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00:12When I watch cult documentaries, I get jealous of their episode two.
00:18They show people, oh, we were all coming together, we're all in this commune, and we're doing yoga
00:23together. We never had that. We never had the episode two. It's not like the children of God
00:29cult. This is not wild, wild country. It's this isolating thing where there's no compound
00:38for the cult. There's no community to it. It's people so spread out. Everything revolves
00:46around Michael, and we can't get out. You will never be out.
01:02One of the most heartbreaking tragedies we have ever heard. Neighbors are understandably
01:08stunned.
01:10This mom's actions are a calculated act of evil. These events are beyond our ability to understand.
01:33I honestly don't know what precipitated Andrew's breakdown. She never said anything about what
01:42she was struggling with. But, of course, having kids is stressful. Living in a small space can
01:51be an extra stress. But I never really realized that, coupled with her exposure to the Warneckis,
01:58could be troubling. In 1999, a few months after Luke was born, Andrea had another incident. We were still
02:11at Andrea's mother's house, and Andrea walked off. I'm like, where's Andrea? I opened the bathroom door,
02:27and there she is standing, looking at herself in the mirror with the knife up to her neck.
02:32We have the sacrifice, but where is the offering? I said, hey, give me the knife. Faith takes you to
02:40that extent. She just stood there, out of time. Faith takes you to that point where you lit the knife.
02:53She didn't actually harm herself, but she was hospitalized at that point. The doctors told me
03:01Andrea had postpartum depression. They explained the seriousness of the illness that women who have
03:12postpartum depression can develop postpartum psychosis. But I didn't know what psychosis looked
03:18like, what it meant. It would have helped a lot to know that, hey, just if you see a person,
03:24a loved one,
03:25during that postpartum period, they may not be thinking the way they always think. And in fact,
03:30if they are believing things to be true that aren't, it may be very dangerous.
03:38The doctors gave her some combination of medicines that brought her from off-road back to her normal
03:45way of thinking. And they said, well, you know, I wouldn't recommend having more children.
03:51One of your own seeds shall be your inheritance. You must give birth to life.
03:57We asked, hey, what's the risk? They're like, well, there's 50-50 chance that if she has an
04:05other child, she'll relapse and she'll exhibit the same symptoms and require the same treatment.
04:13It'd be fair to say, okay, well, there was a risk to her. She did get sick again. She could
04:19try to
04:19harm herself again. But I didn't even think that at the time. I just thought, okay, she'll get sick.
04:25Worst case, it'll be like a flu. She'll get treated with the same medicines that worked for her before
04:32and we'll be done. That's simple enough, right?
04:39Throughout my childhood, Michael had strongly encouraged us to live in
04:43a bus like his family. At this point, my parents were barely paying the bills at a campground,
04:51which is $40 a week. That's almost no money. So my mom gets a job as an activities director.
04:58And that's the first time we were actually around human beings that were not Michael's kids.
05:07My oldest sister is about 12 years old. And she meets this girl, Megan. Heard Megan hit it off like
05:16two 12-year-olds would. We're back in the bus. And my sister says, you know what? Megan, I really
05:28like
05:30Megan. That was really fun. And the pH level in the room changes. My mom overhears this.
05:40My sister saying that she liked another girl. Having a friend outside, meaning you're letting
05:48Satan inside your heart. You have a connection with a girl that's not in Michael's teachings,
05:55that's not the chosen one. So then she was in probably the most amount of trouble I've ever seen.
06:04And the word trouble is tame. She was beaten for an entire day.
06:12That is something that Michael would approve of. Not only approve of, he would encourage.
06:18Spank them hard so it hurts. The Bible says, wounds scour away evil.
06:27All because she said that she liked another girl. She liked a friend.
06:45You know, I don't think there's much more of a more beautiful thing in creation that God has given
06:50as a beautiful reflection of what it means to be born again than the butterfly in the cocoon.
06:59So in this pamphlet, bringing the inside out, Michael talks about the butterfly in the cocoon.
07:09God put the metamorphosis of a worm and a butterfly into creation as a most glorious witness
07:18to the work of transformation. What that means in Michael's terms is that you need to become a
07:26butterfly. Butterfly is you being saved. These worms are crawling on each other,
07:31trying to get to the top. And finally, this worm just splits on his own. And you know what?
07:36He starts to spin a cocoon.
07:38And to really get to know God, who's going to make you a butterfly, you have to go into a
07:44cocoon.
07:45So you enter this phase of isolation.
07:51A lot of time in that cocoon. Scary experience of changing. A lot of struggle, a lot of suffering.
07:58He has purposely designed this system where you were cut off from the rest of the world.
08:04All of your personal relationships, everything that human beings were meant to do here, connection,
08:12love, death, all of that is now revolving around Michael himself.
08:19It's going to be a life of solitude, rejection, persecution, isolation, loneliness, and struggle.
08:30No one ever became a butterfly.
08:41When I graduated college, I was offered a job with General Mills. And I was excited,
08:47you know, because General Mills is a Fortune 500 company.
08:52That was my first sale with General Mills. And they got monster after that, you know,
08:58because I was good at what I did. You know, I have a gregarious personality. People do like me.
09:03And so I did really well. On one hand, I had a company car and a salary and a bonus.
09:09But on the other side, I'm feeling guilt, you know, because I've absorbed enough of Michael's
09:14teachings that I know a job is wrong. I know a job is cooperating with saints. But I have to
09:20work.
09:20And you know, I have to earn an income. When all your life is consumed with working,
09:27there's more to life than at work. I'm not there. I'm not getting Mike's approval. I'm conflicted.
09:33And so for the next two years, I embraced getting the tapes. I was in that learning phase, you know,
09:40and I was developing spiritually, understanding more of his teaching, understanding more of the path I
09:48need to go by. I wanted to learn more. And then I received a handwritten note from his wife, Rachel.
10:05What I found peculiar, though, was the closing in her note. She ended with,
10:10in Jesus, Michael's servant, Rachel. I did not understand why she's labeling herself that way,
10:19a servant. But after reading the track, The Witch and the Wimp, I understood.
10:33In The Witch and the Wimp, Michael says that all women, as a result of Eve's disobedience to God,
10:40inherit a witchcraft nature. All you got to do is look at your mom, look at your sister,
10:45look at your neighbor, look around the women. This witchcraft nature seeks to control and dominate
10:53men. And if you are going to be a real man of God, you're not going to tolerate being ruled
10:58by a
10:59contentious woman, a witch. You don't need a cauldron. You don't need a broomstick. You know,
11:04all you need is that little contentious heart.
11:09In that track, Mike revealed the true nature of women. And that explained the way Rachel
11:15closed her letter. She's Michael's servant, not his wife. After that, I began to see men oppressed
11:23by their contentious wives. Every time I turned on the television, I would see shows like Mary
11:29with Children or Roseanne, the controlling woman and the passive man who lets the woman call the shots.
11:37I was seeing witches and wimps everywhere. I really believed I was seeing that.
11:44It was a very powerful paradigm shift on how you view the relationship of a man and woman.
11:52I have this thing, pin that I wear that says, I'd love to submit to my husband.
11:55Elizabeth was talking about that on the table. Those guys from Texas A&M saw,
11:59my wife has a button. I love to submit to my husband. And then it has all the verses,
12:05you know, throughout. It's like, it's like she's got a, uh, a weird thing on, a stinky, smelly,
12:10horrible thing that's got a bath over it.
12:12Yeah, it's like, it's sustainable.
12:14But all I can tell you is I'd love to wear that button because that is my place of security.
12:18When I try to get out of that place or I walk or the contention of my nature,
12:23the iniquity rises up. It's like, I'm out of nowhere. You know, you can't, you can't be there
12:28and have that. And you know, it's not like we're trying to depict, uh, you know, a walk in the
12:32garden
12:32kind of relationship. You know, it's a constant, I have to, because of the avenue of sin, I have to
12:37constantly confront my wife with her nature constantly. Because it's wicked. It's so deep.
12:44Wow. Teaching wise, it seems consistent with what they've said in their tracks.
12:52The submissive role, the wife, the man's like the head of the marriage. I don't agree with that now
13:01at all. But at the time, I think I would have agreed with it.
13:09I know we had that kind of in our family, you know, we had a more traditional family. And Andrea
13:13looked to me to make significant decisions. And I mistakenly would assume that if it's bad for her,
13:20she'll speak up. But looking back, I don't think that's true. After the knife incident,
13:28Andrea was released from the hospital. And I thought, let's try to get a more comfortable
13:33home environment. So we found a house close to my job at NASA. Not real big, but just right for
13:40us,
13:40especially coming out of an RV. For some number of months after that, she started doing a lot better.
13:47Get the camera. Andrea went from being catatonic to up and about, communicative.
13:54Tell us what you're fixing to do. Be jackrabbit. You're going to be jackrabbit.
13:59Wait a minute. It really gave me a lot of hope because I thought, oh, this can work out.
14:04Stimulus can drive millions of people into mental wards, into drugs, into all kinds of false hype and
14:10stimulus. And then by the end of 99, Andrea didn't want to take any more meds. She's like,
14:17I don't want to take any more of anything. So she stopped.
14:24At the time, going in even to our marriage, we said, well, we're going to have
14:29how many children that come along, right? And right or wrong, that's what we decided.
14:35There's the baby. There's the baby right there.
14:37It was within a year. The new mother. Hello.
14:42We got pregnant with Mary. If the risk of having another child was the flu,
14:52that, you know, that was a risk worth taking.
14:54Hi.
14:55Hi.
14:55Thank you to the camera.
14:57Hi.
15:00When I got a promotion to have New Mexico as my whole sales territory,
15:04I moved to Albuquerque. That's where I met a really kind and caring girl.
15:12That was our first date. I'm not a bad date. You know, I'm full of devil, but I do a
15:18good first date.
15:23She was working on a master's degree at the University of New Mexico, and we quickly became
15:27close friends. About a year later, we became engaged.
15:35I slowly introduced her to Mike by having her listen to some of the tapes.
15:41If you're a woman of God, you will, out of compassion and love for your husband, learn to
15:45submit. Her present initial was that, David, this guy sounds kind of weird.
15:50Your mind is occupied with your wickedness. The truth is you don't know how bad you are.
15:55I think she even used the word creepy.
15:59Then one day Mike called me on the phone, and he said we were going to Europe, and it's very
16:05costly
16:05to go there. And so this is how you can wire money to help them with their trip.
16:10And so I did. About a 10-year time period, I probably gave Mike and his family a little
16:16under $20,000. During our phone conversation, he asked what was the latest with me, and I just
16:23told him that I was engaged. And he says, David, you know that's not a wise idea. And I said,
16:29yeah, you know, I'm sorry. In the heart of every single woman, the powerful thwart of Satan
16:34to demean, to oppress, to attack the men of God, to nullify God's word.
16:41Mike teaches that until a man has direct revelation for God, it's not good that he become
16:47married because the contentious woman will be a distraction. All I can do is warn you.
16:54The next day or two days after, I called Diane, and I downplayed it. I told her that in my
17:01spiritual development, it's just not a good time for me to be thinking of marriage or even to be
17:06engaged. So I'm sorry, but we're just going to have to call this off.
17:18After I called out the engagement, I was too numb to feel a thing. But afterwards,
17:24I cried because she was a wonderful girl and she loved me. She really did.
17:36My dad, Mark, when he was out street preaching, he would get in trouble with Michael because he
17:43wouldn't street preach loud enough. Michael said that he was beyond saving. He was a wimp of a man.
17:54It made for a contentious situation because my dad is naturally submissive and not the alpha in a group.
18:06Michael completely shifted the power dynamics in my family and my mom and dad stopped talking at this
18:13point. It was very hostile. So in 1998, they eventually divorced.
18:22I got too close to the water.
18:25My mom got custody of the five kids, provided that my dad gets custody of the bus.
18:32He takes the bus and in the bus is all Michael's tapes. And my mom believed that they were the
18:38secret to salvation, the shortcut to heaven.
18:46So my mom matches a plan where there's one bus window that doesn't close all the way.
18:51It never closed. So my mom has me slip into the bus while my dad is out. And I steal
18:59all of
19:00Michael's tapes back so that we can have those to listen to.
19:11I didn't stay in constant communication with Warnecki. Living was more about just managing,
19:18taking care of the kids, getting everything done.
19:21But I didn't discourage Andrea from writing if she wanted to write. It's her business, you know, her choice.
19:37Dear Andrea, praise Jesus. I hope your pregnancy and birth goes good.
19:45We have a new addition to our family. This is our little girl that was born today.
19:51Mary was born in November 2000.
19:54What do you think about having a sister this time instead of a little brother?
19:57I can't believe it.
20:01But most importantly, that you would come to know Jesus and be able to give him to your children.
20:07Mary was a beautiful little girl. I held her up and she leaned forward like she wanted to kiss me.
20:12It was the sweetest thing. I pray for you, Andrea, for you, Rusty, and your family.
20:18At first, Andrea seemed perfectly fine.
20:21I know things are not the way you would like them to be.
20:24But then a few months after, Andrea just plummeted very quickly down to a state where she was in 99,
20:32which of course raised the flag.
20:34I've seen many women just continually put off their salvation in Jesus.
20:38Her symptoms recurred very quickly.
20:42Jesus knows how wicked you are, how weak and vulnerable.
20:46She went from being kind of what seemed like normal to in a worse state.
20:53I know you're frustrated, Andrea.
20:57She was just staring blankly ahead, had a scissor leg, picking at her hair, not saying anything.
21:05You are accountable for these children. You can change them. There will be a day when it is too late.
21:13So I called around to try to see a psychiatrist. Oh yeah, we got an opening, six weeks. I'm like,
21:18we don't have six weeks, you know. I didn't know what to do. I'm like, who do you call?
21:23Don't look to Rusty. Look to Jesus.
21:27I was at my wits end at that time.
21:30If you allow Satan to come in and still be understanding, the consequences will be tragic.
21:39Everything was out of control.
21:42Love in Jesus, Rachel.
21:59The time I got this booklet, I figured this could really well be my last chance at salvation.
22:06You have got to go through that cocoon, that struggle all on your own.
22:11There are only eight butterflies on the face of the whole earth.
22:16They all have the last name Warren Ecke. But I was really feeling that I could be the ninth one
22:22and join them in this spirit world of complete joy in Jesus Christ.
22:27The sacrifice is the essence, the center of salvation. So you have to sacrifice. And what
22:34do you have to sacrifice? You have to sacrifice yourself.
22:38No. At this point, I believe I was my most devoted and faithful follower except one thing.
22:46My job was holding me back.
22:48Please get off your lazy butt. Turn away from yourselves and watch God supernaturally provide.
22:54The test of my faith would be to quit my job. Don't worry about how am I going to pay
22:59my bills.
23:00I will now be 100% dependent and faithful that God will provide somehow.
23:05Everything is work. You're under a curse, friend.
23:08And so that's when I quit my job.
23:10To deny yourself is the key to victory because you are your greatest enemy.
23:16I would go to the mountains with my Bible and all of Mike's material,
23:21free from distraction, where I could solely concentrate on finding God and receiving revelation.
23:30I would just pray and ask God, you know, please give me light. God, you know, I want you.
23:38Every night, I'd be begging, pleading, please open my eyes.
23:47But there was no divine encounter.
23:51And so with the little strength I had, but the last vestiges of hope, I just kept trying.
23:59And I was listening to one of his tapes called, as you live, so shall you die.
24:04You don't want to think about what might really be wrong.
24:07At that point, I started shutting down.
24:10You can't do what God requires.
24:13Depression, despair, defeat.
24:16Just so overwhelming.
24:18It was hard to function.
24:20You feel horrible. All your tears are just crocodile tears.
24:24When you're convinced that everyone lives in satanic delusion, there's no one to turn to for help.
24:29You are a lame man.
24:30You got a C, man. You're ass sick.
24:33You're left with emptiness and loneliness and nothing.
24:37You want to get what you deserve?
24:39The next thing I know, you deserve help.
24:44I'm sitting there in a chair.
24:48You know, suicide is the ultimate self-obsession.
24:52With a loaded shotgun in my mouth.
24:55You're so grieved that you can't make yourself happy.
25:00And hey, might as well blow my brains out.
25:05Can't make myself happy.
25:09I have Mike mocking me, telling me that I'm worthless, that I'm nowhere,
25:14that I'm just projecting false humility.
25:16Oh, I feel so sorry for you.
25:18I just can't follow what he said.
25:20You know, it's Mike Warniecki's fault.
25:22And I was young, so I could take this pain to battle it out.
25:32So I stopped for myself.
25:35If I was 50 years old and had clinical depression, it'd be really hard.
25:40So maybe it was good that I met Mike when I was young.
25:44If I was old, I probably would have really killed myself and died.
25:47Well, I'm sorry, guys.
25:51That's not a warrior.
25:52That's not a person in God.
25:53That's a piece of lard.
25:55That's an unregenerate pagan who doesn't want God.
25:58So I don't know what a doctor would call that, the combination.
26:02Real clinical depression and then spiritual depression.
26:04You got it together.
26:06So, yeah, it was pretty dark.
26:11Oh, there was someone who had that.
26:13Her name was Andrea Yates.
26:14That's right.
26:19You must get right with God before it's too late.
26:22The window of opportunity is closing.
26:26After Andrea's symptoms started getting worse,
26:28I finally got a hold of a mental health hospital in the area.
26:31You only have a limited time to affect those little lives.
26:35Andrea's brother and I carried her to the car and took her to the hospital.
26:39Teach and discipline the boys.
26:42And she was readmitted.
26:44I called Noah to let her talk with Noah a little bit.
26:49Parents today do not know how to teach their children.
26:52And thus, they raise rebels without discipline.
26:55The only thing Andrea said was, I'm sorry I've been such a bad mom.
27:01First, it's not true.
27:02She was an awesome mother.
27:03Second, it's very out of character if it was anything like that.
27:15After my suicide attempt, I didn't break with Michael at all.
27:19I believed that I'd been given a second chance to live and to find God.
27:26Then one day, I received a package that contained a videotape.
27:31I was afraid to watch it.
27:33And it sat on my kitchen table for several days before I could even muster the courage to put it
27:39into the VCR.
27:41My heart was just beating with anxiety when I finally hit play.
27:46You're wrong, and you must stop and change what you're doing.
27:52No reason for you to have just some awkward, uncomfortable feelings of change.
28:01No, no.
28:03I hear Mike imitating Satan in that creepy voice and that grotesque mess.
28:08I've already been eight years under his teaching.
28:11I felt like I was in a psychological maze.
28:14That's all that matters is what you feel in your own heart about yourself and about God.
28:22After the viewing of the tape, I started imagining the devil speaking to me all the time.
28:30And then soon another package arrived.
28:36Mike sent a message saying that he could meet with me.
28:39I thought because I wasn't progressing, he was coming to my aid, you know, much like a spiritual doctor.
28:45And I envisioned spending hours with him in a park or someplace quiet.
28:50But what I found peculiar was a place he chose to meet.
28:54A McDonald's restaurant.
28:56I didn't tell anyone except Richard.
28:59Me and Richard were childhood friends.
29:02We were in the same fraternity.
29:04And so he got exposed to Mike about the same time that I did.
29:09So me and Richard meet with Michael.
29:12And it changed everything.
29:22This is the first time meeting Michael in person since 1987.
29:26He appeared shifty-eyed or worried, even a little nervous.
29:30And I experienced this immediate wave of conflicted emotion and just figured that the weight of the
29:35spirit must be heavy upon him.
29:38Then I remember Mike telling me,
29:40do you remember the opening scene in The Wizard of Oz?
29:45When the farmhouse gets lifted into the powerful winds of the swirling tornado,
29:50spinning and spinning in the winds of delusion.
29:54That's you, David.
29:56You don't even realize you're caught up in those winds of delusion.
29:59In fact, you're more deluded now than ever.
30:02I mean, my lips started quivering and my spirit just shattered.
30:07Richard was even worse news.
30:09He was told there's no hope for him at all.
30:12And then just like that, he walked away.
30:26And then super late that night, I hear a rapid bang.
30:33So I rushed to open up the front door.
30:36It was Richard, terrified, shaking.
30:39I don't think I can take this anymore.
30:41Just freaked out.
30:43David, I'm going to hell.
30:44You know, what's the point of living?
30:45I might as well just, just end it now.
30:48He was just convinced under Mike's teaching and Mike's words that he was going to hell.
30:54Let me just go.
30:55Let me get my punishment.
30:57He totally saw no reason to live anymore.
31:00That's in a lot of scary horror movies.
31:02Nothing can compare to the look and fright I saw on Richard's face that night.
31:07It's the most scariest thing you will ever encounter.
31:11No producer, no movie director could get that on film.
31:14You can't act that.
31:15It's a real experience.
31:17It's a spiritual, frightened experience that comes from the very soul.
31:22He scared me and I was emotionally exhausted
31:25because it took everything I had to convince him to not do it now.
31:32And he's my friend.
31:33I loved him.
31:34He was my childhood friend.
31:36And I know he's going to do it because I know how he feels.
31:40I know.
31:41I know what he's under.
31:45You know, don't do it.
31:47It drained me because I knew he was going to do it, knew he's going to do it.
31:53And he's my best friend.
31:59That really, you know.
32:03We talked for hours and eventually Richard decided to not take his life.
32:12After my parents' divorce, my mom moved us away to California.
32:17But my mom doesn't really want to reach out to Michael because she's pretty ashamed
32:20and has a lot of guilt for leaving my dad.
32:24About two years later, Michael comes back into our life and says,
32:27God has told us that you're just off track.
32:30You're not spiritually in line with where you need to be.
32:33So you're going to come out with us and you're going to answer your reach.
32:48So we go out with Michael and all eight kids.
33:04I guess I was old enough to be embarrassed for the first time.
33:10I saw people's reaction.
33:21And then Michael completely dresses my mom down in front of us.
33:26She's a wicked woman.
33:27She's contentious.
33:28She's living a life of sin.
33:31You're so evil.
33:32You're sending your kids to hell.
33:33Because you deserve your rebellion and your wickedness to a holy God.
33:38Michael had written my mom off because she left my dad.
33:42But my mom was, we got to get back in his good graces.
33:45Her entire life was wrapped up in, does Michael love me?
33:50Does Michael think I'm saved?
33:52So we had two Michael's tapes that we took on the bus.
33:57I noticed a frequency in Michael's tapes being played.
34:01The entire word of God speaks about the last days.
34:05These words that are so ingrained in my head.
34:08Not days of revival, but days of intense, powerful deception and delusion.
34:20Overall, my mom's anxiety about going to hell and setting your kids to hell outweighed any sort of logic.
34:27That's the point with Michael's teachings.
34:29It's such an extreme dogmatic, high stakes.
34:32It's your soul for eternity.
34:34And I think ultimately, and I think she regrets this now, that got in the way of
34:40one of the most pure things in this life, which is a mother's love for their kid.
34:50Andrea was the sickest patient in that building.
34:53I mean, you could just tell.
34:54She was like not hardly moving, not responsive, not communicative.
34:58And then within a week or two, they said, oh, she might do better at home.
35:02Let's try that, which is kind of probably code for your insurance right now, time to go home.
35:08When she came home, she was completely out of it.
35:13I didn't know it at the time, but Andrea was having visual hallucinations, auditory hallucinations.
35:19You must stop and change what you're doing.
35:23And it led to the delusions she had of having the devil in her.
35:28Uncomfortable feelings of change.
35:30No.
35:31No.
35:34But at the time, Andrea didn't tell me what was going on in her head.
35:38And none of us, nobody thought the kids were at any risk at all.
35:43Nowhere on anyone's radar was any possibility of harm to our children.
35:51Andrea Yates called 911.
35:54Once authorities arrived at her home, they found five young children dead.
35:59Andrea Yates confessing to police, she drowned her children one by one in the bathtub.
36:06You see a lot of homicides, but you don't see a scene like that.
36:09Sergeant Randall Beatty never cried in his 16 years in the force,
36:13until he saw the horrors inside this house.
36:16He's not nervous, it makes my stomach hurt.
36:18Tragedy is an understatement.
36:19I don't believe there are words in any language that can describe what has happened.
36:34After the tragedy, I had a very strange experience.
36:39I had nightmares that some of my children had passed.
36:46Only to wake up and realize they all had passed.
36:50And I'm like, wow, how can reality be worse than your nightmare?
36:56You know, but it was.
36:58I had that happen probably, I don't know, three or four times where I had a dream like that.
37:08And that's tough.
37:27Today, the Yates children were laid to rest.
37:31The eulogy was delivered by Rusty Yates, who shared loving memories of each child.
37:36Noah, John, Paul, Luke and Mary.
37:41Rusty Yates wanted everyone to know a treasured moment he shared with each of his angels.
37:46This photo with Noah, the oldest, holding a caterpillar, tells a story of a family vacation to Florida.
37:52He said, Noah squealed when his caterpillar turned into a butterfly.
37:56Here's our butterfly.
38:00He wants to go.
38:02The family pulled off the highway.
38:03He set it free.
38:08This is how I feel now.
38:10I'm setting each child free.
38:13That's the thing that was most shocking to me about it all was just the finality of it.
38:18You know, you do anything to fight for your children, for your family, but it's too late.
38:30What happened was just, you know, incomprehensible.
38:32I mean, I just can't.
38:36You know, looking back, you know, I struggled with it all last night.
38:39I couldn't sleep last night.
38:40I was like, you know, is there anything I could have done, you know?
38:43That was a lot at once.
38:44It's like being thrown into a game you've never played, you know?
38:47And you're like, you don't know what to do, you know?
38:49What do you do?
38:50So at the same time, I felt compelled that, okay, I need to do what I can to, you know,
38:57defend Andrea and my family.
38:59I'm torn.
39:00One side of me, you know, blames her because she, you know, she did it, you know?
39:04But the other side of me says, well, she didn't because that wasn't her.
39:08She went through a postpartum depression with our fourth child, and it was very serious then.
39:14And she had attempted suicide then, and I'm supportive of her.
39:20You know, it's hard, you know, the woman here is not the woman that killed my children.
39:24So, you know, if Andrea, if you see this, I love you.
39:28Right after I defended Andrea, a lot of people were just like, well, if it's not her
39:32because she's mentally ill, it must be that rotten husband of hers.
39:36People can't understand how a man, how a father,
39:39could support his wife after she took the lives of their children.
39:50I took the lot of key for Andrea, but people can think what they want.
39:54They didn't live our life.
39:55They didn't sit in the doctor's office.
39:57Then a lot of people were saying she's the devil.
40:00This is an absolutely evil woman.
40:02Miss Yates truly and intentionally drowned them one by one.
40:07This woman is a beast who committed one of the most horrible crimes I ever heard of.
40:11Hard to believe that a mother could do something like that.
40:14There's this tremendous outcry to give her the death penalty.
40:20The state are pursuing the death penalty in the Andrea Yates case.
40:24The county that sends more people to death row than any place in the U.S.
40:30The entire country, the entire world is like this woman is evil.
40:35She's insane.
40:37But when I first heard the news, I was jealous.
40:43Rather than horrified.
40:50I just need a police officer.
40:51Are you there alone?
40:55No, my kids are here.
40:58I got why she did it.
41:00I got why the kids obeyed.
41:03I would have gotten that tough.
41:07So I understood it all.
41:22She did what she was supposed to do.
41:24Are you having a disturbance?
41:25Are you ill or what?
41:27Uh, yes, I'm ill.
41:28You need an ambulance?
41:29No, I need a police officer.
41:32She made the greatest sacrifice.
41:36She was saving her kids.
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