Dear Reader:
Some crime cases remain in our minds—and in our hearts—long after the jury has returned its verdict. With its shocking incidents of sex and violence, the case of serial killer Robert Lee Yates Jr. is one of the most compelling of all.
Respected family man, father of five, and Desert Storm veteran, Yates earned numerous medals for his nineteen-year military service. Yet, something compelled him to prey upon vulnerable women of high-risk lifestyles, shooting them in the head while they tried to satisfy his sexual desires. He left a trail of discarded bodies along well-traveled roads, but buried one victim right under his wife’s bedroom window.
In this newly updated edition of Body Count, Edgar Award–winning author Burl Barer provides new information and insights on this case. From his cell on death row in Washington State Penitentiary, Robert Lee Yates Jr. seeks redemption through religion. But for the friends and families of his victims—and for the law enforcement professionals who put him behind bars—his legacy of evil is beyond forgiveness.
Already hailed by experts, reviewers, and readers, Body Count will enthrall and amaze you. Sit back and enjoy a fascinating story, told by one of American’s finest investigative journalists.
If you would like to comment on Body Count, we’d love to hear from you at [email protected].
Don’t miss Burl Barer’s other real-life crime thrillers, available from Pinnacle!
With my best wishes,
Michaela Hamilton
Executive Editor, Pinnacle True Crime
Also by Burl Barer*
Murder in the Family
Broken Doll
Mom Said Kill
Fatal Beauty
Head Shot
*Available from Pinnacle
BODY COUNT
BURL BARER
PINNACLE BOOKS
Kensington Publishing Corp.
http://www.kensingtonbooks.com
All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.
Table of Contents
Also by Burl Barer* Title Page Dedication PROLOGUE CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER TWELVE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND AUTHOR’S NOTE Update for the 2012 Edition FATAL BEAUTY MORE SHOCKING TRUE CRIME FROM PINNACLE MORE MUST-READ TRUE CRIME FROM PINNACLE Copyright Page
For Charlotte
O Lord, O Thou Whose mercy hath encompassed all, Whose forgiveness is transcendent, Whose bounty is sublime, Whose pardon and generosity are all-embracing, and the lights of Whose forgiveness are diffused throughout the world! O Lord of glory! I entreat Thee, fervently and tearfully, to cast upon Thy handmaiden who hath ascended unto Thee the glances of the eye of Thy mercy. Robe her in the mantle of Thy grace, bright with the ornaments of the celestial Paradise, and, sheltering her beneath the tree of Thy oneness, illumine her face with the lights of Thy mercy and compassion.
—Abdu’l-Baha, Bahá’í Prayers for Women
PROLOGUE
Patrick Oliver, twenty-one, and Susan Savage, twenty-two, grew up together in Walla Walla, Washington. Friends since childhood, the pair reunited in the summer of 1975 for a Sunday-afternoon picnic.
Patrick washed and polished his Mercury Cougar, then picked up Susan at her residence. On July 13, at exactly 2:15 P.M., the couple drove off to their undisclosed, and perhaps undecided, destination. “We’ll be home in time for dinner” were the last words Patrick said as Susan and he got into the car.
The dinner hour came and went. At first, their parents were only mildly concerned—car trouble could explain the delay. The mood darkened as the sun set, and comforting optimism turned gradually to cold fear—fear of a serious or fatal car accident.
This possibility stirred tragic memories for the Olivers. Patrick’s brother James was killed on the Fourth of July, 1967, at the age of eighteen, when his car went out of control and hit a tree about eight miles west of Elgin, Oregon. James was killed, and younger brother Dan was hospitalized for some time at St. Joseph Hospital in La Grande.
Phone calls to area hospitals and the Washington State Patrol confirmed that there were no serious injury accidents that day. The distressed and desperate families contacted local law enforcement.
“We were asked to search for the missing couple, but the families had no idea exactly where to look,” recounted Detective Mike Skeeters. “Oliver and Savage didn’t say where they were going, only that they planned a picnic. All that could be done was to put out an alert for Oliver’s car.”
The following morning, the two families gathered at the Oliver home to brainstorm on Susan and Patrick’s whereabouts. Oliver’s aunt Nadine Gerkey offered an insightful hunch: if the picnic’s purpose was to renew their fond childhood friendship, they would most likely go to a location filled with treasured memories.
A recreational area ten miles east of Walla Walla on Mill Creek, near the Wickersham Bridge, was a favorite outing spot for the Olivers, recalled Gerkey. Oliver and Savage enjoyed many fun-filled weekends relaxing on the grassy banks, shaded by large trees, and swimming in the softly flowing stream.
Dan Oliver and his uncle Frank Munns followed Gerkey’s hunch. Driving the ten miles up Kooskooskie Road to Mill Creek, they soon discovered Patrick’s Mercury Cougar parked on the roadside. Continuing their search along the creek bank, they spotted something unusual about a half mile west of Wickersham Bridge.
“I saw this sort of funny arrangement of debris down near the edge of the creek,” recalled Frank Munns. “There was a lot of stuff piled up, and an old tarp thrown