Andrea Yates’ ex-husband says Lindsay Clancy should not face jail

The former husband of Andrea Yates, the Texas woman who drowned her five children while in the throes of postpartum psychosis, says that Massachusetts mother Lindsay Clancy should not go to jail — as he urged people not to judge the father.

“But for her sickness, she would never, ever, ever would have harmed our children,” Russell “Rusty” Yates told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo of his ex-wife, Andrea.

In 2001, Andrea drowned the couple’s five young children in a bathtub at their Houston home. The youngest, Mary, was just six months’ old.

She was initially sentenced to life in prison, but the verdict was overturned in 2006 on the grounds that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis, in addition to severe postpartum depression and schizophrenia, at the time of the killings. 

Though Yates divorced Andrea in 2005, he told Cuomo that his ex was a “wonderful mother,” and insisted that women suffering from postpartum psychosis should not face criminal charges.

Lindsay Clancy, far left, is accused of strangling her three children and then attempting to take her own life.
Facebook / Lindsay Marie Clancy

Rusty and Andrea Yates with their four sons.
Rusty and Andrea Yates with their four sons. In 2001, Andrea killed the boys and their baby sister by drowning them in a bathtub.
AP

“It’s much like having a dream or nightmare overlaid on reality so that a person sees things that aren’t real, hears voices that aren’t real, believes things to be true that aren’t true and they act on that,” he said of his experience with the condition.

“It’s every bit a part of their reality as everything else — they can’t distinguish between those thoughts and images and voices and anything else.”

At yesterday’s arraignment in Plymouth District Court, Clancy’s defense attorney Kevin Reddington alleged that his client — who appeared via Zoom from her hospital bed — told a psychologist that she heard a male voice urging her to kill the children and herself.


Rusty Yates as a talking head on NewsNation.
Rusty Yates appeared on NewsNation to speak about his experience in the 20 years since his children were killed.
NewsNation

Prosecutors, however, allege that Clancy, 32, was never formally diagnosed with postpartum depression.

They also argued the mom plotted for her husband to be out of the house for at least 20 minutes, giving her enough time to kill all three children.

Speaking to Cuomo, Yates also rejected the idea that partners or fathers can truly protect children from a psychotic loved one.


Lindsay Clancy
Lindsay Clancy appeared at her arraignment from her hospital bed.
NBC 10

 “You can do all you can but you really can’t protect yourself from a psychotic person at home,” he said.

“They can get up in the middle of the night and light the house on fire or poison everyone.”

Yates then urged for forgiveness in cases involving postpartum psychosis.


Andrea Yates stands alongside her lawyer, an older man, during her second trial in 2006.
Andrea Yates was originally convicted of capital murder before she was ruled not guilty by reason of insanity.
Getty Images

“When someone acts so out of character like that it’s a flag that something else is going on. As far as forgiveness goes, it’s kind of the start,” he explained.

Shortly after her conviction was overturned, Andrea Yates was moved to Kerrville State Hospital, a mental institution where she resides to this day. Although she is eligible to be reviewed for release annually, she denies each opportunity.

Rusty Yates’ comments also echoed those of Clancy’s husband, Patrick, which he shared on the family’s GoFundMe page last week.


Patrick Clancy kneeling holding baby Callan. On either side of him are Cora and Dawson, both of whom are smiling and wearing backpacks.
Patrick Clancy, center, has urged the public to forgive his wife.
GoFundMe

In the lead-up to the funeral service for his three children, Patrick asked the public to “forgive Lindsay.”

“The real Lindsay was generously loving and caring towards everyone — me, our kids, family, friends, and her patients. The very fibers of her soul are loving. All I wish for her now is that she can somehow find peace,” he wrote.

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