Andrea Yates' Ex-Husband Rusty Says She Was a 'Wonderful' Person: 'Didn't Blame Her' for Drowning Their 5 Children (Exclusive) By Christine Pelisek

Rusty Yates, the ex-husband of Andrea Yates, says he doesn’t blame his former wife for drowning their five children — Noah, 7, John, 5, Paul, 3, Luke, 2, and 6-month-old Mary — in the bathtub of their home nearly 25 years ago.

Andrea, who was a stay-at-home mom at the time of the June 2001 deaths, was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison.

However, the verdict was later reversed, and in July 2006, she was found not guilty by reason of insanity after a jury agreed with defense attorneys that the former nurse suffered from postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis — a rare disorder that can cause delusions and hallucinations. 

“When I realized she only did this because she was mentally ill, then I was done,” says Rusty in an interview with PEOPLE. “I didn’t blame her.”

“I still suffered a loss,” he says. “It’s still super painful. That’s a pain you can’t go around, you got to go through that. But as far as blaming Andrea, no.”

“She’s not a monster,” Rusty says. “I hope people can know that about her — that she’s just a wonderful, accomplished person, caring, loving, who suffered immensely because of this.”

Rusty says Andrea has “suffered internally trying to come to grips with her actions,” adding that he thinks “that suffering is beyond anything I’ve experienced and anything most people have experienced.”

“Really, in my opinion, she doesn’t deserve that,” he tells PEOPLE. “She deserves to be the wonderful person she is, not saddled by her bad actions of the past that only occurred because we really couldn’t get the decent mental healthcare treatment for her.”

Police were called by Andrea to the Yates’ home in the Houston suburb of Clear Lake, Texas on June 20, 2001.

When officers arrived, they discovered Andrea standing outside the three-bedroom brick house wearing a wet shirt.

She allegedly told the officers: “I just killed my children.”

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Andrea reportedly told police she submerged her children one by one — then put the four youngest on her bed and covered them with a sheet before she called 911 over and over again. 

She told doctors after she was taken into custody that she believed the only way to save her children from Satan was to kill them, according to the Texas Tribune.

“It was the seventh deadly sin,” she reportedly told a jail psychiatrist who testified at her trial. “My children weren’t righteous. They stumbled because I was evil. The way I was raising them, they could never be saved. They were doomed to perish in the fires of hell.”

Today, Rusty says he visits his ex-wife once a year at the mental health facility in Texas where she resides.

“Andrea and I always got along,” he says. “That’s a time of our life that we both cherish and she’s the only person I can talk to about it. She and I are the only two who can get together and reminisce about what it was like to enjoy those years together.”

Rusty, who divorced Andrea in 2005, says that although they both appreciate each other’s friendship, “it’s bittersweet.”

“I mean, it’s nice to reminisce. Honestly, I never imagined anything like this could happen, especially with her, especially how caring and loving and devoted Andrea is. I don’t hold it against her, but even just communicating with her is a reminder of that. So, we try to focus on the better times, but it’s a little hard to, even in our conversations, avoid that most significant tragedy.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health challenges, emotional distress, substance use problems, or just needs to talk, call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org 24/7.