Unmasking The Mastermind

0:0448 Hours Mystery.

0:10He has a magnetism about him. He puts you under a spell. Garrett Wilson was known as a charming family man. He was a father who adored his little girl. But was it all just a lie? Garrett Wilson is a con artist, motivated by greed. There's little Garrett Jr. and he cute. His ex-wife insists he killed their baby. I screamed, Garrett, what did you do to him? Garrett killed the baby for insurance money. Is this grieving mother out for justice or revenge? If Garrett Wilson had never left Missy, this never would have come forward. I think that she became obsessed with his destruction. Peter Van Sant investigates.

0:48Is Garrett Wilson an adoring father or a cold-blooded killer? Are you absolutely convinced that Garrett is an innocent man? You can't be a murderer one day and a loving father the next day. What really happened to this little boy? Garrett murdered the baby. Dramatic new developments in the case, while innocent slept, a 48 hours mystery.

1:21I'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.

1:56I knew the kind of father that he was to my child. Smile for me, honey. He was a daddy. Yeah. He was not just a father. He was a daddy. I love you. Love you. According to Vicki Wampler of Frostburg, Maryland, 45-year-old Garrett Wilson was more than just a daddy. He was a father who adored his little girl. Put your hand right here. He was the perfect father to their little girl, Marissa. He was just engrossed in raising his daughter. That was the most important thing in his life. A life that Garrett began in 1994 when he married Vicki, his fourth wife. It was like I found my soulmate and he felt the same way.

2:46Garrett was a successful salesman whose true passion was music. Garrett's musical ability is astounding. He has a remarkable ear and a remarkable natural ability. And he used that ability to sell high ticket musical instruments. He's a dynamic personality. He has a magnetism about him. And you were building a great life together. As close to Ozzie and Harriet as any two people could be. An ideal family until Garrett Wilson's past caught up with him. And this ideal father stood accused of committing an unspeakable crime. Most people couldn't imagine doing it. And most people couldn't imagine somebody else being that diabolical.

3:36Montgomery County Prosecutor Doug Gansler. Very few people would be able to do that. Garrett Wilson was. Has she talked to the police? In 1999, he set out to prove that Garrett Wilson was a killer. I think he is a cold-blooded, evil killer. Evil enough to kill his own child.

4:00I'll never have what I thought I wanted to have out of my life, which was my son, my baby. Missy Anastasi was Garrett's third wife. She married him in 1986. What's the matter? I didn't think I needed to be afraid of him during the time of the baby's life. 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. And this man had no reason other than money for doing it. Insurance money that Gensler claims gave Garrett motive. Garrett Michael never had any health problems whatsoever.

4:47He was clearly energetic and playful. I have children and think to myself, how could somebody do this? You're going to be three months old next week. Yes! You've done almost everything, haven't you? This is a story that boggles the imagination, but this is a true story. And it captured the attention of true crime writer Adrian 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 could commit the worst crime in the world.

5:27It's a mystery. In his book, While Innocent Slept, Havil 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 murderer. I just can't believe that he could have done it. 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? That's right. They are still best friends. 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.

6:11And John insists Garrett cherished his baby boy. With Garrett Michael, 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. There's mom. I wouldn't have known that this man that had cared for me the way he did and pretended to care for the baby was planning to kill his child. 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.

6:59Hi, darling. For Vicki, Be careful now. Their daughter, Marissa, who is now nine, was proof that Garrett is innocent. He cannot be the loving father that he was to Marissa and not be the same father to his son. Are you absolutely convinced that Garrett is an innocent man? 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. What kind of a man is Garrett Wilson? He's not a man. He's just an evil being. You can't be two people. Appropriate for me. Contradiction. You can't be a murderer one day and a loving father and a giving person the next day.

7:43But is Garrett Wilson capable of being both? That's next.

8:07I was in love with him. I thought he was wonderful. He wanted to have a family, and I thought it would be great. Missy Anastasi of Rockville, Maryland thought she had found her soulmate when she became Garrett Wilson's third wife in 1986. He was offering me the life that I thought I really wanted. A family life. I was very happy I was going to have a baby, and I had a wonderful husband. Garrett was a successful music store salesman. The perfect life. I thought. I did. A life made perfect just a year after their wedding, with the arrival of their baby. Dad can hold him. He seemed to be so excited to have the baby, definitely.

8:51It was never a question whether he wanted the child or not. A son that Garrett proudly named after himself. There's little Garrett Jr. in the hospital he held the baby, he fed the baby in front of me. But when they brought their baby home, Missy claims Garrett showed little interest in his son.

9:15Where'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 but Missy chose to dismiss Garrett's odd behavior until early one morning when their baby woke up crying 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 had Garrett ever fed the baby prior to that 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.

9:56So Missy stayed in bed while Garrett went into the baby's room.

10:06And I heard a padding noise over the monitor. And then the next thing I heard was a... Who made that sound? I don't know what it was, but I know that it wasn't a good sound. Alarmed, Missy hurried out of bed. And I had two cats that had been jumping on me. So I gave them some food in a moment. And by the time she got to the baby... I failed him and he didn't feel right. And I screamed, Garrett, what did you do to him? Garrett had gone back to their bedroom. He opened the door and his face was as white as a sheet. And I'm screaming, call 911, and he never moved. Paramedics arrived and rushed the baby to the emergency room.

10:45So 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. Within the hour, five-month-old Garrett Michael was pronounced dead at the hospital. I wanted to die. I didn't think I could survive. Did you and Garrett ever have an emotional outpouring over the death of Garrett Michael? 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 What Garrett did several weeks later shocked Missy once again 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 Did Garrett talk to you about life insurance for your new baby boy?

11:49One 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. But that's exactly what Missy suspected after Garrett Michael's death. And she asked me, would Garrett be capable of killing Garrett Michael? John Farley is Garrett's best friend. The Garrett that I know couldn't and wouldn't do that. It's an extraordinary question to ask though, because who would ever even go there with that thought? I think she was just questioning anything she could question. But after the baby's autopsy, the medical examiner's conclusion helped put an end to Missy's questions.

12:35Garrett Michael had died as a result of sudden infant death syndrome. Dr. Charles Kokus supervised the autopsy. This case was no different from dozens of others in that regard. Even when experts found swelling in Garrett Michael's brain, which can be evidence of foul play. Brain swelling by itself is not a suspicious finding. If you had a bruise to the side of the head... Like a blow to the head? Correct. You could connect the two. But Garrett Michael showed no signs of injury. So you noted the brain swelling, but it was still consistent with sudden infant death syndrome. Yes, there were no other issues or findings that indicated this was anything other than a natural death.

13:25This was a classic case of sudden infant death syndrome. So Missy put her suspicions to rest and decided to stay with Garrett. 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. And for the next seven years, Missy says she did everything she could to make her marriage to Garrett work. My personality has always been, you've been through this much. you see it through. 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.

14:09Why did you stick with him during all this? 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. Then in 1993, out of the blue, Missy learned that Garrett had secretly filed for divorce. and so I was divorced but incredibly Garrett told her that he regretted having divorced her and wanted to give their relationship a second chance he puts you under a spell and a year later Missy agreed to join him in Texas where he had found a high-paying job he told me two or three times he'd put money down on houses for us but just weeks before her move the phone rang and this woman says, Missy, I hope you don't hang up before I tell you who I am.

14:58Coming up, the threatening phone call that made Missy realize this man is as horrible as I suspected. Garrett was capable of anything. He said, Missy, you'd be dead if you were here. That's next.

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16:32I loved him as much as you think you can love anyone. He was exhilarating to be around. In 1994, Missy Anastasi was about to join her ex-husband, Garrett Wilson, in Texas, where he had promised they would start a new life together. He said, just give me three months to get established and you'll be out there. But just weeks before her move, the phone rang. And this woman says, Missy, I hope you don't hang up before I tell you who I am. Vicki Wampler... She truly thought that she was moving to Texas. ...was at the other end of the line. I wanted to call and say, it's time to move on. It was a shocking call that made Missy realize...

17:15Everything that I've ever expected of Garrett is true. Her life with Garrett had been a sham. I was crying. I mean, I was devastated. My whole life again was turned upside down. Earlier that year, Garrett had married Vicki, his fourth wife, and they had settled into a comfortable life just outside Dallas. We were just a normal, everyday family. 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, 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.

18:00Garrett 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. 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. And when Garrett called Missy to explain his new marriage, she accused him of murdering their son. 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. She said, oh no. Everything everyone told me, they're wrong. I'm the one that's been right all along.

18:46Detective Dominic. Homicide detective Meredith Dominic. And she came to the police. Just how cold a case was this when you got it? This baby died in 1987. There was no police involvement. Now I was dealing with seven years later. And I was thinking, what is up with this? she wasn't sure that it was going to go anywhere. But Missy was determined to push the case forward. I couldn't have not done something when a man has murdered my child. And she spent the next four years writing hundreds of letters to countless officials from Maryland asking them for help. I wrote to the governor. Then I decided to write to the attorney general's office.

19:28She was absolutely relentless. She stayed after the police. Montgomery County 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. It's when Missy realized what he was capable of and thought there was a life at stake. Missy told me that I needed to protect my daughter. I said, you better get your kid out of there because I know he killed my baby. Maybe this woman had a real warning for you. He's just not capable of hurting a child. Vicki believes Missy went to the police not for justice, but for vengeance.

20:10This 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. Liz Ballman is yet another woman from Garrett's past. She encountered Missy back in 1985, before Garrett and Missy were married. How would you describe Missy? Very vengeful, very angry, incredibly jealous. That summer, Liz recalls witnessing this jealousy when Missy caught her with Garrett on a date. It was obvious that she was absolutely enraged.

20:56And at this beach along the Delaware coast, both women discovered that for months Garrett had secretly been dating them simultaneously. I was angry. I was upset. She was carrying her sandals and she hit him with the sandals several times. And I sort of tapped him on the shoulder and here came this woman to rescue him. Was it honestly, was it just a little tap? Well, probably, you know, what would you do? What Liz remembers Missy doing next led to a high-speed car chase on this highway. Almost like a chase scene in a movie. Garrett and Liz had left the beach in separate cars, and Liz says Missy was following them in a third car.

21:39She started to try to come between 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 It's like she didn't even want his car anywhere near mine. It's very frightening. I went off onto the shoulder several times No, I don't think so. I'm sure I didn't I'm not violent I was very afraid of this woman that day at the beach Garrett told Liz that he had intended to end their relationship and and be with Missy. But by sunset, he had changed his mind. Seeing the sight of her that he saw at the beach scared him.

22:26He didn't want any more to do with her. And you still stuck with him. It was a perfect relationship until that day. And a few months later, Garrett proposed to Liz. You can actually see the ring in that one. But shortly after their wedding invitations went out, Liz discovered that Garrett had already married Missy. The wedding of their daughter, Elizabeth Gardner, to Garrett Eldred Wilson will not take place. It was devastating. It was painful. What was your last moment with Garrett? 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.

23:07And he said, absolutely. Garrett finished paying Liz soon after his baby boy died. Garrett Wilson is a con artist. He is motivated by greed, and the vehicle to get his greed is women. Women seem to be caught under his spell. Yes. What was it about Garrett? He treated you like a queen, like you were the only person on earth that mattered. 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. Today, after all the heartache and pain Garrett had caused her, Liz still insists...

23:56No, he's not capable of murder. Has he been a con man? Has he been a womanizer? I have no doubt that that doesn't make him a killer. But years of investigation led police to believe otherwise. We were moving forward. This was going to be a case. This was a homicide case. And the evidence against Garrett Wilson... It's that chills down my spine. ...was building. You're not going to believe it. There's not just one policy. There's two. Police found a second life insurance policy on his son. There were a lot of dots to connect. we were able to connect them. And a second baby from his past, who had died mysteriously.

24:40And it painted a horrible picture.

24:59Garrett 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 its magic touch.

25:38He 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. Homicide detective Meredith Dominick of Rockville, Maryland, says Garrett Wilson was driven by greed. Money was the object for him. Was he willing to commit murder to get money? Yes. What investigators uncovered by 1997... Sent chills down my spine. ...convinced them that Garrett had murdered his own baby boy for insurance money. This was going to be a case. This was a homicide case. And Garrett himself handed police a critical piece of evidence when he revealed... You're not going to believe it.