six months after Yates' arrest and subsequent confession. She was buried beneath his bedroom window. Michelyn Joann Derning On July 7, 1998, Michelyn Derning, 47, was found shot once in the head in Spokane. The .25 caliber bullet casing was still in her hair. She was found nude and partially obscured by a hot tub cover. Christine Smith On August 1, 1998, Christine Smith filed a police report for assault and robbery after she was hit in the head during a sex act. She described the man as about 50 years old, 5'10" tall, 175 pounds, with sandy blond hair. His vehicle was described as a 70s era black van with an exterior yellow/orange stripe, bucket seats, wood panelling, and a raised bed. Smith also told police the man told her he was a National Guard helicopter pilot and had five children. Police discovered bullet fragments in her hair; Smith was unaware that she was actually shot. Upon seeing Yates' photo in the newspaper following his arrest, Smith contacted police and identified Yates as the man who assaulted her. She is the only known survivor of Yates' crimes. Connie Lynn Ellis-LaFontaine On October 13, 1998, the body of Connie Ellis-LaFontaine, 35, was found in a ditch in Tacoma. She was shot once in the head and had three plastic bags covering her head. She previously worked as a hairdresser in Spokane, but fell into drugs and prostitution six years after she moved, following the death of her son, who was waiting for a heart transplant. Convictions and appeals Yates was arrested on April 18, 2000, for the murder of Jennifer Joseph. After his arrest, a search warrant was executed on a white 1977 Chevrolet Corvette that he had previously owned. A white Corvette had been identified as the vehicle in which one of the victims had last been seen. Coincidentally, Yates had been pulled over in this vehicle while the task force was searching for it, but the field interview report was misread as saying "Camaro", not "Corvette," thus the incident was not realized until after Yates had been arrested. After searching the Corvette, police discovered blood that they linked to Jennifer Joseph, and DNA from Yates that they then tied to 12 other victims. In 2000, he was charged with 13 counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder in Spokane County Superior Court. As part