While Innocents Slept: A True Story of Revenge, Murder, and SIDS

by Adrian Havill

Death seemed to be part of Garrett Wilson's life. Both of his parents had died by the time he was in his early twenties. So friends shrugged when sadly, an infant daughter, and then a son, succumbed to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Six years later, after he divorced his wife, Missy, and married another woman, his former spouse became convinced that their child's passing was anything but natural.

Was it cold-blooded murder by Garrett, or a quest for revenge by his ex-wife? Missy's own investigation that led to Garrett Wilson's arrest and eventual trial will keep the reader guessing until the final pages. Havill takes us through each stage of this intricate and chilling story all the way to the courtroom, where the jury's stunning verdict is given.

Acclaimed author Adrian Havill conducted nineteen in-person interviews with the accused both before and after his trial. He had full access to both the defense and prosecution teams. The result is an unprecedented look at a murder investigation and an edge-of-the-seat real-life medical thriller that stretches from Maryland to Texas and Florida.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime

300 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Adrian Havill is a writer born in Bournemouth, England.
He began his writing career in 1962 for US News and World Report.
In 1984, he began writing biographies of subjects as diverse as O.J. Simpson and Jack Kent Cooke.

Reviews

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well this book is more distrubing to me than most people. I grew up with Garrett. I spent many hours at his home with our youth group. One of my best friends had a child by him. This just makes me wonder do you ever really know someone? I would never in a million years thought he was capable of something like this.

[Dennis Littrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superior true crime tale

For true crime fans this is a relatively old story. The book came out in 2001. But if you missed it as I had, I can say it’s worth reading.

There is the usual charming sociopath (Garrett Wilson) the women duped (especially his latest—and one hopes last—wife, Vicky Wilson who stood by him even after his conviction, but finally divorced him), a revenge-seeking ex-wife, Missy Anastasi, and innocent victims, etc. What is different this time is who the monster kills.

With “SIDS” in the subtitle it’s not hard to guess that he murdered infants, first his daughter by one woman and then his son by another. Why? For the insurance money. Garrett took out insurance on his children. This was back in the heyday of relative ignorance about SIDS. No doubt some people, mostly mothers wanting to unburden themselves, got away with murders that were said to be due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

What kind of sickie do you have to be to conceive children and then kill them for money? True crime readers know: you have to be a sociopath, and Garrett really fits the bill.

Havill did a good job writing this and collecting the information. He spent a lot of time interviewing Garrett, but contrary to the opinion of some readers he definitely did NOT take Garrett’s point of view or believe that Garrett was innocent. What put off some readers was the fact that Havill pointed out that third wife Missy Anastasi did not turn against him until after it was clear he had dumped her for Vicky.

I think Havill is correct in pointing this out. After all, the dead child Michael was her son and initially she felt Garrett had killed him. But because the death was first ruled as being due to SIDS, she stuck uneasily by Garrett. She is not however the first woman to stand by her man with full knowledge of the evil he has done, and in her case, it wasn’t really clear that he was guilty until the jury reached its verdict.

I recall an Ann Rule true crime story, “You Belong to Me” (1994), in which the long-suffering wife only really gets the message to get away from her husband, the sickie, when she finds out he is CHEATING on her. I mean, let's react to what's important! The beatings were bad, of course, and the total control wasn't good, but the final straw was THE OTHER WOMAN!

And of course readers recall the so-called Stockholm syndrome in which women sometimes come to identify with terrorists, attackers, rapists and such. I think the reason for this is that in the prehistory when our hardcore, brain-encoded tendencies were honed, women were often faced with the situation of stay with the killers or die alone in the jungle or savannah. No choice there. The women who rationalized it all away lived to see another day. Those who didn’t became dinner for hyenas.

At any rate that’s the view from evolutionary psychology—speaking of which, how do the evol-psych people explain Garrett’s behavior? It is not exactly adaptive in the evolutionary sense to murder your children. Answer: Garrett is the kind of guy who gets a lot of woman pregnant. Some of his offspring will survive.

Which brings me to another question, is psychopathology adaptive? The quick and short answer is yes, IF you can get away with it. Garrett was rather on the dumb side. Successful sociopaths need to be smart and cowardly. Smart enough to know that killing your spouse or your children is risky since you are often the prime suspect; and cowardly enough not to take the risk.

On the other hand, successful sociopaths should go into politics and then when they become dictators or other heads of state they can steal and kill with relative impunity.

Anyway, this is a good but not a great read. Havill’s telling of the story is a little uneven but is agreeable in that we know the monster will get his in the end. It’s just a matter of how and when.

—Dennis Littrell, author of “Dennis Littrell’s True Crime Companion”

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a well written story. The story about a man who had many faults including the desire for money so strong he killed two of his children to get it. I thought the author did a very good job describing each of his three wives, doesn't mean I would want to meet any of them though. I found the courtroom and legal part of the story really interesting.

[Stacy Simpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now this crime novel has all the things I like in it. Good background story flowed very nicely without the usual boredom.

Good explanation of the case being set up and the best part the trial was included. A for sure crime novel to pick up for all my fellow readers of crime.

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read. Well written. I am glad justice prevailed.

[J. Marchio · Rating 3 out of 5]

the english language isn't advanced enough to describe what this man is.
abhorrent comes close.
good book, well reported true crime.

[booksbymonth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Slow read. Very indepth.

[Rachel Aranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome was an umbrella term for babies 6 months and younger who just seem to die suddenly. At the time, it was mostly an avoidable death of smothering themselves with blankets and covers but there were those whose death was purposeful. This book covers the deaths of two babies by their father who were insured for a total of $190,000. This book does a decent job of showing evidence that helps the reader understand this difficult case. The author presents the both sides well, but I feel there could have been more interview dialogue between the father and the author. The author could have structured the writing of this story better to make it feel less dated. The story itself could never be dated because the story is a part of history and lives were torn apart. It's a good read, shows the science of the time, and the difficulty of proving a death years afterward. A good cautionary tale that parents need to be aware of their baby's safety from bedding to parents. The saddest part has to be how both babies could have lived if the mothers had listened to their gut about this man.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a true story about a man named Garrett Wilson who was accused of murdering two of his children. Did he trade his children's lives for the payoffs he could expect from their $190,000 insurance policies? Or was he the victim of a scorned wife?

Read this harrowing true tale and find out because I'm not gonna tell ya!!

Excellent book!!

[Reid · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not enough going on to sustain 250 pages. This story would be better suited for a 10 page magazine article.