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The father of the slain children attended a vigil outside his home Friday night

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- The Texas woman facing capital murder charges for allegedly drowning her five children remains under close psychiatric supervision in a special jail wing.

"She's really hurting. She's really hurting, it's really bad. It's terrible," the husband of Andrea Yates tearfully told a woman attending a vigil outside his home Friday evening.

Russell Yates had gone to the Houston jail earlier to meet with his wife for the first time since she allegedly killed their baby daughter and four young sons on Wednesday.

Meanwhile Saturday, the Dallas Morning News, quoted someone close to the investigation who said Andrea Yates told investigators she had been thinking of killing her children for months.

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A police official said Yates said she realized she was a bad mother and felt the children were disabled -- that they were not developing normally, according to the Dallas Morning News.

About 150 friends and neighbors attended a candlelight vigil outside the family home Friday night and were thanked by Russell Yates.

"We're just overwhelmed you know, we really appreciate all the support and love and thank you," the NASA computer engineer said.

Funeral services for the five children are set for Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. CDT (11:30 a.m. EDT) in the Houston suburb at Clear Lake Church of Christ.

Russell Yates was accompanied on his jailhouse visit by Andrea Yates' mother, brothers and George Parnham, the lawyer the family has hired to defend her against a charge of capital murder.

Parnham refused to discuss what kind of defense he plans to present for Yates, who, according to her husband, has been battling postpartum depression.

VIDEO Russell Yates pledges to stand by his wife. CNN's Ed Lavandera reports (June 21) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   ALSO Houston prosecutor: 'I've never seen anything like this'   Newspapers tell how mother allegedly killed kids     ON THE SCENE Ed Lavandera: Community copes with children's deaths

Friday's Houston Chronicle reported on Andrea Yates' admission of the killings to a police investigator, who told the newspaper she revealed the disturbing details in a "zombie-like fashion."

The investigator told the Chronicle that Yates "methodically drowned her five children one by one in a bathtub."

The newspaper reported that when 7-year-old Noah came upon the body of his 6-month-old sister floating in the bathtub, he asked his mother, "What's wrong with Mary?" Then he fled.

The paper quotes the investigator as saying Yates said she chased the boy and dragged him back to the bathtub, where he was drowned.

"I've been here 15 years ... this is the most horrendous thing that I have ever seen," prosecutor Joe Owmby said of the crime.

Officers found the small bodies of Luke, 2; Paul, 3; John, 5; and 6-month-old Mary with a sheet over them on a bed in one room. The body of Noah was still in the bathtub.

She has been charged with capital murder and under Texas law she could face the death penalty if convicted.

Harris County prosecutor Kaylynn Williford said Yates' next court appearance has been set for July 24. It is unclear what her defense will be, or if the prosecution will seek the death penalty.