SIDS has certainly been a quick way in the past to write off early infant deaths that may or may not have actually been caused by this terrible medical phenomenon or was a result of foul play. I am currently reading a true story, a book entitled “While Innocents Slept”, about a man named Garrett Wilson who allegedly murdered his own two children in a time span of seven years in cold blood. The man was not only a con-artist who embezzled money from his workplaces but he also had countless affairs with multiple women simultaneously, whom he borrowed money from (which he never repaid) and some of whom he wooed enough to get them to marry him and let him father their children. During one of his early marriages, his much younger wife gave birth to a little girl. Only a few months after her birth, the little girl mysteriously died after having been left alone with her Dad. The death occurred in the early 1980’s (1981 I believe) and so SIDS was quickly accepted as a cause of death after the autopsy failed to turn up any viable evidence. Only 6 years later, Wilson once again become a father, by another woman he had married only months before. This time he had fathered a little boy, who like his step-sister before him, never made it through his first year of life. After his exhausted wife willingly agreed to let him complete the morning feeding, Wilson spent some time in the nursery and then went into the bathroom. Shortly thereafter, his wife went to check on their baby and went completely crazy when she discovered her son was laying limp in his crib. After being rushed to the hospital by paramedics, the little boy soon was pronounced dead. Briefly after each of the two deaths, Wilson fabricated money from insurance policies that he had taken out on each of the infants. The first infant had two insurance policies on her life in the amount of $50,000 and the second infant’s policies totaled $150,000. And so, as sad as it is and as hard as it may be to comprehend, Wilson likely murdered both his children for the insurance money. After both deaths, his spouses, friends, family, and colleagues all agreed that he never showed neither sorrow nor grief. The deaths of both children had been attributed to SIDS and nobody asked any questions. Only after learning about his true capabilities and two-faced way of handling things in life, his former wife (the mother of the little boy who supposedly died of SIDS) finally went to the authorities years later to report her suspicions and an arrest was then made after some years had passed. Based on this story, I do believe that many infant deaths that were attributed to SIDS may have actually taken place at the hands of the parents who possessed ulterior motives. I am not sure how many babies die in this way today, however, I’m sure with some knowledge on SIDS, some murderous parents may try to seek their chance of ridding themselves of an unwanted child without facing consequences. Thank goodness new medical and scientific technology allow for a more thorough medical examination after death and can provide more accurate results today then 20- 30 years ago.