Russell “Rusty” Yates faced an immense tragedy when his then wife, Andrea Yatesdrowned their five children in June 2001. More than two decades after the crime, Rusty revealed why he still visits his ex-wife once a year in a mental health center in Kerrville, Texas.
“I try to visit once a year in person and we text back and forth and talk on the phone,” Rusty, 61, said. people in an interview published on Monday, January 12. “Andrea and I have always gotten along. It’s a time in our lives that we both love and she’s the only person I can talk about it with. She and I are the only ones who can get together and remember what it was like to enjoy those years together.”
While Rusty said he and Andrea, also 61, cherish their friendship, he added that it can also be “bittersweet.”
“It’s nice to remember. I honestly never imagined anything like this could happen, especially with her, especially the way Andrea is, warm, caring and devoted,” he said. “I don’t mind her, but even communicating with her is a reminder of that. So we try to focus on the best moments, but it’s kind of hard, even in our conversations, to avoid the bigger tragedy.”
Courtesy of Moms of Truth/Instagram Ruby Franke’s estranged husband, Kevin Franke, defended his continued love for her, despite her arrest on child abuse charges. During Hulu’s three-part docuseries Devil in the Family, which premiered on Thursday, February 27, Kevin, 46, was asked if he still loved Ruby, 43, to which he replied: “Definitely. (…)
Rusty went on to say that she believes the murders “were so big” for her that it “really stopped her from growing up” and “from really living and trying to enjoy the balance of her years.” He continued, “It’s too big. She can’t get over it.”
Andrea was arrested in 2001 after she drowned her children Noah, 7, John, 5, Paul, 3, Luke, 2, and Mary, who was just 6 months old. After the incident, it was discovered that she was suffering from postpartum depression and psychosis. Also, she was later revealed to be very strong influenced by teachings of preacher Michael Woroniecki.
Although there has been speculation that Woroniecki may have influenced the drownings, Woroniecki has publicly denied any involvement in the deaths of the Yates children.
Andrea was convicted capital murder in 2002 and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years. However, the verdict was overturned on appeal after it was revealed that forensic psychiatrist Park Dietz gave false testimony during the trial.
Andrea’s case was retried in July 2006, and she was found not guilty by reason of insanity. After the verdict, Andrea has chosen to live in a psychiatric hospital.
Meanwhile, Rusty told People that Andrea embraced her role as a mother and that the way she ended her children’s lives was “devastating to her.”
Today, Andrea “spends a lot more time going through old videos of our family, looking at old pictures, that kind of thing, because her mind is still stuck there.”
Courtesy of moms_of_truth/Instagram Ruby Franke was arrested for child abuse after previously documenting her family’s daily life on her YouTube channel, but where are her children now? After facing backlash for some of her parenting choices, Ruby shut down her “8 Passengers” channel and launched ConneXions with mentor Jodi Hildebrant in 2022. (…)
Rusty now keeps his sons’ legacy alive website of the memorial that he maintains In one post, she shared what she thinks her family’s life would have looked like if Andrea had never killed her children. “If our family had continued, (the children) would have grown up, gone to school, started working and had families of their own,” she wrote.
Andrea and Rusty married in 1993, and he filed for divorce in August 2004. Their divorce was finalized in March 2005.