Furniture Removed From Yates’ House

Sat., May 13, 2000

From Staff

Spokane County sheriff’s deputies on Friday removed some furniture and personal belongings from the home of serial killer suspect Robert Lee Yates Jr.

Some of the items will be placed in storage, and some will be returned to Yates’ wife and children, Sheriff’s Sgt. Cal Walker said.

“Lots of items in the house are personal effects that have no bearing on the case,” Walker said. “This family has been without their belongings for three weeks.”

Removing items from the house will also make it easier for investigators to continue their search for evidence, Walker said.

Investigators have not revealed what, if anything, they have found in the house.

Members of the Yates family were allowed in the house briefly on Thursday to remove some items, Walker said.

The family was evicted without warning from the home by law enforcement officers the morning of April 18, the same day Yates was arrested.

Yates, 47, has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a 16-year-old girl in Spokane, and authorities say they have DNA and other evidence linking him to the deaths of at least eight other women.

Yates is being held in lieu of $1.5million bail in the Spokane County Jail.

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