SPOKANE – Two vehicles once owned by serial killer Robert Yates, including a white Corvette that figured prominently in the case, will be sold on eBay by the Spokane County sheriff.
Disposing of the 1977 Chevrolet Corvette and 1988 Chevy Sport van will close out the case of the notorious killer who preyed on women in the Spokane and Tacoma areas in the 1990s.
With Yates in prison for the rest of his life, the vehicles are no longer needed as evidence, sheriff’s spokesman Dave Reagan said.
“Frankly, they are in our way,” he said. “It’s time for them to go away.”
The cars will be listed on the popular auction site sometime after Nov. 9, Reagan said.
The sheriff’s office has no idea what the vehicles might be worth, but officers believe collectors might be willing to pay more than book value for such infamous items, Reagan said.
Yates was twice cited for traffic violations while driving the white Corvette in 1997. When he became a suspect in the killings, officers tracked down the new owner of the Corvette in 2000. Investigators were able to find DNA from one of the victims in the car’s carpeting, thus cracking the case.
The van, which Yates had also sold, yielded key evidence as well. A bullet fragment that exited the body of the only woman to survive an assault by Yates was found inside the van, Reagan said.
Yates was an unassuming family man who lived in a quiet neighborhood with his wife and children when the bodies of prostitutes started turning up in Spokane in 1996.
In 2000, Yates pleaded guilty to 13 counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder, and in exchange for escaping the death penalty was sentenced to 408 years in prison.
Pierce County prosecutors later tried Yates for two murders there, and the jury sentenced him to death.
Spokane County purchased the vehicles from their owners when it appeared they would be needed as evidence against Yates, paying $10,500 for the Corvette and $7,935 for the van.
“They are mechanically operable,” Reagan said. “They’re going to have some missing upholstery and fingerprint powder.”
The vehicles have been stored in the sheriff’s vehicle impound building.
Proceeds from the sales will go to the county’s general fund, Reagan said.
“We’re trying to do the right thing by taxpayers,” Reagan said.
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