Who Is Rusty Yates? Where Andrea Yates’ Ex-Husband Is Now

The Investigation Discovery docuseries The Cult Behind the Killer has reopened discussion around one of the most disturbing criminal cases in modern American history—the 2001 killings of Andrea Yates’ five children. The series revisits the events surrounding the Houston mother who drowned her children in the family bathtub before calling 911 and confessing to the crime, a case that shocked the nation and continues to raise complex questions about mental illness, responsibility, and justice.

Andrea Yates killed her five children—Noah, John, Paul, Luke, and Mary—whose ages ranged from six months to seven years. In 2006, she was found not guilty by reason of insanity, with medical experts concluding she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis at the time of the incident. The new docuseries sheds further light on her mental health struggles and the influences surrounding her, including religious pressures that allegedly shaped her delusions.

Where Are Andrea Yates and Rusty Yates Now?

Born in Houston in 1964, Andrea Yates grew up in a stable household and excelled academically. She earned a nursing degree in 1986 and worked as a registered nurse at a cancer treatment center. She married Russell “Rusty” Yates in 1989 and later left her career to focus on raising their family. Following her 2002 conviction for capital murder, Rusty filed for divorce in 2004. The divorce was finalized in 2005, according to NBC News.

After a retrial in 2006 determined that Andrea was legally insane at the time of the killings, she was committed to a state mental health facility rather than prison. According to reports, she is currently receiving treatment at Kerrville State Hospital in Kerrville, Texas. Investigations have also examined the influence of preacher Michael Woroniecki, who described himself as the couple’s spiritual guide, though he denied responsibility for the tragedy.

Rusty Yates has largely remained out of the public eye since Andrea’s arrest. In 2006, he remarried Laura Arnold, and the couple welcomed a son, Mark, in 2008. His current place of residence is not publicly known.

Is Rusty Yates Still in Contact With Andrea?

In The Cult Behind the Killer, Rusty Yates appears on camera and recalls early warning signs of Andrea’s illness. Describing a troubling incident in 1999, he said:

“We were still at Andrea’s mother’s house and Andrea walked off. I open the bathroom door and she is standing, looking at herself in the mirror, with a knife up to her neck. She just stood there, catatonic. She didn’t actually harm herself, but she was hospitalized at that point. The doctors told me that Andrea had postpartum depression, explained the seriousness of the illness, that women who have postpartum depression can develop postpartum psychosis. But I didn’t know what psychosis looked like, what it meant.”

While it is unclear whether Rusty and Andrea remain in regular contact today, he previously revealed during a Good Morning America appearance that they maintained limited communication after his remarriage. He said Andrea reacted warmly when he shared a photo of his newborn son:

“She’s like, ‘He’s so cute.’ She was pretty excited. We probably trade an e-mail once a week or so and maybe talk on the phone once a month. Even though it was horribly wrong, it was horribly hurtful to me, my family, everybody, it’s really the illness, you know, that caused this, not her. So, I can’t blame her.”

As the docuseries brings renewed attention to the case, it underscores the enduring impact of untreated mental illness and the lasting questions surrounding one of America’s most tragic family crimes.