A Break in the Serial Killer Case?

NWCN

April 19, 2000, 06:45 AM, PST


The arrest of a National Guard helicopter pilot in the death of a prostitute is fueling speculation that law enforcement officers might have cracked a serial killer case.

Authorities hope to compare blood samples from Robert L. Yates Jr. with DNA evidence collected from some of the serial killer victims.

"We could have a very big break in the serial killer investigation," Spokane County sheriff's spokesman Dave Reagan said Tuesday.

Yates, 47, was scheduled to make a preliminary court appearance Wednesday morning. He was arrested Tuesday morning as he drove to work and was booked into the Spokane County Jail for investigation of first-degree murder in the death of one woman.

Authorities have obtained a warrant to take blood from Yates.

Serial Killer Case Cracked?

While officers are stressing that Yates cannot be tied to the serial killings of 10 women at this time, they're doing little to stop the speculation.

"At this time we are not saying he is connected to the serial killer," Reagan said. "Who knows where tomorrow will lead us?"

Yates was arrested in the death of one of 18 women, mostly prostitutes, whose killings are unsolved since 1990, Reagan said.

Authorities say 10 of those deaths, in 1997 and 1998, are the work of a single killer. The other eight might be victims of the same killer, but evidence is not conclusive.

Reagan refused to identify the woman Yates is suspected of killing.

The Arrest and Search

Yates was taken into custody as he drove to his job as a replacement worker at Kaiser Aluminum Corp.'s Mead smelter. He was hired in December 1998 as a strikebreaker after workers at the plant walked off the job.

Officers on Tuesday searched areas of the smelter where Yates worked, Reagan said.

They also seized the vehicle he was driving, and a vehicle that Yates recently sold to another man.

KREM-TV of Spokane reported late Tuesday that blood from the slain prostitute was found inside a vehicle previously owned by Yates. Reagan did not return a phone call seeking confirmation of that report.

On Tuesday morning, authorities cordoned off several blocks in the comfortable middle class neighborhood as detectives searched the house's yard and interviewed neighbors. A blue plastic tarpaulin was erected around the property to block the view of on-lookers.

Reagan said deputies were being assisted by the FBI, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the Washington State Patrol.

Detectives had Yates' home under surveillance Monday night, and followed him as he drove to work early Tuesday, Reagan said. He declined to say how long Yates had been watched and how he came under suspicion.

Yate's Background

Yates is a helicopter pilot with the Washington Army National Guard's 66th Aviation Brigade, which trains once a month at Fort Lewis, near Tacoma, spokesman Lt. Col. Rick Patterson said.

Two of the serial killer victims were found in the Tacoma area.

Yates also had a career in the U.S. Army and was a commercial pilot licensed to fly transport planes or helicopters, Army and Federal Aviation Administration records show.

Previously, Yates was stationed at Fort Drum, N.Y., and Fort Rucker, Ala. Yates and his wife, Linda, purchased a beige, two-story home on Spokane's South Hill in March 1997, Spokane County property records indicate. The Yates have five children, four of whom live at the home, Reagan said.

The family is staying with relatives, he said.

The serial killer is considered responsible for the deaths of eight women in the Spokane area and two in the Tacoma area since November 1997. The last victim's body was found in October 1998 near Tacoma. The last Spokane victim's body was found in July 1998.

Spokane County District Court records indicate Yates was charged with domestic violence in 1998 after police were called to his house to investigate a disturbance. The charge was dismissed.