While Innocents Slept: A Story of Revenge, Murder, and Sids

by Adrian Havill

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312262701
• ISBN13: 9780312262709
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

How could he do it?

Adrian Havill's novel was written with great detail. It was definately one of those murder mystery book that is hard to put down. It kept me in suspense from beginning to end. But my question was why would he kill Brandi Jean and Garret Michael, but never harmed Marysa? The circumstances surrounding both the infants were bizzare. As mothers how could both women not realized something was just not right about it. I mean it is a mother's intuition and whether that was Brandi and Garret's father how could you suspect something like that and wait so long to see justice is done? Some of the facts don't add up as far as the mothers of the children, it is very odd that not one but both women never forgot, but just let him get away for so long. This book was well researched and written down to every detail. But it keeps you guessing was Sudden Infant Death Syndrome the perfect way out to a cruel murder of innocents?

A fascinating SIDS controversy

This book is a spellbinding read. It reads more like a novel than real life. You are left wondering if Missy was honestly trying to protect a baby or if she was just a scorned woman seeking revenge. Obviously, the jury felt she was trying to save a baby's life.It is the story of a con man, a scorned ex-wife, two SIDS deaths of babies, coroners that reversed their autopsy decision years after the fact, and a man that was convicted because of insurance policies and reputation. The case put SIDS evidence, or the lack of it, on trial as much as anything else. Experts refuted each other and presented conflicting studies and statistics. It was an interesting debate.I found the entire book fascinating and highly recommend it.

So, Did He Do It?

I read this brilliant and fair book a year ago and just ordered the paperback as a gift for a friend. I read a recent review by a Patti Schrein saying that the judge in this case rarely has her convictions overturned. Well, in early August of 2002 the conviction in this case was overturned--and in fact another celebrated case this judge ruled on--the socalled Hitman case of James Perry was also overturned. But enough of that. The author tried to be fair to all sides rather than just parrot the prosecution. It's beautifully written and though it criticizes the defense as well it was clear to me that the author wanted to tread a fine line. It's not yet clear if the accused is guilty or innocent of this horrific and monstrous crime his exwife accused him of--if he is he can rot in hell if he isn't he should be let loose. Read the book and make up your own mind.

While Innocents Slept

Adrian Havill's new book, While Innocents Slept, takes the True Crime-writing genre to a new level. He maintains a journalistic impartiality, keeping secret how he is viewing the accused, Garrett Wilson, and the crimes of which Wilson is suspected: The suffocation of his own two babies (from subsequent marriages), ostensibly for insurance money, and the covering up of those deeds with the handy mystery-diagnosis of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The reader is kept in suspense until the final pages when the jury renders its verdict. Havill's even-handedness paints a clear picture of the tragedies. Three sets of families suffered. The two sympathetic families of the dead infants are certainly victims as well as the family of the accused man, who believe in him. The reader has a chance to identify with each person's pain and actions, because they are in almost every way, everyday people like we all know from somewhere.

While Innocents Slept

This book grabbed me from the beginning. It's way above most true crime because it treats both sides equally and reads more like a novel than a by-the-book regurgitating of trial transcripts. I started this at eight in the evening and finished it at five the next morning, fell asleep, and was an hour late for work. So my advice is: start on a weekend. Seriously, I've read a lot of crime and this is one of the best!