Yates Knew What She Did

Police officers who testified at the hearing said Andrea Yates offered a confession without hesitation & even told them where to find clean glasses in a cabinet so they could get her husband a glass of water.

"She looked me directly in my eyes & said, 'I know what I've done,"' said Houston police Officer Frank Stumpo.

No Responsibility:
On the CBS show "60 Minutes" on Dec. 30th, 2001, Russell Yates said he stands by his wife, and contended that if she had received competent psychiatric care, their children would be alive today.

The Call & Officer Arrival Report:
The sounds of Yates' heavy breathing on the phone filled the courtroom as prosecutors played a recording of the 911 call, made at 9:48 a.m. on June 20, 2001. Yates spoke calmly to the 911 operator, but would not say why she needed police.

"Hi. Uh - I need a police officer at home,'' she told the operator. After being asked why, she said only, "I just need them to come ... I just need a police officer.''

Yates said she was alone. When the operator asked if her husband was standing beside her, Yates responded sharply, "No.''

"You sure you're alone?'' the operator asked.

"No, my kids are here,'' Yates finally said.

"How old are your children?'' the operator asked.

"They're 7, 5, 3, 2 and 6 months,'' Yates said in a flat voice.

The operator who took the call, Dorene Stubblefield, told the jury this morning that she felt that Yates understood what she was saying, even though she wouldn't answer some questions.

The first Houston police officer to arrive at the home at 942 Beachcomber told jurors that Yates' hair & clothes were dripping wet when she answered his knock at the door.

"I asked her why she needed the police. She just responded that, 'I just killed my kids,''' Officer David L. Knapp recalled. "She was very wide-eyed, kind of like in an excited state.'' Yates then led Knapp to a bedroom. The carpet in the hallway was so wet that it made squishing sounds as they walked on it, he recalled.

Knapp said he also noticed 2 sets of wet footprints - an adult's & a child's - covering the tile floor in the living room.

In the bedroom, Knapp discovered 4 of the children's bodies on a bed, covered by a sheet. He recalled seeing a white, frothy substance coming from 3 of the victims' noses & mouths, indicating their lungs had burst.

As he inspected the bodies, Knapp said, Yates stood behind him in the bedroom doorway & said nothing.

A 5th child - 7-year-old Noah - would eventually be found, face-down in the filthy, brown water of the bathtub, where all of the children had died.

After the gruesome discovery, Knapp told Yates to sit on a love seat in the living room while he called for help. "She had no problem following those instructions,'' Knapp said.

Yates eventually handed over her driver's license & later signed a consent form allowing officers to search her residence.