May Patreon: Robert Lee Yates Jr.

Robert Lee Yates is an American serial killer who murdered at least 16 people and attempted one more in Washington state between 1975 and 1998. He was known as the Spokane Serial Killer or The Grocery Bag Killer and targeted sex workers, often shooting them in the head and covering their faces with plastic bags.

Before his crimes were uncovered, Yates lived a seemingly normal life—he was a U.S. Army helicopter pilot, serving for nearly 20 years, including deployments in Germany, Somalia, and Haiti. He was arrested in April 2000, pleaded guilty to 13 murders, and was sentenced to 408 years in prison. Later, in 2002, he was convicted of two additional murders in Pierce County and sentenced to death, though his sentence was commuted to life without parole when Washington abolished the death penalty in 2018.

Sources for this episode:

https://www.upi.com/Archives/2000/04/20/Suspect-charged-in-Spokane-serial-murders/5733956203200/

https://murderpedia.org/male.Y/y/yates-robert-lee.htm?utm_source=chatgpt.com#google_vignette

https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20000507/4019811/robert-yates-son-husband-athlete-father-pilot-teacher-murder-suspect

https://criminalminds.fandom.com/wiki/Robert_Lee_Yates?utm_source=chatgpt.com#Background

https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19980213/2734334/area-woman-may-be-serial-killer-victim

https://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/One-killer-two-standards-1061968.php

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-tribune-spokane-shooting-victim/114758300/

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-spokesman-review-few-clues-in-death/114758164/

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-spokesman-review-yates-charged-in-7/114762089/

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-tribune-3-women-sought-for-help/114764717/

https://www.factualamerica.com/serial-cuts/is-robert-lee-yates-spokanes-serial-killer-still-on-death-row

https://law.justia.com/cases/washington/court-of-appeals-division-iii/2016/33703-1.html