles. She told her that after having children, she had become very overwhelmed and depressed, but she also said that she was no longer suicidal.

• 40:03Colin Brown?

  According to hospital reports, Andrea admitted to having "recurrent obsessive thoughts," and that "most of them are over our children and how they'll turn out." When the hospital staff spoke to Rusty, he admitted that he believed they had a good marriage, but over the years he felt that Andrea had lost her identity due to her energy being focused on the children. It was also noted that it was concerned with Andrea's obsessive thoughts about "the concept of salvation."

• 40:30Courtney Brown?

  So now, you can probably see how Andrea's correspondence with Rachel Warren Ecki and her fire and brimstone teachings wouldn't have been good for her during this time. For someone already struggling with postpartum depression and suicidal ideations, hearing from a pastor that she "must get right with God before it's too late," isn't going to do anything good. But while at the psychiatric hospital, a social worker asked about their living arrangements. Andrea and Rusty told her about the Greyhound bus they were living in, and she was completely taken aback.

• 41:08Courtney Brown?

  To her, six people crammed into 350 square feet of space would be overwhelming for anyone. Rusty also mentioned something about how he was teaching his children how to woodwork, and that he even allowed his three-year-old to use power tools. And to the social worker listening to this, she was concerned. So much so, she even contacted the CPS Abuse Hotline on June 23, 1999.

• 41:39Colin Brown?

  During this call, she reported that not only were the living arrangements not healthy for Andrea and her children, but that the father was letting his toddlers use power tools. About a week after this report was made, CPS Supervisor Dan Wilber replied and thanked Norma for sending the message, but he informed her that there was nothing they could do, stating, "Because the situation does not appear to involve the occurrence and/or substantial risk of abuse or neglect, we plan no further inquiries." However, Dan did say that he forwarded the complaint to the Houston Police Department. But back at the psychiatric hospital, Andrea was treated with the antidepressant Zoloft, and they also noted that she may be suffering from delusional guilt, and that she was still at risk of harming herself.

• 42:23Colin Brown?

  But despite this, they decided to release Andrea due to insurance restrictions. Dr. Flack wrote in Andrea's notes, "Interviewed patient again this AM. I also spoke to the patient's husband at length. They are requesting that she be discharged to the family's care. They have agreed to watch her around the clock and are aware that she is at risk of harming herself again."

• 42:44Courtney Brown?

  So with that, on June 24, 1999, Andrea Yates was released from the hospital. Before leaving, she agreed to stay diligent about taking her new medication, and she promised to see her new outpatient therapist, Dr. Eileen Starbrunch, several times a week. And she would keep that promise for the time being. During her first therapy session with Dr. Starbrunch, Andrea was visibly nervous. She sat in a chair shaking the entire time, and she barely spoke. After that session, her doctor suggested that Andrea stop taking her antidepressant and instead switch to an antipsychotic called Zyprexa,

• 43:27Courtney Brown?

  which is used to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The doctor even sent her home with the medication to see how she reacted. to the drug, but later that night Andrea flushed them down the toilet and sadly from here she would not get any better. Over the next few weeks while back at home, her family stayed around to keep an eye on her, but Andrea started having both visual and auditory hallucinations. She even began pulling out clumps of her hair. Now, her doctors warned her family that she may still be at risk of harming herself. So just to be safe, Rusty went through the bus and hid anything that she could harm herself with, including guns, knives, and medication.

• 44:12Courtney Brown?

  But about four weeks after she was discharged from the hospital, the hallucinations got so bad, she started hearing voices telling her to go look for the knives. And eventually, when no one was looking, she would find them. From there, she snuck into the bathroom and began slicing the skin on her legs. After a few minutes, Rusty heard the commotion inside and opened up the door. When he did, he saw Andrea holding the butcher knife up to her neck. Here is Rusty describing what he saw that day to 60 minutes.

• 44:51Speaker 05

  She, she had a knife held up to her neck and it's like she's looking at her neck trying to figure out how to cut herself so that she could successfully kill herself. And I said, give me the knife and she said, let me do this. And I said, now give me the knife. She, she wouldn't do it. She just stood there like this. So I, I grabbed her arm and pulled it down and, and, and I, I pried the knife out of her hand.

• 45:16Courtney Brown?

  The following day on July 21st, 1999, Andrea Yates was admitted to Memorial Spring Shadows Glen in Houston, a private psychiatric hospital. One of the hospital nurses had come into Andrea's room to ask questions, but Andrea remained silent and catatonic. So Rusty had to answer the questions for her. He admitted that Andrea had not been on top of her Zoloft medication. She would miss doses. Here and there. And as for the antipsychotic drug Zyprexa, well, she hadn't been taking that at all. Rusty also told them that Andrea would usually wake up in a good mood.

• 45:58Courtney Brown?

  But throughout the day is when she got worse. He even told the nurse, quote, "I don't think she has much hope," end quote. And many of the hospital staff would say that Andrea was not an easy patient. Throughout that first week at the hospital, she refused to take any of her medications. She even refused to sign a consent for medication form. When food was brought to her room, she hardly ever touched it. She wouldn't shower or dress herself. And when they brought her in for psychological evaluations, she wouldn't even speak. Staff wrote down in her notes that she was, quote, "withdrawn, suspicious, and paranoid."

• 46:40Courtney Brown?

  And at one point, she even appeared to be frightened.

• 46:44Colin Brown?

  Now, during this week, while Andrea was at the psychiatric hospital, Rusty finally came to the conclusion that they had to buy a house. Andrea's mother Karen had even approached him and said, "No more bus." And she was right. Having six people crammed into that tiny space was not good for Andrea's mental health. That very week, on July 29th, 1999, Rusty bought the house located at 942 Beach Comer Lane in the community of Clear Lake in Houston, Texas. The very home where their biggest nightmare would one day turn into reality.

• 47:18Courtney Brown?

  But back at the psychiatric hospital, Andrea was still not cooperating with the staff. So they were forced to give her an emergency injection of an antipsychotic drug called Haldal. A few hours after the injection, Rusty called Andrea on the phone. And for the first time in days, she briefly spoke with him. By all accounts, everyone at the hospital noticed that Rusty was concerned with Andrea's mental health and well-being. He even brought her flowers and visited whenever he could. In the evenings, he would sit next to her on the couch and Stroked her hair. On July twenty seventh, Andrea was given another emergency injection of Haldol.

• 48:02Courtney Brown?

  And from there, she finally agreed to speak with a social worker. The first time since she was admitted, Andrea finally opened up about her mental struggles. And she told the staff that she had been depressed ever since the birth of their first child, five years back. It seemed as if her postpartum depression never really went away, since she was having babies back to back. She also opened up to them about how her husband never really helped her over the years. And because of that, she was extremely overwhelmed. However, she did admit that after her suicide attempt, Rusty had been more helpful with the children. When asked what would help alleviate some of that stress,

• 48:45Courtney Brown?

  Andrea said she needed more help at home with the kids, and that she needed to find some hobbies for herself. She knew that sitting around all day every day with no breaks and no taking care of herself, wasn't healthy for her. Now as for her first suicide attempt, Andrea said that she was disappointed in herself. She told the social worker, quote, "I'm a nurse. I should have known what kind of OD to take," end quote. When asked about her second suicide attempt, Andrea admitted that she had been hearing voices and seeing visions of knives. She said, quote, "I had a fear I would hurt somebody. I thought it better to end my own life and prevent it.

• 49:29Courtney Brown?

  I had a vision in my mind, get a knife, get a knife, get a knife. I had a vision of this person being stabbed," end quote. Now when the doctors asked who she thought about stabbing, she refused to answer. But she said that the hallucinations were so strong, Andrea decided to end her life. So she found the knife and went to the bathroom to kill herself. When Rusty opened the door that day, she was trying to locate a pulse point in her neck, so she could slit her throat, but Rusty intervened before she could. Point in the evaluation, the doctors asked Andrea, "Exactly when did you start having these hallucinations?" And shockingly,

• 50:14Courtney Brown?

  she admitted that they had started around five years ago, after the birth of her first son Noah. "But they weren't as strong back then," she said. "She could easily brush them out of her mind." However, with the birth of each child, the hallucinations got harder and harder to ignore.

• 50:33Colin Brown?

  Following this evaluation, Dr. Thompson diagnosed Andrea with "major depressive disorder, severe, recurrent, and with psychotic features." They also suggested electric shock therapy treatment. Another doctor, Dr. Arturo Rios, agreed with the treatment plan for Andrea, but both Andrea and Rusty refused. They wanted to wait it out to see if the injections of Haldol were working. But during her last week at the hospital, Andrea was still not showing signs of improvement. She continued refusing her medication, which was a combination of Haldol and Kogentin, and two antidepressants, Effexor and Wellbutrin. When asked why she wouldn't take her medicine, she would simply respond, "I just don't feel like taking them."

• 51:16Colin Brown?

  But in order for her to get released from the hospital, Andrea had to take her medication. So eventually, she started pretending to take her pills. In some instances, she would just hide it inside of her mouth until no one was looking. And when the coast was clear, she would spit the pills out into the toilet. Now, over the course of her three-week stay, she had shown some signs of improvement. She opened up to the doctors about her mental health struggles. She sometimes took her medication. And towards the end, her mood seemed to have slightly improved. So on August 9th, 1999, she was discharged to the partial hospitalization program, which meant that she would continue outpatient treatment during the day, but at night, she was able to go home.

• 51:58Colin Brown?

  And luckily for her, home was no longer a 350-square-foot bus, but rather a spacious 1,600-square-foot, three-bedroom home in Clear Lake. But upon getting discharged, Andrea had to follow orders, which meant she had to be diligent about taking her medication, which included Wellbutrin, 150mg twice a day, Effexor, 75mg twice a day, a 2mg injection of Kogentin at bedtime, and a 5mg injection of Haldol at bedtime. If you love murder in America, you love mysteries, you love true crime, you love murder stories and the unknown, then I have a new show for you. It's called The Conspiracy Files, and it's hosted by me, Colin Brown, from Murder in America and the Paranormal Files.

• 52:42Colin Brown?

  On The Conspiracy Files, we explore everything from bizarre deaths to freak paranormal events, pedophile rings, government corruption, ritual sacrifice. No topic is untouched on this show. Everything that we talk about on The Conspiracy Files is backed up with fact. I release reference sheets with every single episode that we do, so you guys know everything we're talking about is confirmed to have happened and be real. It's a completely different type of show than anything else you've ever seen about conspiracy theories. Instead of a bunch of conjecture and theories, we're presenting you people with facts, telling you the story, walking you through the story,

• 53:23Colin Brown?

  just as detailed as we do with Murder in America, and then letting the listener decide what they think. Anyways, you should definitely give it a listen. It's called The Conspiracy Files. The links are in the description of this show, and you can find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And now, let's get back to our story.

• 53:44Courtney Brown?

  The day after she was discharged, Andrea attended an outpatient therapy session with Dr. Starbrunch. And during it, she talked about how guilty she felt for having to leave her children for three weeks while she was admitted. "She didn't want to have to go back there," she said. She also told Dr. Starbrunch about her hesitation to take her medication. Andrea said they made her feel weird. She felt different and weak. And lately, she had actually been feeling a lot better. Dr. Starbrunch had to remind Andrea that although she was feeling slightly better, she had to continue taking her medication, and that her feeling better is because of the

• 54:28Courtney Brown?

  medication. Luckily, Andrea agreed. Now, six days after this therapy session, Andrea would see

• 54:37Courtney Brown?

  Again, and this time, she reported that she felt about seventy-five percent back to normal. She said that Rusty was even allowing her to spend some time by herself for a few hours a week. By all accounts, her medication seemed to have been working. For the first time in a while, things were looking up for the Yates family. Rusty had been hard at work making their new house into a home. He built bunk beds for the boys and had even promised to help Andrea Moore by working half the day at home. Now, in the mornings when he had to go into work, Andrea's mom would be there to help. And things were going well for them, so much so that during Andrea's next session with Dr. Starbrunch,

• 55:22Courtney Brown?

  she made a startling confession. Andrea told her that she wanted to stop taking her medication, homeschool her boys. And to Dr. Starbrunch's surprise, she said that she and Rusty were even wanting to get pregnant again. Dr. Starbrunch couldn't help but notice how excited Andrea seemed, talking about their future. But having another baby was the last thing that Andrea needed. Clearly, her postpartum experiences were driving her insane, and her medication was the only thing keeping that at bay. During their session, Dr. Starbrunch even wrote down in her notes, quote, "Apparently, patient and husband plan to have as many babies as nature will allow.

• 56:07Courtney Brown?

  This will surely guarantee future psychotic depression," end quote.

• 56:12Colin Brown?

  Andrea Yates was going through postpartum psychosis, a rare but serious medical emergency that endangers both the mother and the child's lives. According to the Cleveland Clinic, although the disease is rare, only affecting roughly one in one thousand mothers, it's extremely dangerous. Now, postpartum psychosis is very different from postpartum depression, or the baby blues, which is much more common with pretty mild emotional symptoms. But postpartum psychosis affects a mother's sense of reality. Common side effects are hallucinations, severe mood changes, delusions, disorganized thinking or behavior.

• 56:47Colin Brown?

  behavior, insomnia, agitation, thoughts of self harming or harming others, depression, mania, or a mix of both. And Andrea was experiencing most, if not all, of these symptoms. It also appeared that with each child, her symptoms were getting worse. So the fact that she and Rusty were still wanting to have more children was incredibly concerning, especially since she wasn't committed to taking her medication. Andrea Yates was a ticking time bomb, and no one seemed to have realized, because on August 20th, she was discharged from her partial hospitalization program.

• 57:22Courtney Brown?

  During this time, Andrea had not only been going to private therapy sessions, but she had also been going to group therapy, where she talked with other mothers going through similar experiences. In one of her groups, she talked about how she was going to continue therapy at a facility in Clear Lake. So it seemed like she was truly committed to getting better. She also talked about how she was going to homeschool her boys. Andrea was adamant that all of her children were going to be homeschooled, because she feared what habits they would pick up in public school. So she was committed to doing it all herself. During these sessions, she also talked about how much she disliked her

• 58:04Courtney Brown?

  medication. She did not when it continued taking them. On October 14th, both Rusty and Andrea attended a therapy session with Dr. Starbrunch. And during it, she admitted that she had stopped taking her antipsychotic. Now she said it was because of an insurance issue. And despite not taking it, she said she felt great. She finally felt like herself again. She had even gotten her appetite back, felt more energetic, and she claimed she hadn't been having any hallucinations. But Dr. Starbrunch was definitely suspicious. And again, she told Andrea that even though she

• 58:44Courtney Brown?

  might feel better, she needs to keep taking her medication. So this time, she prescribed her a different antipsychotic, the one she had been taking earlier that year called Zyprexa.

• 58:57Courtney Brown?

  She told Andrea that she was to take that with her antidepressants, Wellbutrin and Effexor. Andrea agreed, and from there, she and Rusty left. By December of that year, when she met with Dr. Starbrunch again, Andrea reported that she was "doing great." She was no longer symptomatic, she had been homeschooling Noah with no issues, and there were no hallucinations or delusions. Rusty confirmed this. He told the doctor that Andrea had been doing great. That month, she had spent her time baking cookies, doing arts and crafts, sewing costumes for the holidays, and spending time with her boys.

• 59:41Courtney Brown?

  Now, the one symptom she said she still had was that she felt restless at night. And because of that, she said she wanted to completely get off all of her medications. Now, both Dr. Starbrunch and Rusty were skeptical of this. Sure, Andrea was doing better, but who knows what would happen if she got off all medication? But little did either of them know, Andrea hadn't been taking her medicine. In fact, in January of 2000, she admitted to Dr. Starbrunch that she had completely stopped taking all of her medicine two months back, in November. Dr. Starbrunch wrote in her notes,

• 1:00:23Courtney Brown?

  "Patient admits she's off all meds since November of 99. Husband says he didn't like her doing this, but she seems to be doing okay. Patient wants to be off meds and less symptomatic. Husband agrees." Sadly, this would be Andrea's last visit to Dr. Starbrunch. And by March of 2000, Andrea Yates was pregnant yet again.

• 1:00:51Colin Brown?

  From the outside looking in, everything seemed to be going well for their family. They had a beautiful home, the boys were doing well in homeschool, Andrea seemed to be doing better, and they were so happy that they were finally having a little girl. All was well in the world. Here are some home videos from around this time that show Andrea laughing while her boys sing their ABCs.

• 1:01:12Speaker 06

  A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O. Oops, P. P.

• 1:01:22Speaker 06

  Da da ru? No. D U R A T U V.

• 1:01:29Speaker 06

  Da da ru? W X Y and Z. Now I know my A B Cs. Won't you come and play with me?

• 1:01:41Colin Brown?

  On July 2nd, 2000, Andrea celebrated her 36th birthday with her family. That evening, she laughed as she filmed her son Luke throwing his face into her chocolate birthday cake. Their family was happy and nearly complete. On November 15th, 2000, Andrea and Rusty welcomed their fifth child and first daughter, Mary Deborah Yates. By that point, Andrea had been off her medications for a year, and things seemed to be going well. Home videos showed birthday parties where she laughed and held her youngest daughter. She filmed a play where Noah and John dressed up as medieval knights with homemade costumes. Here's a video where one of the boys was holding his new baby sister.

• 1:02:22Speaker 07

  That's so cute, your big brother holding his big little sister.

• 1:02:29Colin Brown?

  On February 15th, 2001, Andrea filmed Luke's second birthday celebration, a happy occasion where she made a homemade cake shaped like a train, his favorite. Nine days later, their oldest son Noah celebrated his seventh birthday, and on video you can hear Andrea asking him what he liked to do. Noah happily responded, "I love going to Radio Shack, and I love playing with my electrical stuff and making new things every day." Everything seemed normal, but under the surface, Andrea's mental health was about to take another dark turn. It's also around this time when she and Rusty began corresponding with the Warrenaki family again. Michael, Rachel, and their six children were still preaching around college campuses,

• 1:03:11Colin Brown?

  shouting at everyone that they were going to hell, and how worldly things like football were evil. They were even condemning Christians, the Pope, and Catholics. Here are some clips from the Warrenaki's teachings. We all go to hell, yes, to hell! Jesus does single out one group: children. God is gonna destroy this earth and all you wretched sinners! But whoever causes one- These little ones who believe in me to stumble. It is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck and he be drowned in the depth of the sea. I mean, Jesus, you're saying to kill yourself? Yeah.

• 1:03:54Colin Brown?

  Both Rusty and Andrea truly looked up to the Warren Eky family. They took their preachings to heart. They held Bible studies at their house three nights a week. And something else that the Warren Ekkies preached on was their opposition to modern medicine. Perhaps this is why Andrea was never really consistent with taking her own. Maybe she thought it wasn't what God wanted. We don't know. But we do know that at this point in Andrea's life, her religious delusions were at an all time high. And it's around this time when Andrea even began sending her family members copies of the Warren Ekkies newsletters, warning them that their Catholic faith would secure them a spot in hell. They were really leaning into the fire and brimstone teachings. And this, coupled with Andrea's mental decline, was a recipe for disaster.

• 1:04:38Colin Brown?

  Because unbeknownst to everyone, about four months after their daughter's birth, Andrea's postpartum psychosis would reappear, coming back stronger than it ever had. And this time, it was escalated even further by a tragic life event. On March 12th, 2001, Andrea and her four siblings rushed to the hospital to be by their father's side. Sadly, he would die after a seven year battle with Alzheimer's disease.

• 1:05:04Courtney Brown?

  The death of Andrea's father triggered something within her. Of course, losing a parent is hard on anyone. But for a woman who just had a baby and already struggled with her mental health, this seemed to have sent Andrea over the edge. Following her father's death, she stopped eating and drinking. She would hardly even speak to anyone. In just a few short weeks, she had lost a ton of weight and would only sleep a few hours a night. When it came to her four month old daughter, Andrea would refuse to put her down out of fear that something would happen. Soon enough, Andrea's family grew really concerned. They feared that it was only a matter of time until she attempted suicide again.

• 1:05:49Courtney Brown?

  So Rusty began calling hospitals in their area that accepted their insurance. Eventually, he would speak to Dr. Ellen Alberton at the Deveraux, Texas Treatment Network in League City, Texas. And over the phone, he told the doctor that his wife, quote, "could not survive another night at home," end quote. So on March 31, 2001, Andrea Yates was admitted once again. After a brief examination, she was diagnosed with recurrent major depression. The doctors asked Andrea if she was suicidal, but she refused to answer, and they wrote down in her notes that she had, quote, "extreme suspiciousness and paranoia," end quote.

• 1:06:34Colin Brown?

  During the stay, Andrea refused to eat, drink, or talk to anyone. She also refused all medications. So her psychiatrist, Dr. Mohammed A. Said, and her physician, Dr. Patricia Cork, decided to write a letter to the Galveston County Probate Judge Gladys Burwell to have her legally committed to the Austin State Hospital. Both doctors believed that Andrea was a danger to herself and that she needed further treatment at the facility in Austin. Interestingly, during their assessment of Andrea, the doctors left one box unchecked, a box that read, "is likely to cause serious harm to others." So clearly, no one ever thought that Andrea was capable of hurting her own children. They just thought she was a danger to herself.

• 1:07:16Colin Brown?

  And to be fair, throughout her years in and out of psychiatric hospitals, Andrea had never shown any signs that she was going to harm her children, only herself. If anything, she was a good mother who dedicated her life to caring for them. She baked them cakes, taught them in school, sewed them costumes, and played with them all day long. So no one ever really knew what she was truly capable of.

• 1:07:41Courtney Brown?

  But during her stay in this hospital, Andrea was not taking care of herself. She wouldn't shower, or eat, or take any of her medicine. But what they were really concerned about is that she wouldn't drink anything. Her doctors began to worry about her going into kidney failure. So they basically sat her down with Rusty, and told her that if she didn't start cooperating, they were going to send her to the Austin State Hospital, where she wouldn't be allowed to refuse treatment. And from there, Andrea finally agreed to start taking her medication again, which included her antidepressants Wellbutrin and Effexor, and two antipsychotics, Respirdal and Kigintin.

• 1:08:24Courtney Brown?

  She also finally started eating and drinking again. On April 9th, Dr. Said wrote, "Patient looked much better today." But then the following day, on April 10th, Andrea seemed to regress. That morning, she began pacing around her hospital room, refusing to eat. Then the next day after that, she was doing better again. On April 11th, Dr. Said reported, "Patient ate a good breakfast. Eye contact improved." He also showed her a video about depression. And the doctor wrote, "Seemed very interested in video. Patient watched it all the way through."

• 1:09:09Courtney Brown?

  Now, her progress here varied day to day. Some days she would be fine, while others, she was completely catatonic. But after watching that depression video, Andrea told the doctors that she was feeling much better, and that she wanted to be discharged. Shockingly, Rusty agreed. He said that he believed Andrea was showing a 65% improvement. And surprisingly, even though her progress had been fluctuating all week, Andrea was discharged on April 12th, 2001, just 13 days after she had been admitted.

• 1:09:47Colin Brown?

  In Dr. Said's final notes, he wrote, "On the day of discharge, the patient appeared dressed and groomed casually, and hygiene was good. The patient waved at me and seemed much more interactive today. No delusions or hallucinations. No suicidal or homicidal ideation. The day after her discharge, Andrea would attend her mandatory group therapy session. But when it ended, she told Rusty that she didn't think it was beneficial, as all they did was watch a movie about addiction. A few days later, Rusty called Dr. Said and told him about Andrea's improvements. He said she was interacting with the children, communicating more, and she was in good spirits. The only issues she had been having was difficulty falling asleep at night. He also told him about how Andrea didn't want to go to group therapy anymore.

• 1:10:32Colin Brown?

  And a few days later, she was officially discharged from her outpatient therapy. But despite Andrea's improvements, the doctors warned Rusty that Andrea was not to be left alone with the children. In May of 2001, Rusty called his mother, Dora, and asked if she could come help watch the children. And of course, she agreed.

• 1:10:52Courtney Brown?

  With Rusty going back to work, his mom, Dora, flew in from Tennessee to stay with them for a few weeks. But Rusty wasn't really open with his mom about what Andrea had been going through. She just thought that Andrea needed help around the house, not that she couldn't be left alone with her children. But nonetheless, Dora came to Texas and was so excited to spend the week with her grandchildren. However, one afternoon, Andrea was acting strangely. Andrea's behavior was concerning. While the kids were playing in the living room, she went into her bathroom, closed the drain to the bathtub, and turned the water on. Slowly, the water filled up the tub.

• 1:11:36Courtney Brown?

  Eventually, the oldest son, Noah, wandered into the bathroom and saw that his mom was just sitting there in front of the filled tub. He was so concerned about what he saw, he ran out into the living room and told his grandma. Dora also thought this was odd. It was the middle of the afternoon, and the children didn't- Take their baths until nighttime. So why did she fill it up? When Dora asked Andrea this question, she simply responded, quote, "Just in case I need it." End quote. Dora could tell that something was definitely wrong with Andrea. Throughout the time she had been there, Andrea seemed very robotic. She barely spoke throughout the day and showed no emotion.

• 1:12:20Courtney Brown?

  And strangely, she would randomly fill up the bathtub in the middle of the day several times that week. But she never told anyone why. However, they could have never known that her filling up the bathtub was a dark foreshadowing of what was to come. And in just about a month's time, the Yates family would be known all around the world.

• 1:12:43Colin Brown?

  We just released part two of this story on our Patreon for those who subscribe to our top two tiers. So if you want to listen to part two, the link to our Patreon is in our show notes. If not, we'll see you next week for the finale of the Andrea Yates story.

• 1:13:02Colin Brown?

  Hey everybody, it's Colin here. Thank you so much for tuning in to this week's episode of Murder in America. It's always such a pleasure to have everybody out there. Courtney and I are so grateful to be here. 2025, we started the show four years ago, which is crazy to think that we've been doing it that long. And we didn't expect to be here. We're just filled with gratefulness and happiness. And we're just so glad to have so many people out there that tune in every week. And this story hits close to home because we live in Houston. And Courtney and I have actually been to the Yates house. I included a little part about her story in a different documentary that I did on YouTube. And it's weird because it's such a nice neighborhood. It's just a very calm, nice place.

• 1:13:44Colin Brown?

  And you would never expect that such an infamous event occurred inside one of those houses. If you want to join us on Patreon, you can get access to bonus episodes of the show, early and ad-free access to all of our episodes and so much more. So if you love Murder in America and you want more content and you've never been on Patreon, I would highly suggest you go sign up because immediately upon signup, you'll get access to. A whole library of bonus episodes. There's over a hundred on there. So yeah, if you love the show, that's a great way to help support us. As always, be sure to follow us on Instagram at Murder in America. Be sure to listen to our other show, The Conspiracy Files. We also have another show that's coming soon. So a really exciting year. But yeah, we'll catch you guys next week for part two. We will be back next Friday. As always,

• 1:14:28Colin Brown?

  thanks for tuning in and I'll catch you on the next one.

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