How It Began
Andrea met Rusty when she moved to a new apartment building during college. The two slowly became friends and dated for three years before moving in together.
During this time, both Andrea and Rusty were very sociable and had lots of friends. Their life was what most people dreamed of having, but when they had their first baby, it all started to change.
Early Signs
Andrea and Rusty had their first baby, Noah, just a few months after getting married. But motherhood was not what Andrea had dreamed it would be. She suffered from postpartum depression, which is more common than people think.
This occurs when the mother falls into a depression right after giving birth and has trouble bonding with the baby. It is important to seek treatment right away because it can develop into a major depression later on. Sadly, Andrea didn't tell anybody about this and pretended everything was fine.
Religion
Religion was an important thing in Rusty and Andrea's life. Rusty was especially devoted to his beliefs, and Andrea just went along with it. According to him, he wanted to have 'as many babies as nature allowed.'
This meant that they did not use protection and, as a result, Andrea got pregnant again right after having her first child. She was still suffering from depression and getting used to being a mother, and suddenly, she was becoming a mother once more.
More Babies
By their third wedding anniversary, the couple had two more boys: John and Paul. Meanwhile, Andrea and Rusty were getting deeper and deeper into a religious group from a street preacher called Michael Woroniecki.
Woroniecki and his wife had an extremely strict view of Christianity, different from what the church usually teaches. Andrea and Rusty stopped attending their regular church and began visiting Woroniecki to learn about his views.
Woroniecki's Cult
What Woroniecki considered a religious group was what many people considered to be a 'cult.' Their views were very extreme and he used shady tactics to draw people into his system. He even had to move states to avoid being prosecuted by the law.
Woroniecki preached a very minimalistic lifestyle and taught his followers that only a very select group of people would go to heaven, while most people would perish in hell. Those who didn't follow his teachings strictly would most likely burn for eternity in hell - even if they were children.
A Drastic Change
According to Woroniecki's teachings, material possessions and even having a job were against God. One had to live a life as minimalistic as possible in order to enter heaven. Because of this, Rusty convinced Andrea to sell their home and move into a mobile home with their small children.
At this point, the couple had three children, and Andrea's depression was getting worse and worse. The fact that they had to sell all of their belongings and raise their small children in a mobile home just made things worse for her.
Downsizing Again
Apparently, all of this wasn't enough to get into heaven, so the Yates had to downsize yet again. They sold their mobile home and bought an old greyhound bus from Woroniecki himself, which became their new home.
At this point, it all became too much for Andrea to bear. But instead of seeking the help of a doctor, Andrea wrote Woroniecki for help. She wrote him a letter stating that she was struggling with motherhood and their lifestyle and that she was feeling extremely depressed. What he wrote back just made things worse...
Wicked
Woroniecki wrote back saying that Andrea was 'evil' and 'wicked'. According to his teachings, all women had inherited these traits from Eve, and they had to make an extra effort to repent and pay for their sins. He told Andrea that if she didn't change soon, she and her whole family would go to hell.
While all of this was going on, Andrea got pregnant with her fourth child, a son named Luke. Only four months after Luke was born, Rusty received a very disturbing call from Andrea while he was at work, telling him he had to come home immediately.
Her First Breakdown
Andrea had had several small breakdowns but this time, she could not take it anymore. She called her husband and told him to come home, and what he saw shocked him: he found Andrea chewing her own fingers bloody.
The next day, Andrea tried to commit suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills. Rusty took her to the hospital and she stayed there for a whole week. She was prescribed antidepressants but she refused to take them because they went against Woroniecki's teachings.
Hallucinations
After this episode, Andrea's mental health declined faster and faster. She stared hallucinating and having violent visions. She heard voices that told her to 'get a knife and kill herself'. Rusty was aware of this, but did not believe that doctors would help her. Instead, he believed that she needed God to help her.
Andrea attempted suicide a second time and was taken to the hospital again. When the doctors learned about their living situation, they told Rusty that they could not live in a bus with four children anymore and that he had to get a house in order for things to get better. Surprisingly, Rusty agreed.
Getting Better
Rusty moved his family back into a proper house and sold the greyhound bus they were living in. Then, things started getting better. Andrea was in a happier mood and was a great mother to her four children.
But Andrea and Rusty did not follow all of the advice the doctors gave them. Andrea still refused to take medication, with the support of Rusty, and they also failed to listen to the most important piece of advice they were given...
No More Children
Andrea and Rusty had four children back and downsized their lives dramatically in the span of only a few years. This took a toll on Andrea's mental health, and her doctors took notice.
After Andrea's second suicide attempt, the doctors gave them a very serious warning: 'don't have more children'. Andrea was clearly not fit to keep having more and more babies, especially one right after the other. Sadly, this wasn't an option when it came to their religious beliefs. They believed that they had to take however many kids God decided to give them, and they weren't going to stop.
Another Child
Despite the warnings, Andrea got pregnant once more just a few months after being released from the hospital. She gave birth to a girl named Mary, and it didn't take long for things to get bad again.
Andrea had been diagnosed with major depressive disorder and psychotic episodes and was not taking her medications. Just a few months after Mary was born, her father passed away. This drove Andrea over the edge once more.
A Disturbing Call
On June 20, 2001, Andrea called 911. In a scary, monotone voice, she requested that a police officer be sent to her house. The operator asked her what was wrong, but she just kept saying she 'needed the police'.
After hanging up, she called Rusty, who was at work. Rusty asked her what was wrong, but she just told him he needed to come. He then asked if there was something wrong with the children, and Andrea said: 'Yes, with all of them.'
A Horrific Scene
The police quickly arrived at Andrea's house. When she opened the door, she bluntly told the officers that she had killed all of her children. She was emotionless, quiet, and just seemed lost and empty.
Shortly thereafter, Rusty arrived. The police told him what had happened, and he broke down. The police took Andrea out the back door and drove her to the police station for questioning, while other officers searched the house.
Confessing
Andrea was ready to confess it all. She told police everything and spared no detail, all while speaking in a very cold, emotionless voice. She said that that day, she decided she had to kill the children to save their souls.
The devil was coming for her and taking her to hell, but it was not too late to save her children from the same fate. The devil himself spoke to her and told her to kill her children if she wanted to save them, and that's exactly what she did.
The Murders
She drew the bathwater with her mind already made up. She stared with Paul, the third child. She drowned him and laid him in her bed, and then proceeded to do the same with John, her second child, and then Luke, her fourth child.
After the three bodies were laid on her bed, she grabbed her youngest, Mary, who was only a few months old, and drowned her too. This time, however, she left her body floating in the tub.
A Chilling Tale
After she murdered her daughter, her oldest son, Noah, walked in on her. He seemed confused and scared and asked his mother what was going on. Andrea did not know what to tell him, and following his instincts, he started running.
Noah tried to run away from Andrea, but she caught up to him. She then murdered him too in the same way she murdered the other four children. She left Noah's body in the bathtub and put Mary's body in John's arms.
After The Murders
It was no surprise that the news of these horrific killings made national news very quickly. The case became extremely sensationalized, and Andrea was labeled 'the worst mom in America'.
To the surprise of many, however, Rusty was very supportive of Andrea and urged people to empathize with her. Although he had lost all his children, he knew in his heart that Andrea did it because she was mentally ill, not because she was evil.
Who's To Blame?
A large number of people thought of Andrea as a heartless, cold-blooded killer, while others thought of her as another victim in a horrific, tragic story. Many people also put most of the blame on cult leader Michael Woroniecki, who allegedly brainwashed the Yates.
But that was not all. Many people also called Rusty negligent and blamed him for not taking care of his wife and having more and more children with her. Neither Rusty nor Woroniecki were prosecuted, however. Andrea was sentenced to serving life at a mental hospital. In your opinion, who was to blame in this case?