Randy Yates compared his ex-wife Andrea Yates’ murders of their children to Lindsay Clancy’s crime, saying that Clancy’s case is “not quite as clear” as his ex’s.
Clancy, 36, is currently on trial after she killed her three kids in January 2023. While she has not denied the murders, her defense argued she should not be held criminally responsible due to her mental health struggles.
Andrea, 62, who currently lives at the Kerrville State Hospital, drowned her five young children in 2001. She was initially found guilty of capital murder in 2002, but a new jury found her not guilty by reason of insanity during her retrial in 2006.
Rusty, 61, weighed in on Clancy’s trial while speaking to News Nation on Wednesday, September 2, saying that Clancy’ case “is a little murkier” than Andrea’s was. “It’s not quite as clear as Andrea’s was,” he told the outlet.
“I mean Andrea had hundreds of pages of medical records, you know?” he said, referring to Andrea’s records that documented her recurring history of postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis leading to her children’s killings.
Rusty added that Andrea had a “pretty well documented history” of mental instability before she killed their children Noah, 7, John, 5, Paul, 3, Luke, 2, and Mary, 6 months. Meanwhile, he pointed out that Clancy had “sparse” medical records.
“And you know the state went far and wide to find anyone who’d say anything negative about Andrea, and they couldn’t. They couldn’t find anyone because she’s such a sweet person,” Rusty continued.
The jury is currently deliberating in Clancy’s trial. While they have told the judge twice that they were deadlocked, Judge William Sullivan instructed them to keep working towards a unanimous verdict.
Closing arguments took place on August 27, where Clancy’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, cited forensic psychiatrist Phillip Resnick’s expert opinion that the defendant shouldn’t be held criminally responsible for her children’s deaths.
Resnick examined Clancy prior to the trial and testified that she was “frankly psychotic” and was not in control of her actions when she killed her kids.
“He indicates clearly in his opinion that she was in a state of psychosis at the time of this death, times three,” Reddington said. “Has any of the government doctors rebutted that?”
Reddington concluded, “She’s not criminally responsible. The burden is on them.”
Meanwhile, prosecutor Jennifer Sprague argued that Clancy should be held criminally responsible and claimed she knew what she was doing while killing her kids.
Sprague addressed the defense’s claims that Clancy had been overmedicated and received inadequate medical care in the months before the killings, and she insisted it “wasn’t the fault of the providers that she was struggling with this or that she wasn’t getting better.”
“They were doing the best they could with the information she provided them, and that wasn’t always accurate information,” she said of the healthcare providers who treated Clancy. “That wasn’t always the full picture.”
If you or someone you know is pregnant or just had a baby and is in crisis, help is available. Call or text the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline for free, confidential support 24/7 in English and Spanish at 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262).
