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

Episode Date: February 18, 2019

He lived a seemingly normal life. A father of five children and army veteran, Robert Lee Yates, was well regarded in the Spokane, Washington community. All of that changed when he went on a murder spree, killing 17 women between 1975 and 1998 in the back of his van. Parcasters - If you haven’t heard we have a new podcast coming out! We know you like the mystery and murder of Serial Killers, so you’ll love the deadly trysts we discuss in CRIMES OF PASSION. Listen now at parcast.com/passion Sponsors! Torrid - Go to Torrid.com and use Promo Code SERIAL15 for $15 off every $50 you spend! That means you can get up to $150 off a $500 order! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Due to the graphic nature of these killers crimes, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of murder and assault that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. Friends and neighbors knew Robert Lee Yates as an average show. He was quiet and unassuming. To some acquaintances in his native Spokane, Washington,

Yates was so unremarkable that they didn't remember him at all. Yates was a decorated Army helicopter pilot. he was a father to five children. He enjoyed working with his cars, which included his beloved white corvette. He lived a quiet, unassuming life, or so everyone thought. It soon became clear that despite Robert's mild matter nature,

he had a sinister side. From 1975 until 1998, he murdered at least 17 people around Washington State. Soon, this unassuming average Joe, became Spokane's most notorious resident. Hi, I'm Greg Paulson, and this is Serial Killers on the Parcast Network. Every Monday, we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. Today, we're going to take a deep dive into the life of Robert Lee Yates,

a convicted murderer who killed 16 women and one man 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 us is to leave a five-star review wherever you're listening.

It really does help us. We also now have merch. Head to Parcast.com slash merch for more information. Robert Lee Yates was a former prison guard, army veteran, and father of five children. But he harbored a more vicious side. During the 10-year period between 1988 and 1998, Yates murdered at least 15 sex workers in Spokane. He picked up the women in his van, had sex with them, and shot them in the head. In 2048-year-old Yates was charged with 13 counts of murder and received a sentence,

of 408 years in jail. In 2002, he was convicted of two additional murders and was sentenced to death by lethal injection. After a 2018 Washington State Supreme Court ruling, the death penalty was abolished in the state and his sentence was commuted to life in prison. In this week's episode, we'll examine Robert's early life in Oak Harbor, Washington, as well as his early victims.

Next week, we'll discuss the rest of his Spokane victims, his arrest and murder trials. Before Robert was even born, murder was part of his family's history. In 1945, Robert's father, Robert Sr., lived a seemingly quiet life in Van Buren, Tennessee, with his parents, 53-year-old Novela Johnson Yates and 55-year-old John Taylor Yates. John worked as a farmer, and as such wasn't home for long stretches of time. This put most of the domestic and child-rearing pressures on Novella, who was raising their 11 children. On October 12, 1945, Robert Sr. was a young boy sleeping in his upstairs bedroom.

He awoke to loud noises downstairs and went to investigate. Robert Sr. saw his father lying on the floor of a bedroom, bleeding from his head. Novella sat calmly and quietly in another room, as if nothing had happened, but something did clearly transpire between the couple. Novella had killed John with a double-edged axe. Medical examiners found that John Yates had four wounds on his head and face, including one that spanned the entire right side of his head and penetrated the brain. John was taken to the hospital and died of his injuries six days later on October 18, 1945.

It's unknown what prompted Novella to kill her husband that night. Police arrested Novella and charged her with felonious assault. She was released from Warren County Jail on a $3,000 bond. There are no records to show whether or not she was convicted of the murder. She was sent to a mental hospital for unknown and unrecorded reasons, where she remained for seven years. Meanwhile, Little Robert Sr. grew up and married a woman named Anna May. Seven years after his grandmother killed his grandfather,

Robert Yates Jr. was born on May 27, 1952 in Oak Harbor, Washington. He was the second child to Robert Sr. and Anna Mae Yates. Yates was a quiet child, well-mannered, well-behaved, and well-meaning. He didn't make any trouble in Oak Harbor, a town on Washington's Whidbey Island, with striking views of the Olympic Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Robert Sr. was a religious man and a very involved member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Seventh-day Adventism is a form of Protestant Christianity that believes in the forthcoming return of Jesus Christ to Earth. Unlike most Christian denominations, Seventh-day Adventists observe the Sabbath on Saturdays.

They avoid meat, drugs, and alcohol. Robert Sr.'s local church congregation was made up of about 100 people. He took his participation seriously. He wanted to pass along his values to his son. Robert Jr. grew up with a close bond to his father. His father coached his little league baseball team. Robert Jr. was specifically interested in pitching. They attended church together, and Robert sang in the church choir.

They hunted deer, went fishing, and hike together often. Robert's close friend, Al Gotti, said, there was a lot of respect in that family. They were the type of people you'd want as your neighbor. From the outside, young Robert Lee Yates was a picture-perfect kid. But despite this, there was a dark stain on Robert's childhood. At age six, Robert lived next door to a family with an 11-year-old son. It's unclear if the 11-year-old and Robert were friends,

but either way, the 11-year-old allegedly sexually abused Robert at age six. As he grew up, Robert's neighbors in Oak Harbor knew him as a hardworking young man. He frequently mowed lawns around the neighborhood, pumped gas at the local gas station, and harvested peas with a farmer to earn $1.8 an hour. But according to some sort of some sort of, sources, Robert had a dark side, even during childhood. At one point, he began herding and torturing innocent animals. At age 11, Robert may have set fire to a house, but he was not formally

charged or accused of the arson. In high school, Robert was a pitcher for the Oak Harbor Wildcats varsity baseball team. His former teammate, Harry Ferrier, remembered Robert as an average Joe, saying, he could throw a fastball with precision. He was kind of quiet. He was kind of quiet. A few of his Oak Harbor high school classmates and teachers remembered Robert as a quiet student who turned in assignments on time. Robert also played football briefly, but quit during his sophomore year in 1968. He had a steady girlfriend for most of high school. He wasn't just an athlete. Robert was also part of the school choir and a talented writer.

His classmates recalled a day when he read a sonnet to his English class aloud. They thought it was a work written by Shakespeare. But Robert had written this on it himself. During his senior year in 1970, 18-year-old Robert's girlfriend moved away, so he skipped the Oak Harbor homecoming dance. Instead, he invited close friend Al Gotti over to his home to play canasta, a card game. Gotti remembered, quote,

he didn't smoke and he didn't drink. We didn't give in to peer pressure. That wasn't our thing. Our thing was hunting and fishing and hiking, end quote. Robert and Gotti bonded over their common career aspirations. They wanted to become doctors, biologists, or park rangers. Together, they went on a 16-hour backpacking trip with the goal of catching a 20-inch trout.

The fish was famous for living in an isolated lake in Washington's Cascade Mountains. In addition to wanting to catch the trout, Robert was fascinated by eagles and birds flying overhead in the mountains and dreamed of flying himself. After graduation, Robert and Gotti attended Skagit Valley Community College together. While there, he began dating an 18-year-old classmate named Shirley Nealander. He graduated with an associate of arts degree in general studies in 1972 at age 20. Robert and Nealander got married on August 27, 1972, and moved to the city of college place together to attend Walla Walla College.

Robert chose that specific school because it was run by Seventh-day Adventists. At Walla-Walla, he pursued pre-med studies. But Robert's first marriage didn't last long. In 1974, Shirley moved out of their college-place apartment, returned home, and asked for a divorce. Her reasons for leaving the marriage are unknown. But 22-year-old Robert didn't contest her request and moved on quickly. Robert began dating Walla-Walla college classmate,

Linda Brewer almost immediately after his split from Shirley. Linda soon became pregnant. In July 1974, they got married in a small ceremony, but there was one problem. The marriage took place before his divorce to Shirley was finalized. Robert and Linda's marriage was considered invalid because he was still married to someone else. But Linda didn't care.

She was in love. And for the time being, that was all that mattered. But about a month after their wedding, Robert's new pseudo-bride began noticing that her husband had some odd habits. One day she found a hole he drilled in the attic. Linda realized the hole looked into their next-door neighbor's apartment. Robert had made the hole

so he could watch the couple in the apartment next door have sex. Perurbed, Linda left Robert, but they quickly reconciled and resumed their relationship a month later. It's unclear if Robert continued his voyeurism in the attic. Shirley and Robert's divorce became final in August 1974. A few months later, in December 1974, Linda gave birth to a daughter named Sasha. The birth of their first child motivated Robert to drop out of college and find a steady job. Linda's father had worked as a corrections officer at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla for 18 years, and Robert decided to join him.

He became a guard at the prison in July 1975. Though this career would be short-lived, some sources say 23-year-old Robert worked at the prison for three to four months, and others say he lasted up to six months before he quit. Either way, Linda's family were confused by Robert's sporadic behavior. It didn't help that Robert gave no explanation for quitting. In fact, his real motive for distancing himself from the area wouldn't be unearthed for over a decade. Robert had begun to kill. We'll learn of Robert's first victims in a moment.

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It's time we started hunting them. I can work with that. This should be tons of fun. Marvel Television's Daredevil Born Again, now streaming only on Disney Plus. Now back to the story. In 1975, Robert Lee Yates resigned from the Washington State Penitentiary suddenly and without explanation. But the real reason for his resignation may have been related to his first two known murders. On July 13, 1975, 21-year-old Patrick Oliver and 22-year-old Susan Savage were two close friends spending some time together in Mill Creek Park in Walla Walla.

Oliver and Savage had good reputations in the town. They were both well-liked, top students who came from good families. He had just returned from studying in France, while Savage recently graduated from Washington State University. The friends met up for a picnic in Mill Creek Park and even went for a swim in the lake. Mill Creek Park, now known as Mill Creek Dam and Bennington Lake, is a popular spot in Walla Walla. The sprawling 600-acre recreational area has many hiking trails.

According to the Washington Trails Association, It is also a popular spot for birders, bikers, hunters, runners, and anglers. That day, Robert Yates was in the same area for hunting target practice. It's not clear why or how, but Robert approached the couple sometime during his target practice activities. Walla Walla County Sheriff Mike Humphreys told the Walla Walla Union Bulletin, quote, I think he went up there to target shoot like he usually did. He came across these people and it happened. He shot Oliver three times.

The last bullet was especially fatal. It pierced Oliver's heart. Robert left Savage with two fatal gunshot wounds, one in her shoulder and the other in her head behind her left ear. Robert took most of the clothes off Savage's unconscious body and placed her on top of Oliver in a sexual manner. Robert covered both dead bodies with a pile of brush, an army sleeping bag, and attire.

Killers sometimes position the bodies of their victims in suggestive ways in order to send a message. Author and investigative historian Peter Vronsky elaborated on this in his book, Serial Killers, The Method and Madness of Monsters. There are two ways a killer could position a body post-mortem. The first is called staging, when the killer arranges the corpses in a way meant to confuse or mislead investigators. But if the victims are arranged in a sexual or perverse manner, that fulfills the killer's own fantasies, it's called posing. Considering that Oliver and Savage's bodies were hidden from plain sight,

Robert may have been posing the corpses to act out a perverse fantasy for his own pleasure. According to a 2004 study in the Journal of Forensic Science, killers who pose bodies want to shock anyone who discovers the bodies of the victims. The study also found that female victims tend to be the ones who are staged, posed, or left in some kind of unusual position after being murdered. Posed bodies can indicate that sexual assault had occurred and that the manner of death was particularly hands-on for the killer. Usually victims who are left in an unusual position

have been stabbed, bound, or bludgeoned. Robert killed Savage at point-blank range, which also denotes a certain hands-on closeness. The next day, Oliver's brother Dan and his uncle Frank Munn noticed Oliver and Savage did. returned home the night before. Dan and Munn went out looking for them at Mill Creek. Dan recalled, I saw a funny arrangement of debris near the edge of the creek. I found them. Dan and Mun drove straight to the local police station to report what they had found in the park. Police investigated the murder and didn't

turn up any leads at the time. It was also unclear if Oliver or Savage had been sexually assaulted in the attack. But Robert would never be a suspect in the murder. He would only be a only be convicted of it after confessing to it over a decade later. In fact, Robert was nowhere near the murders at the time. He had already distanced himself from the nearby prison and found new employment as a movie theater usher. Sometime later, in 1975, he and Linda moved back to Robert's hometown of Oak Harbor, likely because his mother had been battling cancer.

Shortly after arrival, 23-year-old Robert Lee Yates took a job as a janitor. at Whidbey Island Hospital, where his mother worked as the housekeeping supervisor. In July 1976, Robert and Linda threw a second wedding and were officially married. It took place in Oak Harbor with Robert's parents as witnesses. Linda officially took Robert's last name, but she joined the family just as another Yates passed on. On October 9, 1976, Robert's mother Anna May died of cancer. Robert and his friend Gotti were pallbearers at her funeral. Gotti claimed that the death didn't affect Robert too much,

because Robert and Anna Mae didn't have a close relationship. He told the Seattle Times, quote, boys aren't attached to their mothers like girls are. It doesn't throw us over the edge, end quote. Sometime in 1977, Robert became a father again when Linda gave birth to their second child, Sonia. On October 4, 1977, Robert enlisted in the U.S. Army. At age 25, he was older than the other recruits, but proceeded to train up bases in Missouri,

Texas, and Massachusetts. In 1980, 28-year-old Robert was chosen to train as an Army pilot, fulfilling his childhood dream of flying. In order to become an Army pilot, individuals are selected for special training called Warrant Officer Candidate School. Robert's training for this took place at Fort Rucker, Alabama, the Army's Aviation Center in July 1980. Before he was allowed to fly planes, he started his training with helicopters. Robert became a highly skilled helicopter pilot. His colleagues called him an excellent pilot, knowledgeable and safety conscious. From 1980 until 1984, Robert was stationed in Hanna, Germany, located about 15 miles from Frankfurt.

Linda and his daughters remained in Washington, but Robert visited the family while on leave. During one of Robert's trips home, Robert and Linda expanded their family. During this time, Linda gave birth to two more children, their third daughter, Amber, in 1980, and their fourth daughter, Michelle, who was born in 1984. The Yates family now had four daughters, Sasha, Amber, Sonia, and Michelle. But despite their large family, Robert and Linda seemed happy to keep their lives separate. She raised their daughters, while Robert served in the military.

He rarely mentioned his wife to his army colleagues, and many didn't even know he was married. Even when he was back in the States, Robert and Linda spent time apart. In 1984, 32-year-old Robert became an instructor at Fort Rucker, Alabama, for various aviation training battalions. He was an instructor pilot for the OH-58, the Kiowa, which was used as the Army's primary observation helicopter at the time. Shortly after, in 1985, Linda moved back to Walla Walla with their children and did not depend on Robert's financial support. Linda was happy for a bit. But she found it hard to support herself and her daughters on her own.

Linda said, quote, I loved the separation, but the girls were pleading to be with their dad. They didn't want to be poor and not have anything anymore, end quote. So Linda reunited with Robert in 1988. In July of that year, while Robert Lee Yates was on leave, he returned home to Oak Harbor. Meanwhile, in nearby Skagit County, 23-year-old Stacey Elizabeth Hahn was working as a sex worker. On July 7, 1988, 36-year-old Robert encountered Hahn, presumably while she was looking for customers. It's not clear exactly what happened during their encounter, but months later, on December 28, 1988,

authorities found Hahn's remains outside Mount Vernon. She had been shot once in the head. At first, police believed that Han was a victim of Gary Leon Ridgeway, the Green River killer. He was another active serial killer who targeted sex workers in Washington State at the time. However, Robert confessed to murdering Han years later, and it would play a big role in his trial. Sometime in 1988, the Army restationed Robert in Germany. This time in Gopingen, about 119 miles from Munich. He remained there for three years.

We don't know for sure if Robert killed again in Germany, but at present, German authorities consider him a potential suspect in a string of 26 unsolved homicides. His involvement in those homicides is still being investigated. In 1989, Robert's wife Linda, who was still in the States, gave birth to Kyle, the couple's first son, and fifth child overall. Robert favored his son and began to neglect his four daughters,

Sasha, Sonia, Amber, and Michelle. It's unknown in what ways he treated his son differently than his daughters, but it's usually typical for parents to view sons and daughters differently. Dr. Glenn Wilson, a professor in gender and sexual psychology, told the mirror that the fact that men and their sons share Y chromosomes, which carry more genetic material than women's double X chromosomes, could point to an instinctual preference for sons. It also may have to do with common interests.

Wilson told the publication in 2010, Before the birth, a father would assume he'd connect with his son psychologically, more so than with his daughter, and that they'd have more shared interests, such as playing football. But regardless of how much Robert cared for any of his children, he was often too far from home to see them. Robert returned to the United States in 1991 and served as a flight instructor at the Fort Drum Base in New York. Robert was also part of the Fort Drum Assault Helicopter Division, and he went on several missions with the team.

It was during one of these missions that Robert drew attention to himself, a story that would get more attention than many of his murders. In December 1992, he served in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia. While serving, Robert and his fellow soldiers became tired of eating army food and craved barbecue. Robert decided to do something about it. One day, he flew the Kiowa helicopter over a nearby forest and took aim at a wild pig below. The pig was hit. Robert and the rest of the crew landed the helicopter after the shot. They gutted the pig and loaded it onto the helicopter, thrilled for the fresh meat.

Robert was not reprimanded for his unauthorized joyride or unbecoming actions. Dennis Mills, who served with Robert, recalled that it wasn't taken very seriously. He told the Seattle Times, quote, they tried to court-martial him because he didn't go through the proper channels. It all turned into a big joke after a while. It didn't hurt a damn thing. They were just trying to get some fresh meat, end quote.

Many serial killers seem to display violent tendencies towards animals as children and adults. According to an FBI report in 2016, if a person hurts animals, then they're likely to hurt humans or will do so in the future. John Thompson, Deputy Executive Director of the National Sheriff's Association,

told the FBI, quote, if somebody is harming an animal, there's a good chance they're also hurting a human. If we see patterns of animal abuse, the odds are that something else is going on, end quote. but nobody suspected Robert of anything more sinister at the time, probably because they viewed his hunting trip as little more than a desire for good barbecue. Rather than consequences, Robert was promoted after this stint overseas.

In 1994, Robert returned to the United States and became a pilot who trains Army Aviation instructors at Fort Rucker in Alabama. At the time, he was one of only 10 army instructors on that highly trained level. Miles Merrill, one of Robert's former students, recalled, quote, Bob was really kind of quiet. He was very methodical, saw things through quite well, patience like you wouldn't believe, end quote. Merrill spent seven hours a day with Robert for the eight weeks of training. Throughout that time, Robert mentioned his children, but never mentioned his wife.

Merrill thought Robert was a single dad. Robert received at least 30 days of leave a year from the Army. During one such leave in 1994, Robert bought a white 1977 corvette. He drove it back to the base, a move that would later come back to haunt him. Occasionally, Linda attended parties on the Fort Rucker base with Robert. She saw a whole new side of him. At the events, Robert drank alcohol and flirted with other women. His colleagues called him James Bond.

Linda was shocked at her husband's behavior, but she tolerated it. His army pay helped support their family, and she needed it for her children. Plus, Linda was still living in Washington while Robert was stationed in Alabama, so she rarely had to deal with his excessive flirting and other bad behaviors. His time in Fort Rucker coincidentally aligned with the murder of Terrian Corbett, a 19-year-old transgender woman who was killed on August 10, 1995. Some sources say she was a sex worker. Corbett was last seen at a night spot in Doe.

in Alabama, located 20 miles south of Fort Rucker. The next morning, Corbett was found by an unidentified bystander in a remote area along the nearby Chokthahe River. She had been shot in the face several times with a 45 caliber pistol. At the time, police theorized the murder may have a connection to Fort Rucker due to its proximity, but that was little more than a hunch and no leads ever materialized. It wasn't until decades later that Robert was considered a suspect in the case. Dale County detectives were unable to determine if Robert owned a 45-caliber pistol at the time, but they knew he would have been familiar with the area due to his time

on the military base. Though police consider Robert a suspect, he was never formally charged with it. Eight days after Corbett's murder, Robert graduated from an instructor pilot course at Fort Rucker on August 18, 1995. Later that month, he received the Master Army Aviator Badge, which symbolized his 15 years as a military helicopter pilot. He had been a pilot for the majority of his 18 years in the service. Around this time, the Army underwent a reduction in forces. 44-year-old Robert accepted an incentive to leave the Army after 18 years of service. It was a shock to most people,

because Robert was only two years shy of the 20-year mark, which is when he would qualify for full military retirement benefits. Back in Alabama, police officers, continued Corbett's murder investigation. Several sources have theorized that if Robert did murder Corbett, the investigation is most likely what caused Robert to leave the Army in 1996. Robert's deal allowed him to continue receiving 45% of his normal annual pay, likely around $20,000 a year. During his 18-year career, Robert earned 11 honors, including several Army achievement medals and meritorious service medals. After retiring from the Army in 1996, Robert's friend

Al-Ghadi recalled that Robert found a good deal on a home in Spokane, Washington. Robert moved his family into the new home in South Hill on a cul-de-sac with well-manicured lawns. But this idyllic neighborhood was unsettlingly close to the most notorious street in Spokane. We'll learn how that street got its seedy reputation in a moment. Now back to the story. In 1996, Robert Lee Yates and his wife Linda hoped their move to Spokane, Washington, might rekindle the romance in their marriage. Although that wasn't the case. Linda and Robert soon realized that they no longer felt the same about each other, but they decided to stay together as they raised their five children. Linda said, quote, the romance was gone, but I felt guilty about splitting up the family.

The kids loved their dad, and I just kind of suffered through it. After leaving the service, Robert found his military retirement package wasn't enough to support his children. He began to look for a new job, but despite being an accomplished pilot, his work experience wasn't directly applicable to the civilian workforce, and he had trouble finding work. In September 1996, 44-year-old Robert took a job at Pantrol Inc, a company that assembled electronic instruments used in heavy machinery. Pantrol owner Tony Givens recalled, quote, he was a good worker who mostly kept to himself. Nothing really stuck out about him.

He was just an average Joe, pretty quiet. I didn't talk to him much, but he seemed friendly enough, end quote. Once Robert had a steady income, he took up a new hobby at home, cars. He owned three in 1996. Robert worked on the cars and washed them off and in the family's front yard. The entire neighborhood was familiar with his enthusiastic. for cars, and neighbors often joked that they wanted Robert to wash their cars, too. Robert hid behind his love of cars, even as his own child got a sense of his dark tendencies.

One day in 1996, his now 19-year-old daughter, Sonia, found her father's address book and looked through it. She noticed it was filled with names of women she didn't recognize. Sonia started to go through the address book and call the women one by one. She asked them if they knew her father, and they each answered, no. When confronted about the address book, Robert told Sonia that he was buying used car parts from the women named in the book, even though the women said they didn't know him. However, Linda, too, had reason to be suspicious of her husband. She noticed the family was running out of money, as her husband frequently withdrew cash

from ATMs. Robert's response? He told her to get a job. Although Robert and Linda's marriage had been loveless for years, it had stayed physical. But after Robert left the service, they began to have issues in the bedroom as well. Around this time, Linda recalled Robert used to talk about being impotent and wanted to take Viagra. She remembered telling him, quote, it's okay, you're probably tired and I'm tired, end quote. Erectile dysfunction in men over 40 is relatively common.

A 2013 study of 430,000. 39 men in the Journal of Sexual Medicine revealed that 40% of men over 40 were affected. One day in 1996, Linda found Robert's pornographic magazines filled with images of orgies. She also found a piece of paper with more names, a list of people interested in group sex. Another time, Robert asked Linda if she was interested in kissing another woman. Linda had accepted that Robert was looking for sex outside of their marriage. Meanwhile, his assignments at Pantrol slowed to a halt. So 44-year-old Robert took a job at the Kaiser aluminum processing plant.

His colleagues were much younger than him, so they often saw him as a father figure. Robert's Kaiser colleagues described him as a family guy. He often took coffee breaks with Tim Buchanan at the plant. Buchanan recalled, quote, he got along with all of us, end quote. Robert started out at the processing plant as a carbon setter. working with carbon and the aluminum-making process. Then he became an overhead crane operator. Kaiser spokesperson Susan Ash said,

quote, by all accounts he was a good worker. He had a very good work record, end quote. But the job wasn't enough for Robert. His darker side began to emerge on the most dangerous street in Spokane. At some point in 1996, Robert Lee Yates visited the notorious East Sprague, Avenue in Spokane. The area had a reputation for being crime-riddled, a haven for sex workers.

The Spokesman Review reported in 2017 that throughout the years, East Sprague Avenue had up to 30 sex workers a day occupying corners, and throughout the 1990s, sex workers from the avenue often ended up murdered. One particular East Sprague Avenue sex worker, 38-year-old Shannon R. Zelensky, was last seen alive on May 27, 1996. She was a former waitress and a heroin user. Zelensky was also the mother to a 20-year-old daughter. Zelensky had a criminal record with drug possession and theft charges. On that day, she was drinking alcohol with a group of men near Sprague Avenue.

A police officer approached the group, but no arrests were made. Later that evening, witnesses say they saw Zelensky leave her nearby residence for sex work. she wore a gray dress and high black boots. It's unclear how Robert Metzlinski, or how their encounter turned deadly. But on June 14, 1996, the last day of classes at the local high school, two teenage boys decided to investigate a rotting stench at their school bus stop in the foothills of Mount Spokane. They had noticed the smell for a few days and set off to find the source.

The teens thought the foul odor might be coming from a deer carcass or a dead rackus. Coon. They found neither in their search. The boys reached Holcomb Road and explored the nearby brush. They saw something lying beneath low-hanging pine branches. It was the remains of a woman's body. Maggots infested a woman's body, clad in a gray dress. A blue towel had been draped over the body, barely covering it. The boy spotted a pair of pantyhose, a pair of white socks, and one high black boot near the remains. Terrified, the teens ran home and contacted the police. They returned to show Spokane County Sheriff Deputy Brent Garrett the body they had found.

Sheriff's detective Rick Grabenstein examined the crime scene and theorized that the woman had been killed somewhere else since the forest area didn't show any signs of struggle or blood. The spot near Holcomb Road just happened to be the killer's dumping site. The woman's head had two gunshot wounds, one on the right side and one on the left. Police tried to take a sperm sample from the body that could help track down the killer, but the body was too decomposed. There was no ID or wallet found on the body or nearby. Authorities used the body's fingerprints to identify her as Zelensky.

Forensic entomologist Dr. Neil Haskell examined the maggots found at Zelensky's crime scene to figure out the date of her death. He studied the development of the insect, which was identified as the black blowfly maggot. This detail would later become crucial to the murder case. The life cycle length of the black blowfly maggot is determined by temperature. Its life cycle will fully advance through all of the stages if the temperature is at least around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Otherwise, its life cycle will be stunted. Based on the life stage of the maggots found in the body and the outside temperature in the days leading, up to the body's discovery, Haskell determined that the body's date of death was around May 26th or 27th, 1996.

This also aligned with the fact that Zelensky was last seen alive around the same time. Among the maggots, Grabinstein found a shell casing near where the body was found. Ballistics experts identified the ammunition used as a 25-calibur gun. Robert used this murder weapon for several more of his victims. Grabenstein had been familiar with Zelensky and arrested her on East Sprague Avenue several times for drug possession and theft. He was unable to recognize her face

due to the advanced state of decomposition. The detective personally told Zelensky's mother Shannon Loflin about her death. She said she knew as soon as she saw him. Loflin said, I always thought it was going to happen eventually. Robert wasn't identified as a suspect in Zelensky's murder at the time.

She lived a dangerous life in her East Sprague Avenue activities. In addition to sex work, she had recently ripped off a notorious drug dealer who vehemently refused to take a lie detector test. Zelensky was also a potential key witness in the case against Jojo Andrews, a murder suspect who allegedly shot two people in Spokane in 1994. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter a year later. Police initially believed she could have been murdered in connection with that case. Months later, Linda caught Robert with blood on his hands, literally.

In the fall of 1996, Linda noticed that Robert didn't return home one night. The next morning, he returned home, and blood covered the back of their van. Robert told her that he had run over a dog and driven it to a veterinarian. She said she believed him. It's unknown if the story had some truth to it or if the blood belonged to a still unknown human victim. Robert began amassing more victims in 1997 after a big blow to his ego. Almost exactly a year after his army retirement, Robert joined the National Guard in Washington in April 1997 at age 45.

His goal was to fly helicopters again. Lieutenant Colonel Rick Patterson, a National Guard spokesperson, said he came to us very, very qualified. Robert trained near Tacoma once a month. In order for Robert to be able to fly helicopters for the the National Guard, he had to undergo a routine medical examination. He had to remain grounded in the meantime, but there was a lengthy delay in processing the approval for flight. Some sources say an unknown ailment was found in Robert's examination, and doctors kept him grounded from flight from April 1997 until spring of 1998. His performance evaluation stated that his

morale and dedication remained high, even though he couldn't fly. But on the ground, there seemed to be another side to Robert. It was during this time period when he murdered the majority of his victims. Next week, we'll discuss the 13 murders Robert committed between 1997 and 1998, mostly on East Sprague Avenue. We'll also see how a glaring clerical error

involving his beloved white corvette kept police off his trail for years, and during that time period, this murderous pilot was free to comb the state for victims. A terror, both on the street and in the sky. There was literally nowhere to hide from Robert's watchful eye. Thanks again for tuning in to serial killers.

We'll be back Monday with a new episode. You can find more episodes of serial killers, as well as all of Parcast's other podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, cast box, tune in, or your favorite podcast directory. Several of you have asked how to help the show show. And if you enjoy this show, the best way to help us is to leave a five-star review. And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram at Parcast and Twitter at Parcast Network.

We'll see you next time. 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 designed by Dick Schroeder, 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 Paulson and Vanessa Richardson. Blood Trails is a true crime podcast born in the outdoors, where the terrain is unforgiving, the evidence is scarce, and the truth gets buried under brush and silence. I've seen something in the road. I instantly thought it was a sleeping bed. And there was a

full of blood. Somebody somewhere knows something. I'm Jordan Sillers. Season 2 is out now with new episodes every Thursday. Listen on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A beloved 75-year-old man

washing up getting ready for bed is brutally beaten and killed. Despite an exhaustive investigation, the killer avoids arrest and then strikes again. I'm Global News crime reporter Nancy Hicks. You You might listen to a lot of true crime podcasts this year, but they're not Crime Beat.

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