Court hears closing arguments in trial of mother, who drowned children

They heard an audiotape of Andrea Yates in a flat, emotionless voice answer a detective's questions a few hours later. The jury also saw segments of her videotaped interviews with several state and defense psychiatrists who talked to Yates, one as recently as May.

Photo: Court hears closing arguments in trial of mother, who drowned children

On Monday, before jurors begin sorting through the evidence and testimony from 40 witnesses, they will hear once more from defense attorneys and prosecutors who each have two hours for their closing arguments.

Defense attorneys say Yates suffered from severe postpartum psychosis when she killed 6-month-old Mary, 2-year-old Luke, 3-year-old Paul, 5-year-old John and 7-year-old Noah in June 2001. They say that in her delusional state, Yates thought Satan was living inside her and believed she had ruined the children so much that she had to kill them to save them from hell, according to the AP.

Prosecutors say that although Yates may be mentally ill, she fails to meet the state's definition of insanity: that a severe mental illness prevents someone who is committing a crime from knowing it is wrong.

They say she planned the crime for the small window of time when she'd be alone with the youngsters, after her husband went to work and before her mother-in-law arrived to help care for them. Then Yates called emergency services, led police to the bodies and told a detective she was a bad mother and wanted to be punished, according to testimony.