Andrea Yates: Postpartum Psychosis, System Failure, and a Case America Still Gets Wrong

1
00:00:01,560 --> 00:00:06,040
At around 10:00 AM on June 20th,
2001, Rusty Yates received a

2
00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:08,920
phone call from his wife.
He had been gone from the house

3
00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:12,240
for barely an hour.
You need to come home, Andrea

4
00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:14,640
said.
Confused, Rusty asked what was

5
00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:16,720
wrong.
It's time, she told him.

6
00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:19,240
I did it.
Knowing Andrea had been

7
00:00:19,240 --> 00:00:21,400
struggling with severe
depression, he pressed her.

8
00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:24,680
What's going on?
It's the children, she said

9
00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:27,000
calmly.
That's when Rusty realized

10
00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:29,600
something was terribly wrong.
Which one?

11
00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:31,600
He asked.
All of them.

12
00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:34,920
When Rusty arrived at their home
in Houston just 15 minutes

13
00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:37,360
later, police cars and
ambulances filled the street,

14
00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:40,080
according to Time magazine.
When officers wouldn't let him

15
00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:43,480
inside, he ran to the back of
the house screaming How could

16
00:00:43,480 --> 00:00:46,080
you do this?
Before collapsing onto the lawn,

17
00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:49,600
pounding the ground as Andrea
Yates was led away in handcuffs.

18
00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:53,200
Today we're revisiting one of
the most infamous and most

19
00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:57,080
misunderstood criminal cases in
modern American history, the

20
00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,920
killing of five children by
their mother, Andrea Yates.

21
00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:06,560
This case didn't just divide a
jury, it split the country and

22
00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:10,680
exposed how unprepared the US
legal system and medical systems

23
00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:15,040
actually were and arguably still
are, to recognize and respond to

24
00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:19,880
severe maternal mental illness.
I'm Brittany Ransom and This is

25
00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:22,720
When Killers Get Caught, the
podcast where we dig into the

26
00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:26,800
lives, behavior, and psychology
behind the most extreme crimes

27
00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:29,120
and what happens after the truth
crumbs out.

28
00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:32,280
I covered this case originally
in 2021.

29
00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:35,160
I'm returning to it now to ask a
harder question.

30
00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:39,400
What have we actually learned
and what hasn't changed at all?

31
00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:44,480
This episode contains in depth
discussions of infanticide,

32
00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:48,600
postpartum psychosis, suicide,
and severe mental illness.

33
00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:56,840
Listener discretion is advised.
Andrea Pia Kennedy was born on

34
00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:01,480
July 2nd, 1964 in Hallsville,
TX, the youngest of five

35
00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:03,880
children in a deeply religious
Catholic family.

36
00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:06,400
From the outside, her upbringing
appeared stable and

37
00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:08,880
conventional.
Her parents emphasized faith,

38
00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,360
discipline, modesty, and
achievement, values that shaped

39
00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:14,480
Andrea's identity from an early
age.

40
00:02:14,920 --> 00:02:16,680
Emotional restraint was
encouraged.

41
00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:19,280
Personal suffering was not
openly discussed.

42
00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,560
Mental illness wouldn't appear
at all, was often interpreted

43
00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:25,920
through a moral or spiritual
lens rather than a medical 1.

44
00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:30,320
Andrea learned early how to
perform excellence.

45
00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:33,640
She was an exceptional student,
consistently earning her top

46
00:02:33,640 --> 00:02:36,440
grades and praise from teachers.
She graduated as the

47
00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:39,000
valedictorian of her high school
class and was inducted into the

48
00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:41,920
National Honor Society.
Educators described her as

49
00:02:41,920 --> 00:02:44,240
intelligent, reserved, and
intensely driven.

50
00:02:44,640 --> 00:02:48,000
She was not a troublemaker, not
outspoken, not rebellious.

51
00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:51,080
Andrea followed rules.
She met expectations.

52
00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:54,440
She internalized the idea that
worth came from achievement and

53
00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:57,400
self-control.
What few people recognize at the

54
00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:00,240
time was that Andrea's inner
world did not match her outer

55
00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:02,600
world.
As a teenager, Andrea developed

56
00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:06,040
bulimia, a very serious eating
disorder marked by a cycle of

57
00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:08,040
binging, purging, and intense
shame.

58
00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:11,560
Eating disorders are often
rooted in a need for control,

59
00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:14,680
particularly in environments
where emotional expression is

60
00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:17,200
restricted.
Andrea's struggle remained

61
00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:20,040
largely hidden, as these
illnesses often do.

62
00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:23,160
She experienced persistent
depression and recurring

63
00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:27,120
thoughts of suicide, and at 17
years old, she seriously

64
00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:31,040
considered ending her life.
There was no indication that

65
00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:33,560
Andrea received sustained
psychiatric care during her

66
00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:36,200
adolescence.
In the cultural context of the

67
00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:38,680
time, particularly within
conservative religious

68
00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:41,240
households, mental health
struggles were frequently

69
00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:44,560
minimized or framed as phases,
weaknesses, or spiritual

70
00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:46,760
shortcomings.
Andrea learned to suppress,

71
00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:48,560
distress, and continue
performing.

72
00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:51,760
After graduating from high
school, Andrea rolled at the

73
00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:54,560
University of Houston, where she
pursued a degree in nursing.

74
00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:57,200
The profession appealed to her
sense of duty and structure.

75
00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:00,800
She excelled academically,
earning her nursing credentials

76
00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:03,080
and entering A demanding field
that required emotional

77
00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:05,920
endurance.
Andrea eventually secured a

78
00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,360
position at MD Anderson Cancer
Center, one of the most

79
00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:12,160
prestigious oncology hospitals
in the country.

80
00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:15,880
For nearly ten years, she worked
with patients facing terminal

81
00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:17,959
illness.
The job required constant

82
00:04:17,959 --> 00:04:20,120
exposure to suffering, grief,
and death.

83
00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:24,440
Colleagues described Andrea as
competent, calm, and meticulous.

84
00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:28,720
Patients found her reassuring,
but the emotional toll it was

85
00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:31,360
significant.
Working in oncology is

86
00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:35,240
associated with very high rates
of burnout and depression, even

87
00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,840
among people without prior
mental health vulnerabilities.

88
00:04:39,280 --> 00:04:42,080
Andrea carried her own
unresolved depression into an

89
00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:44,680
environment saturated with
mortality.

90
00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:47,640
She continued to function
professionally, but there is

91
00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:50,200
evidence that her mental health
continue to deteriorate beneath

92
00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:54,200
the surface.
In 1989, Andrea met Russell

93
00:04:54,280 --> 00:04:58,000
Rusty Yates, a NASA engineer who
lived in her apartment complex.

94
00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:01,480
Rusty was intelligent,
articulate, and deeply committed

95
00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:04,680
to his religious beliefs.
The two began dating and moved

96
00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:07,960
in together fairly quickly,
eventually marrying in 1993.

97
00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:10,800
From very early in their
relationship, Andrea struggled

98
00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:14,120
with her issues relating to
sexuality, intimacy, and

99
00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:16,400
self-image.
She was uncomfortable with her

100
00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:20,520
body and reportedly viewed sex
as something religious,

101
00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:23,400
obligatory rather than mutually
expressive.

102
00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:26,960
Rusty attributed these struggles
to Andrea's deep religious

103
00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:30,040
upbringing, but they were also
consistent with her history of

104
00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:32,680
disordered eating, depression,
and low self worth.

105
00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:35,800
What is critical to understand
is that the nature of Rusty

106
00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:38,080
Yates belief system and the
degree that it would shape

107
00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:41,480
Andrea's life.
See, Rusty embraced A rigid,

108
00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:45,280
fundamentalist interpretation of
Christianity that emphasized

109
00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:48,440
male authority, female
submission, and a strict

110
00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:53,640
separation from secular society.
He believed that the modern

111
00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:56,880
woman and the modern world were
morally corrupt.

112
00:05:57,080 --> 00:05:59,160
Children were especially
vulnerable to spiritual

113
00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:02,800
contamination, and these beliefs
were not peripheral to his life.

114
00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:06,200
They were central.
After their marriage, Andrea's

115
00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:08,120
world became increasingly
narrow.

116
00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:11,560
Rusty discouraged Andrea from
continuing her nursing career,

117
00:06:11,840 --> 00:06:14,160
despite her years of training
and experience.

118
00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:17,960
He expressed skepticism towards
institutional education and

119
00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:21,480
advocated for homeschooling.
The couple adopted an austere

120
00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:25,760
lifestyle prioritize religious
purity over comfort or social

121
00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:27,920
integration.
At one point, they lived in a

122
00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:30,800
converted bus, further isolating
the family from broader

123
00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:34,000
community support.
Andrea had long relied on

124
00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:37,600
structure and external
validation lost key stabilizing

125
00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:40,800
elements of her identity.
She was no longer a nurse.

126
00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:43,720
She was no longer a part of a
professional community.

127
00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,800
Her role became almost
exclusively defied by marriage,

128
00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:50,840
motherhood, and religious
obedience.

129
00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:55,160
Between 1994 and 2000, Andrea
gave birth to five children in

130
00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:58,680
rapid succession.
Early pregnancy paced additional

131
00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:01,440
strain on her physical and
psychological health.

132
00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:04,800
Postpartum depression emerged
after multiple births and grew

133
00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:08,240
progressively more severe.
Andrea became withdrawn, stopped

134
00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:10,400
eating properly, and struggled
to care for herself.

135
00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:14,160
She expressed overwhelming guilt
and feelings of inadequacy,

136
00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:16,560
frequently describing herself as
a bad mother.

137
00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:19,360
Her religious environment
amplified these fears.

138
00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:22,120
She internalized the belief that
mother others bore full

139
00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:24,720
responsibility for their
children's moral and spiritual

140
00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:27,000
outcomes.
Any perceived failure,

141
00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,760
frustration, anger, exhaustion
became evidence in her mind that

142
00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:34,400
she was fundamentally unfit.
Rather than viewing motherhood

143
00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:37,160
as a shared responsibility,
Andrea experienced it as a

144
00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:41,560
relentless spiritual test.
She was failing, and in 1999,

145
00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:45,240
Andrea attempted suicide again,
this time overdosing on

146
00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:47,640
medication.
She was hospitalized and

147
00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:50,360
formerly diagnosed with a severe
depression.

148
00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:54,160
This event marked a critical
escalation in her mental health

149
00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:56,520
crisis.
Medical professionals warned

150
00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:00,040
Andrea should not have any more
children, noting the extreme

151
00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:02,680
toll that pregnancy and
postpartum hormonal shifts had

152
00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:05,480
taken on her psyche.
Despite these warnings, she

153
00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:08,400
became pregnant again.
Following the birth of her fifth

154
00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:11,160
child, her condition worsened
dramatically.

155
00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:13,960
She experienced psychotic
symptoms, including delusions,

156
00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:17,160
profound withdrawal, and near
catatonic states.

157
00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:20,120
She became fixated on the themes
of sin, punishment, and

158
00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:22,760
unworthiness.
Beliefs were not abstract

159
00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:25,640
religious concepts.
They were rigid, intrusive, and

160
00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:28,640
detached from reality.
She was hospitalized multiple

161
00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:32,080
times and prescribed
antipsychotic medications.

162
00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:36,559
At points, her systems improved.
However, stabilization was often

163
00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:38,600
brief.
She was repeatedly discharged

164
00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:41,679
back into the same home
environment, one characterized

165
00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:45,040
by isolation, overwhelming
responsibility, and religious

166
00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:48,280
absolutism.
Her support system was limited.

167
00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:52,080
She had little autonomy, minimal
social contact, and no sustained

168
00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:55,400
therapeutic continuity.
Medical professionals emphasized

169
00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:58,160
the importance of strict
medication adherence and

170
00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:01,720
constant supervision.
But those safeguards were

171
00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:06,680
inconsistent in Andrea's life.
By early 2001, her mental health

172
00:09:06,680 --> 00:09:10,680
had profoundly deteriorated.
She stopped bathing regularly.

173
00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:13,480
She spoke very little.
She stared blankly for long

174
00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:15,280
periods.
She became increasingly

175
00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:18,840
disconnected from daily reality.
Family members and clinicians

176
00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,480
alike observed she was not able
to function independently.

177
00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:26,440
Andrea Yates history before June
2001 is not one of sudden

178
00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:29,680
change.
It is a slow, visible

179
00:09:29,680 --> 00:09:32,920
progression, decades of
untreated or undertreated mental

180
00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:36,640
illness compounded by isolation,
repeated childbirth, and an

181
00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:39,160
environment that frames
psychological distress as a

182
00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:41,720
moral failure.
Understanding this history does

183
00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:45,120
not justify what occurred, but
it does challenge the simplistic

184
00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:48,200
narratives that followed,
narratives that reduce Andrea to

185
00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:51,240
a caricature rather than
acknowledging the complex

186
00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,120
systemic failures that preceded
her breakdown.

187
00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:57,440
She was not invisible before
June 2001.

188
00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:02,080
The warning signs were present,
diagnosis were documented, the

189
00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:05,240
risks were known.
They simply were not addressed

190
00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:08,080
in a way that could have altered
this trajectory.

191
00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:14,000
To understand Andrea Yates
psychological collapse, it is

192
00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:17,360
essential to understand the
belief system that dominated her

193
00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,560
adult life, not as a vague
backdrop, but as a daily

194
00:10:20,560 --> 00:10:24,000
internalized framework through
which she interpreted her worth,

195
00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:27,880
her body, and her children.
See, Rusty Yates was a divided

196
00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:32,240
father of the itinerant preacher
Michael Waronecki, a self styled

197
00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:34,800
evangelist whose teachings
blended fundamentalist

198
00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:38,800
Christianity with extreme
interpretations of original sin,

199
00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:41,520
female culpability, and
apocalyptic fear.

200
00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:45,560
Winnecki's sermons were not
casual expressions of faith.

201
00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:50,120
They were relentless moral
indictments built around the

202
00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:55,240
idea that humanity, and women in
particular, were inherently

203
00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:59,280
corrupt and perpetually at risk
of damnation.

204
00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:04,720
At the center of Waronecki's
theology was the doctrine of

205
00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:08,800
original sin, interpreted in its
harshest possible form.

206
00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:13,400
According to his teachings, all
humans were born tainted by sin,

207
00:11:13,560 --> 00:11:15,800
but women carried a unique
burden.

208
00:11:16,680 --> 00:11:19,280
Eve's transgression in the
Garden of Eden was not a

209
00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:21,520
symbolic story or theological
metaphor.

210
00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:25,840
It was a permanent moral stain
passed down through every woman

211
00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:28,680
who had followed.
Women were seen as spiritually

212
00:11:28,680 --> 00:11:32,520
defective by nature, more
susceptible to evil, and

213
00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:35,760
uniquely responsible for leading
others astray.

214
00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:40,120
In his worldview, motherhood was
not nurturing or rational.

215
00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:45,880
In this world view, motherhood
was not nurturing or relational.

216
00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:49,800
It was a moral battleground.
Women were held fully

217
00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:52,080
accountable for the spiritual
fate of their children.

218
00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:55,600
If a child sinned, rebelled or
strayed from God, the failure

219
00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:58,360
was not shared with the Father
or attributed to human

220
00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:01,040
complexity.
It belonged entirely to the

221
00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:03,200
Mother.
She had failed in her vigilance.

222
00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:05,720
She had allowed corruption to
enter her home.

223
00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:10,160
This theology left no room for
human imperfections.

224
00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:14,280
Normal maternal emotions,
frustration, exhaustion,

225
00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:17,360
resentment, sadness.
They were framed as evidence of

226
00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:20,760
moral rot.
Mental illness was not a medical

227
00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:23,160
condition, it was a spiritual
weakness.

228
00:12:23,560 --> 00:12:26,360
Depression was not suffering, it
was selfishness.

229
00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:28,880
Doubt was rebellion, and silence
was guilt.

230
00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:32,440
Andrea absorbed this belief
system completely.

231
00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:36,480
Unlike Rusty, who approached the
theology from an intellectual

232
00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:39,760
perspective, Andrea would
internalize it emotionally.

233
00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:43,760
She did not treat Waronecki's
teachings as abstract doctrine.

234
00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:46,880
She treated them as if they were
the literal truth.

235
00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:49,920
His words became the lens
through which she evaluated

236
00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:52,800
every thought, every action,
every perceived failure.

237
00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:56,040
Warnecki maintained a direct
relationship with the Yates

238
00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:58,080
family, communicating with them
personally.

239
00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:00,400
He did not offer a pastoral
comfort.

240
00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:03,920
Instead, he reinforced Andrea's
worst fears about herself.

241
00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:07,520
According to court records and
correspondence, Warnecki told

242
00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:12,240
Andrea explicitly she was evil,
that she was spiritually

243
00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:15,640
defective and that her very
nature posed a threat to her

244
00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:18,720
children's salvation.
These were not offhand remarks.

245
00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:22,200
They were repeated messages.
Andrea was told if her children

246
00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:24,200
were sinful, it was because she
had corrupted them.

247
00:13:24,560 --> 00:13:27,040
If they disobeyed, it was
evidence of her failure.

248
00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:29,960
If she felt overwhelmed or
disconnected, it meant Satan had

249
00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:33,240
a foothold in her soul.
There was no separation because

250
00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:37,040
between Andrea's internal
suffering and the moral verdict

251
00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:40,160
that was placed upon it.
The concept of female submission

252
00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:42,680
was equally central to
Warrinecki's teachings.

253
00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:45,840
Women were expected to submit
not only to God, but to their

254
00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:48,000
husbands as spiritual
authorities.

255
00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:51,520
A wife's role was obedience,
service, and silence.

256
00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:55,240
Questioning one's husband or
one's preacher were framed as

257
00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:59,200
rebellion against God himself.
For Andrea, this eliminated any

258
00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:03,040
internal checks against harm.
If Rusty endorsed Warrinecki's

259
00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:06,280
theology, then resisting it
meant defying both her husband

260
00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:09,320
and God.
If a belief caused distress, the

261
00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:12,760
distress was not a question, a
sign to question the belief.

262
00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:15,560
It was proof she deserved this
pain.

263
00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:18,800
This dynamic was particularly
dangerous given Andreas long

264
00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:21,600
history of depression, eating
disorders, and suicidal

265
00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:24,520
ideation.
Warnecki theology did not merely

266
00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:28,120
fail to accommodate mental
illness, it actively weaponized

267
00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:30,600
it.
Every symptom became evidence of

268
00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:33,920
spiritual corruption.
The more Andrea struggled, the

269
00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:36,760
more guilty she felt.
The more guilty she felt, the

270
00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:39,840
harder she tried to purify
herself, and the harder she

271
00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:43,280
tried, the more she failed.
It was a closed system.

272
00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:47,240
Apocalyptic fear was another
defining feature of his

273
00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:49,720
teachings.
Waronecki preached that the

274
00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:53,400
world was descending rapidly
into moral decay and that

275
00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:55,680
children were especially
vulnerable to damnation.

276
00:14:55,960 --> 00:15:00,120
Popular Cultural, public
education and secular society

277
00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:02,160
were portrayed as spiritual
toxins.

278
00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:05,720
The only safe place was in the
rigid boundaries of a godly

279
00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:10,120
home, and even then danger would
lurk if the mother faltered.

280
00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:13,720
For Andrea, this created a
constant state of vigilance and

281
00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:16,000
dread.
She did not experience

282
00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:18,640
motherhood as a relationship,
she experienced it as a

283
00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:21,880
surveillance job.
Every moment required monitoring

284
00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:24,840
for signs of sin, not only in
her children but herself.

285
00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:27,400
A fleeting, angry thought became
catastrophic.

286
00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:30,400
A moment of emotional numbness
became proof of her damnation.

287
00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:34,480
After Andrea and Rusty married
in 1993, these beliefs would

288
00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:36,920
move from theory into her daily
practice.

289
00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:39,880
See, she quit her nursing
immediately after the wedding.

290
00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:43,080
Her professional identity,
financial independence, and

291
00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:46,800
connection to the outside world
disappeared virtually overnight.

292
00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:50,120
She became pregnant right away,
and from that point forward her

293
00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:52,760
entire sense of worth was bound
to her performance as a wife and

294
00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:54,720
mother.
Under the terms of this

295
00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:58,080
theology, there was no
theological allowance Forrest,

296
00:15:58,280 --> 00:16:00,880
no concept of shared
responsibility, no mercy for

297
00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:03,480
imperfection.
The doctrine Andrea lived under

298
00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:07,120
demanded total purity while
offering no mechanism for

299
00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:10,160
achieving it.
Importantly, this belief system

300
00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:12,600
was not balanced by a broader
church community.

301
00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:15,680
The Yates family was not
embedded in a stable

302
00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:19,200
congregation with pastoral
oversight and accountability or

303
00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:22,080
diverse perspectives.
Instead, they followed this

304
00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:25,120
charismatic preacher whose
authority went largely

305
00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:27,680
unchecked.
His influence effort their home

306
00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:30,200
without the moderating
structures that might have

307
00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:32,520
challenged or even soften these
teachings.

308
00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:36,120
In a normal church, there was no
one telling her that illness was

309
00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:39,120
not a sin, no one telling her
that mothers are just human

310
00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:42,400
beings, and no one telling her
that God did not require

311
00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:46,760
perfection to offer His grace.
The theology that followed

312
00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:49,840
Andrea home did not simply
coexist with her mental illness.

313
00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:53,160
It amplified it, providing
language for her despair,

314
00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:56,720
structure for herself, loathing
and moral justification for her

315
00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:59,440
fears.
Over time, it eroded any

316
00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:02,200
remaining boundary between
psychological suffering and

317
00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:06,079
spiritual condemnation.
By the time Men Andrea's mental

318
00:17:06,079 --> 00:17:09,800
health began to visibly unravel,
the belief system she lived

319
00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:14,599
under had already stripped away
her ability to interpret that

320
00:17:14,599 --> 00:17:18,760
unraveling as a sign for help.
In her mind, suffering did not

321
00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:21,960
mean she needed care and meant
she was failing God.

322
00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:28,280
After the birth of her first
child in 1994, Andrea Yates

323
00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:31,360
begin experience symptoms that
would have triggered immediate

324
00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:34,120
and sustained psychiatric
intervention.

325
00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:37,640
She reported violent intrusive
thoughts, sudden unwanted images

326
00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:40,880
of harm that terrified her.
She experienced auditory

327
00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:43,760
hallucinations, including voices
that condemned her and

328
00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:45,600
reinforced her sense of
worthlessness.

329
00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:47,240
These symptoms were not
fleeting.

330
00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:49,520
They were persistent,
escalating, and deeply

331
00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:52,720
distressing for Andrea.
But she told no one.

332
00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:56,680
Intrusive thoughts are one of
the most misunderstood symptoms

333
00:17:56,920 --> 00:17:59,240
of severe perinatal mental
illness.

334
00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:01,520
They are not desires or
intentions.

335
00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:05,760
They are involuntary mental
intrusions that cause intense

336
00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:08,920
fear and shame.
For someone like Andrea, already

337
00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:11,640
living under theology that
framed these thoughts as moral

338
00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:16,000
feelings, these symptoms became
unbearable to disclose.

339
00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:18,880
She believed that having the
thoughts meant she was evil, not

340
00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:21,880
ill, and over the next six years
she would become pregnant four

341
00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:24,440
more times.
Each pregnancy followed the same

342
00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:27,720
pattern, temporary functioning
during her gestation period

343
00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:31,000
followed by rapid psychological
deterioration after birth,

344
00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:34,760
severe depression, withdrawal,
disordered eating, obsessive

345
00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:37,600
guilt and then increasingly,
psychosis.

346
00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:41,440
During trial testimony,
psychiatrist described Andrea's

347
00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:44,200
condition as progressive and
cumulative.

348
00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:47,480
Each episode left her more
vulnerable to the next and

349
00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:50,480
rather than recovering between
pregnancies, she was stacking

350
00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,440
untreated trauma on top of an
already compromised mental

351
00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:56,000
state.
By the mid 1990s, Andrea's

352
00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:57,960
symptoms were no longer limited
to depression.

353
00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:02,000
She was exhibiting classic signs
of psychosis, fixed illusions,

354
00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:05,400
auditory hallucinations,
impaired reality testing, and

355
00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:08,480
profound disorganization.
She became rigid in her

356
00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:11,440
thinking, unable to tolerate any
ambiguity or reassurance.

357
00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:13,480
Still, she continued to give
birth.

358
00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:16,840
Trial experts emphasized that
repeated pregnancies without

359
00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:20,080
recovery time dramatically
increase the risk of postpartum

360
00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:23,440
psychosis, especially in
patients with pre-existing mood

361
00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:26,080
disorders.
Andrea had that history.

362
00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:29,560
She had struggled with bulimia,
depression, suicidal ideation

363
00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:32,640
since adolescence.
She had documented suicide

364
00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:34,560
attempts.
These were not isolated

365
00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:36,560
episodes.
They were early indicators of a

366
00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:39,720
chronic mood disorder and it was
going largely untreated.

367
00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:42,960
And in 1999, her illness reached
a breaking point.

368
00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:47,360
That year, she attempted suicide
two more times and one attempt

369
00:19:47,360 --> 00:19:50,520
overdosing on medication and
another self harm through

370
00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:53,560
violent means.
She was hospitalized and placed

371
00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:57,000
on under psychiatric care where
she was diagnosed with major

372
00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:59,040
depressive disorder with
psychotic features.

373
00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:02,200
Later evaluations, including
testimony during her trial,

374
00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:05,120
clarified that Andrea's symptoms
were consistent with postpartum

375
00:20:05,120 --> 00:20:08,040
psychosis, a rare but severe
condition affecting

376
00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:13,240
approximately .1 to .2% of
mothers giving birth.

377
00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:17,120
Postpartum psychosis is not
postpartum depression, though.

378
00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:20,080
It's not the baby Blues.
It's not exhaustion or being

379
00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:22,720
overwhelmed.
It is a psychiatric emergency.

380
00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:25,600
Patients experience
hallucinations, delusions,

381
00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:28,560
severe mood instability in a
complete break from reality.

382
00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:32,000
Without treatment, the condition
will worsen rapidly.

383
00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:34,600
With treatment, outcomes are
often favorable.

384
00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:38,400
Antipsychotic medication, mood
stabilizers, sleep restoration

385
00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:41,480
and sustained monitoring are
essential to getting better.

386
00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:44,840
Here, Andrea needed all of those
things and and what she received

387
00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:49,000
was fragmented care during those
hospitalizations.

388
00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:53,000
During those hospitalizations,
Andrea would stabilize

389
00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:56,840
temporarily when she was placed
on antipsychotic medication and

390
00:20:56,840 --> 00:20:58,800
removed from the environmental
stressors.

391
00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:02,000
Medical records and trial
testimony show clear improvement

392
00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:05,080
during these periods, but once
she was discharged, she was

393
00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:08,200
returned to that same condition
that precipitated her breakdown.

394
00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:12,280
Isolation, religious pressure,
sleep deprivation, overwhelming

395
00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:15,160
responsibility.
The doctors were explicit in

396
00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:18,880
their warnings, and according to
testimony, multiple physicians

397
00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:23,200
told Rusty Yates and Andrea do
not leave her alone with the

398
00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:28,600
children, she requires constant
supervision, that medication

399
00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:33,080
compliance was critical, and
perhaps most importantly, she

400
00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:34,800
should not have any more
children.

401
00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:37,320
All of those warnings were
ignored.

402
00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:41,160
In fact, after Andrea showed
signs of improvement, her

403
00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:44,680
medication was often reduced or
discontinued entirely, either

404
00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:47,600
due to concerns about the side
effects or pressure to return to

405
00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:49,760
her functional role as quickly
as possible.

406
00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:53,160
Trial experts emphasize that
abrupt medication changes in

407
00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:55,920
patients with psychotic
depression significantly

408
00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:59,960
increased relapse risk.
Andrea relapsed repeatedly.

409
00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:02,920
Sleep deprivation also played a
critical role.

410
00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:05,920
Caring for five young children
with little support means Andrea

411
00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:08,320
was rarely able to sleep for
extended periods of time.

412
00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:12,320
Sleep loss is a known trigger
for psychosis, particularly in

413
00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:15,320
postpartum patients.
Witnesses testified that Andrea

414
00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:17,760
would stay awake late into the
night, rigidly completing

415
00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:21,440
household tasks, unable to rest.
Her illness became increasingly

416
00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:23,680
religious.
In context, she developed fixed

417
00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:26,640
beliefs about sin, damnation,
and moral failure, believing she

418
00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:29,880
was just inherently bad, that
her thoughts were evidence of

419
00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:31,800
corruption.
She was unfit as a mother.

420
00:22:32,120 --> 00:22:33,720
These were not abstract fears,
though.

421
00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:36,800
They were delusions reinforced
by her environment and belief

422
00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:39,480
system.
Psychiatrist testified that

423
00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:41,960
Andrea's religious delusions
were not a sign of her faith,

424
00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:45,640
but of her illness.
The content of psychosis often

425
00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:48,760
reflects a patient's cultural or
spiritual framework.

426
00:22:49,360 --> 00:22:53,160
In Andrea's case, her theology
provided the vocabulary for her

427
00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:57,080
illness.
By 2000, Andrea was barely

428
00:22:57,080 --> 00:22:59,640
functioning.
She stopped bathing.

429
00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:02,280
She ate very little.
She spoke minimally.

430
00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:05,480
Family members described her as
vacant, robotic and

431
00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:08,600
disconnected.
She would sit for hours staring

432
00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:11,480
at walls, at times appearing
catatonic.

433
00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:15,720
Despite this, though,
expectations remained unchanged.

434
00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:18,760
She was still responsible for
the children, still expecting to

435
00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:22,400
manage the home, still told that
endurance was her duty.

436
00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:26,200
There was no long term inpatient
care, no structured outpatient

437
00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:29,160
program, no consistent
psychiatric oversight.

438
00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:32,480
And during trial proceedings,
experts emphasized that Andrea's

439
00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:35,960
displayed nearly every known
risk factor for postpartum

440
00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:39,120
psychosis, history of mood
disorder, prior psychotic

441
00:23:39,120 --> 00:23:42,960
symptoms, rapid successive
pregnancies, abrupt medication

442
00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:45,680
changes, severe sleep
deprivation, religious

443
00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:49,160
delusions, social isolation and
lack of sustained support.

444
00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:52,480
In other words, this wasn't
unpredictable.

445
00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:56,520
It was a textbook case.
And yet interventions remained

446
00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:58,280
reactive rather than
preventative.

447
00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:02,320
Hospitalization occurred only
after crisis.

448
00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:06,520
Discharge plans lacked
enforcement.

449
00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:08,760
Warnings were issued without
follow up.

450
00:24:09,360 --> 00:24:13,000
Andrea herself repeatedly
expressed fear of being alone

451
00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:16,000
with her thoughts.
She reportedly asked for help,

452
00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:19,880
requested supervision, and
voiced concerns about the fact

453
00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:21,760
that she was struggling to
function.

454
00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:25,280
These were not subtle signals.
They were direct appeals.

455
00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:31,520
She was begging for help.
Still, responsibility for

456
00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:34,680
managing her illness fell
largely on her, a woman whose

457
00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:37,760
illness impaired her capacity to
manage anything at all.

458
00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:40,800
One of the most striking
elements revealed during trial

459
00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:44,400
testimony was how clearly Andrea
improved under proper care.

460
00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:47,840
When medicated appropriately,
when allowed to sleep, when

461
00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:50,600
relieved of pressure, she
stabilized.

462
00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:53,200
And this underscored A
devastating truth.

463
00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:57,400
Her illness was treatable.
It was always treatable.

464
00:24:57,680 --> 00:24:59,800
It simply wasn't treated
consistently.

465
00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:03,920
The narrative that later emerged
that her breakdown was sudden or

466
00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:06,720
inexplicable does not align with
her medical records.

467
00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:10,680
Her decline unfolded over years
in full view of doctors, family

468
00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:14,640
members, and institutions that
recognize the failure, the

469
00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:18,520
danger, but they failed to
prevent it. 5 pregnancies did

470
00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:22,560
not 'cause Andrea's illness,
they exacerbated it, and each

471
00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:25,720
birth layered hormonal shifts
onto an already unstable

472
00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:29,560
neurochemical foundation.
Each postpartum period pushed

473
00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:32,800
her further from her baseline.
Without recovery time, without

474
00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:35,720
sustained treatment, without
support, the illness deepened.

475
00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:38,800
And by the time she reached the
final stage of psychiatric

476
00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,880
deterioration, she wasn't making
rational choices.

477
00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:45,680
She was navigating a reality
defined by delusion, fear, and

478
00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:50,600
unbearable guilt.
Her history is not a mystery.

479
00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:54,280
It's a documented case study.
And what happens when a severe,

480
00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:56,920
treatable psychiatric condition
is allowed to progress

481
00:25:56,920 --> 00:25:59,400
unchecked?
When warnings are issued but

482
00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,320
never enforced?
When care is episodic instead of

483
00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:06,360
continuous, and when endurance
is mistaken for strength. 5

484
00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:10,040
pregnancies, 1 untreated
illness, and a system that

485
00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:12,200
failed every opportunity to
intervene.

486
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:17,440
The morning of June 20th, 2001
began.

487
00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:21,360
Like many in the Yates household
in Houston, Rusty Yates was

488
00:26:21,360 --> 00:26:23,400
early and prepared to leave for
work.

489
00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:26,920
Andrea was already awake.
She had been up for hours, as

490
00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:30,240
she often was, rigidly following
a routine that had become both

491
00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:32,600
her coping mechanism and a
symptom of her illness.

492
00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:35,280
The house was quiet except for
the sounds of five children

493
00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:38,440
moving through the morning.
Rusty left home shortly after

494
00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:40,840
9:00 AM.
This was not supposed to be a

495
00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:44,240
long or unsupervised visit.
Rusty's mother, Dora Yates, was

496
00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:46,720
scheduled to arrive at
approximately 10:00 AM to help

497
00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:49,920
Andrea with the children, as she
has been doing regularly

498
00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:53,440
following Andrea's most recent
psychiatric hospitalization.

499
00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:56,760
Doctors had warned explicitly
that she should not be left

500
00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:59,480
alone with her children.
The plan that morning left a

501
00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:03,840
very narrow window, less than an
hour, where Andrea would be by

502
00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:06,360
herself.
That hour changed everything.

503
00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:09,720
What happened during that time
would be later reconstructed

504
00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:12,520
through her own statements to
the police, forensic evidence

505
00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:15,920
and expert testimony.
There was no chaos, no struggle,

506
00:27:16,120 --> 00:27:19,120
no attempts to flee.
There was methodical action

507
00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:22,080
driven by delusion.
Andrea later explained that she

508
00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:25,200
believed her children were in
grave spiritual danger.

509
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:28,360
She believed that she was a bad
mother, that she had corrupted

510
00:27:28,360 --> 00:27:31,320
them, and that they would
inevitably grow up to be sinful,

511
00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:33,120
rebellious, and condemned to
hell.

512
00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:35,760
These beliefs were not fears or
metaphors.

513
00:27:36,120 --> 00:27:38,440
They were fixed psychotic
delusions.

514
00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:41,640
And in her mind, this was not a
crime, it was a solution.

515
00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:45,440
One by one, she drowned her five
children in the bathtub.

516
00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:48,640
She moved with deliberation,
following a sequence of she

517
00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:52,000
later described calmly, without
visible emotion.

518
00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:54,920
There was no evidence of panic.
There was no indication that she

519
00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:57,640
was responding to voices
commanding her to act in that

520
00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:00,200
moment.
Instead, psychiatric experts

521
00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:02,960
would later testify that Andrea
was acting under a deeply

522
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:06,200
ingrained belief system shaped
by months of psychosis.

523
00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:09,080
Afterwards, she placed her
children on the bed and the

524
00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:12,400
floor, arranged them carefully,
covered some of them.

525
00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:15,960
She left the bathroom and the
house in a very orderly state.

526
00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:19,520
Then she made two phone calls.
First was to 911.

527
00:28:20,120 --> 00:28:22,640
When the dispatcher answered,
Andrea's voice was flat and

528
00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:24,360
controlled.
She didn't scream.

529
00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:26,720
She didn't cry.
She said she needed a police

530
00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:29,560
officer at her address, and when
pressed For more information,

531
00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:33,400
she simply said I just killed my
kids and hung up.

532
00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:41,680
The second call was to Rusty.
It's the children, she said, and

533
00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:44,760
Rusty later testified he knew
immediately that the something

534
00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:48,120
was terribly wrong.
He asked her which one.

535
00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:52,320
All of them.
Police arrived within minutes.

536
00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:54,720
Andrea was waiting just inside
the home.

537
00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:56,600
She didn't attempt to run,
didn't resist.

538
00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:59,840
Officer described her as
composed, cooperative and eerily

539
00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:02,240
calm.
When asked what happened, Andrea

540
00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:04,760
stated matter of fact.
I just killed my kids.

541
00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:07,400
There was no visible emotional
reaction.

542
00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:10,560
This absence of affect would
later become a point of

543
00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:14,200
contention at her trial,
misunderstood by many observers

544
00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:18,440
as coldness or lack of remorse.
Psychiatrist explained that it

545
00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:21,280
was consistent with severe
psychosis and emotional

546
00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:25,400
blunting, a state in which the
brain is so overwhelmed that

547
00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:28,680
emotional response is flattened
or simply inaccessible.

548
00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:32,080
Andrea LED officers through the
house.

549
00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:34,960
The children were found exactly
where she told them they were.

550
00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:37,880
There was no sign of struggle
beyond what was inherent to the

551
00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:40,760
ACT itself.
The scene was quiet, controlled

552
00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:44,160
and devastating.
Andrea was taken into custody

553
00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:46,880
without incident.
In the hours and days that

554
00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:49,640
followed, investigators
attempted to understand her

555
00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:52,160
motive.
She never denied what she'd

556
00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:54,560
done.
She didn't attempt to justify it

557
00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:56,800
in any legal terms.
Instead, she explained it

558
00:29:56,800 --> 00:29:58,200
through the lens of her
delusions.

559
00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:01,040
She believed that she had saved
her children.

560
00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:05,280
Andrea told the police and later
mental health evaluators that

561
00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:08,240
she believes that her children
were not developing morally as

562
00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:10,600
they should be.
She believed that she had failed

563
00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:12,480
God as a mother.
She believed that allowing them

564
00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:14,760
to live would condemn them to
eternal punishment.

565
00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:19,080
And in her mind, death was never
a harm, it was mercy.

566
00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:22,280
This belief did not emerge
suddenly that morning.

567
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:25,240
Trial testimony would reveal
that Andrea had been preoccupied

568
00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:28,480
with these thoughts for months,
fixating on religious ideas of

569
00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:32,000
sin, purity, and damnation.
She believed she was evil, that

570
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:34,760
her thoughts alone were
corrupting her children.

571
00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:38,440
I'll repeat that this wasn't
something that Andrea had done

572
00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:42,360
to her kids to make her think
that she had caused them harm.

573
00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:46,000
She believed that simply because
she sometimes thought negative

574
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:50,480
things that she had corrupted
her kids and that the longer

575
00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:53,920
they lived under her care, the
worse their spiritual fate would

576
00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:56,680
be.
Psychiatrist testified that

577
00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:01,520
Andrea's actions were consistent
with altruistic philicide, a

578
00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:04,840
rare category in which a parent
kills a child under the

579
00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:08,360
delusional belief that the ACT
is in the child's best interest.

580
00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:12,080
This form of philicide is most
often associated with severe

581
00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:15,160
mental illness, particularly
psychotic depression or

582
00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:18,000
postpartum psychosis.
Andrea's belief that she was

583
00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:20,440
saving her children's soul.
It wasn't symbolic.

584
00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:22,520
This was very little rule to
her.

585
00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:25,720
She believed that heaven was
real, she believed that hell was

586
00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:28,600
real, and she believed her
children were destined for one

587
00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:31,960
or the other and that she was
responsible for helping them get

588
00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:34,920
there.
During psychiatric evaluations,

589
00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:38,560
Andrea expressed confusion as to
why people were upset.

590
00:31:38,840 --> 00:31:41,520
In her mind, she had prevented
something far worse than death.

591
00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:44,560
She did not initially expressed
remorse in the way that people

592
00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:47,360
expected, not because she lacked
feeling, but because her reality

593
00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:49,280
not aligned with everyone
else's.

594
00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:52,480
The dissonance would later fuel
public outrage.

595
00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:56,040
Many could not reconcile the
calmness of her demeanor with

596
00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:59,280
the horror of the actions, but
mental health experts testify

597
00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:03,160
that Andreas presentation was
classic for someone experiencing

598
00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:06,280
severe psychosis.
She wasn't processing events

599
00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:08,960
through a shared reality.
She was operating within a

600
00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:12,240
closed belief system that had
become impermeable to reason.

601
00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:16,240
Importantly, there was no
evidence that Andrea acted out

602
00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:19,160
of anger, revenge or hatred.
There was no evidence of

603
00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:23,000
substance abuse, no evidence of
external coercion, no attempt to

604
00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:25,240
conceal it.
She called the police, called

605
00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:29,000
her husband, and she waited.
The structure of these actions

606
00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:31,840
matter.
Andrea acted only during the

607
00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:34,960
brief window when she was alone.
She stopped when it ended.

608
00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:38,000
There was no continuation, no
escalation beyond that hour.

609
00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:41,520
This was not impulsive violence.
It was the culmination of that

610
00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:44,680
fixed illusional plan carried
out under the belief that it was

611
00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:47,480
morally necessary.
When Rusty arrived at home, he

612
00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:49,600
was prevented from actually
speaking to Andrea.

613
00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:52,840
He collapsed outside as she was
being LED away by the police.

614
00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:55,400
She never attempted to interact
with him further.

615
00:32:56,080 --> 00:32:58,560
In the days that followed, the
case would shock the nation.

616
00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:01,120
Media coverage was swift and
unforgiving.

617
00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:04,480
Andrea was immediately labeled a
monster, a murderer, a symbol of

618
00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:07,560
maternal betrayal.
The complexity of her mental

619
00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:10,600
illness was largely absent from
early reporting, replaced by

620
00:33:10,600 --> 00:33:12,560
moral outrage and
sensationalism.

621
00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:15,280
But inside the legal system, a
different picture began to

622
00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:18,360
emerge.
Medical records shows years of

623
00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:20,680
documented illness,
hospitalization, suicide

624
00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:23,400
attempts, psychotic symptoms,
explicit warnings.

625
00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:26,440
June 20th, 2001 wasn't an
isolated incident.

626
00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:29,360
It was the final manifestation
of a psychiatric collapse that

627
00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:33,880
had been unfolding for decades.
Andrea Gates did not wake up

628
00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:36,840
that morning as a rational actor
making a criminal decision.

629
00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:40,040
She woke up as a severely
psychotic woman whose grasp on

630
00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:44,280
reality had eroded to the point
that death was preferable to

631
00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:47,040
life, not for herself, but her
children.

632
00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:49,760
That distinction would become
central to everything that

633
00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:51,880
followed.
But on that morning, none of it

634
00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:54,560
mattered.
There was only one hour, five

635
00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:57,520
children, and a mine no longer
capable of distinguishing

636
00:33:57,520 --> 00:34:03,360
salvation from destruction.
Once Andrea was formally charged

637
00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:07,120
with capital murder, the system
moved quickly to frame this case

638
00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:10,600
in the nearest possible terms.
The five children were dead.

639
00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:12,800
Their mother admitted that she
was responsible.

640
00:34:13,199 --> 00:34:15,760
From the outset, Andrea's
decades long history of mental

641
00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:18,440
illness was treated not as the
central issue, but an

642
00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:20,159
inconvenience that need to be
managed.

643
00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:23,760
Under Texas law, capital murder
carries the possibility of the

644
00:34:23,760 --> 00:34:27,000
death penalty.
Prosecutors ultimately declined

645
00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:30,239
to seek execution, but the
charge itself set the tone.

646
00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:33,719
This would be a trial about
culpability, not illness.

647
00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:37,080
Despite extensive medical
records documenting psychosis,

648
00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:39,679
suicide attempts,
hospitalizations and explicit

649
00:34:39,679 --> 00:34:42,440
warnings from doctors, Andrea's
mental health was largely

650
00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:45,280
sidelined in the initial framing
of this case and said the

651
00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:47,800
prosecution focused on a single
legal question.

652
00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:51,320
Did Andrea Yates know that what
she was doing was wrong?

653
00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:54,880
See, in Texas, the insanity
defense is among the strictest

654
00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:57,040
in the country.
A defendant is considered

655
00:34:57,040 --> 00:34:59,840
legally insane only if, at the
time of the offense, they did

656
00:34:59,840 --> 00:35:01,760
not understand their actions
were wrong.

657
00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:04,560
Not immoral, not tragic, but
wrong.

658
00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:08,000
The prosecution's built its case
almost entirely around the

659
00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:10,120
standard.
They argued that Andrea's

660
00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:12,800
behavior before and after the
killings proved she understood

661
00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:15,480
right from wrong.
She waited until she was alone.

662
00:35:15,720 --> 00:35:18,040
She called the police.
She told her husband what she'd

663
00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:20,240
done.
These actions, these claims,

664
00:35:20,240 --> 00:35:22,200
demonstrated awareness and
intent.

665
00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:25,040
Mental illness, they argued, did
not absolve her.

666
00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:28,440
The defense counted that
Andrea's understanding of wrong

667
00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:31,320
was profoundly distorted by her
psychosis.

668
00:35:31,720 --> 00:35:35,440
Yes, she knew that society would
condemn her actions, but she

669
00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:39,520
believed, delusionally that God
required them, that failing to

670
00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:42,600
act would be the greater wrong
that eternal damnation

671
00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:46,400
outweighed is earthly law.
This distinction mattered.

672
00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:49,080
Psychiatrist for the defense
testify that Andrea was

673
00:35:49,080 --> 00:35:52,960
suffering from postpartum
psychosis, a severe mental

674
00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:55,920
illness that appeared her
ability to distinguish moral

675
00:35:55,920 --> 00:35:58,280
reality.
Her beliefs were not rational

676
00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:00,680
calculations.
They were fixed illusions rooted

677
00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:04,200
in illness, reinforced by hears
of untreated psychiatric

678
00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:07,200
deterioration.
But the jury didn't get to hear

679
00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:10,360
the stakes of that distinction.
One of the most consequential

680
00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:13,560
aspects of this first trial was
that jurors were not allowed to

681
00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:16,320
know.
Under Texas law, juries are

682
00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:19,560
explicitly barred from being
informed of the consequences of

683
00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:22,480
a verdict of not guilty by
reason of insanity.

684
00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:26,080
They are obstructed to decide
only whether the legal standard

685
00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:28,600
is met, not what happens
afterward.

686
00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:31,840
This meant that the jury never
learned that an insanity verdict

687
00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:35,200
would result.
This meant that the jury never

688
00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:38,840
learned that an insanity verdict
would result in Andrea being

689
00:36:38,840 --> 00:36:40,960
released.
They didn't hear that she would

690
00:36:40,960 --> 00:36:43,640
be committed to a state
psychiatric hospital, probably

691
00:36:43,640 --> 00:36:45,800
for life.
They did not hear what she would

692
00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:48,960
be suspect to strict oversight,
evaluations and confinement.

693
00:36:49,240 --> 00:36:52,080
They did not hear that insanity
acquittals often result in

694
00:36:52,080 --> 00:36:55,320
longer institutionalization than
prison sentences.

695
00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:59,040
Instead, many jurors would later
admit that they believed an

696
00:36:59,040 --> 00:37:02,160
insanity verdict meant Andrea
could walk free.

697
00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:05,840
That misunderstanding was very
important.

698
00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:09,400
During deliberation, jurors
repeatedly struggled with

699
00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:12,840
sympathy for Andrea's illness.
But they fear the implication of

700
00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:14,880
acquittal.
Without accurate information,

701
00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:17,440
the legal system allowed a false
binary to take hold.

702
00:37:17,720 --> 00:37:20,800
Guilty meant accountability.
Insanity meant danger.

703
00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:23,400
The prosecution capitalized on
that fear.

704
00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:26,400
Their strategy was not to deny
that Andrea's mental illness

705
00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:29,960
existed, but to minimize its
legal relevance.

706
00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:33,200
They emphasized moments of
apparent lucidity, highlighting

707
00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:35,280
her calm demeanor.
They framed her actions as

708
00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:38,640
calculated, more than compelled.
And then came the testimony that

709
00:37:38,640 --> 00:37:41,480
would ultimately undo this
verdict.

710
00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:45,440
Dr. Park Dietz, A prominent
forensic psychiatrist, testified

711
00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:48,320
for the prosecution as an expert
witness.

712
00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:51,960
Gates was well known for
consulting on high profile

713
00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:54,520
criminal cases and for his work
in criminal profiling.

714
00:37:54,720 --> 00:37:57,680
His credentials carried
significant weight to the jury

715
00:37:58,080 --> 00:38:00,920
and during his testimony he made
a critical claim.

716
00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:04,280
He told the jury Andrea Yates
had been inspired to kill her

717
00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:07,120
children by watching an episode
of Law and Order in which a

718
00:38:07,120 --> 00:38:09,280
woman drowned her children and
was found insane.

719
00:38:09,840 --> 00:38:12,480
According to Deeds, Andrea had
watched this episode shortly

720
00:38:12,480 --> 00:38:15,720
before the killings, suggesting
premeditation and imitation

721
00:38:15,720 --> 00:38:18,480
rather than psychosis.
That implication, it was

722
00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:20,800
devastating.
If Andrea had modeled her

723
00:38:20,800 --> 00:38:24,440
actions after ATV Show, then her
behavior was conscious,

724
00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:27,760
rehearsed and strategic.
It reinforced the prosecution's

725
00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:30,680
narrative that she knew exactly
what she was doing and she was

726
00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:32,640
just manipulating the insanity
defense.

727
00:38:33,120 --> 00:38:36,640
There was only one problem.
That episode didn't exist.

728
00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:39,880
There had never been an episode
of law and order that matched

729
00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:43,280
deeds description before June
2001.

730
00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:47,320
This claim was factually false,
and at the time of the trial, no

731
00:38:47,320 --> 00:38:49,920
one even challenged it.
The defense did not immediately

732
00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:52,720
catch the error.
The prosecution didn't correct

733
00:38:52,720 --> 00:38:54,600
it.
The jury accepted the testimony

734
00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:57,680
as credible and authoritative.
Deeds statement became a turning

735
00:38:57,680 --> 00:39:00,040
point in the trial.
Jurors would later cite it as

736
00:39:01,680 --> 00:39:04,040
jurors were later cited as
influential in their decision

737
00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:06,080
making.
It offered a simple explanation

738
00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:08,320
that cut through the complexity
of her mental illness.

739
00:39:08,600 --> 00:39:11,280
She wasn't delusional, she was
just inspired.

740
00:39:12,640 --> 00:39:15,600
In 2002, after deliberating, the
jury found Andrea Yates guilty

741
00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:17,800
of capital murder.
She was sentenced to life in

742
00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:20,160
prison.
The verdict was met with public

743
00:39:20,160 --> 00:39:22,200
approval.
Media coverage framed the

744
00:39:22,200 --> 00:39:25,120
outcome as justice served,
Andrea was pertained as a

745
00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:28,240
calculating killer who had
evaded responsibility for far

746
00:39:28,240 --> 00:39:30,800
too long.
The nuance of her psychiatric

747
00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:33,600
history was lost in the finality
of the conviction.

748
00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:37,320
But this case was not over.
See, in the years following the

749
00:39:37,320 --> 00:39:39,720
trial, defense attorneys to
cover the truth about Deeds

750
00:39:39,720 --> 00:39:42,440
testimony.
Independent review confirmed

751
00:39:42,440 --> 00:39:45,120
that lawn over episode it never
aired.

752
00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:47,600
Deeds later admitted his
mistake, stating that he

753
00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:50,400
confused the show with another
fictional program.

754
00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:53,960
But that error was not minor.
It went directly to Andrea's

755
00:39:53,960 --> 00:39:56,800
state of mind, the central issue
of this trial.

756
00:39:57,520 --> 00:40:01,680
In 2005, the Texas Court of
Appeals overturned Andrea Yates

757
00:40:01,680 --> 00:40:04,240
conviction.
The court ruled that Deeds false

758
00:40:04,240 --> 00:40:07,880
testimony was materially
prejudicial and that the jury

759
00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:10,600
had relied on inaccurate
information in reaching its

760
00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:12,880
verdict.
The appellate courts decision

761
00:40:12,880 --> 00:40:16,040
was unequivocal.
Andrea had not received a fair

762
00:40:16,040 --> 00:40:17,760
trial.
The ruling sent shockwaves to

763
00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:19,200
the legal and mental health
community.

764
00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:22,440
It forced A reckoning with how
the justice system handles

765
00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:26,200
defendants with severe mental
illness, particularly women and

766
00:40:26,200 --> 00:40:29,800
particularly mothers.
The first child had failed not

767
00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:32,840
because the law was unclear,
because it was misapplied.

768
00:40:33,680 --> 00:40:35,520
Andrea's mental illness was
real.

769
00:40:35,680 --> 00:40:38,760
Her psychosis was documented.
The risk factors were known.

770
00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:41,800
And yet the jury had been asked
to decide her fate without

771
00:40:41,800 --> 00:40:46,000
critical information, misled by
expert testimony that should

772
00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:47,520
have never been allowed to
stand.

773
00:40:47,960 --> 00:40:50,160
Three years after she was
sentenced to life in prison,

774
00:40:50,600 --> 00:40:52,720
Andrea Yates conviction was
vacated.

775
00:40:52,960 --> 00:40:55,480
The trial that had defined her
as a criminal was officially

776
00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:58,680
acknowledged as flawed.
What followed looked very

777
00:40:58,680 --> 00:41:02,640
different.
When Andrea Rates was retried in

778
00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:05,840
2006, the courtroom atmosphere
was markedly different from the

779
00:41:05,840 --> 00:41:08,560
one that defined her first trial
four years prior.

780
00:41:09,160 --> 00:41:10,800
The facts of the case had not
changed.

781
00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:14,400
The outcome of June 20th 2001
was no different.

782
00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:17,440
What changed was the willingness
of the legal system to confront

783
00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:21,160
Andrea Yates mental illness
honestly and to let a jury fully

784
00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:22,920
understand what it meant this
time.

785
00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:26,080
By the time the second trial
began, the failures of the first

786
00:41:26,080 --> 00:41:28,840
had been publicly acknowledged.
The appellate court's decision

787
00:41:28,840 --> 00:41:32,080
to overturn the conviction made
it clear that Andrea had not

788
00:41:32,080 --> 00:41:35,200
received a fair trial, largely
due to that false expert

789
00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:38,440
testimony and the minimization
of her psychiatric history.

790
00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:42,360
This time, both sides approached
the case knowing that scrutiny

791
00:41:42,360 --> 00:41:45,240
would be intense.
From the outset, the defense

792
00:41:45,240 --> 00:41:47,000
centered the trial on medical
evidence.

793
00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:50,440
Jurors were presented with years
of documented psychiatric

794
00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:54,360
records, hospitalizations,
diagnosis, medication histories,

795
00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:57,280
suicide attempts and repeated
warnings from her doctors.

796
00:41:57,640 --> 00:42:00,120
They heard directly from
psychiatrist who had treated

797
00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:03,800
Andrea before and after the
death of her children, Not

798
00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:07,320
consultants speculating after
the fact, but the clinicians who

799
00:42:07,320 --> 00:42:10,280
had observed her illness.
While it wasn't folding, the

800
00:42:10,280 --> 00:42:12,800
defense did not argue that
Andrea lacked awareness.

801
00:42:13,120 --> 00:42:16,720
Instead, they argued that her
understanding of reality was

802
00:42:16,720 --> 00:42:22,080
profoundly distorted.
Psychiatrist explained

803
00:42:22,080 --> 00:42:26,200
postpartum psychosis in clear
clinical terms, describing it as

804
00:42:26,240 --> 00:42:28,720
a rare but severe psychiatric
condition marked by

805
00:42:28,720 --> 00:42:32,040
hallucinations, delusions,
disorganized thinking, impaired

806
00:42:32,040 --> 00:42:35,440
judgement often emerging
suddenly after childbirth, and

807
00:42:35,440 --> 00:42:39,000
women with prior disorders.
Importantly, they explain that

808
00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:43,280
postpartum psychosis can't exist
with seemingly logical behavior.

809
00:42:43,600 --> 00:42:46,880
A person may appear calm,
organized, or purposeful while

810
00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:49,400
operating under completely false
beliefs.

811
00:42:49,920 --> 00:42:52,520
This addressed one of the
prosecutors strongest arguments

812
00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:56,520
from the first trial that
Andrea's orderly actions proved

813
00:42:56,520 --> 00:42:59,160
that she was sane.
This time, though, jurors learn

814
00:42:59,160 --> 00:43:01,760
that's a case.
This time, jurors learn that

815
00:43:01,760 --> 00:43:04,120
psychosis does not always look
chaotic.

816
00:43:04,600 --> 00:43:07,520
See, doctors testify that
Andrea's illness had been

817
00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:10,080
mismanaged for years, each
pregnancy increased her

818
00:43:10,080 --> 00:43:13,040
vulnerability, medication was
stopped or reduced despite clear

819
00:43:13,040 --> 00:43:16,840
warning signs, and that sleep
deprivation alone can trigger

820
00:43:16,840 --> 00:43:19,360
relapse.
One psychiatrist described

821
00:43:19,360 --> 00:43:24,040
Andrea's condition as one of the
most severe cases of postpartum

822
00:43:24,040 --> 00:43:30,240
psychosis I have ever seen.
Another testified that Andrea

823
00:43:30,240 --> 00:43:33,400
was incapable of rational moral
judgement at the time of the

824
00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:36,320
events.
The prosecution shifted its

825
00:43:36,320 --> 00:43:39,360
approach this time, rather than
aggressively disputing Andrea's

826
00:43:39,360 --> 00:43:41,960
diagnosis, prosecutors
acknowledged her mental illness

827
00:43:41,960 --> 00:43:44,280
but question whether it met the
legal standard for insanity.

828
00:43:44,560 --> 00:43:47,600
They argued that Andrea still
understood that society would

829
00:43:47,600 --> 00:43:50,040
view her actions as wrong, But
the distinct the.

830
00:43:51,000 --> 00:43:54,240
But the defense dismailed that
argument by reframing what wrong

831
00:43:54,240 --> 00:43:57,520
actually meant to Andrea.
Jurors heard that Andrea

832
00:43:57,520 --> 00:44:00,280
believed God required her
actions, that she believed

833
00:44:00,360 --> 00:44:03,560
eternal.
That Jurors heard how Andrea

834
00:44:03,560 --> 00:44:06,440
believed God required her
action, that she believed

835
00:44:06,440 --> 00:44:10,520
eternal salvation outweighed
earthly law, that failing to act

836
00:44:10,520 --> 00:44:14,320
would result in her children's
damnation, a far worse outcome

837
00:44:14,320 --> 00:44:17,800
in her delusional mind.
Psychiatrists emphasized that

838
00:44:17,800 --> 00:44:20,400
Andrea's belief system left no
room for alternatives.

839
00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:25,480
This was a choice between good.
This was more than just a choice

840
00:44:25,480 --> 00:44:27,960
between good and bad in her
mind.

841
00:44:27,960 --> 00:44:31,120
It was a choice between saving
her children or condemning them

842
00:44:31,120 --> 00:44:33,840
to hell.
The jury also heard testimony

843
00:44:33,840 --> 00:44:36,240
about failure surrounding
Andrea.

844
00:44:36,600 --> 00:44:39,360
The doctors who had treated her
testify that they had warned

845
00:44:39,360 --> 00:44:42,480
that she should never be left
alone with the children, that

846
00:44:42,480 --> 00:44:45,400
she should not have any more
children, that her iliance

847
00:44:45,400 --> 00:44:48,800
required constant supervision
and strict medication adherence.

848
00:44:49,400 --> 00:44:52,120
Jurors were shown how, time and
time again, those warnings were

849
00:44:52,120 --> 00:44:54,640
ignored.
This contextualized Andrea's

850
00:44:54,640 --> 00:44:58,120
actions not as an isolated
decision, but as the final

851
00:44:58,120 --> 00:45:02,000
outcome of systemic neglect.
And, crucially, the second jury

852
00:45:02,000 --> 00:45:05,480
wasn't misled.
There was no false testimony, no

853
00:45:05,480 --> 00:45:09,800
speculation of pop culture
explanations, no suggestion that

854
00:45:09,800 --> 00:45:11,920
she had been inspired by
fiction.

855
00:45:12,400 --> 00:45:15,600
Instead, jurors were asked to
grapple with medical reality,

856
00:45:16,000 --> 00:45:17,960
and for the first time, the
courtroom allowed a full

857
00:45:17,960 --> 00:45:22,160
discussion of what not guilty by
reason of insanity actually

858
00:45:22,160 --> 00:45:26,000
meant.
While Texas law still restricts

859
00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:29,520
explicit discussion of post
verdict consequences, expert

860
00:45:29,520 --> 00:45:32,560
witnesses and legal framing made
clear that Andrea was not

861
00:45:32,560 --> 00:45:35,320
seeking freedom here.
She was seeking acknowledgement

862
00:45:35,320 --> 00:45:38,080
that she was not operating
within reality at the time of

863
00:45:38,080 --> 00:45:43,520
her offense.
The jury deliberated carefully.

864
00:45:43,800 --> 00:45:47,920
When the verdict was read in
July of 2006, Andrea Yates was

865
00:45:47,920 --> 00:45:49,960
found not guilty by reason of
insanity.

866
00:45:50,280 --> 00:45:52,880
Decision was not met with
universal approval, though

867
00:45:53,440 --> 00:45:56,400
public reaction was divided,
with some expressing outrage,

868
00:45:56,720 --> 00:45:59,280
others expressing relief that
the legal system had finally

869
00:45:59,280 --> 00:46:01,800
recognized the role of this
severe mental illness.

870
00:46:02,240 --> 00:46:04,600
But legally and medically, the
verdict was sound.

871
00:46:05,120 --> 00:46:07,800
Andrea Yates was immediately
committed to a state psychiatric

872
00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:10,480
hospital.
This was not a symbolic

873
00:46:10,480 --> 00:46:13,320
commitment either.
Under Texas law, individuals

874
00:46:13,320 --> 00:46:16,200
found guilty by reason of
insanity are confined to a

875
00:46:16,200 --> 00:46:19,400
secure mental health facility
and they remain under state

876
00:46:19,400 --> 00:46:22,680
supervision.
Release is not automatic or set

877
00:46:22,680 --> 00:46:29,920
based on time.
It is contingent on odd day.

878
00:46:31,000 --> 00:46:41,120
I ran a juice.
There we go.

879
00:46:43,600 --> 00:46:46,640
Under Texas law, individuals
found not guilty by reason of

880
00:46:46,640 --> 00:46:49,960
insanity are confined to a
secure mental health facility

881
00:46:49,960 --> 00:46:51,480
and remain under state
supervision.

882
00:46:51,760 --> 00:46:54,800
Release is not automatic or
based on simply a number.

883
00:46:54,800 --> 00:46:58,080
It's contingent on repeated
evaluations and judicial

884
00:46:58,080 --> 00:47:01,240
approval plus demonstrated
stability.

885
00:47:01,960 --> 00:47:05,080
In many cases, confinement last
much longer than a prison

886
00:47:05,080 --> 00:47:09,080
sentence ever would have, and
Andrea remains institutionalized

887
00:47:09,080 --> 00:47:12,200
even today.
The second trial did not erase

888
00:47:12,200 --> 00:47:14,400
the tragedy.
It didn't lessen the loss.

889
00:47:14,400 --> 00:47:17,040
It didn't undo the harm.
But it did correct the

890
00:47:17,040 --> 00:47:19,040
narrative.
Andrea Yates was not a

891
00:47:19,040 --> 00:47:21,680
calculating criminal exploiting
a legal loophole.

892
00:47:22,240 --> 00:47:25,240
She was a severely mentally ill
woman whose untreated condition

893
00:47:25,560 --> 00:47:28,480
culminated in an irreversible
catastrophe.

894
00:47:28,840 --> 00:47:31,560
The second verdict acknowledged
something the first could not

895
00:47:32,200 --> 00:47:35,880
that justice is not served by
pretending that illness does not

896
00:47:35,880 --> 00:47:41,000
exist, that accountability and
compassion are not mutually

897
00:47:41,000 --> 00:47:44,400
exclusive.
That understanding is not the

898
00:47:44,400 --> 00:47:47,440
same as excusing.
The truth of the case did not

899
00:47:47,440 --> 00:47:51,760
change between 2002 and 2006.
The willingness to face it did.

900
00:47:53,800 --> 00:47:56,760
In the years since, Andrea's
case has faded from daily

901
00:47:56,760 --> 00:47:59,240
headlines.
It has quietly taken on a second

902
00:47:59,240 --> 00:48:02,480
life, not in the tabloids, not
in the courtrooms, but in

903
00:48:02,480 --> 00:48:05,000
medical schools, psychiatric
journals, maternal health

904
00:48:05,000 --> 00:48:08,160
advocacy circles, and legal
ethics discussions.

905
00:48:08,160 --> 00:48:11,560
By the mid 2010, Andrea Yates
was no longer treated as simply

906
00:48:11,560 --> 00:48:15,120
a sensational Crime Story.
She became a case study, one

907
00:48:15,120 --> 00:48:18,040
that exposed the catastrophic
consequences of untreated

908
00:48:18,120 --> 00:48:21,280
postpartum psychosis, fragmented
mental health care, and a

909
00:48:21,280 --> 00:48:24,880
justice system I'll equipped to
distinguish illness from intent.

910
00:48:25,600 --> 00:48:27,560
In that sense, something had
changed.

911
00:48:27,880 --> 00:48:30,960
Postpartum psychosis is no
longer an obscure diagnosis

912
00:48:30,960 --> 00:48:33,920
known only to specialists.
Today, it is widely recognized

913
00:48:33,920 --> 00:48:38,200
within psychiatry as a medical
emergency, a condition requiring

914
00:48:38,240 --> 00:48:42,160
immense hospitalization,
medication, sleep stabilization,

915
00:48:42,160 --> 00:48:45,640
and long term follow up care.
Clinical guidelines now

916
00:48:45,640 --> 00:48:48,600
emphasize that postpartum
psychosis is not an extension of

917
00:48:48,600 --> 00:48:52,520
postpartum depression, but a
distinct and far more dangerous

918
00:48:52,520 --> 00:48:55,040
disorder.
Recognition is not abstract.

919
00:48:55,280 --> 00:48:58,640
Medical students now routinely
study cases just like Andrea

920
00:48:58,640 --> 00:49:01,480
Yates as examples of what
happens when warning signs are

921
00:49:01,480 --> 00:49:04,000
ignored.
Psychiatry residents are taught

922
00:49:04,000 --> 00:49:06,880
that postpartum psychosis can
present with calm effect,

923
00:49:07,520 --> 00:49:11,240
organized behavior and religious
moral delusions, features that

924
00:49:11,240 --> 00:49:14,120
once LED clinicians, jurors in
the public to misinterpret

925
00:49:14,120 --> 00:49:15,440
illnesses.
Calculation.

926
00:49:19,680 --> 00:49:21,640
There has also been progress in
screening.

927
00:49:22,040 --> 00:49:24,440
Many hospitals now conduct
postpartum mental health

928
00:49:24,440 --> 00:49:26,360
screenings beyond the
traditional Baby Blues

929
00:49:26,360 --> 00:49:28,640
questionnaire.
Some states have implemented

930
00:49:28,640 --> 00:49:31,200
mandatory education for
obstetric providers on

931
00:49:31,200 --> 00:49:34,320
recognizing psychosis.
Professional organizations such

932
00:49:34,320 --> 00:49:37,320
as the American College of
Obstetrics and Gynecologists now

933
00:49:37,320 --> 00:49:41,440
explicitly identify postpartum
psychosis as a condition

934
00:49:41,680 --> 00:49:43,480
requiring emergency
intervention.

935
00:49:44,040 --> 00:49:45,640
But these improvements are
uneven.

936
00:49:46,160 --> 00:49:49,200
See screening protocols vary
widely by state, hospital

937
00:49:49,200 --> 00:49:52,520
system, and insurance coverage.
In some settings, screenings end

938
00:49:52,520 --> 00:49:55,720
after six weeks postpartum,
despite the fact that postpartum

939
00:49:55,720 --> 00:49:58,560
psychosis can emerge months
after delivery.

940
00:49:59,080 --> 00:50:02,140
In others, screening exists on
paper but lack meaningful follow

941
00:50:02,140 --> 00:50:05,160
up pathways.
Recognition without access isn't

942
00:50:05,160 --> 00:50:09,280
prevention, and access remains
the most persistent failure to

943
00:50:09,280 --> 00:50:11,880
this day.
Insurance limitations on

944
00:50:11,880 --> 00:50:14,200
inpatient psychiatric care
continue to be one of the

945
00:50:14,200 --> 00:50:17,720
largest barriers facing
postpartum women in crisis.

946
00:50:18,080 --> 00:50:22,160
Even today, many insurance plans
severely restrict the length of

947
00:50:22,160 --> 00:50:25,960
psychiatric hospitalization,
prioritizing rapid discharge

948
00:50:26,080 --> 00:50:29,280
over stabilization.
Mothers experience psychosis.

949
00:50:29,840 --> 00:50:32,240
They're often released once
they're no longer acutely

950
00:50:32,240 --> 00:50:35,440
suicidal, even if those
delusions, hallucinations, and

951
00:50:35,440 --> 00:50:38,640
impaired judgments still exist.
That was one of the central

952
00:50:38,640 --> 00:50:42,080
failures in Andrea Yates care.
She repeatedly stabilized in

953
00:50:42,080 --> 00:50:46,240
hospitals, only to be discharged
back into her collapse.

954
00:50:46,640 --> 00:50:48,680
The pattern has not disappeared
since.

955
00:50:49,000 --> 00:50:52,120
Advocacy organizations continue
to document cases where

956
00:50:52,120 --> 00:50:55,960
postpartum women are denied
expended inpatient care because

957
00:50:55,960 --> 00:50:59,720
they are deemed not an imminent
threat despite clear psychotic

958
00:50:59,720 --> 00:51:02,600
symptoms.
There's also a glaring shortage

959
00:51:02,600 --> 00:51:05,840
of specialized mother baby
psychiatric units in the United

960
00:51:05,840 --> 00:51:09,080
States and other countries.
These units allow mothers to

961
00:51:09,080 --> 00:51:12,960
receive treatment with out being
separated from their children, a

962
00:51:12,960 --> 00:51:16,480
model shown to improve outcomes
and actually reduce the stigma.

963
00:51:18,400 --> 00:51:21,440
In the US, such units are very
rare.

964
00:51:22,240 --> 00:51:25,200
As a result, women in psychosis
are often forced into one of two

965
00:51:25,200 --> 00:51:29,000
options untreated suffering at
home or separation from their

966
00:51:29,000 --> 00:51:31,760
children in facilities that are
not equipped for postpartum

967
00:51:31,760 --> 00:51:34,120
care.
Both outcomes can make this

968
00:51:34,120 --> 00:51:36,400
illness worse.
Perhaps the most troubling

969
00:51:36,400 --> 00:51:39,760
contempt, perhaps the most
troubling continuity from Andrea

970
00:51:39,760 --> 00:51:43,240
Yates era to present day, is
this Women with postpartum

971
00:51:43,240 --> 00:51:48,360
psychosis are still more likely
to be incarcerated than treated.

972
00:51:49,400 --> 00:51:52,360
When postpartum psychosis goes
unrecognized, its consequences

973
00:51:52,360 --> 00:51:56,640
often manifest as behavior that
draw law enforcement rather than

974
00:51:56,640 --> 00:51:58,640
clinicians.
Mothers get arrested for

975
00:51:58,640 --> 00:52:00,600
neglect, endangerment, and
worse.

976
00:52:00,920 --> 00:52:03,000
Their illness is reframed as
criminality.

977
00:52:03,280 --> 00:52:06,000
Once inside the legal system,
the same misunderstandings that

978
00:52:06,000 --> 00:52:08,080
plagued Andrea's first trial
persist.

979
00:52:08,360 --> 00:52:11,080
Calm demeanor is a misread as a
lack of remorse.

980
00:52:11,320 --> 00:52:14,320
Religious illusions are misread
as simply beliefs rather than

981
00:52:14,320 --> 00:52:17,240
psychosis.
Orderly actions are misread as

982
00:52:17,240 --> 00:52:18,960
planning rather than a
compulsion.

983
00:52:19,480 --> 00:52:23,400
Insanity defenses remain rare,
heavily stigmatized, and poorly

984
00:52:23,400 --> 00:52:26,160
understood by the public.
Jurors still fear that an

985
00:52:26,160 --> 00:52:29,800
Infinity verdict means you're
letting the criminal get away,

986
00:52:30,200 --> 00:52:33,200
despite decades of evidence to
the contrary.

987
00:52:34,000 --> 00:52:36,960
Andrea Yates remains one of the
most cited examples used to

988
00:52:36,960 --> 00:52:39,800
counter this fear.
More than two decades after her

989
00:52:39,800 --> 00:52:44,000
retrial, she remains confined at
Carroll State Hospital in Texas,

990
00:52:44,440 --> 00:52:46,880
a maximum security psychiatric
facility.

991
00:52:47,160 --> 00:52:50,280
She is reverted to using her
birth name, Andrea Kennedy, a

992
00:52:50,280 --> 00:52:52,720
choice that reflects both
distance from her married

993
00:52:52,720 --> 00:52:55,520
identity and the profound
reshaping of her life after

994
00:52:55,520 --> 00:52:58,800
being institutionalized.
According to available reports,

995
00:52:58,800 --> 00:53:02,560
Andrea participates in therapy,
medication management, and art

996
00:53:02,560 --> 00:53:03,160
prayer.
B.

997
00:53:03,640 --> 00:53:05,680
Her daily life is very
structured.

998
00:53:05,960 --> 00:53:07,840
Every aspect of her care is
monitored.

999
00:53:08,280 --> 00:53:11,160
Any possibility of conditional
release would require extensive

1000
00:53:11,160 --> 00:53:15,240
psychiatric evaluation and court
approval, a threshold that has

1001
00:53:15,240 --> 00:53:17,800
yet to be mapped.
Contrary to popular

1002
00:53:17,800 --> 00:53:20,920
misconception, Andrea has not
sought release.

1003
00:53:21,400 --> 00:53:23,560
Those familiar with the case
note that she has expressed

1004
00:53:23,560 --> 00:53:27,840
remorse, grief, and sorrow once
she was stabilized, emotions

1005
00:53:27,840 --> 00:53:30,800
that were inaccessible during
her active psychosis.

1006
00:53:31,120 --> 00:53:34,480
Her confinement is not symbolic,
it is indefinite.

1007
00:53:36,520 --> 00:53:39,800
In practical terms, Andrea Yates
will probably spend the rest of

1008
00:53:39,800 --> 00:53:43,880
her life and an institution.
Rusty Yates divorced Andrea in

1009
00:53:43,880 --> 00:53:46,600
2004, before the 1st conviction
was overturned.

1010
00:53:47,000 --> 00:53:49,680
He has since remarried and
divorced again, and later

1011
00:53:49,680 --> 00:53:52,040
interviews.
Rusty has acknowledged, often

1012
00:53:52,040 --> 00:53:54,560
obliquely, that the system
failed his wife.

1013
00:53:54,920 --> 00:53:57,520
He has spoken about lack of
resources, poor guidance and

1014
00:53:57,520 --> 00:54:00,320
inadequate support.
But many critics argue that that

1015
00:54:00,320 --> 00:54:03,800
framing is incomplete.
The doctors warned him.

1016
00:54:04,200 --> 00:54:07,600
The warnings were repeated.
They were documented.

1017
00:54:07,880 --> 00:54:12,920
The state explicitly said Andrea
should not be left alone, she

1018
00:54:12,920 --> 00:54:17,120
should not stop her medication,
and you too should stop having

1019
00:54:17,120 --> 00:54:19,640
children.
Those warnings were not an

1020
00:54:19,640 --> 00:54:23,600
abstract failure of the system.
They were concrete, specific,

1021
00:54:23,600 --> 00:54:26,760
and urgent and rusty.
You ignored it.

1022
00:54:27,400 --> 00:54:29,960
This is where the legacy of
Andrea Yates becomes

1023
00:54:29,960 --> 00:54:36,040
uncomfortable, because it forces
A reckoning that not not just

1024
00:54:36,280 --> 00:54:39,200
with institutional gaps, but
with personal accountability

1025
00:54:39,200 --> 00:54:42,680
within those gaps.
With how religious ideology can

1026
00:54:42,680 --> 00:54:45,920
override medical advice, With
how cultural expectations of

1027
00:54:45,920 --> 00:54:49,320
motherhood demand endurance at
the expense of safety.

1028
00:54:49,760 --> 00:54:52,680
With how women suffering is
moralized rather than treating.

1029
00:54:53,320 --> 00:54:55,800
In the last decade, public
conversation around maternal

1030
00:54:55,800 --> 00:54:57,680
mental health has expanded
dramatically.

1031
00:54:58,040 --> 00:55:00,200
Campaigns encourage mothers to
speak up.

1032
00:55:00,400 --> 00:55:03,440
Celebrities have disclosed their
own postpartum struggles.

1033
00:55:03,800 --> 00:55:08,280
Awareness #circulate widely.
And yet awareness has not

1034
00:55:08,280 --> 00:55:11,760
translated into infrastructure.
Women still report being

1035
00:55:11,760 --> 00:55:15,160
dismissed when they described
intrusive thoughts, still fear

1036
00:55:15,160 --> 00:55:17,040
losing their children if they
disclose they're having

1037
00:55:17,040 --> 00:55:20,840
hallucinations, still face
clinicians who mistake psychosis

1038
00:55:20,840 --> 00:55:24,160
for simply stress.
Andrea's case remains a warning,

1039
00:55:24,160 --> 00:55:26,640
not because it was unique, but
because it was preventable.

1040
00:55:27,160 --> 00:55:30,520
It shows what happens when
warning sighs are interpreted as

1041
00:55:30,520 --> 00:55:34,480
character flaws, when religious
certainty outweighs medical

1042
00:55:34,480 --> 00:55:37,720
expertise, when responsibility
is placed on someone whose

1043
00:55:37,720 --> 00:55:40,480
illness has stripped them of the
ability to bear it.

1044
00:55:41,120 --> 00:55:43,440
In the end, the most honest
assessment is the most

1045
00:55:43,440 --> 00:55:46,440
difficult.
The system failed, the doctors

1046
00:55:46,440 --> 00:55:49,200
warned, and safeguards existed
in theory.

1047
00:55:50,000 --> 00:55:52,040
But her children paid the
ultimate price.

1048
00:55:52,640 --> 00:55:55,280
And what has changed since
Andrea Yates is that now we know

1049
00:55:55,280 --> 00:55:58,080
better.
What has not changed is whether

1050
00:55:58,080 --> 00:56:01,720
we consistently act on that
knowledge before tragedy makes

1051
00:56:01,720 --> 00:56:06,840
the lesson unavoidable again.
I'm Brittany Ransom, and this

1052
00:56:06,880 --> 00:56:08,240
has been when killers get
caught.

1053
00:56:10,000 --> 00:56:14,360
Andrea Yates was not a monster.
She was a woman with severe,

1054
00:56:14,360 --> 00:56:17,640
treatable psychiatric illness,
one that was documented,

1055
00:56:17,640 --> 00:56:19,760
diagnosed, and repeatedly warned
about.

1056
00:56:20,280 --> 00:56:22,640
She was hospitalized,
stabilized, and then sent back

1057
00:56:22,640 --> 00:56:25,760
to the same conditions that were
breaking her, taken off

1058
00:56:25,760 --> 00:56:28,800
medication, isolated, told to
endure.

1059
00:56:29,280 --> 00:56:32,440
And when she showed signs of
psychosis, her suffering was

1060
00:56:32,520 --> 00:56:36,440
framed as a spiritual failure
instead of what it really was, a

1061
00:56:36,440 --> 00:56:39,480
medical emergency.
We like to believe that cases

1062
00:56:39,480 --> 00:56:42,800
like this are relics of the
past, that we've learned that we

1063
00:56:42,800 --> 00:56:44,920
screen better, that we intervene
sooner.

1064
00:56:45,360 --> 00:56:48,840
But the uncontrollable truth is
this if this happened today,

1065
00:56:49,240 --> 00:56:53,000
there is absolutely no guarantee
the outcome would be any

1066
00:56:53,000 --> 00:56:56,080
different.
Postpartum psychosis is still

1067
00:56:56,080 --> 00:56:59,680
very misunderstood.
Inpatient psychiatric care is

1068
00:56:59,680 --> 00:57:03,160
still very limited.
Mothers are still afraid to

1069
00:57:03,160 --> 00:57:07,160
speak honestly, and women in
crisis are more likely to

1070
00:57:07,160 --> 00:57:09,080
encounter the police and a
clinician.

1071
00:57:09,120 --> 00:57:11,960
To Andrea Yates, story forces us
to confront something that we

1072
00:57:11,960 --> 00:57:14,800
don't like to admit.
That tragedy doesn't always

1073
00:57:14,800 --> 00:57:17,920
arrive suddenly.
Sometimes it unfolds slowly, in

1074
00:57:17,920 --> 00:57:21,360
plain sight, documented in
medical charts, echoed in

1075
00:57:21,360 --> 00:57:24,280
warnings that go unheeded.
Because the truth doesn't

1076
00:57:24,280 --> 00:57:26,720
disappear when we ignore it.
It leaves records.

1077
00:57:26,880 --> 00:57:29,240
It leaves patterns.
It leaves consequences.

1078
00:57:29,760 --> 00:57:32,880
And eventually, the truth always
leaves the trail.

1079
00:57:34,360 --> 00:57:35,240
Thank you for listening.