Arrest raises hopes
South Hill man tied to prostitute's death

Adam Lynn - Staff writer

Spokane _ Detectives will use DNA testing to determine whether a South Hill man arrested Tuesday in the killing of a local prostitute is tied to a series of slayings across the state, eight in Spokane.

Investigators from Spokane County's homicide task force arrested Robert Lee Yates Jr. on Tuesday morning.

They have evidence tying Yates, 47, to the slaying of one woman who sold sex on the streets of Spokane, sheriff's Cpl. Dave Reagan said.

Yates was booked into Spokane County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder in that woman's death, while investigators searched his South Hill home for evidence. He is expected to make his first court appearance today.

While he wouldn't identify the victim, Reagan said her death is one of the 18 unsolved homicides dating to the mid-1980s being investigated by the task force.

Investigators are convinced that 10 of those slayings -- eight in Spokane and two in Tacoma -- were committed by one person during a period of 21/2 years.

Most of the victims worked as prostitutes, used illegal drugs or both. They all were shot and dumped in out-of-the-way locations.

Tuesday's developments gave hope to task force members, who have traveled across the country and investigated thousands of leads in search of answers.

"I'd have to classify this as a major break in our investigation," Reagan said. "We're hopeful. But our detectives have been very specific about not linking him to the serial killings at this time."

In Tacoma, detectives investigating two unsolved prostitute slayings there were contacted by the Spokane task force shortly after Yates' arrest.

"They told us they'd arrested a suspect for one of the Spokane murders, and that's about it," said Jim Mattheis, public information officer for the Tacoma Police Department.

Lynn Everson, a Spokane outreach worker, said the capture of one suspected killer did not end the fears of Spokane's street women.

"Until the serial killer is caught, not just the killer of one woman, the struggle for the women on the street will go on," Everson said. "And even if the serial killer is caught, there are so many out there trying to hurt them."

Detectives plan to obtain a sample of Yates' blood in the next few days, Reagan said. They'll then compare his DNA with biological samples collected in the serial killer investigation, evidence that detectives believe pinpoints the killer.

"We're going to move from there to see if it takes us further," Reagan said.

Investigators have used similar tests to rule out thousands of suspects in the case, including Brad Jackson, who is accused of killing his daughter, Valiree, last year.

Task force detectives would not say Tuesday why they consider Yates a suspect in the one woman's death, only that they developed information recently that implicated him and seized a Corvette to look for evidence.

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, but a judge ordered Yates to refrain from physical confrontation with anyone for two years.

Investigators staked out Yates' house Monday night, then tailed him north when he left for work at Kaiser Aluminum Co.'s Mead smelter about 6 a.m., Reagan said.

Undercover task force detectives followed Yates to the 7000 block of North Market, where they had his car stopped by patrol deputies in green-and-white prowl cars, Reagan said.

Resident Diane Hanks was preparing for a morning workout when she saw Yates pulled over in a church parking lot across the street from her North Market house.

Another speeder nabbed, she thought, until she noticed that two patrol cars and an unmarked sheriff's car were involved in the stop.

She remained unimpressed after hearing news reports of Yates' arrest. "You get so you're immune to this stuff going on all the time," said Hanks, who has lived in her home 29 years.

Yates then was taken to the city-county Public Safety Building for nearly two hours of questioning before being arrested and booked into the jail at 9:41 a.m, Reagan said.

Shortly after Yates was stopped, nearly 50 sheriff's detectives armed with search warrants fanned out across the city to gather clues.

Dozens of investigators descended on Yates' two-story home at 2220 E. 49th, where Yates has lived with his wife and four of their five children since March 1997.

The house is three blocks from the Spokane Youth Association's south sports complex on Regal, where kids practiced soccer Tuesday afternoon while detectives went about their work.

Investigators restricted traffic in an eight-square-block area before erecting a makeshift fence from metal panels and blue utility tarps around the house to shield their actions from passers-by and the media.

They then combed Yates' yard for evidence, including guns and ammunition, Reagan said.

A specially trained dog and his handler, an agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, were flown in from Miami on Monday to help in Tuesday's search.

The dog, a yellow Labrador retriever named Cascade, is trained to sniff out explosives and ammunition and helped looked for evidence after the massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.

Other investigators served a search warrant at the Kaiser Mead smelter, where Yates has been employed since December 1998, company officials said.

Still others searched a third, undisclosed location where Yates once worked, Reagan said.

Investigators declined to say whether they found any evidence during the raids. They were expected to search the inside of the house on 49th today.