Andrea Yates:
The Hand That Rocked The Cradle
Noble Woods III
PSY 303 Abnormal Psychology
Julie Bruno
19 September 2011
In 1964 Andrea Yates was born into a Roman Catholic family. She had had a normal upbringing. Andrea graduated valedictorian of her class in 1982. After high school Andrea continued her education and became a Registered Nurse. In 1984 Andrea met Russell “Rusty” Yates. The couple dated and eventually fell in love. They married in 1993, and started a family. Andrea Yates suffered from mental illness. In 2001, Andrea drowned her five children in a bathtub in her home. After years of court hearings, testing, and over-turned rulings, Andrea was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Yates was diagnosed
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Eileen Starbranch, she urged the couple not to have more children because it would guarantee future psychotic depression. Seven weeks after Andrea’s discharge the Yateses conceived their fifth child (AP, 2006).
After suffering for years with severe postpartum depression and psychosis, Andrea Yates drowned her five children on June 20, 2001. The conviction of capital murder and sentence to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years was later overturned on appeal. Andrea Yates suffered from unrecognized bipolar illness, and had been treated intermittently for diagnoses of depression, postpartum depression, and schizophrenia. Andrea’s disorders fall well within the guidelines and use of the Axis V tool according to The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) published by the American Psychiatric Association. Many people have criticized the ruling to over-turn the capital punishment, life in prison sentence. I tend to agree that the acts of Andrea Yates are horrendous. I wonder how a mother could possibly murder her children. Andrea Yates does not deny the fact that she murdered her children. She admits that she did it. What intrigues me and makes me also reconsider the conviction is the reasons why Andrea did this unspeakable act. Research enabled me conclude that in addition to her depression and mood disorders, Andrea was a victim of her environment. Rusty Yates introduced a former acquaintance from
In the book Eligible for Execution: The Story of the Daryl Atkins Case, the author Thomas G. Walker, a Professor of Political Science at Emory University provides a thought provoking analysis of the case Atkins vs. the commonwealth of Virginia. Walker has written his book is such a way that piques his reader’s interest and grabs the attention. He begins with a basic detailed summary of the case at hand, the murder of Eric Michael Nesbitt. The defendant, Daryl Renard Atkins is described as a body-abled young man who unfortunately did not have an opportunity to experience a close family relationship. His parents divorced at the age of 9 which acted as a milestone in his life. He struggled to complete his school and struggled with maintaining
Guilty or Not Guilty? Casey Anthony v. State is a famous court case originating in June of 2008. Casey Anthony was accused of murdering her two-year old daughter. Casey Anthony claimed that her daughter had died by drowning in a pool a month before she was reported missing and that George Anthony, her father, panicked and covered up her death.
The Casey Anthony trial was a controversial and a media-encompassed case that followed the disappearance of Caylee Anthony – a two year old girl who lived in Orlando, Florida. The case began on terms that were less than adequate, when Casey’s mother, Cindy Anthony, called authorities on the basis that she had not seen her granddaughter for over 30 days. It should also be acknowledged that the mother had even stated, in her own words, that Casey’s car “smelled like there’d been a dead body,” in it. Investigation led to portion after portion of evidence, along with even more questions on what had befallen Caylee after it turned out that her mother had falsified a slew of information. The original story that Casey offered stated that she had left
A lot of human behavior patterns are based on genetics, including the human nervous system and brain, hormonal systems, neurology, and genetics. Andrea was diagnosed with depression and also took medication. She overdosed at her parent’s house in June 1999. Doctors told her she shouldn’t have anymore children because they saw the path she could be going down. They thought having more children would bring more stress and increase her depression and her trying to commit suicide. Despite what the doctor’s recommendation she had 5 children. She took care of her father as well who suffered from Alzheimer’s and “was completely out of it said Jutta Kennedy. Her mother also said how her father always doted on Andrea, she was
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In 2001, Andrea Yates drowned her five children in a bathtub in her home. This was very disturbing news. I am a native Houstonian. I was at home that day. The television was on and will never forget the news breaking announcements that broke the story of a homicide in Clear Lake. All the information the reporters had was a mother killed all her children then called the police to report it. The full story and the details that lead to this tragedy did not unfold until years later. It was sad because as details unfolded if Andrea Yates had been treated properly and followed her doctors
Andrea Yates long history of mental illness did impact what she did to her children as well as an outside influence of Michael and Rachel Woroniecki. In 1993 Rusty and Andrea married and a year later they had their first child a son named Noah. They planned on having many children whatever God intended for them. Their five children were all named after figures from the Bible. After Andrea’s first child Noah was born she began to have violent visions and felt that Satan was speaking to her. Andrea kept all her feelings to herself not realizing how much mental illness was in her family because she and Rusty had Bible inspired notions about family and motherhood. Andrea tried to have a fourth child, but suffered a miscarriage. Not long
Montaldo (2016) writes, “Andrea and her future husband, Rusty Yates met each other in their Houston apartment complex. Much of their time revolved around religious studies and prayers. They married on April 17, 1993. Andrea Yates gave birth to five children. The Yates couple’s first-born Noah was born on (2/26/1994), John (12/12/1995), Paul (9/13/1997), Luke (2/15/1999), and Mary (11/30/2000)” (p. 1). Any natural mother giving birth to the
Andrea’s goal was to be a good mother to her children; however, she felt as though her children weren’t developing correctly. Between the hallucinations, medication she was prescribed, her mental illnesses, and voice of Satan in her head, Andrea felt as though she wasn’t capable enough to take care of her five children and provide them with the life they deserved. She felt that killing them was the only way to keep them from going to hell and having Satan get to them.
On July 15, 2008 a women by the name Cindy Anthony called the authorities to report the missing her granddaughter Caylee Anthony; Cindy stated that she had not seen her for “quite some time”. The grandmother Cindy informed police that the young Caylee had been missing for roughly a month or thirty days to be exact. She was only two years old (www.biography.com), this would lead to one of the most infamous trials in history when the mother of Caylee, Casey Anthony, was charged with her murder. What raised eyebrows was Casey Anthony’s abnormal behavior after her daughter’s disappearance. Casey Anthony’s trial captured headlines throughout the news and was even being compared to the OJ Simpson trial. This paper will focus on the cases of both
A brief synopsis of the Yates case is required for better understanding of the theories this document attributes to her crime. On June 20, 2001, in Clear Lake, Texas a small bedroom community located in Harris County, Andrea Yates drowned her five young children. Yates was a stay at home mother who homeschooled her children. According to all accounts, the Yates children appeared to be loved and well cared for by both parents. Andrea Yates grew up in Houston as part of a middle-class family and in 1986 she attended a two-year nursing
The following criminal analysis shows why Aileen Wuornos was convicted for the murder of six men and what lead up to these actions. These actions were not in self-defense, but out of cold blood. This profile will analyze the following: what lead up to the murder of these men, what Wuornos’s intents were, the evidence and patterns, her personality and characteristics, and her behavior. These facts and evidence will show Wuornos’s intent and motive, and whether or not she was insane. This woman was not born to be a killer, but something in her life drove her to commit these horrible crimes, and this profile will analyze how exactly she did it and why.
On October 25, 1994, Susan Smith drowned her two sons, Michael and Alex, in the John D. Long Lake in Union County, South Carolina. For nine days she lied about knowing where the boys were. On November 3, she confessed to the killings and would soon go to trial.
Shortly after her father passed away in March 2001, Andrea was admitted to another hospital. She was treated briefly by her psychiatrist, Dr. Mohammed Saeed. Saeed also prescribed Haldol to Andrea claiming that she did not seem psychotic. After her release she sub-sequentially returned a few months later in May. After 10 days, Andrea was released yet again. Her follow-up visit with Dr. Saeed consisted of his telling her to consider seeing a psychologist and to think positive thoughts. Rusty had arranged for his mother to come over and help Andrea with the children after he left for work for several days after she was released from the hospital. On the second day Andrea decided
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