Cradle to Grave

While the investigation continued, the Noes held a viewing for Cathy, which many of the nurses from St. Joseph’s attended. Sister Victorine, who has since left the order, still has the mass card. Then Cathy’s autopsy results came back. The cause of death was “undetermined” — again, no mention of it being “presumed natural.”

There was a renewed media frenzy over the case that the Noes in no way discouraged. They gave interviews to the major local newspapers, as well as to Newsweek, which did not disguise their names as Life had. The Newsweek article was mostly about the phenomenon of crib death — a subject the Philadelphia medical examiner’s office was developing a national reputation for researching — and primarily used the Noe case as a way to examine the troubling subject. The M.E.’s party line on the case was that there was “absolutely no suspicion of homicide,” a statement he apparently did not believe. Cathy had died at 14 months, and his own research, as noted in the article, showed the average age for “crib deaths” was “between two and four months of age and seldom before three weeks and after six months.” In fact, not one of the Noe children had died between two and four months.

In the meantime, Joe McGillen was busy investigating a new angle: The Noes’ finances, and insurance policies taken out on the babies. Mr. Noe said he grossed just over $200 a week as a machinist, and besides his $50-a-month rent, which was a month overdue, he owed over $4,000 to a finance company, a church credit union, several stores and St. Joseph’s Hospital. The investigators noted that the otherwise modest house had a new refrigerator, washer, dryer and television set.

Before working for the medical examiner, McGillen had toiled at a company that investigated life insurance claims. While he knew it wasn’t unusual for parents to insure infants in those days, he looked into the policies taken out by the Noes. Of the seven Noe children who had actually come home from the hospital, there was evidence at least six had been insured — the first few for only $100, but from baby number four on, for over $1,000.

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