Waneta Hoyt Children

Case background and investigation

Waneta and Tim Hoyt lived in Newark Valley, a small village in Tioga County, New York. Between 1965 and 1971 all five of their biological children died suddenly: Eric in January 1965 at about three months old, Julie in September 1968 at about six weeks, James later that same month at two years old, Molly in June 1970 and Noah in July 1971, each at about two and a half months, according to Wikipedia and a case timeline compiled at Radford University. The deaths were attributed to sudden infant death syndrome. The couple later adopted a son.

Molly and Noah had been studied at Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse by Dr. Alfred Steinschneider, who in 1972 published a paper in the journal Pediatrics, without naming the family, suggesting that prolonged pauses in breathing might link SIDS deaths within a family. The Los Angeles Times reported in 1994 that the article was widely cited as evidence that SIDS could run in families, while some physicians had long suspected smothering.

In 1985, forensic pathologist Dr. Linda Norton told a prosecutor from a neighboring county, William Fitzpatrick, that the case described in the paper might involve a serial killer. After Fitzpatrick became a district attorney in 1992, he located the family and had forensic pathologist Michael Baden review the deaths; Baden concluded they were homicides, according to Wikipedia.

In March 1994 Hoyt was questioned by New York State Police investigators and, after about two hours, gave a statement admitting that she had suffocated each child, the Los Angeles Times reported. She was charged on March 23, 1994. Through her court-appointed lawyers she soon recanted, saying she would have admitted anything to end the questioning.

Her trial took place in Tioga County Court in Owego before Judge Vincent Sgueglia from March 30 to April 21, 1995, according to the Encyclopedia.com account of the trial. The jury found her guilty of five counts of second-degree murder, and on September 11, 1995, she was sentenced to 75 years to life, 15 years for each death. Hoyt died of pancreatic cancer in August 1998 while held at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. Because her appeal had not been decided, her conviction was abated under New York law, according to Wikipedia.