It is utterly revolting that the mother of newborns was forced to work to support herself and her children, and that this freaking idiot had to be entrusted with the "care" of helpless babies so Mom could bring home a paycheck.
This mother should have been on PAID maternity leave when these murders took place. Then she would have been able to take care of her own babies-- instead of having to rely on a psycho daddy.
http://www.wiscnews.com/baraboonewsrepublic/news/local/article_c18690b6-db9f-11df-8ae8-001cc4c002e0.html
Yates gets life in prison for killing twin infants
By Brian D. Bridgeford, News Republic Posted: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 10:45 am
To the end, David R. Yates stood forcefully, even arrogantly, in asserting his innocence in the face of the jury's verdict of guilt for killing his twin infant children, Tyler and Savannah Yates at his former Baraboo residence.
The judge wanted none of it and ordered him to prison for life with no possibility of release after brief arguments Tuesday morning.
The Sauk County prosecutor charged Yates, 48, of Baraboo, with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide after the 5-week-old children were found battered to death in their father's home late in the evening of April 13, 2008. A Baraboo police officer noticed the children under a bed where Yates was found in a confused state of mind.
Over 10 days of testimony, Yates' attorney, John M. Brinckman of Onalaska, tried to pin the crime on the children's mother, Susan Winbun of Reedsburg. Brinckman argued Winbun could have drugged Yates with his own prescription of the anti-depressant Cymbalta, then killed the children after midnight, likely with the help of a male accomplice.
The case went to a jury of Portage County residents late Monday afternoon and they deliberated until about 8:15 p.m. before retiring for the night. News they reached a verdict came about 8:30 a.m., and just 20 minutes later each member told Judge James Evenson "guilty" on both counts.
During a 10 a.m. sentencing hearing, Barrett asked the judge to impose a term of life in prison for each of the children consecutively, with his earliest opportunity to apply for early release in 80 years.
Given a chance to speak, Yates insisted he was innocent and said he would not rest until the verdict is overturned.
"First and foremost, my statement remains the same, I did not kill my son Tyler Richard Yates," he said. "I did not kill my daughter Savannah Irene Yates."
Judge Evenson rejected his assertion of innocence. While there are inconsistencies in some of the prosecution's evidence, he said, the only reasonable reading of it is Yates killed the two children.
"The brutality with which your children were killed is unfathomable," Evenson said. "Both children suffered severe and massive head trauma."
Winbun sobbed and hugged friends as Evenson ordered that Yates serve two terms of life in prison consecutively. He declined to give Yates any opportunity to apply for early release from prison.
And now, an earlier article explaining the context. Now we find out that the parents did NOT live together, and that Dad had a history of domestic violence against the mother. The babies were murdered while they were staying with Dad during weekend visitation--because Mom had to work.
http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/45625737.htmlFather Charged In Deaths Of Baraboo Twins
By Associated Press
BARABOO - Five-week-old twins found dead in their father's home suffered brain and other head injuries, according to a criminal complaint charging the father in their deaths. David R. Yates, 45, of Baraboo, was charged Wednesday with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the deaths of twins Savannah and Tyler Yates. The babies died of "multiple acute blunt force traumas," the complaint said, but it did not specify how the injuries occurred. Sauk County District Attorney Patricia Barrett said they either were hit with something or were hit into something. "These are non-accidental. Somebody had to cause them," she said. Defense lawyer Paul Polacek said he may ask for the charges to be dismissed because the complaint doesn't say how the defendant is alleged to have killed the infants. The babies were found Sunday after police were called by the twins' mother. She had gone to the home to pick up the children and no one responded, the complaint said. The babies had been at the home since Friday. Officers entered the home, found Yates in bed and then found the babies underneath it, the complaint said. An officer became suspicious when he saw a green blanket with a "dark colored substance" on it in a laundry hamper next to a bassinet, the complaint said. Autopsies determined the babies suffered brain injuries and "multiple scalp contusions consistent with impact sites" as well as wounds to their faces and necks, the complaint said. Yates faces life in prison if convicted. The babies' mother, Susan Winbun, called police on Sunday "as she knows Yates is an alcoholic," the complaint said. "She was concerned that he was passed out and not caring for the children." Winbun did not live with Yates. She said Tuesday she only left the twins with their father when she had to work. "If I had thought the kids weren't safe with David, I would not have had them there," she told the Wisconsin State Journal. According to the criminal complaint, David Yates told officers who awoke him on Sunday that the twins were at a friend's home, but he could not provide a telephone number. Yates' attorney, Paul Polacek, said Tuesday his client takes "behavioral medication" and may not be competent to deal with the legal system without it. "I'm not confident in his ability to make the right decisions at this point," Polacek said. He declined to specify the medications prescribed to Yates. Yates spent two nights at a hospital in police custody on probation violations before being taken to the Sauk County Jail, Baraboo police Lt. Rob Sinden said. Police have not disclosed why he was hospitalized. According to court records, Winbun told police that in October, Yates jammed a finger in her eye, slapped her, pushed her onto a couch and grabbed her throat. Yates' probation involved misdemeanor convictions in February for bail jumping and disorderly conduct and a fifth offense drunken driving conviction in 2006, Sinden said. Two misdemeanor counts of domestic battery were dismissed as part of a plea bargain in the case decided in February, according to online court records. Winbun said Tuesday that Yates had been getting individual and group counseling as part of a plea agreement in the October incident and in the three years they had been dating had never shown abusive behavior toward her two other children, who have a different father. Savannah and Tyler were the second set of Winbun's twins to die in infancy. She said twins born to her 14 weeks early in the late 1990s died of natural causes after only a few days.