Unmasking The Mastermind

Summary

48 Hours: "Unmasking The Mastermind"

CBS News – October 29, 2025
Summary by [Assistant]

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Episode Overview

"Unmasking The Mastermind" investigates the chilling case of Garrett Wilson—a charismatic family man whose seemingly ordinary life concealed greed, deception, and allegations of double infanticide for financial gain. Episode correspondent Peter Van Sant, host Leslie Stahl, and award-winning CBS correspondents trace Wilson's decades-long web of relationships, suspicious child deaths, and the subsequent investigations that led to his conviction and its dramatic reversal in court. This episode examines not only the facts of the case but also the emotional and psychological complexities surrounding Wilson, his ex-wives, and the legal team determined to uncover the truth.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Public Image vs. Hidden Reality of Garrett Wilson

• Garrett Wilson is described as a "magnetic" and loving father, admired by both women and men for his charisma (00:40, 03:34).
  • Quote, Missy Anastasi: "He put you under his bell." (00:42, 15:08)
  • Quote, Narrator: "He was a father who adored his little girl." (00:47, 02:47)
• Duality: Friends and family debate if Wilson could be both a devoted father and a cold-blooded killer, with close ones insisting, “You can’t be a murderer one day and a loving father the next day.” (01:25, 08:02)

The First Suspicious Death: Garrett Michael

• Birth of Garrett Michael: Missy Anastasi, Wilson’s third wife, recalls Wilson’s initial excitement about their son, but notes his distance at home (09:16–09:45).
  • Red Flag: “Garrett, you seem really withdrawn from the baby lately... He said, well, I want to make sure he's going to be around a while before I get close to him." (09:45)
• The Night of the Death:
  • Missy: "I jumped up like I always did... Garrett literally dissuaded me... He said, I'll do it." (10:06)
  • Missy remembers odd noises, then finds her son unresponsive (10:35–10:57).
  • Garrett’s Reaction: “He opened the door and his face was as white as a sheet... he never moved.” (11:03)
• Aftermath:
  • Insurance Money: Weeks later, Wilson drops off a bag of cash. “He said, it’s some insurance money.” (12:01)
  • Missy: “I bought life insurance on the baby today. But never in a million years...would I have ever thought that Garrett was planning to kill his child.” (12:18)

Initial Conclusion: SIDS, Not Foul Play

• Autopsy: Dr. Charles Kokus rules Garrett Michael’s death as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) despite brain swelling (13:05, 13:24).
  • “There were no other issues or findings... that indicated this was anything other than a natural death.” (13:45)
• Missy's Acceptance: Initially, Missy trusts the experts and stays with Wilson for years (14:05).

A Pattern Emerges: The Second Suspicious Baby Death

• Breakup and Renewed Suspicions: After Wilson divorces Missy and marries Vicki Wampler in secret (15:08–16:28), Missy recalls and re-examines her baby’s death, now suspecting foul play.
  • Threatening Call: "Now that I see what you're capable of doing to me, I know you killed my baby. And he said, 'Missy, you'd be dead if you were here.'" (17:56)
• Relentless Pursuit: Missy spends years writing letters to authorities, finally pressuring a new investigation (18:41–18:49).

Garrett Wilson's Manipulation of Women

• History of Deception: Interviews with Liz Balman, another of Wilson’s exes, reveal a pattern of infidelity, charm, and manipulation (19:52–21:58).
• Con Artist Profile:
  • Prosecutor Doug Gansler: "Garrett Wilson is a con artist. He is motivated by greed. And the vehicle to get his greed is women." (22:41)
  • Missy Anastasi: "He treated you like a queen, like you were the only person on earth that mattered." (22:54)

Motivation for Murder: Greed and Insurance

• Discoveries: Investigators find not one but two life insurance policies on both Garrett Michael and a previous child, Brandi Jean, from an earlier marriage (25:47, 29:30).
  • In each case, Wilson collected tens of thousands of dollars (i.e., $150,000 for Garrett Michael; two policies for Brandi Jean).
  • Quote, George Smith (insurance agent): "When we first wrote this, I don’t think Debbie even knew this was being written...After Brandi Jean dies, one of the first phone calls Garrett reportedly makes is not to you, his best friend. It’s to his life insurance agent." (30:28–31:15)

The 1981 Death of Brandi Jean

• Details: Wilson’s daughter with Debbie Oliver, Brandi Jean, dies at two months, also officially ruled SIDS (29:54–30:11).
• Multiple policies, similar situations—investigators draw disturbing parallels and doubt both could be natural (30:19–32:15).
  • Expert, Dr. Linda Norton: "The chance of that would be 1 in 4 million." (35:33, 40:28)

The Legal Battle and Reversal

• Case Reopened: The medical examiner changes the cause of death from SIDS to homicide after considering two infant deaths in the same family, leading to Wilson’s arrest and conviction (34:09–36:01).
  • Key Evidence: Two deaths, similar circumstances, life insurance policies, lack of emotional reaction, and testimony from Missy and other women.
• Trial Outcome: Jury finds Wilson guilty after two hours of deliberation (38:15), largely swayed by Missy’s testimony.
  • Quote, Juror Cheryl Frizzell: "After we found him guilty, I slept like a baby." (38:23)
• Sentence: Life in prison without parole (38:57).

Dramatic Post-Conviction Developments

• Appeal and Overturning Conviction: In 2002, Maryland Appeals Court overturns Wilson’s conviction, citing improper testimony about SIDS odds and new genetic findings regarding SIDS (39:49–40:30).
  • “The appeals court ruled that prosecution experts should not have been allowed to testify on the odds of two SIDS deaths occurring in the same family.”
• Retrial and Final Verdict: In 2004, Wilson is retried, found guilty again, and re-sentenced to life in prison (41:30).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Missy Anastasi (on getting justice):
  "Because I couldn't bring the baby back, but the least I could do was the person responsible put him where he belonged." (38:46)
• Prosecutor Doug Gansler:
  "This was blood money. And he went out, bought cars and furniture and paid off some debts." (28:00)
• Dr. Linda Norton (on SIDS probability):
  "The chance of that would be 1 in 4 million." (35:33)
• On the double tragedy:
  "Not one baby died, but two babies died." (29:17)
• Peter Van Sant (on friends' doubts):
  "Look at that face. He would tell other people that he hated the baby. He wished the baby wasn't born. This is a man who was willing to kill his own flesh and blood, his own infant." (06:45)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Garrett Wilson's Persona & Family Life: 00:40–04:45
• Death of Garrett Michael (Missy Anastasi's account): 09:00–12:36
• Insurance Motive & Initial SIDS Ruling: 12:36–15:00
• Missy's Renewed Suspicions and Long Fight for Re-investigation: 15:08–19:00
• Wilson's Pattern of Manipulation & Financial Gain: 19:52–22:41
• Investigators Link Two Suspicious Infant Deaths: 24:00–29:30
• Life Insurance Evidence & Previous Death (Brandi Jean): 30:11–32:15
• Medical Testimony and Probabilities: 34:09–36:01, 35:33, 40:28
• The Trial & Missy’s Testimony: 36:06–38:46
• Conviction, Appeal, and Retrial: 39:49–41:30

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Tone and Language

The episode maintains a somber, inquisitive, and suspenseful tone throughout, with emotionally charged reflections from the women in Wilson's life and a measured, evidence-driven approach by the correspondents and prosecutor. The narrative flows between heartfelt personal testimony and the methodical unraveling of a criminal case, never losing sight of the human tragedy at its core.

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For listeners seeking to understand a harrowingly complex criminal case—involving charm, duplicity, grief, and dogged pursuit of justice—this episode methodically reconstructs how a "mastermind" almost got away, and how relentless investigation shed light on the truth.

Transcript

[Narrator/Host]

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[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

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[Narrator/Host]

He has a magnetism about him.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

He put you under his bell.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Garrett Wilson was known as a charming family man.

[Narrator/Host]

He was a father who adored his little girl.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

But was it all just a lie?

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Garrett Wilson is a con artist motivated by greed. There's little Garrett.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

You're. Isn't he cute? His ex wife insists he killed their baby.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

I screamed, garrett, what did you do to him? Garrett killed the baby for insurance money.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Is this grieving mother out for justice or revenge?

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

If Garrett Wilson had never left Missy, this never would have come forward.

[Narrator/Host]

I think that she became obsessed with his destruction.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Peter Van Sant investigates.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Is Garrett Wilson an adoring father or a cold blooded killer? Are you absolutely convinced that Garrett is an innocent man?

[Narrator/Host]

You can't be a murderer one day and a loving father the next day.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

What really happened to this little boy?

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

Garrett murdered the baby.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Dramatic new developments in the case while.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Innocent slept a 48 hours mystery.

[Narrator/Host]

I'm Leslie Stahl. Garrett Wilson seemed like the ideal family man. A devoted father. A man liked by other men and loved by women. But under the surface, there were hidden layers of a complex life. And disturbing allegations involving passion, greed, violence and death. Peter Van Sant reports on the search for answers as Garrett Wilson's ordinary life begins to unravel. I knew the kind of father that he was to my child.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Hi, daddy.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Smile for me, honey.

[Narrator/Host]

He was a daddy.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Yeah.

[Narrator/Host]

He was not just a father. He was a daddy.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

I love you. Love you. According to Vicki wampler of Frostburg, Maryland, 45 year old Garrett Wilson was more than just a daddy.

[Narrator/Host]

He was a father who adored his little girl.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

Put your hand right here.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

He was the perfect father to their little girl, Marissa.

[Narrator/Host]

He was just engrossed in raising his daughter. That was the most important thing in his life.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

A life that Garrett began in 1994 when he married Vicki, his fourth wife.

[Narrator/Host]

It was like I'd found my soulmate. And he felt the same way.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Garrett was a successful salesman whose true passion was music.

[Narrator/Host]

Garrett's musical ability is astounding. He has a remarkable ear and a remarkable natural ability.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

And he used that ability to sell high ticket musical instruments.

[Narrator/Host]

He's a dynamic personality. He has a magnetism about him.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

And you were building a great life together.

[Narrator/Host]

As close to Ozzie and Harriet as any two people could be.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

An ideal family. Until Garrett Wilson's past caught up with. And this ideal father stood accused of committing an unspeakable crime.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Most people couldn't imagine doing it. And most people couldn't imagine somebody else being that diabolical.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Montgomery county prosecutor Doug Gansler.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Very few people would be able to do that. Garrett Wilson was. Has she talked to the police?

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

In 1999, he set out to prove that Garrett Wilson was a killer.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

I think he is a cold blooded evil killer.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Evil enough to kill his own child.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

I'll never have what I thought I wanted to have out of my life, which was my son. My baby.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Missy Anna Stacy was Garrett's third wife. She married him in 1986.

[Narrator/Host]

What's the matter?

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

I didn't think I needed to be afraid of him during the time of the baby's life.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

But she has no doubt now that back in 1987, Garrett murdered the baby. Garrett smothered their five month old baby boy. His own namesake, Garrett Michael. Garrett Michael.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

And this man had no reason other than money for doing it.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Insurance money that Gensler claims gave Garrett motive.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Garrett Michael never had any health problems whatsoever. He was clearly energetic and playful. I have children and think to myself, how could somebody do this?

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

You're gonna be three months old next week.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Yes.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

You've done almost everything, haven't you?

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

This is a story that boggles the imagination. But this is a true story. And it captured the attention of true crime writer Adrienne Haville of Reston, Virginia. What is it about this story that appealed to you? We don't want to believe that a seemingly normal human being.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Hello.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Could commit the worst crime in the world. It's a mystery. In his book, While Innocents Slept, Haville set out to unravel that mystery. If you were meeting with Garrett Wilson for the first time and you looked into his eyes, you wouldn't see a murder.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

I just can't believe that he could have done it.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

John Farley has known Garrett Wilson. We lived a block apart since they were both in high chairs. It's the first buddy picture, huh?

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

That's right.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

They are still best friends.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

We spend enough time together to be brothers, that's for sure. The Garrett I know is caring. He's loving. He has this ability to make you feel like you're the most important person in the world.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

And John insists Garrett cherished his baby boy with Garrett.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

Michael.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

He had that opportunity to go through all of those things that he didn't have as a child. He very dearly loved Garrett. Michael, you're sure he's innocent? I'm as sure as I can be. Look at that face. He would tell other people that he hated the baby. He wished the baby wasn't born. This is a man who was willing to kill his own flesh and blood, his own infant.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

There's Mom.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

I wouldn't have known that this man that had cared for me the way he did.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Where is he?

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Where is he?

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

And pretended to care for the baby was planning to kill his child.

[Narrator/Host]

I know that he's not capable of killing a child. So I can't be suspicious because I can't believe that he did it.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Hi, darling.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

For Vicki.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Be careful now.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Their daughter Marissa, who is now nine, was proof that Garrett is innocent.

[Narrator/Host]

He cannot be the loving father that he was to Marissa and not be the same father to his son.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Are you absolutely convinced that Garrett is an innocent man?

[Narrator/Host]

I'm absolutely convinced. I know who he is. I saw him as a father, as a husband. And he's truly a good person.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

What kind of a man is Garrett Wilson?

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

He's not a man. He's just an evil being.

[Narrator/Host]

You can't be two people.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Appropriate for me. Contradiction.

[Narrator/Host]

You can't be a murderer one day and a loving father and a giving person the next day.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

But is Garrett Wilson capable of being both? That's next.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

I was in love with him. I thought he was wonderful. He wanted to have a family. And I thought it would be great.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Missy Anastasi of Rockville, Maryland, thought she had found her soulmate when she became Garrett Wilson's third wife in 1986.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

He was offering me the life that I thought I really wanted.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

A family life.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

I was very happy. I was going to have a baby. And I had a wonderful husband.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Garrett was a successful music store salesman. The perfect life.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

I thought I did.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

A life made perfect. Just a year after their wedding with the arrival of their baby.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

Dad can hold him. He seemed to be so excited to have the baby. Definitely. It was never a question whether he wanted the child or not.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

A son. Daddy and Junior that Garrett proudly named after himself.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

There's little Garrett Junior. Isn't he cute?

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

In the hospital, he held the baby. He fed the baby in front of me.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

But when they brought their baby home, Missy claims Garrett showed little interest in his son.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

Where's your daddy? I said, Garrett, you seem really withdrawn from the baby lately. And he said, well, I want to make sure he's going to be around a while before I get close to him. And I thought, why is he thinking something is going to happen to this baby?

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

But Missy chose to dismiss Garrett's odd behavior until early one morning when their baby woke up crying.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

I jumped up like I always did to go and feed the baby. And Garrett literally dissuaded me, talked me out of getting up and going. He said, I'll do it.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Had Garrett ever fed the baby prior to that?

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

He didn't ever wake up in the middle of the night and be wide awake or in the early morning. And this particular morning, he was awake.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

So Missy stayed in bed while Garrett went into the baby's room.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

And I heard a padding noise over the monitor. And then the next thing I heard was a.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Who made that sound?

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

I don't know what it was, but I know that it wasn't a good sound.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Alarmed, Missy hurried out of bed.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

And I had two cats that had been jumping on me. So I gave them some food in a moment.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

And by the time she got to the baby, I failed him.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

And he didn't feel right. And I screamed, garrett, what did you do to him?

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Garrett had gone back to their bedroom.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

He opened the door and his face was as white as a sheet. And I'm screaming, call 911. And he never moved.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Paramedics arrive and rush the baby to the emergency room.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

So we went out to the car and Garrett stopped and took the time to unlock the car, pull the seats up, reach in the back and take the baby seat out. And I'm thinking, he knows the baby's not coming home. He's done something to him.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Within the hour, five month old Garrett Michael was pronounced dead at the hospital.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

I wanted to die. I didn't think I could survive.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Did you and Garrett ever have an emotional outpouring over the death of Garrett Michael?

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

I was waiting for Garrett to say this wasn't supposed to happen, to get some kind of a reaction from him. He never did that.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

What Garrett did several weeks later shocked Missy once again.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

He brought money home in a brown paper bag and threw it on the bed where I was sleeping. And I said, what is this? And he said, it's some insurance money.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Did Garrett talk to you about life insurance for your new baby boy?

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

One day he came home and just said, I bought life insurance on the baby today. But never in a million years at that point would I have ever thought that Garrett was planning to kill his child.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

But that's exactly what Missy suspected after Garrett Michaels death.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

And she asked me, would Garrett be capable of killing Garrett Michael?

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

John Farley is Garrett's best friend.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

The Garrett that I know couldn't and wouldn't do that.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

It's an extraordinary question to ask, though, because who would ever even go there with that thought?

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

I think she was just questioning anything she could question.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

But after the baby's autopsy, the medical examiner's conclusion helped put an end to Missy's questions.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Garrett Michael had died as a result of sudden infant death syndrome.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Dr. Charles Kokus supervised the autopsy.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

This case was no different from dozens of others in that regard.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Even when experts found swelling in Garrett Michael's brain, which can be evidence of.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Foul play, brain swelling by itself is not a suspicious finding. If you had a bruise to the.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Side of the head, like a blow to the head.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Correct. You could connect the two.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

But Garrett Michael showed no signs of injury. So you noted the brain swelling, but it was still consistent with sudden infant death syndrome.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Yes. There were no other issues or findings that indicated this was anything other than a natural death.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

This was a classic case of sudden infant death syndrome.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

So Missy put her suspicions to rest and decided to stay with Garrett.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

I said, okay, these professionals are telling me this. Maybe there's something that I don't know. I accepted at the moment that if there was an autopsy, there could be no foul play.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

And for the next seven years, Missy says she did everything she could to make her marriage to Garrett work.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

My personality has always been, you've been through this much, you see it through.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

But it wasn't easy. They lived apart for months at a time while Garrett moved from state to state from one sales job to another. Why did you stick with him during all this?

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

He still called. That was the most amazing thing I'm thinking in my mind. He has no reason to keep up with me except that he cares about me like he says he does.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Then in 1993, out of the blue, Missy learned that Garrett had secretly filed for divorce.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

And so I was divorced.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

But incredibly, Garrett told her that he regretted having divorced her and wanted to give their relationship a second chance.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

He put you under his bell.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

And a year later, Missi agreed to join him in Texas, where he had found a high paying job.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

He told me two or three times he'd put money down on houses for us.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

But just weeks before her move, the.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

Phone rang and this woman says, missy, I hope you don't hang up before I tell you who I am.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Coming up, the threatening Phone call that made Missy realize this man is as.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

Horrible as I suspected.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Garrett was capable of anything.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

He said, missy, you'd be dead if you were here.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

That's next.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

I loved him as much as you think you can love anyone. He was exhilarating to be around.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

In 1994, Missy Anastasi was about to join her ex husband, Garrett Wilson in Texas where he had promised they would see start a new life together.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

He said, just give me three months to get established and you'll be out there.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

But just weeks before her move, the phone rang.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

And this woman says, missy, I hope you don't hang up before I tell you who I am.

[Narrator/Host]

Vicki Wampler, she truly thought that she was moving to Texas was at the.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Other end of the line.

[Narrator/Host]

I wanted to call and say it's time to move on.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

It was a shocking call that made.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

Missy realize everything that I've ever expected of Garrett is true.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Her life with Garrett had been a sham.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

I was crying. I mean, I was devastated. My whole life again was turned upside down.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Earlier that year, Garrett had married Vicki, his fourth wife. And they had settled into a comfortable life just outside Dallas.

[Narrator/Host]

We were just a normal everyday family.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Complete with their then 10 month old daughter Marissa. So he'd had this entire other relationship, gotten married, had a child and you didn't know, right?

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

Not only that, he called me on Mother's Day during that time when he had a young baby with another woman, saying he was thinking about Garrett Michael.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Garrett Michael, their baby boy, who had died seven years earlier of what doctors said was Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. But now Missy wasn't so sure.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

I saw it repeated in my head, the baby's death. He did it. He's responsible for it. This man is as horrible as I suspected then.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

And when Garrett called Missy to explain his new marriage, she accused him of murdering their son.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

And I said, garrett, now that I see what you're capable of doing to me, I know you killed my baby. And he said, missy, you'd be dead if you were here.

[Narrator/Host]

She said, oh no. Everything everyone told me, they're wrong. I'm the one that's been right all along.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Detective Dominick, Homicide Detective Meredith Dominick.

[Narrator/Host]

And she came to the police.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Just how cold a case was this when you got it?

[Narrator/Host]

This baby died in 1987. There was no police involvement. Now I was dealing with seven years later, I was thinking, what is up with this?

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

She wasn't sure that it was going.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

To go anywhere, but Missy was determined to push the case forward.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

I couldn't have not done something when a man has murdered my child.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

And she spent the next four years writing hundreds of letters to countless officials from Maryland asking them for help.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

I wrote to the governor. Then I decided to write to the Attorney General's office.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

She was absolutely relentless. She stayed after the police.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Montgomery county prosecutor Doug Gansler.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

If Garrett Wilson had never left Missy, this never would have come forward before because she had lock, stock and barrel, believed in him.

[Narrator/Host]

It's when Missi realized what he was capable of and thought there was a life at stake. Missy told me that I needed to protect my daughter.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

I said, you better get your kid out of there because I know he killed my baby.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Maybe this woman had a real warning for you.

[Narrator/Host]

He's just not capable of hurting a child.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Vicki believes Missy went to the police not for justice, but for vengeance.

[Narrator/Host]

This type of relationship had gone on for years. He moved and she followed pursuit. When she realized that he wasn't coming back to her, I think that she became obsessed with his destruction. She would go to the ends of the earth and spend her entire life until she destroys him.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Liz Balman is yet another woman from Garrett's past. She encountered missy back in 1985, before Garrett and Missi were married. How would you describe Missy?

[Narrator/Host]

Very vengeful, very angry, incredibly jealous.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

That summer, Liz recalls witnessing this jealousy when Missy caught her with Garrett on a date.

[Narrator/Host]

It was obvious that she was absolutely enraged.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

And at this beach along the Delaware coast, both women discovered that for months Garrett had secretly been dating them simultaneously.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

I was angry, I was upset.

[Narrator/Host]

She was carrying her sandals, and she hit him with the sandals several times.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

And I sort of tapped him on the shoulder. And here came this woman to rescue.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Was it honestly, was it just a little tap?

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

Oh, I probably, you know, what would you do?

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

What Liz remembers Missy doing next led to a high speed car chase on.

[Narrator/Host]

This highway, almost like a chase scene in a movie.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Garrett and Liz had left the beach in separate cars, and Liz says Missy was following them in a third car.

[Narrator/Host]

She started to try to come between.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

The two cars, and I saw him turn to her and he said, she's crazy and I'm not crazy, and I know I'm not crazy, so that really irritated me. So I think we did a little ride down the highway.

[Narrator/Host]

It's like she didn't even want his car anywhere near mine. It was very frightening. I went off onto the shoulder several times.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

Oh, Jesus. No, I don't think so. No, I'm sure I didn't. I'm not violent.

[Narrator/Host]

I was very afraid of this woman.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

That day at the beach, Garrett told Liz that he had intended to end their relationship and be with Missy. But by sunset, he had changed his mind. Seeing the side of her that he.

[Narrator/Host]

Saw at the beach scared him. He didn't want any more to do with her.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

And you still stuck with it.

[Narrator/Host]

It was a perfect relationship until that day.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

And a few months later, Garrett proposed to Liz.

[Narrator/Host]

You can actually see the ring in that one.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

But shortly after their wedding invitations went out, Liz discovered that Garrett had already married Missy.

[Narrator/Host]

The wedding of their daughter, Elizabeth Gardner to Garrett Eldred Wilson will not take place. It was devastating. It was.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

What was your last moment with Garrett?

[Narrator/Host]

In the course of our relationship, I had accumulated about $3,000 in debt in all of this. I said, you're going to pay me back? And he said, absolutely.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Garrett finished paying Liz soon after his baby boy died.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Garrett Wilson is a con artist. He is motivated by greed. And the vehicle to get his greed is women.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Women seem to be caught under his spell.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

Yes.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

What was it about Garrett?

[Narrator/Host]

He treated you like a queen, like you were the only person on earth that mattered.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

You would certainly prey on a particular type of woman, a needy woman, someone who would be sort of taken in by him. And they didn't want to believe the downside. They didn't want to believe the dark side.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Today, after all the heartache and pain Garrett had caused her, Liz still insists.

[Narrator/Host]

No, he's not capable of murder. Has he been a con man? Has he been a womanizer? I have no doubt, but that doesn't make him a killer.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

But years of investigation led police to believe otherwise.

[Narrator/Host]

We were moving forward. This was going to be a case. This was a homicide case.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

And the evidence against Garrett Wilson sent chills down. My spine was building.

[Narrator/Host]

You're not going to believe it. There's not just one policy, there's two.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Police found a second life insurance policy on his son.

[Narrator/Host]

There were a lot of dots to connect. We were able to connect them and.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

A second baby from his past who had died mysteriously.

[Narrator/Host]

And it painted a horrible picture. Garrett Wilson is a charmer. It makes him a good salesman, a reliable provider, and a magnet for women. When Wilson's son dies in his crib, it's officially called a case of Sudden Infant death syndrome. But his ex wife, Missy, is convinced it's murder. A suspicion heightened when she learns about another baby from Wilson's secret past who had also met a tragic fate. Peter Van Sant picks up the story as Garrett Wilson's charmed life is Beginning to lose it's magic touch. He had a love for money. He liked to show it, he liked to flash it, he liked to spend it. There was a passion about it.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Homicide detective Meredith Dominick of Rockville, Maryland, says Garrett Wilson was driven by greed.

[Narrator/Host]

Money was the object for him.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Was he willing to commit murder to get money?

[Narrator/Host]

Yes.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

What investigators uncovered by 1997 sent chills down my spine, convinced them that Garrett had murdered his own baby boy for insurance money.

[Narrator/Host]

This was going to be a case. This was a homicide case.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

And Garrett himself handed police a critical piece of evidence when he revealed.

[Narrator/Host]

You're not going to believe it. There's not just one policy, there's two.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

That he had taken out a second life insurance policy on his five month old, Garrett Michael, who had died in 1987 of what doctors said was sudden infant death syndrome. A $100,000 policy that you didn't know about until that moment.

[Narrator/Host]

Absolutely. Missy didn't know about that second policy.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Missy Anastasi, the baby's mother and Garrett's third wife.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

He was not going to walk in the next room and kill my son and get away with it for as long as I had a breath.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

She went to the police and accused Garrett of killing their son in 1994 after she discovered that her ex husband had secretly married another woman and started a new family.

[Narrator/Host]

She was not going to allow him to move on in his life and be happy because she knew that he was happy.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Vicki Wampler, Garrett's fourth wife and his strongest defender.

[Narrator/Host]

Missy lost her husband and I see her as vindictive. This was vengeance. Learning about that second policy on Garrett Michael that Missy did not know about took away from the jilted woman. It took away from her being angry and I'll get you.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Missy claims she knew of only one policy for $50,000 that Garrett had gotten just weeks after their baby's birth.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

He said, my dad had life insurance on me and that's how I bought my first car.

[Narrator/Host]

It was drilled into his head. If you have children, you must get life insurance.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Who buys life insurance on a baby?

[Narrator/Host]

A lot of people buy life insurance on babies. This is something that is sent to mothers of newborn babies. It's to replace an income that's lost. That's the purpose of life insurance. What income is an infant going to give a parent?

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

After Garrett Michael died, his father had an enormous payday from the life insurance companies. $150,000.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

He blew through the proceeds from Garrett Michael in three months. He just spent it all.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Prosecutor Doug Ganzler's.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

This was blood money. It was blood money. And he went out, bought cars and furniture and paid off some debts.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Did Missy benefit as well? Did she spend any of that money?

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Oh, I believe so.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

John Farley has been friends with Garrett since childhood.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

They moved from a townhouse to a very large house, and she drove a Saab. They were both living very well.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

After Garrett Michael died, Missy didn't know, or said she didn't even know that he had that much insurance on the baby, which always puzzled me. True crime writer Adrian Haville set out to solve this puzzle in his latest book, while Innocent Slept. I don't know where she thought all that money came from.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

Garrett told me when he was made a manager, the store made a million dollars worth of sales a year, and he was paid a very high commission.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

That's what Missy says she believed they were spending. But today she has no doubt Garrett.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

Killed the baby for insurance money.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

I can't believe that someone could kill their babies. Not Garrett. Every other piece of evidence pointed inextricably toward Garrett Wilson being the murderer.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

And authorities were shocked to discover he.

[Narrator/Host]

Didn'T just do this once, he did this twice. Not one baby died, but two babies died.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Garrett Wilson had another baby who had died mysteriously years before he met Missy.

[Narrator/Host]

There were a lot of dots to connect. We were able to connect them, and it painted a horrible picture.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Back in 1981, Garrett was only 24 and married to Debbie Oliver. The young couple had a baby girl together named Brandi Jean.

[Narrator/Host]

Brandi was born in 1981 and also died in 1981. I think it was just very traumatic for Debbie.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Brandi Jean was only two months old. And as in the case of Garrett Michael, officials ruled that she had died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

[Narrator/Host]

Both cases were so similar. There was this common thread, and that thread was Garrett Wilson.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

In 1981, Garrett took out two life insurance policies on Brandi Jean, as he would later on his baby boy.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Instead of me going out soliciting a sale, there's one that came to me.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

George Smith was just starting out in the insurance business when he met Garrett. Weeks after Brandi Jean's birth, he asked.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

For a $30,000 policy for Brandi.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

At the time, he had no idea Garrett had also gotten a $10,000 policy from another agent.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

When we first wrote this, I don't think Debbie even knew this was being written.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

And just hours after Brandi Jean was.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Pronounced dead, he seemed very anxious to get the money.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Garrett called George Smith and to tell me.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

I didn't know who else to call. Seemed just out of line.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

After Brandy Jean dies, one of the first phone calls Garrett reportedly makes is not to you, his best friend. It's to his life insurance agent.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

I did not know that. Does it make you wonder? Makes me wonder. Something was wrong. I knew it. This little girl shouldn't have died.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

And his instincts told Smith to hold on to Brandi Jean's file at least 15 years.

[Narrator/Host]

He'd held onto it way out of the norm of what an insurance agent holds onto. These files.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

How many files had you set aside like this?

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Just this one. I just had that feeling that it was a wrongful death. It was our view that Garrett Wilson's murder of Brandy Jean was this horrible dress rehearsal that he would then do it again to Garrett Michael.

[Narrator/Host]

But in both cases, those two autopsy reports were a major stumbling block.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. SIDS was the official cause of death.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

Garrett Michael died. He was murdered and they called it sids. And it's covered it up for so many years. And a murderer got away with it. Until now.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Coming up, we needed to make sure that they knew, in fact, it was not a SIDS death.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

A remarkable attempt.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

It's absolutely, categorically a homicide.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

To reverse two autopsies.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

This was a child who was just snuffed out.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

That's next.

[Narrator/Host]

I'm investigator Slater, host of the Cyclopedia True crime podcast. Spooky season is officially here and for the entire month of October, we are transforming into Spookopedia.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

All episodes, including bonus content, will delve.

[Narrator/Host]

Into true crime with a dark twist, blending the spooky, creepy, gory and the haunted.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

No matter the story we cover, by the end of each episode, you are.

[Narrator/Host]

Going to feel it.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

Make sure to follow and listen to.

[Narrator/Host]

Psychopedia everywhere you get your podcasts.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

Garret Michael died. He was murdered and they called it sis. And it's covered it up for so many years. And a murderer got away with it. Until now.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

In 1998, Missy Anastasi of Rockville, Maryland was about to get what she believed was justice. After four long years of investigation, police finally arrested her ex husband, Garrett Wilson, and charged him with the murder of their baby boy, Garrett Michael.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

The case was unable to go forward until the chief medical examiner of the state reclassified the case as a homicide.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Montgomery County Prosecutor Doug Ganzler.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

It was not a SIDS death. They were wrong back then.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Back in 1987, after 5 month old Garrett Michael died, it didn't look like a murder. Dr. Charles Kokus supervised the Original autopsy.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Garrett Michael had died as a result of sudden Infant death Syndrome.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

But more than a decade later, I.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Have changed my opinion regarding the cause and manner of his death.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Prosecutors from Maryland asked him to re examine the case.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Findings clearly indicate the manner of death was homicide.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

What information were you given that you didn't know when you did the first.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Autopsy that this was not the first sudden Infant death syndrome in this family in association with father Garrett Wilson.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

In 1981, Garrett's baby girl, two month old Brandi Jean, had died of what experts also said was Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. What are the odds of a second SIDS death involving the same parent?

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

They're pretty much astronomically high.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place.

[Narrator/Host]

The chance of that would be 1 in 4 million.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Dr. Linda Norton of Dallas is an expert on SIDS. The prosecution approached her to review their case. Is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome genetic?

[Narrator/Host]

No, we recognize that there was no genetic component.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

If two or more children die in the same family, purportedly of sids, then there's a murderer in the family. And Garrett Wilson was that murderer.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

And in 1999, Gensler set out to prove it at trial.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

The trial was for the death of.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Garrett Michael, but the deaths of both babies were vital to his case.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

We put the 17 factors that were completely consistent together. There were so many similarities between the two deaths. We needed both cases.

[Narrator/Host]

I think both of these children were.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Smothered to death and they were smothered.

[Narrator/Host]

To death by their father.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

According to Dr. Norton, that pattern, to see it right smack dab in the.

[Narrator/Host]

Middle of her face was striking. He basically took the child, put her in the crib face down and just pressed.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Dr. Kokus believes Garrett Michael likely suffered a similar fate.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

I think this would be considered a cruel death by anyone's definition. In my opinion, it can't be proved as murder.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Dr. Miles Jones is a forensic pathologist from Kansas City who testified for the defense.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

In the case of Brandy Jean. I believe the most appropriate cause of death is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Garrett Michael suffered from cerebral edema, brain swelling. That's correct. Therefore, the cause of death is undetermined. Garret Michael had sustained some sort of global brain injury from a lack of oxygen delivery.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Dr. Kokus believes the brain swelling is evidence of suffocation.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

Brain swelling as a finding in sudden Infant Death syndrome is rare. That's something that wasn't known in 1987. The scientific evidence was critical. This was our hurdle to be able to convince a jury that somebody would really be able to kill Their own children.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

I hope I never have to serve on a jury in a case like this, because I don't know what I do. True crime writer Adrian Haville sat through the trial. We were all sitting there saying, well, it'll be a hung jury. But the jury.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

I just didn't want to believe that a person could be capable of this.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Took just two hours to come back with a verdict. Guilty.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

There was no doubt in my mind.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Juror Cheryl Frizzell.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

After we found him guilty, I slept like a baby.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

But it wasn't the medical testimony that impressed the jury most. What was the single most important factor in you determining that he was guilty?

[Narrator/Host]

Missy.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

When she got on that stand, she was adamant. How important was this moment for you?

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

Unbelievable. Because I couldn't bring the baby back, but the least I could do was the person responsible put him where he belonged.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Twelve years after Garrett Michael was murdered, Garrett Wilson was sentenced to life in prison without any possibility of parole.

[Narrator/Host]

What Missy took from my daughter is.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

She took her father, Vicki Wampler, Garrett's fourth wife, and the mother of their daughter Marissa.

[Narrator/Host]

I told her that her daddy was not coming home, that he was never coming home. The case against Garrett Wilson is about to take another startling turn. Coming up, the dramatic development that just might set him free.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

You don't see the monster in Garrett Wilson. If you didn't know what he had been accused of, you wouldn't see a murder for four years. The man a jury was convinced murdered his baby boy has been serving out his life sentence at a Maryland state prison. Author Adrian Haville says there has been a dramatic development. In August of 2002, the Maryland Appeals court overturned his conviction. The appeals court ruled that prosecution experts should not have been allowed to testify on the odds of two SIDS deaths occurring in the same family.

[Narrator/Host]

The chance of that would be 1 in 4 million.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Those odds, which Dr. Linda Norton testified to at trial, were based on the premise that SIDS is not genetic. New research shows that indeed SIDS may be genetic, and there's new medical evidence on that, which is Maryland court of appeals cited. So they overturned the conviction. Garrett Wilson is technically an innocent man, although he's still in a maximum security prison. What was Garrett's reaction when I spoke with him? He was elated, of course, and he believes that it's just a matter of time before he's going to walk out of that prison a free man. Do you believe today that there is reasonable doubt as to whether or not he committed these murders? Boy, that's a tough one. Did he go into that room, that little baby's room with the mobiles hanging up above it and smother his only son? In 2004, Garrett Wilson was retried and again found guilty of the murder of Garrett Michael. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Now streaming on Paramount.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

Plus witness an intimate look at Ozzy Osbourne's fight.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

I should take pills for fun.

[Narrator/Host]

I would take just to reclaim the magic.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

I took dad to the studio every day.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

God, he's having a great time. Of course he's making music. I think that that's fuel for my dad.

[Narrator/Host]

One last time.

[Prosecutor Doug Gansler]

What do you think about big farewell show?

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

I'm not good at being sick. I'd be long up there, you know.

[Narrator/Host]

Had a brilliant career and it ended in a brilliant way.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

Ozzy no escape from now new documentary.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

Now streaming on Paramount. Plus this October fear is free on Pluto tv. With horror movie collections from paranormal activity, the ring.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

You will die in seven days Scream.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

And from dusk till dawn. This is my kind of place. And don't miss the man made nightmares in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or the world ending chaos in 28 days later.

[Missy Anastasi (Garrett Wilson's third wife)]

Something in the blood.

[Investigator/Reporter Peter Van Sant]

All the scares all for free. Pluto TV stream now pay never.