Inset: Nicholas T. Yates (Vermillion County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Authorities investigating the backyard burn pit where Yates allegedly burned his mother’s body (WAWV).
A 20-year-old man in Indiana is accused of killing his own mother, allegedly beating her to death before stuffing her into a wooden box and setting the body aflame in a backyard “burn pit.”
Nicholas Thomas Yates was taken into custody over the weekend and charged with one count of murder in connection with his mom’s suspected slaying, authorities announced.
According to a news release from Indiana State Police, Yates on Sunday contacted the Vermillion County Sheriff’s Office and reported his mother missing, claiming she had not returned home in several days and he had been unable to get in touch with her. Yates and his mother lived at a residence in the 300 block of Davis Street, which is about 80 miles west of Indianapolis.
The sheriff’s office subsequently reached out to the state police’s Putnamville Post to help with the investigation.
However, authorities said that during the course of the investigation, detectives “uncovered criminal activity, determining that the missing person had been murdered.” That evidence led to Yates’ arrest, per the release.
“Yates was taken into custody without incident and is being held at the Vermillion County Jail,” state police wrote in the release. “Currently, the name of the deceased is not being released until a positive identification is made by the Vermillion County Coroner’s Office. This process may take several weeks.”
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While police did not disclose any further details about the investigation, a probable cause affidavit obtained by Terre Haute NBC affiliate WTWO provided additional details about what led investigators to home in on Yates as a murder suspect.
According to the report, when Yates first spoke to investigators after reporting his mother missing, he immediately raised suspicions by insinuating that his mother was no longer around.
“Upon asking Nick [Yates] if he knew of anyone who would want to harm his mother, he advised ‘No, she was the sweetest person,'” police wrote in the affidavit, which noted that cops added emphasis to the word “was.”
Yates also reportedly told police that his mother’s clothes, identification, and banking cards were also missing, but claimed her phone, purse, and wallet had been left behind. However, despite claiming her phone had been left at the home, Yates also allegedly stated that he had been repeatedly calling his mother’s phone for days.
When asked about the discrepancy, Yates reportedly claimed his mother had purchased a new phone with the same number. When authorities asked if they could see the old phone that was left behind, Yates allegedly claimed he had sold it.
The mother’s boss told investigators that before the victim left work on Oct. 3, she was frustrated with her son for wasting his own money while she paid his bills, reportedly saying she was going to “kill him,” referring to her son.
While Yates claimed he did not know where his mother was, investigators also noted that when they responded to the home, they found two individuals who had already moved into the mother’s bedroom. The two individuals were reportedly unable to corroborate multiple aspects of Yates’ story regarding the previous few days, though they did state that they saw him cleaning a great deal and spending money at several restaurants and stores.
Investigators also noted that Yates claimed he had the two move into the home because he was afraid to be alone in the residence.
But the truly incriminating evidence apparently came to light when authorities searched the backyard of the property.
“We proceeded to the backyard, where we discovered bones within the burn pit,” police wrote in the affidavit. “The shape and appearance of the bones would lead one to believe that they perhaps were human bones. Particularly indicative of a human bone was one bone which appeared to be that of a human spinal cord.”
Confronted with evidence of the remains, Yates allegedly confessed to killing his mother on Oct. 3, when the two were arguing about him moving out of the house. He allegedly struck his mom in the throat, which caused her to turn blue and fall. Yates said his mother hit her head on a metal bed frame and a wooden chest when she fell backward.
Yates then allegedly admitted to putting the body in a wooden box and spending most of Oct. 4 burning her body in the outdoor fire pit.
Yates pleaded not guilty during his initial hearing while being represented by the West Central Indiana Public Defender’s Office, records show. He is scheduled to appear for a pre-trial conference on Jan. 7, 2026.
