Sept 19 execution date set for serial killer Yates

TACOMA — A judge in Tacoma signed a death warrant today for serial killer Robert Lee Yates, setting an execution date of Sept. 19.

His defense lawyers say they expected to ask the state Supreme Court later today or Saturday for a stay of execution so they can again appeal his sentence for killing two women in Pierce County.

The high court ruled last year that Yates received a fair trial and that his death sentence in 2002 was legal.

The former smelter worker and Army National Guard pilot previously pleaded guilty in Spokane to killing 13 women. He avoided the death penalty with a plea deal and got a sentence of 408 years.