Former NASA engineer and ex-husband of Andrea Yates, who infamously drowned all 5 of their children on June 20, 2001. She was subsequently committed to various state hospitals after her previous conviction of capital murder and sentence to life in prison was overturned and she was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Before Fame

He was a former high school football star and a devout evangelical Christian. He met Andrea while they were both living at the Sunscape Apartments in Houston, TX. At the time, he was a NASA engineer at the Johnson Space Center.

Trivia

He went by the nickname Rusty.

Family Life

His 5 children Noah Jack, John Samuel, Paul Abraham, Luke David, and Mary Deborah Yates were drowned by their mother Andrea on June 20, 2001. After his divorce from Andrea was finalized in 2005, he married his 2nd wife Laura Arnold on March 25, 2006. They later divorced in 2015, however, they had 1 son together during their marriage.

Associated With

During the media uproar following the killing of his 5 children by Andrea Yates, he sat for numerous televised interviews, with journalists such as Oprah Winfrey and 60 Minutes' Ed Bradley.