Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - "The Spokane Serial Killer" Pt. 2 - Robert Lee Yates Jr.

Episode Date: February 25, 2019

In 1996, he was honorably discharged from active duty in the U.S. Army. Yates would resume serving his country by enlisting in the National Guard two years later. Few people in the Spokane, Washington metropolitan area would suspect this decorated veteran and family man could be capable of such heartless destruction.  Sponsors! Ring - Get a special offer on a Ring Starter Kit when you go to Ring.com/SerialKillers. Upstart - Hurry to Upstart.com/SERIALKILLERS to find out HOW LOW your Upstart rate is! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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This episode includes discussions of murder and assault that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. Robert Lee Yates had been cruising around Spokane in his 1974 Chevy Corvette when he was pulled over for failing to signal. The officer seemed congenial enough. In fact, he was barely concerned with Robert's traffic violation.

Instead, he took copious notes on Robert and his car before wishing him a good night and sending him on his way. Robert was blissfully unaware that the Spokane police were on the lookout for a Corvette like his, in connection with a string of recent murders. But the officer made a crucial mistake. Instead of Corvette, he wrote Camaro, and his report would never be seen by detectives on the Spokane Killer case. Robert Yates would go undetectives.

for over a year and murder 11 more women before finally being caught. The officer could not believe his mistake. A single typo let a killer go free and put 11 women at the bottom of a ditch. Hi, I'm Greg Paulson. This is serial killers on the Parkast Network. Every Monday, we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. Today, we're going to continue our deep down. into the life of Robert Lee Yates, a convicted murderer who killed 17 people in Spokane, Washington. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. Hi, everyone. At Parcast, we're grateful for you, our listeners.

You allow us to do what we love. Let us know how we're doing. Reach out on Facebook and Instagram at Parcast and Twitter at Parcast Network. And if you enjoy today's episode, the best way to help is to leave a five-star review, wherever you're listening. It really does help.

We also now have merchandise. Head to parkast.com slash merch for more information. Most people knew Robert Lee Yates as an average Joe. He was a newly retired, decorated Army helicopter pilot who lived a quiet life with his family. But on the ground, Robert hid a dark secret. During the 10-year period between 1988 and 1998, Yates murdered at least 15 seconds.

workers in the Spokane area. He seemed to follow a similar routine for each kill. He picked up the women in his car, had sexual contact with them, then shot them in the head. The majority of these 15 murders took place between 96 and 98 when Robert first joined the National Guard as a helicopter pilot. There was a lengthy delay in processing his approval for flight, which kept him grounded for those two years. It seems that being unable to fly left Robert Boyle. and he took it out on unsuspecting victims. Last week, we examined Robert's early life and his first few kills, including recent college graduates Patrick Oliver and Susan Savage,

and sex workers Stacey Hahn and Shannon Zalinski. This week will reveal the 11 additional victims discovered around Washington State and the circumstances that led to Yates' eventual arrest. While we don't have much information about Yates himself or his thought process during these two years. We do have a decent amount of information on these 11 victims, so we'll glean what we can about Yates' methods and motivations from the evidence he left behind, as well as the confessions we do have. In the late 90s, Robert Lee Yates was living in the cul-de-sac neighborhood of South Hill in a house he shared with his wife, Linda, and their five children. The Yates family

lived a peaceful, idyllic life, by all accounts, normal. But unbeknownst to his family, Robert would often escape this vision of Americana by driving a few miles into town and cruising East Sprague Avenue, the hotspot for Johns to solicit sex. And while Robert almost always had sex with the women he picked up, very few of them would ever return to East Sprague. Jennifer Joseph was only 16, though she told everyone she was 19. She was a well-known sex worker on East Sprague, popular with the Johns. Clients sought her out because she was part Korean and seen as exotic. In fact, she used the alias Jennifer Kim to play up her ethnicity. Jennifer made hundreds of dollars a night with a constant stream of clients. Vanessa is going to take over the psychology here. Just a reminder, she's not

a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, but she has done a lot of research for this show. Greg. A 2014 study by the University of North Texas found that Asian or part Asian sex workers made an average of $50 more per client, and male clients spent an average of 20 more minutes with them. The study suggests that this could be due to the fetishism of certain offensive Asian stereotypes, such as submissiveness. Jennifer Joseph knew this and played into it, even though it was a complete act. It seemed improbable that Jennifer would have fallen into sex work in the first place. She was an army brat who studied piano and sang at her church choir.

She always had good grades. But in 1997, when Jennifer was 16, her parents filed for divorce, and their relationship quickly grew strained. Her grades fell. She moved in with her father in Tacoma, but the two fought constantly. Later that year, Jennifer met a man named Marlon at a party. A few months later, in order to get a family. out of her dad's house, she moved into Spokane's red-top motel with Marlin.

Jennifer and Marlin didn't have a lot of money, but they were able to pay the motel $190 a week for lodging. Jennifer began working as a sex worker to make ends meet. Marlin has always insisted that he was not her pimp, but there is speculation that he is the reason Jennifer fell into sex work in the first place. On August 16, 1997, Jennifer was walking east. East Sprague when a white corvette rolled up next to her. The driver was a scruffy 40-something-year-old man who complimented her exotic look. Jennifer hopped in his car, assuming she'd be gone for less than an hour. But Robert Yates had other plans. He drove Jennifer to a secluded area, and all evidence

indicates that the two did have sexual contact of some kind. But instead of returning Jennifer to East Sprague, he grew violent. He grabbed a guy. gun from under his seat, and when Jennifer wasn't looking, shot her in the head two times. Meanwhile, Jennifer's boyfriend Marlon waited for her to return home. She was rarely out past midnight, but as the night waned, he grew increasingly concerned. Jennifer had gone missing for a day or two before, so Marlon wasn't concerned for her safety. Instead, he took her disappearance as an affirmation that she'd grown bored of him. After three days, Marlon assumed she ditched him for another man, and he decided to move back to Tacoma.

Heartbroken, he packed up their motel room and left town. Then, ten days later, on August 26, 1997, Kevin and Cindy Kalin were working in the Alfalfa field on their Mount Spokane farm. At around 5.20 p.m., the Kalins started to smell something strange. They followed the scent to the tall grass near their field, where they found Jennifer's body hastily covered with brush. On the same day that Jennifer's body was found, Vietnam veteran Larry Jones had been foraging for empty soda cans to recycle

in an overgrown lot on East Springfield Avenue in Spokane. Instead, he discovered the rotting corpse of another sex worker, 20-year-old Heather Hernandez. Beyond a positive ID, there's little known about Heather. She was a drifter who may have been from Phoenix, although details on her life are scarce. Spokane County HIV clinic counselor, Lynn Everson, is the only person who seemed to have any relationship with Heather,

and once described her as, quote, very level-headed with a good sense of humor. I never saw her drink or do drugs, and she never seemed to be under the influence of either, end quote. Heather was last seen around August 23, 1997. She hopped into a 1988 white Chevy van, Three days later, her corpse was found in a vacant lot, discarded like a bag of trash. Police theorized that Heather and Jennifer's murders might be linked and searched for evidence to support that theory.

Police soon determined the two cars they needed to find, a white van and a white corvette. A month later, on September 24, 1997, Spokane Police Officer Corey Turman was on his usual patrol of East Sprague, when he noticed Robert's white corvette. The car and Robert matched the description of the person last seen with Jennifer Joseph. Terman recalled, quote, I hope the driver would make a mistake, so I would have an excuse to stop him, end quote. Right on cue, Robert made a turn without using his signal, and the police officer quickly pulled him over.

Officer Terman took copious notes about the interaction, including Robert's full name and the excellent condition of his car. But Terman got one major detail about the car model incorrect. He wrote Camero instead of Corvette. Years later, Terman said, quote, slip of the hand, you're thinking Apple and you write orange, end quote. It was a mistake that would prove fatal for all of Robert's future victims. Termin brought his report to Spokane Crime analyst Jack Pearson, who passed reports on to the major crimes unit. But because Termin's report detailed a white Camaro, Pearson never passed it on.

After all, detectives were only interested in Corvettes. Meanwhile, Robert continued to visit East Sprague, blissfully unaware of the investigation unfolding through October 1997. His next victim was 29-year-old sex worker Darla Sue Scott. The two had gone on dates before, and Darla had told her boyfriend at the time that this John had attended see to get aggressive, but he paid her well and supplied her with drugs. So she put up with his behavior. This was probably because by the time Darla met Robert, she was in a bad way. She had been through approximately five drug treatment programs, staying at most two weeks. She returned to drug use and sex work after each attempt at rehabilitation. She also tried other measures to

become sober, including a pregnancy. The father of her child said, quote, getting pregnant and having a baby was Darla's idea. She believed somehow that would keep her from going back to the street life, but it didn't, end quote. By October 1997, Darla was in an on-again, off-again relationship with a man named Arthur. In fact, she was last seen at his home waiting for Robert to pick her up. Arthur remembers Darla left his house wearing his Mickey Mouse t-shirt. He later said, quote, she told me this guy had been violent with her on a previous date. She not only dated him again, she got drugs from him, end quote. Like his previous victims, Robert had some kind of sexual contact with Darla

before he shot her in the head. But unlike his other victims, he tried to dispose of her body another way. Robert took Darla's body to a grassy area near a small creek off Hangman Valley Road in Spokane. He started to dig her a grave. It's unclear as to why Robert tried to bear it. Darla. Perhaps he worried that Arthur had gotten a good look at him and wanted to cover his tracks. But in that case, why take the risk and kill Darla at all? The other possibility is that because he had known her for a little while, he took a little extra care in her disposal. But he's never

suggested this in police interviews. Either way, Robert half-heartedly buried most of the body, leaving the head, one leg, and one arm exposed. On November 1, 1997, Bokane resident Harold Lebsok was walking as Rottweiler near Hangman Valley Road, per his usual routine. But on this day, Lebssock's dog began to favor a particular area of the road. The dog was drawn to sniffing this area for the next five days. Lebssock went to investigate this spot for himself on November 5th. He quickly saw the arm and leg poking out of the ground. It fell to Arthur to identify Darla's weather-worn body.

still wearing his Mickey Mouse shirt. Next, a victim who was well aware of the Spokane killer, but powerless to stop him. Where is Daredevil? A minor. Don't miss the return of Marvel Television's Daredevil born again. So what's next? I'll be liberated.

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Now back to the story. Around November 22, 1997, 34-year-old sex worker Linda Maven told her friend Brian that she was scared of the Spokane killer and that she, quote, had an idea of who was killing the prostitutes, end quote. Linda also told him she was afraid she would be the next one to be killed.

Brian was unsure of whether or not to take her seriously. See, Linda was a regular user of crack cocaine. According to the American addiction centers, crack users often experience intense paranoia that someone might be after them, even while they're not high on the drug. Brian probably felt like his friend was merely being hyperbolic. On the night of November 22nd,

he and Linda planned to meet for dinner at their usual spot, a diner. Brian sat down at a booth and waited for her. But after an hour, she failed to show, and Brian started to panic. His mind started racing with worst-case scenarios. He prayed that his friend wasn't the latest victim of the Spokane killer. He hurried over to Linda's apartment complex and pounded on her door. He was relieved when Linda finally answered. Half asleep, but apologetic.

Brian sighed. He gave her some time to get ready for dinner. But just as they were about to look, leave together, Linda spotted a John. It was Robert. He requested her services and Linda obliged, promising Brian she'd be back in 20 minutes. But something about Robert gave Brian a sinking feeling in his stomach. This guy was bad news. Brian tried to convince Linda to skip this one. He said he'd even pay for dinner to make up the income. But Linda insisted. Brian stood helplessly as he watched Linda get into Robert's Corvette.

Brian later said, quote, she told me to wait, but she never came back. The guy came back and said she went to work the street. I never saw or heard from her again, end quote. That night, Robert shot Linda once in the head and wrapped her head

in two plastic bags, then dumped her in a field. The body wasn't found for months. Around that time, Robert had a feeling the police were catching on to him. He couldn't explain it. it was instinct. So he devised a way to get out of Spokane more frequently. At the time, he was enrolled in the National Guard to fly helicopters, but had been grounded for over a year

due to a lengthy clearance process. Despite not being on active duty, he was eligible to participate in any of the many training weekends the National Guard held all over Washington State. During the first weekend of December, Robert was at Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Washington. That same weekend, the corpse of 24-year-old Melinda Mercer was found in a field in South Tacoma. She was stripped naked with four plastic bags wrapped around her head. She had been shot in the head three times. The strangest part of the murder was the fact that Melinda did not live in Tacoma. She was from Seattle, 45 minutes north. Police theorized that whoever killed Melinda had done so up north before moving her body to a secondary location. Tacoma police were also quick to notice the similarities.

between this murder and those occurring in Spokane. But before cops could make any headway on Melinda's case, Robert left Tacoma to spend Christmas with his family in Spokane. About a week before Christmas, on December 16, 1997, Robert left his home to go Christmas shopping. But first, he took a detour. He rolled down East Sprague in his white corvette, looking for an ideal victim.

He settled on 36-year-old sex worker, Sean L. Johnson. Robert had seen her before, but had never gotten the chance to pick her up. Today, however, she had the time. From the moment she stepped in the car, Robert knew he wanted to kill her. He waited until they were midway through sex

to shoot her twice in the head. He quickly wrapped plastic bags around her head. It helped contain the blood in the car. He drove her out of the city to a spot near a sewage treatment plant. The air around the plant already smelled so foul, he figured nobody would find her body for quite some time. He dragged her out of the car and threw her lifeless body over the embankment.

Then he looked down the road to another patch of earth. It was the spot where he had dumped Darla Scott's body a month ago. He remembered her Mickey Mouse shirt and smiled. But the plant didn't end up being the safe hiding spot Robert imagined. In fact, Sean's body was found a mere two days later, while maintenance worker Michael Conner spotted her at the bottom of the steep embankment, haphazardly covered with leaves. After Sean's body was discovered, the police department was convinced that the recent string of sex worker killings were connected and formed the serial killer homicide task force.

The biggest challenge for the task force, sadly, was public apathy. Detectives had to regularly ask the press to stop calling the deaths the prostitute murders because the public seemed to care less about the deaths of sex workers. Everson found that during her work at the Spokane County HIV clinic, sex workers were largely looked down upon and seen as lesser human beings. Everson said, quote, you hear people say, if the women weren't out working the streets, this would not happen to them. They would not have been killed or hurt.

That is a clear case of blaming the victim, end quote. Despite this, the task force got to, work trying to catch this heinous killer. Meanwhile, that killer was at home, decorating a Christmas tree with his children. On Christmas Eve, 1997, Robert was relaxing with his family. He might have been content to hang out at home all night, but around 5 p.m., his wife sent him to pick up a missing ingredient she needed for Christmas dinner. He didn't intend to end up on East Sprague Avenue, but at this point it was a force

of habit. And that's when he noticed 39-year-old sex worker Sean A. McLenahan. She was crying in the parking lot of a store called Rainbow Foods. He took pity on her and led her into his Corvette. McClennahan had been struggling with her addiction to heroin. She planned to enroll in a methadone program to get clean, but the holiday season had been tough for her. McLanahan had separated from her husband on Thanksgiving. At the time, she was using about a gram of heroin a day. Robert proved himself a good listener, and as a twisted thank you, McClenahan performed oral sex on him. Midway through, he shot her twice.

He wrapped two plastic bags around her head and drove to a lot on East 14th Street. He carried her body out of the car and dumped it in a ditch. But McClennahan's corpse didn't hit the ground the way he'd been expecting. He jumped into the ditch and almost laughed at what he saw. McClennahan's body had landed atop another corpse, a sex worker he had dumped there a few days prior. He felt a sick sense of pride. He was known in his neighborhood for having quite the sense of humor, and now, as he could see, the bodies were quite literally stacking up. He blew the bodies a kiss goodbye, then zoomed off in his corvette before another car could catch him, then hurried home.

He still had a few gifts to wrap for the kids before dinner. The other woman left in the ditch was 31-year-old Laurel Wayson. He had killed her in the same way he'd killed McClanahan, a few gunshots to the head, which was subsequently wrapped in plastic. Robert, meanwhile, continued to have a busy Christmas. He found more excuses to venture away from his family and drive down East Sprague Avenue. On Christmas morning, Robert picked up 41-year-old sex worker, Sunny Gale Auster. Sunny had battled a cocaine addiction since she was 17 years old, which was also the age when she first became pregnant.

By the time she met Robert, she had two sons in their 20s, both of whom tried their best to look after their mom. Sunny wanted to go to a drug treatment facility in Spokane to try getting sober again. Sunny's family was rooting for her. They all felt like she was finally going to get sober. But despite her best efforts, Sunny soon fell off the wagon. She was discharged from a facility on October 1, 1997. It's unclear as to where she was staying between October 1st and Christmas Day. Perhaps out of embarrassment, she stopped contacting her family.

They tried getting in touch with her, but to no avail. On December 24, 1997, the Oster family reported her missing. The very next day, she jumped in Robert's car. Her fate was sealed. On February 8, 1998, three locals were walking their dogs in a wooded area near Spokane. One of the dogs started to sniff at something under a clump of trees at the side of the road. The owner walked over to see what the canine had found. Clothes.

Then she spotted two air-step shoes strewn on the side of the road. Next, she spotted a foot. Then a hand. On February 10, 1998, the bull. body was identified as sunny Gail Auster. The Spokane Killer had struck again. A few months later, on April 1, 1998, Linda Mabin's body was finally found in a ditch, 50 yards away from where McClenahan and Laurel had been discovered. Her friend Brian was absolutely heart-stricken with grief. A part of him felt responsible, like he could have done more to save her. He knew in his heart

of hearts that he had laid eyes on the killer. But an eyewitness wasn't enough. It would still be months before Robert was caught. And the corpse of his next victim wouldn't be found for years. When we return, Robert's most vulnerable victim. Kayak gets my flight, hotel, and rental car right. So I can tune out travel advice that's just plain wrong. Bro, Skycoin, way better than points.

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in his custody. One night in May 1998, Melody resorted to sex work. on East Sprague to make some quick money. Robert's white corvette pulled up beside her. She got in. Not long after she was dead. But this time, Robert didn't dump the body in an abandoned lot or a grassy field. He chose a spot close to home. For whatever reason, Robert drove Melody's corpse all the way to South Hill, the suburb where his family lived. He pulled into his driveway. Robert dragged Melody's body off.

Melody's body onto the lawn, he grabbed a shovel and started digging. Robert dug a three-foot hole underneath his own bedroom window. He buried her there and planted flowers in the soil to mask the freshly dug dirt. According to forensic psychologist Reed Malloy, Robert buried Melody in his flower bed as a means of controlling the victim even after her death. Maloy continued, quote, You can continue in fantasy the complete domination. of her because she's buried in the ground below you.

It can be a sexual stimulus between killings, end quote. While Melody's body lay beneath Robert's window, police struggled to locate her corpse. Despite not finding the body, investigators included her in the serial killers' list of victims, even before they knew who the killer was. Police Captain Doug Silver said, quote, because of the circumstances surrounding Murfin's disappearance, her lifestyle, and associates, We are now treating her case as a homicide." End quote.

The search for Melody was widely covered by the media. It was all anyone talked about. This prompted Robert to do exactly what police predicted. He listed his beloved white corvette for sale. He offered it for about $9,000 in May 1998. The price instantly caught the attention of Rita Jones, who had long dreamed of owning a corvette. She was impressed with how well he had cared for the,

car. He even mentioned that he just installed brand new carpet. What Rita didn't know was that Robert likely installed the new carpet because the old one was soaked by the blood of his victims. Robert transferred ownership of the vehicle to Rita Jones on May 4, 1998. Even without his white corvette, Robert continued to kill. His next victim was 47-year-old Mitchell and Durning, a former executive secretary who was last seen at the last seen on July 3, 1998. She was supposed to leave on a weekend trip with her longtime friend Gregory Landis.

But she never showed up. He said it was in character for her to occasionally disappear. Landis first met Mitchell in 1972 when they worked at a San Diego engineering firm together. He recalled, quote, she was a free spirit. She was always taking off and doing crazy things, end quote. Previously, Michelin lived in Oceanside, California,

with her son Ryan. They enjoyed snorkeling, surfing, and scuba diving. But after her mother died from cancer in 1991, Michelin battled addiction and fell into an abusive relationship. She fled to Spokane after a period of homelessness to live with Atlantis. On July 7, 1998, Mitchellon's body was found, naked, in a vacant lot under an old hot tub cover. This lot, though, was located right by the Kaiser Aluminum plant,

Robert Yates knew that area well. He'd been working at the plant for two years. Police questioned several Kaiser aluminum employees, including Robert, about the murder. But Robert slid under the police radar. He came off as congenial and reserved, and they let him go without suspicion. Up to this point, Robert had been lucky. But thankfully, that was about to change. On August 1, 1998, sometime between midnight and 2 a.m.,

Robert picked up 32-year-old sex worker Christine L. Smith in his white van. She told him she would charge her a standard rate for oral sex, $40. Then she asked Robert point-blank if he was the Spokane serial killer. Robert tried to put her at ease. He told her, quote, I'm a respected National Guard helicopter pilot and the father of five children. You have nothing to fear, end quote. Christine began performing oral sex.

But after seven minutes, Robert failed to get an erection. She could sense him getting frustrated, but tried to calm him. Then she began to feel an intense pain on the side of her head and felt herself slipping in and out of consciousness. Christine assumed he had hit her out of frustration. Then she saw the blood dripping from her head. Robert had shot her. She didn't hear the gunshot.

She said, quote, I jumped into the front seat and I jumped into the front seat and out the passenger door. I ran as fast as I could to St. Luke's rehab center, end quote. It's not clear why he let her get away, or if he fired shots as she ran, but missed. Security at the center helped Christine get to the hospital. Doctors treated Christine for a half-inch-long cut

located behind the left ear. The bullet had merely grazed her head, and doctors didn't even recognize it as a gunshot wound. But she didn't go to the police, because she didn't want to get arrested and charged for her sex work. In hindsight, police question whether Robert's erectile dysfunction could have been part of what caused his contact with sex workers to turn violent. Robert could have felt such intense shame about issues performing

that he killed anyone who witnessed his embarrassment. A 2009 study in the Journal of Emergency Medicine looked to determine if sexual violence was influenced by male erectile dysfunction in the sexual assaults of 569 women. The study found that when the male perpetrator experienced erectile dysfunction, 60% of the women experienced more physical coercion and genital trauma. So it's feasible that erectile dysfunction was a trigger that set Robert off. Robert have been regularly using Viagra for two years since 1996

when his killing spree began in earnest. By 1998, his obsession with sex began to infiltrate his family life. His wife, Linda Yates, noticed credit card charges to a place called Al's spa tub motel. The motel rooms are charged by the hour, and, as the name states, have hot tubs. It's no mystery what the rooms are rented for. When asked about the charges, Robert claimed that he liked to use the hot tubs to soothe his muscles after working 12-hour ships at Kaiser Aluminum. He had actually been taking sex workers to the motel regularly for most of 1998.

Additionally, Linda noticed that around this time, when Robert left on his occasional weekend hunting trips, Robert started dressing up and wearing Cologne. It was a major red flag. Linda knew Robert was having affairs, but still she remained in the marriage. She said, quote, I was raised with old-fashioned values when you may.

Mary, you marry. Apparently, he didn't take it seriously like I did, end quote. In addition, Robert continued to take National Guard training trips to Tacoma, where he found more victims, including 35-year-old sex worker Connie LaFontaine Ellis. She was found on October 13, 1998, in a ditch. No one had reported her missing. She hadn't been seen for over a month. By the time she was found, her body was heavily decomposed. Connie had a gunshot wound to the head, which was wrapped with three plastic bags.

Police knew it immediately to be the Spokane Killer's handiwork. Then, on November 10, 1998, Officer Reynolds saw a sex worker named Jennifer Robinson hop into a Honda Civic, and he decided to tail her. The driver was Robert Yates. He started heading towards a secluded location, but Reynolds pulled them over. Robinson worried the police would arrest that. She told Robert, quote, Tell them that my father works with you

and ask you to find me, pick me up, and bring me home. I'll back up your story, end quote. Jennifer had no idea that the real danger was the man sitting beside her. Reynolds let them go, but two days later, Robert had another encounter with the police. On November 12th, Robert was having a night at home with his family. At the time, his 19-year-old daughter, Sonia,

lived with her boyfriend, but visited Robert and Linda's home frequently. During one such visit, Sonia grew suspicious of her father's behavior and began to question him. This led to a fight, which quickly became physical. Sonia called the police. Robert was charged with misdemeanor assault, but the charges would be dropped on the condition that he didn't commit any other crimes. Meanwhile, detectives have begun looking through a comprehensive list of the owners of white corvettes in the area. The police tracked down Rita Jones' white corvette, and Robert came up as the previous owner.

He was called in for questioning. On September 15, 1999, Robert arrived at the public safety building. He was nervous and sweating. Ironically, though, when asked about a previous traffic stop in which he was said to have driven a white Camaro, Robert corrected the police. Quote, no, that wasn't a Camaro. It was a white Corvette. end quote.

Officer Grabenstein then asked if Robert would provide a blood sample. Robert said he would think about it, which roused Grabenstein's suspicions. He later said, quote, while that was certainly his right, it wasn't a good sign. Also, it seemed to us that Mr. Yates sweated too much, end quote. Robert told police a few days later that he refused to give a blood sample, which placed him in a small pool of suspects. On January 7, 2000, Rita Jones consented to a search of her new Corvette. Fibers found in the vehicle quite closely matched, fibers found in the body of Jennifer Joseph.

On April 10, 2000, Grabenstein obtained a search warrant to further search the vehicle. Police found blood smears in Robert's old white corvette that matched Jennifer's blood. Under the passenger seat was a missing button from her blouse. The car also contained some of her hair and clothing when searched. This evidence officially tied Robert to Jennifer's murder. It was enough to bring Robert in. He was arrested for suspicion of murdering Jennifer Joseph on April 18, 2000. Preliminary DNA tests of blood and seminal fluid linked him to the murder.

And on April 21st, DNA found on the bodies of Darla Scott, Lori Waysen, and Linda Mabin were found to match Robert's son. sample. Robert's fingerprints were found in McClennahan's plastic bags, tying him to that murder as well. He was charged with 13 counts of murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder. In order to avoid the death penalty, Robert offered to plead guilty, confess to the murders, and provide key information about one in particular. The deal was highly controversial, but the Spokane County prosecutors decided to accept the plea bargain. Once the decision was made, Robert grabbed a pen and a piece of paper

and drew a map illustrating where Melody Ann Murfin's body was located. It led right to the spot under his bedroom window. In Spokane County, Robert was sentenced to 408 years in prison. However, Pierce County prosecutors eventually withdrew from the plea deal and tried Robert with their own charges. Robert was convicted of two Pierce County murders on September 19, 2002, and sentenced to death by lethal injection. The Washington State Supreme Court rejected every appeal he made to overturn his conviction to avail.

But in 2018, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was a violation of their state constitution, and Robert Yates' sentence was commuted to life in prison. Finally, the Spokane Killer, who took the lives of 17. innocent victims was behind bars and would never again terrorize East Sprague Avenue. Thanks again for tuning in to serial killers. If you want to listen to any previous episodes of serial killers, you can find them on Apple podcasts, tune in, Google Play, Stitcher, and Spotify, or in our website, parcast.com. Spelled P-A-R-C-A-S-T dot com.

If you like what you hear, please leave a five-star review. or tell us what you think on social media. We're on Facebook and Instagram as At Parkast and Twitter at Parcast Network. It seems simple, but it really helps our show. Join us next Monday as we delve into the twisted mind of another serial killer. Have a killer week.

Serial Killers was created by Max Cutler is a production of Cutler Media and is part of the Parcast Network. It is produced by Max and Ron Cutler, sound design by Paul Lebeskin. with production assistance by Ron Shapiro and Paul Mahler. Additional production assistance by Carly Madden and Maggie Admeyer. Serial Killers is written by Mallory Cara and stars Greg Poulson and Vanessa Richardson.

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