First Glimpse Of Suspect Creates Courthouse Spectacle

Police tape stretched across the narrow hallway. Muscle-bound guards served up serious stares for the cameras and journalists and onlookers who were craning their necks.

Then a side door from the jail opened, and Robert Lee Yates Jr. was ushered down the hallway - the father of five looking small in the company of his armed escorts.

Strobes flashed and TV cameras rolled. They didn’t seem to bother the 47-year-old Yates, who stands accused in the biggest criminal case in Spokane County history.

Yates, accompanied by an entourage of 16 sheriff’s deputies and correctional officers, wore a sweat shirt with a big fish on the front. It concealed a bulletproof vest.

He wore glasses and black Wrangler jeans.

His military-like demeanor betrayed no emotions as he shuffled down the hall.

Yates was taken Friday from solitary confinement in the adjoining Spokane County Jail to Superior Court for his initial appearance on 10 felony charges, including eight counts of premeditated first-degree murder.

Some courthouse workers and lawyers stopped their work and joined the voracious crowd of journalists to look at Yates.

It was the first chance for family members of serial killer victims to see the man accused of slaying their loved ones.

Kelly Gural, a victim advocate for the prosecutor’s office, said about 35 family members were notified of Friday’s hearing. But many live out of town, and only two showed up.

The mother and sister of Shawn McClenahan sat in the front row, less than 10 feet from Yates.

“I was so close at one point, I thought I was going to reach out and touch him,” said Kathy Lloyd, McClenahan’s sister. “I wanted to be here so I could see him.”

“He struck me as just an everyday-type person,” said Lloyd, whose sister’s body was found a day after Christmas 1997. “I have a hard time imagining that he would murder all these women.”

The victim’s mother, Audrey McClenahan, described Yates as “looking like a bland individual.”

“He looked a little different with the glasses on,” Audrey McClenahan said.

“I wanted to really get a better look at his face, but didn’t have the opportunity,” she said.

“I just couldn’t help but think that this man has probably killed so many women, so many,” she said.

The victim’s mother was asked what she might say to Yates, if given the chance.

“I’m not sure I would have had the words right then because that would take a lot of thinking,” she said.

“But eventually I would like to ask him how, why he did this,” she said.

“Of course, that’s probably never going to be answered, I realize,” Audrey McClenahan said.

“I feel so sorry for all of the families, including our own.”