Andrea Yates hubby to remarry--what a low life

[Skywalker]

Wow, how bizarre...he is being called a low life because his children were murdered. Huh. That's a new one.

I really don't understand how he is being given the blame for her mental illness. Nor do I understand the attitude of "he got her pregnant." Well, I'm pretty sure that takes two...and perhaps she re-assured him she was able to handle it. We'll never know. Actually, I was surprised that he stood by her afterwards for as long as he did. He seemed to really love her.

I also really don't get the people that seem to have more sympathy for her than they do for him.

 

[Miss Inga Depointe]

Maybe he should have listened to the doctors and not gotten her pregnant two more times- it was a quintuple homicide. Maybe he should have sent the kids to daycare and school, instead of expecting Andrea to homeschool them just home from the mental institution.

BINGO

 

[tworkit]

That is infuriating!

When did he get a divorce from Andrea? I don't recall seeing that he had.

Worst of all, he's probably looking to have more children.

You've go to be joking! This thread is the most ridiculous load of poo I've ever read.

Would you wanna stay married to the man/woman who killed your kids! Think about it!

Nevermind I forgot this is the US in 2006, its always somebody else's fault!

 

[Sylvester McBean]

give him the credit for staying with her and not abandoning the whole family. he stayed married to the whack-job and tried to hold a family together. I can't say I'd be that strong. her self-preservation skills somehow stayed pretty sharp. she threatened suicide many times, but in the end found it easier to kill those kids by drowning them one by one in the bathtub. but let's blame the husband.

 

[Miss Inga Depointe]

I don't care what he does. But he's a weasle and he's creepy and God help him not be the clueless husband he was with Andrea in his new marriage.

 

[ducklite]

It seems to me that the system let this family down. They didn't give her the help she needed, and I DO believe she was truly mentally ill and not able to understand the consequences of her actions. In particular, schizophrenia comes on without warning and with no rhyme or reason.

We can't go second guessing if she should have bene released from a mental hostpital or taken off her meds. Unfortunately that's part of mental illness, sometimes it seems that the patient has improved 100%, and then without warning the backslide into a very frightening place. Living with mental illness is incredibly frustrating because no two cases are alike, and there's no physical evidence. Unlike setting a broken bone, you can't take an x-ray and say "yes, it's all better now."

For all of you damning him and the doctors caring for her, I hope you never have to deal with mental illness in your family. Until you walk a mile in a man's shoes.

I wish him and his new bride well and hope they have many good years together.

Anne

 

[sandramaac]

Andrea Yates had a long history of mental illness due to severe post partum depression. Her husband and she were advised not to have more children after the third one was born. She was on extremely strong anti-psychotic/anti depressant medications. She tried to commit suicide numerous times, and was in an inpatient mental hospital until a short time before the killings. She had told her family and doctors that she thought of killing herself or the children to save them from the evils of this world many times.

There is no way anyone can convince me that Andrea's husband (or other close family members) could NOT have known the extent of her illness or the possibility of her doing harm to herself or her children.

IMO, Andrea's ex is as responsible for what happened as she is. Even more so- he didn't have a debilitating mental illness clouding his judgement.

THANK YOU AND WELL SAID!!!

I was just going to post a similar comment. There were many her close cicle who knew she was seriously ill. I am not saying that he killed those kids, no she did that, what I am saying is that he does bear a level of responsibilty in this case. He knew and he was told.

 

[3princesses4us]

I really don't understand how he is being given the blame for her mental illness. Nor do I understand the attitude of "he got her pregnant." Well, I'm pretty sure that takes two...and perhaps she re-assured him she was able to handle it. We'll never know. I also really don't get the people that seem to have more sympathy for her than they do for him.

Just to clarify my position. I have no sympathy for her- she murdered her children. However, both she and her husband were warned of the ramifications that subsequent pregnancies could and probably would have on her mental state and yet they had 2 more. As for her reassuring him about it, I can only say that my DH would have gone out and gotten a vasectomy whether I liked it or not. Better to have a wife and children that are alive then risk what actually ending up happening.
I think it boils down to most of us not believing he is the innocent victim here- those children were. He was warned. He didn't listen to the medical professionals and like someone pointed out, his judgment wasn't clouded by depression.

 

[Tiffann4k]

You've go to be joking! This thread is the most ridiculous load of poo I've ever read.

Would you wanna stay married to the man/woman who killed your kids! Think about it!

Nevermind I forgot this is the US in 2006, its always somebody else's fault!

LOL Amen!!

I think its just a gathering place for people who like to to get things going. It is a dull Wednesday afterall

I feel sorry for the children and for him. Yes they were told not to have more children but how many people actually listen to drs when told not to have more children...not 100% I can tell you that, yes these are different circumstances but last I checked they were both adults and both married, they are entitled to if they feel like it , and if that results in a baby then so be it. We all know birth control is not 100% & we also dont know if she was trying to prevent any more children. We dont know the whole story only what the media chooses to tell us so stop reading between the lines about peoples lives you know nothing about.

ETA that if the below post is true then I dont feel sorry for him but still stand on the rest of what I posted.

 

[powellrj]

I use to wonder why people hated russell yates until I started reading more about the case. WOW, at the very least he should have been charged with with child endangerment and neglect. Andrea Yates was a truely, truely sick woman. Doctors had told him not to have anymore children, yet not only did he insist that they have more children, he made her homeschool them. This isn't a whiney demanding woman, this is a woman who hadn't spoken a word since the birth of her last child. Why would you leave your children with a woman who was so ill she had stopped talking. He knew she was ill. Many doctors had told him she was ill. He as a very educated man. He knew what he was doing. Sorry, but she deserves to be in a mental hospital for the rest of her life. When she is aware of what she has done the grief is tremendous, but many times she is still so ill she isn't aware of what she has done. Dear ole Russell should be in prison someplace for putting his children in danger.

 

[BeckyEsq]

I believe Andrea Yates is fully culpable for her actions and I believe her sentence should stand. I do not believe her husband should be criminally or legally liable.


However, I do think he is somewhat morally liable. He definitely could have done better than he did, and I think that is something for the public to learn from. Obviously we will never know exactly what went on between them, but I do believe it is irresponsible to leave a woman with such serious, chronic and current mental health problems home all day with five children. If nothing else, the children should not have been homeschooled. All mental illness is aggravated by stress, and while sending the kids to school for 8 hours a day may not have prevented this tragedy, it may have made it less likely. I fault htis man for having tunnel vision and believing that the lifestyle he believed in (as many children as possible, home schooled, etc) was adding unnecessary pressure to a woman who couldn't handle it. I believe he was at the very least negligent in his parental duties for not recognizing the situation and taking at least some practical steps to cure it.

 

[BeckyEsq]

I use to wonder why people hated russell yates until I started reading more about the case. WOW, at the very least he should have been charged with with child endangerment and neglect. Andrea Yates was a truely, truely sick woman. Doctors had told him not to have anymore children, yet not only did he insist that they have more children, he made her homeschool them. This isn't a whiney demanding woman, this is a woman who hadn't spoken a word since the birth of her last child. Why would you leave your children with a woman who was so ill she had stopped talking. He knew she was ill. Many doctors had told him she was ill. He as a very educated man. He knew what he was doing. Sorry, but she deserves to be in a mental hospital for the rest of her life. When she is aware of what she has done the grief is tremendous, but many times she is still so ill she isn't aware of what she has done. Dear ole Russell should be in prison someplace for putting his children in danger.

If that is true, and she hadn't spoken since her child was born, how in the WORLD was she "homeschooling" the older children? Where were the educational authorities in all of this???? Don't they monitor whether kids are actually learning something???

 

[Miss Inga Depointe]

LOL Amen!!

I think its just a gathering place for people who like to to get things going. It is a dull Wednesday afterall

I feel sorry for the children and for him. Yes they were told not to have more children but how many people actually listen to drs when told not to have more children...not 100% I

When Someone is as mentally ill as Andrea is, they'd better listen to their doctors. THis is what happens when they don't.

 

[sandramaac]

LOL Amen!!

I think its just a gathering place for people who like to to get things going. It is a dull Wednesday afterall

I did not start this thread to stir the proverbial pot. This case has always weighed heavily on my mind. SO many dropped the ball in this case, family, the doctors, friends and for the greater majority her husband. Yes Andrea is the one that killed her kids, guilty done deal. I can't help thinking if somewhere in her mind she could have found that one tiny place that held her sanity, and she never did what she did. But that is what is awful about mental illness, she never got to that place, she couldn't. However, her doctors, her friends, her family and Mr. Rusty Yates---they all had functioning mental capacity, and they could have made a choice to help her take control of hers. But they didn't, he didn't. He has never once taken any responsiblity for this, never once heard him say I should have stepped up to the plate and helped her. And that is what just rips me.

 

[Amirah95]

Family life is just important as work life. He knew Andrea and I'm sure he noticed the changes in her over the years. She was mutilating herself and chewing her own fingers for crying out loud...if that's not a wake up call then I don't know what is.

 

[dcgrumpy]

this is a woman who hadn't spoken a word since the birth of her last child. Why would you leave your children with a woman who was so ill she had stopped talking.

Where did you hear that? I've seen a lot of news stories on tv and also read a few and I've never seen any mention of this.

 

[sgtdisney]

What Rusty really should have done was have her permanently committed a while back. But, the poor fool probably loved her and wanted to believe that she was and/or could be cured. Of course had he committed her before she did that horrific crime he would have been vilified as a jerk of a man who locked up his poor wife. Instead he is now a jerk (and a criminal) because his crazy wife killed her five children. Chased them, screaming, around the house and forcibly drowned them.

The man bashing that goes on in this world lately is pretty bad. Can't win for losing, and then people wonder why things are the way they are.

Sick or not I hope Andrea never sees another day of freedom. If she is ever cured, she should go right from the psych ward to the penitentiary.

 

[ducklite]

I did not start this thread to stir the proverbial pot. This case has always weighed heavily on my mind. SO many dropped the ball in this case, family, the doctors, friends and for the greater majority her husband. Yes Andrea is the one that killed her kids, guilty done deal. I can't help thinking if somewhere in her mind she could have found that one tiny place that held her sanity, and she never did what she did.

You obviously no NOTHING about mental illness. Until you've educated yourself, you shouldn't make balnket statements.

But that is what is awful about mental illness, she never got to that place, she couldn't. However, her doctors, her friends, her family and Mr. Rusty Yates---they all had functioning mental capacity, and they could have made a choice to help her take control of hers. But they didn't, he didn't. He has never once taken any responsiblity for this, never once heard him say I should have stepped up to the plate and helped her. And that is what just rips me.

The laws regarding forced hospitalization and medication are very specific. It's incredibly difficult to get a person committed involuntarily, and under almost no circumstaces is it legal to force a person to take medication for a mental illness, regardless of their situation. We don't know what was going on in her head, and for all practical purposes, it very much could have looked like she had gotten her demons under control. I find it hard to beleive that he would have been as cold an uncaring to ahve left her with the children that morning if he believed in his heart that this would have been the result.

Like I said before, you should learn a bit more about mental illness, and living with it before damning someone. This entire situation is much more complicated than anyone who has never been intimately involved with a mental health crises of their own or someone very close to them would or could ever understand.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

What Rusty really should have done was have her permanently committed a while back. But, the poor fool probably loved her and wanted to believe that she was and/or could be cured.

A lay person can not have someone committed to a mental hospital. Your entire post is based on Hollywood fiction. It takes generally takes three doctors or two doctors and a judge to determine that someone should be committed involuntarily--the laws vary state to state, but never is a spouse allowed to involuntarily committ someone.

Anne

 

[sgtdisney]

My statement was meant somewhat rhetorically. However by your own admission, had Rusty gone throught the proper channels, it sounds like he could have had her committed and prevented the tragedy. Hey, let's blame him for that!