Affidavit Charges Yates With First-Degree Murder
SUMMARY OF FACTS
State of Washington County of Spokane
ss. ROBERT LEE YATES, JR., W/M, 05/27/52
The undersigned, being competent to testify and sworn on oath, deposes and testifies that he believes that a crime was committed by the defendant/defendants in the County of Spokane, State of Washington because:
On 08/26/97 a badly decomposed body was discovered at approximately 9800 Forker Road, Spokane County, Washington by witness KEVIN KAELIN. Detectives Ruetsch and Grabenstein, as well as Ident officers, processed the scene, and in addition to the body and clothing worn by the victim, also recovered at the scene were the victim’s shoes and a brownish-gray towel, as well as other items. The victim was identified through fingerprints as JENNIFER A. JOSEPH, an Asian female, born 10/06/80. Crime scene investigation strongly suggested that JOSEPH was transported to the rural area she was found in by a vehicle of some sort.
On 08/28/97 an autopsy was performed on JOSEPH’s body by Dr.
George Lindholm and P. A. Randy Shaber. Cause of death was determined to be multiple gunshots. It was noted that the blouse worn by the victim still had a right wrist cuff button present but that the left wrist cuff button was missing.
Witnesses JOHN JOSEPH and MI HAE JOSEPH are the parents of JENNIFER A. JOSEPH and provided investigators samples of their blood in the event that it ever became necessary to establish a biological link between themselves and their daughter.
Subsequent investigation revealed that JOSEPH was last seen alive by witness YOLANDA CAREY, traveling eastbound on Sprague Avenue at approximately Thor in the City of Spokane, in a white-colored vehicle described as looking like a 1975 Corvette. This vehicle was being driven by a white male, 30 to 40 years of age. This was observed by CAREY on Saturday, 08/16/97, at approximately 2335 hours, and just prior to this CAREY observed JOSEPH to be working in that area as a prostitute.
During the course of the investigation, information was obtained about ROBERT LEE YATES, JR., W/M, date of birth 05/27/52. YATES was identified by SPD Officer Turman, #407, as the driver of a white 1977 Corvette, Washington license KIH442, that Turman stopped in the vicinity of Sprague and Ralph in Spokane, Washington on 09/24/97 for a traffic violation. Turman did complete a field contact of this stop. This was within a few blocks of where JOSEPH was last seen alive and is an area known to be frequented by both working prostitutes and their customers.
YATES was again contacted by SPD Officer Reynolds, #558, on 11/10/98 at 1:25 a.m. after he was observed picking up JENNIFER ROBINSON, a known prostitute at First and Crestline in Spokane, Washington. This is another area known to be frequented by working prostitutes and their customers. YATES told Officer Reynolds that he had picked up the woman to give her a ride home at her father’s request. At the time of this contact, YATES was driving Washington license 918AJH, a 1985 Honda Civic, registered to him.
On 09/15/99 YATES was interviewed at the Public Safety Building by Detectives Bentley and Grabenstein. It was noted by both investigators upon initial contact that YATES seemed to be sweating profusely. It was also noted by investigators that YATES’ hair color was light brown. YATES was initially questioned about the contact with police on 11/10/98, and he repeated the same story that he had related to the officer at the time. YATES had trouble recalling the female’s name but thought that it was JENNIFER. He was asked the female’s father’s name but could not remember it. He was asked how he knew her father, and he stated that they had worked together for a short time. Also during this interview YATES was asked about his contact with police on 09/24/97. He recalled the incident and stated that he was driving a Corvette at the time, which he had since sold to a friend of his named RITA JONES. YATES was asked about any contacts that he may have had with prostitutes, and he stated there was one occasion during the fall of 1998 when he picked up a female hitchhiker because it was cold, and that when she propositioned him, he dropped her off about a mile from where he had picked her up. He denied having patronized this female or any other prostitute in Spokane.
On 09/16/99 witness JENNIFER ROBINSON told investigators she remembered the contact between police and YATES on 11/10/98, that she did make an agreement between herself and YATES for oral sex for $20.00, and that when YATES was stopped by police she instructed him to tell police the story about her father. At this time she said that story was not true.
On 11/28/97 WSP Trooper Nick Gerard, #985, stopped YATES northbound on Hwy. 195 at MP 91, in Spokane County, Washington, for speeding. At the time of the stop, YATES was driving the 1977 Corvette, Washington license KIH442. YATES was issued a citation for speeding.
On 01/12/00 witness SARAH MARSH was contacted by an investigator and indicated that she sold the 1977 Corvette to ROBERT YATES in September, 1994.
On 01/07/00 witness RITA JONES was contacted by Detective Grabenstein and she indicated she purchased the 1977 Corvette from ROBERT YATES in May, 1998. At the same time she allowed Detective Grabenstein to remove several samples of carpet fibers from the interior of the Corvette.
On 04/05/00 Forensic Scientist Kevin Jenkins of the Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory informed investigators that fibers obtained from the Corvette quite closely matched fibers recovered during the investigation of the JOSEPH homicide, from JOSEPH’s shoes and the brownish-gray towel. One group of fibers was identical visually and microscopically in regard to color, texture and shape. They are both nylon and they also appear to be the same, as closely as can be determined, by measurement of the absorbence spectra. A second group of fibers, described as somewhat lighter and slightly different colored from the first fibers, are also similar to one fiber retrieved during the investigation. These fibers are similar visually and microscopically and as to color, shape and texture. The samples are smaller and more extensive testing could not be done at this time. This information indicates there are two different-colored fibers, both in the car and recovered from the body of the victim, that exhibit respectively high levels of similarity.
WSP Crime Lab personnel also located several light-brown Caucasian head hairs on the brownish-gray towel recovered with JOSEPH’s body on 08/27/97.
Investigators have obtained certified copies of paperwork from Washington State Department of Licensing concerning the titling and registration of the 1977 Corvette, Washington license KIH442. This paperwork contains a hand-written receipt signed by SARAH MARSH showing she sold the Corvette to ROBERT YATES on 09/08/94. Registration paperwork shows YATES as the registered and legal owner of the Corvette as of March of 1995. Vehicle title application/ registration certificate shows that RITA JONES applied for title on 05/29/98. The aforementioned paperwork establishes ROBERT LEE YATES as the owner of the 1977 Corvette from 09/08/94 through 05/29/98.
On 04/10/00 a search warrant was prepared for the 1977 Corvette by Detective Grabenstein and presented to be reviewed and signed by Superior Court Judge Donohue. It was executed the same day, and numerous items of potential evidence were seized from the vehicle, including the following: From the area of the passenger side floorboards, a white button with two holes was collected.
The passenger-side seat belt buckle and attachment were noted to be stained with what appeared to be blood. Several areas of the driver’s seat were swabbed and tested with a presumptive chemical test for blood which reacted positively, and this seat was collected.
WSP Lab personnel further examined the passenger seat and passenger seat belt buckle, and noted numerous areas with blood-like stains. The majority of the stains appear to have soaked through the seams of the seat. Human DNA was recovered from two stains off the seat and one stain off the seat belt buckle. A DNA profile was generated for these three samples and they appear to be from a common donor. Based on this profile and the profile of JOHN JOSEPH and MI HAE JOSEPH, the human DNA recovered from the passenger seat and the passenger side seat belt buckle is approximately 850 times more likely to have come from an offspring of JOHN and MI HAE JOSEPH than if the DNA was from a randomly-selected individual from the Caucasian population. In other words, JOHN and MI HAE JOSEPH cannot be eliminated as the parents of the donor of this human blood.
WSP Lab personnel further examined and compared the questioned button recovered from the Corvette and the known button from the right sleeve of JENNIFER JOSEPH’s jacket. This examination revealed them to be the same size and design, and both buttons are made of the natural material known as “mother of pearl”. The button recovered from the Corvette either came from JENNIFER JOSEPH’s jacket or an article of clothing with identical buttons.
On 3/22/00, Detective Hammer came into possession of a list of license plates which was kept by Joe Lockridge. Joe Lockridge was the boyfriend of known prostitute Cheryl Siekerman, and told Detective Hammer that Cheryl dated the driver of Washington license 507JKN on 3/7/99. Joe further stated this date picked Cheryl up at First and Scott in Spokane, Washington for the purposes of oral sex. Washington license 507JKN is a 1985 Honda Accord registered to Robert Yates at 2220 E. 49th, Spokane, Washington.
On 4/18/00, at approximately 0630 hours, Detective Grabenstein and other members of the Spokane County Sheriff’s office contacted Robert Lee Yates, white male, 5/27/52, on North Market in Spokane County, Washington and took him into custody for First Degree Murder based on the aforementioned probable cause.
On 04/19/2000 Detective Ruetsch prepared this affidavit charging ROBERT LEE YATES, JR., W/M, 05/27/52, with the crime of Murder in the First Degree based on his having Premeditated Intent to Cause the Death of Another Person and did cause the death of JENNIFER A. JOSEPH.