911 tape reveals unemotional Andrea Yates

Andrea Yates is being held in the psychiatric unit of the Harris County Jail.

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- Andrea Yates, the mother accused of drowning her five children, gives no indication in her 911 call to police that the youngsters are dead.

Her trial is set to begin January 7, and the jury will be allowed to hear the tape as evidence. She has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Yates was arrested on June 20, after police came to her home. She is charged with capital murder in the deaths of three of the children: Noah, 7; John, 5; and 6-month-old Mary Yates. If convicted, she could be eligible for the death penalty.

John and Mary, along with Paul, age 3, and Luke, 2, were found on a bed. Noah was found dead in the bathtub.

Andrea Yates is being held in the psychiatric unit of the Harris County Jail.

Yates' voice is unemotional during the call to a Houston Police Department dispatcher.

Police who arrived at the home said at the time that there were no other adults with Andrea Yates.

In September, a jury deliberated for more than eight hours over two days before deciding that Yates, 37, could stand trial for the killings.

Yates had been treated for postpartum depression after delivering her fourth and fifth children. Her attorneys said she has a history of mental illness and argued that she is not fit to stand trial.

Yates' husband, Russell, is a NASA computer specialist at the Johnson Space Center. He was at work at the time of the drownings.

He said his wife called him at work afterward to tell him to come home. Concerned by the tone of her voice, he asked if anyone was hurt. She responded, yes, it was the children -- "all of them."

When he arrived at home, he found police at the scene and his children dead.

On the CBS show "60 Minutes" Sunday night, Russell Yates said he stands by his wife, and contended that if she had received competent psychiatric care, their children would be alive today.

"She's a terrific mother, loved the children. They're always climbing up in her lap and she'd read books to them. And just all kinds of stuff. She loved them. I mean there's just no way that she, she, she would ever do anything like what happened," he said.

Joe Ownby, Harris County assistant district attorney, said two capital murder charges were filed against Andrea Yates, according to provisions in Texas statutes. One charge covers the intentional deaths of two people in the same event or scheme; the other covers the death of a child under 6.

Ownby said his office filed its request about two weeks ago, seeking to make the 911 tape admissible during the trial. Last week, state District Judge Belinda Hill ruled that the jury also may hear the alleged confession Yates made to police, the prosecuting attorney said.

Yates' lawyers had attempted to suppress the statement, Ownby said.

The attorney said he had no comment on a gag order Hill issued barring some participants in the case from speaking to the media. In addition to Russell Yates, Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal also appeared on the "60 Minutes" show.