| Waneta Hoyt | |
|---|---|
family photo |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Waneta Ethel Nixon |
| Born | May 13, 1946 |
| Died | August 13, 1998 |
| Killings | |
| Number of victims: | 5 |
| Span of killings | 1965–1971 |
| Country | USA |
| State(s) | New York |
| Date apprehended | 1994 |
Waneta Ethel Hoyt (May 13, 1946 – August 13, 1998[1]) was an American serial killer. She was born in Richford, New York and died at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women.
She dropped out of Newark Valley High School in the 10th grade to marry Tim Hoyt on January 11, 1964. Their son, Eric, died on January 26, 1965, only 101 days after he was born on October 17, 1964. None of the couple's other children—James (May 31, 1966 – September 26, 1968), Julie (July 19 – September 5, 1968), Molly (March 18 – June 5, 1970), and Noah (May 9 – July 28, 1971)—lived past 28 months. For over 20 years, it was believed that the babies had died of sudden infant death syndrome. Several years after the death of their last child, Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt adopted a child, Jay, who remained healthy through childhood and was 17 years old when Mrs. Hoyt was arrested in 1994.
The last two biological Hoyt children, Molly and Noah, were subjects of pediatric research conducted by Dr. Alfred Steinschneider, who published an article in 1972 in the Journal Pediatrics proposing a connection between sleep apnea and SIDS. The article was controversial and many within the medical field believed that the death of the Hoyt children was more likely a case of a mother murdering her children than SIDS. In 1992, interest resumed in the Hoyt children's deaths and Hoyt confessed on March 23, 1994 that she had suffocated them.
During the trial, there was much testimony regarding the validity of Mrs. Hoyt's confession. Mrs. Hoyt was misled by the police, and told that she was participating in a SIDS research interview. An expert hired by the Defense, Dr. Charles Patrick Ewing, testified that: "It is my conclusion that her statement to the police on that day was not made knowingly, and it was not made voluntarily." He diagnosed Mrs. Hoyt with Dependent and Avoidant Personality disorders, and opined that she was particularly vulnerable to the tactics used during her interrogation. Dr. David Barry, a psychiatrist hired by the prosecution agreed that Waneta Hoyt had been manipulated by the police tactics.
On September 11, 1995, she was sentenced to 75 years in prison (15 years for each murder, to be served consecutively). It has been speculated since her conviction that Hoyt suffered from Münchausen syndrome by proxy.
Mrs. Hoyt died in prison of pancreatic cancer in August 1998. She was formally exonerated under New York law because she died before her appeal had been heard.