Eric Raymond Yates confessed to police that he stabbed his mother up to 30 times with a nine-inchknife last Wednesday, according to court documents. Police found Christine Windstein, 57, lying dead in her trailer Friday evening when neighbors called 911, concerned because they hadn?t seen her in days.
They also found in the home a wooden-handled knife Yates described using, and he had blood stains on his jeans and a cut on his hand, according to court documents.
Yates, 39, lived with his mother in the unit block of East Mayer Drive in Finksburg, and he had a history of domestic violence and driving while intoxicated arrests in Carroll County, according to court records.
Neighbors had not seen him at the mobile home in days.
“Because of the unknown whereabouts of Eric Yates and the history between him and Christine Windstein, he became a primary person of interest,” according to police.
Westminster Police police arrested Yates when they found him lying on a bench near the Carroll County Public Library in Westminster at about 11 p.m. Friday.
He was convicted of assault, burglary, witness intimidation and retaliation against a witness in Pennsylvania in 1992, had a fugitive warrant in Anne Arundel County for Pennsylvania crimes in 1997 and pleaded guilty to theft of property valued less than $500 in Baltimore County in 2002.
Neighbors said they never heard the two arguing and were shocked to hear of the charges.
A judge denied Yates bail Monday in Carroll County District Court.
He is charged with first-and second-degree murder and first- and second-degree assault, and will be assigned a public defender.
A preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 30.
