Murder trial date set for Vermillion County man

A Vermillion County man accused of murdering his mother has learned the date for his trial. 

Nicholas Yates, 21, Clinton, will appear in court for a murder trial, beginning March 8, 2027. 

According to police, Yates beat his mother to death, stuffed her body into a wooden box and set the body on fire in a backyard burn pit. 

Last year, Yates told police his mother had not returned home for several days and he had been unable to get ahold of her. An investigation by the Indiana State Police and the Vermillion County Sheriff's Office determined that criminal activity had taken place and that the missing person had been murdered. 

Police immediately grew suspicious of Yates after he first spoke to investigators and noted 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,'" a probable cause affidavit stated. 

Yates told police his mother's clothing, identification and banking cards were missing, but her phone, purse, wallet and vehicle were left behind. In addition, the investigation turned up two new people who had moved into the mother's bedroom. When questioned, Yates told police he had the two move in because he was afraid to be alone in the residence. The investigation then narrowed into the backyard, where police found remains. 

"We proceeded to the backyard, where we discovered bones within the burn pit. 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," police wrote. 

Yates then confessed to killing his mother on Oct. 3, 2025, telling police the two got into an argument about him moving out. He told police he hit his mother in the throat, causing her to turn blue and fall. Yates said his mother hit her head on a metal bed frame and wooden chest as she fell backwards. He told police he then put her body in a wooden box and spent the next day burning her body in the outdoor fire pit.