One Sided Much?
Review by Kim Cantrell
Garrett E. Wilson was spoiled rotten, with a mother and father who gave him anything he wanted all of his growing years. Any problem arose that seemed make their precious little Garrett unhappy was resolved quickly and quietly.
But, as it generally happens, Mom and Dad left this world behind and their own legacy was a lazy, overweight sloth who thought he was entitled to anything or anyone his heart desired.
Of course, that’s not how it works in the real world.
When Garrett wasn’t running up massive amounts of credit card debt – some fraudently obtained under false names and/or addresses – he was racking up girlfriends and wives.
Yes, that’s right. Not “or” but “and.”
And, as is typical with this type of person, he was whining and dining like the money well would never run dry.
When the bills came due, he turned to other resources: embezzlement. And then when his luck ran out on that scheme, he turned to another: murder.
It’s all the too common murder for insurance he used; but the rarer form: insuring then killing your own child.
Not just one but two.
But if you’re going to dance, you have to pay the piper. And now Garrett is paying to the tune of life imprisonment without parole.
Adrian Havill’s While Innocents Slept is the only book written about the two cases of infanticide by Garrett Wilson; but it is an EXTREMELY one sided account.
Written based predominately on interviews with Garrett and his starry-eyed (now ex) wife Vicky, this book leaves a lot to be desired.
Regular readers of this blog know that I typically find something worth reading in just about every book, but not this one.
Save your money and your time. Read the story from 48 Hours Mystery episode by the same title instead.
Updates:
Garrett Wilson’s conviction was overturned in 2002 by Maryland’s highest appellate Court. In a second trial in May 2004, he was found guilty a second time. A trial for the death of his daughter Brandi has been postponed indefinitely.
Today, Missy Anastasi works as a Cyber Security Specialist for a company providing Homeland Security services.
Marysa, Wilson’s youngest child, appears to be a well-adjusted, typical high school student. She is currently 16-years-old.
A former high school classmate, J.G. Stinson, offers a little more insight into Wilson on her website.
Did Garrett Wilson really kill his babies?
*Warning: May contain spoilers!
In the late 1970s and early 80s, little to nothing was understood about SIDS. And only a little bit more is known today.
The only thing that experts will agree on is that there undoubtedly many cases of homicide that are ruled as SIDS.
However, unlike the 20th century, infant deaths are given more scrunity and the death alone is not the only evidence taken into consideration (as it is with most homicides, although this was not necessarily the case 30 years ago in a similar case).
The Wilson case is one much debated because Wilson’s third wife, Missy Anastasi – the whistleblower, if you will – waited until she learned that Wilson had secretly divorced her, had another child then married said child’s mother (Vicky Wampler).
Honestly, married to a man with an ex-wife hell bent on revenge for many years, I can understand how this “delay” could raise many eyebrows.
Yet, if we are to believe Missy and other witnesses from the first trial, she did make a couple of excited utterances shortly after the death of Garrett Michael. However, after obtaining reassurances from medical professionals, she believed that she had overreacted.
When Garrett, in all his duplicity, pulled the stunt of divorce and having another child on the sly, suddenly Missy realized just truly the kind of man she had married.
Her mission then became justice for Garrett Michael.
That alone would not have convinced me to convict. After all, Missy was a grieving mother. And a woman scorned.
But it was the duplicate life insurance policies on both babies that total six figures. Add to it, his super-quick notification of death to the insurance companies.
It’s not unusual for parents to have riders on their own life insurance policy in case of the (God forbid) untimely death of their child to cover burial expenses. But seldom do you find such high dollar figures for infants (actually being highly unlikely by today’s insuring standards).
No, it is Garrett’s overall history as an oxygen-thief (um, human being) that leads me to believe that he is exactly where he needs to be: out of the reach of small children.
