Cradle to Grave

Art wonders why anyone would be interested in their story. While Life and Newsweek covered their misfortunes in the ‘60s, no reporter has been to their home to interview them since. I explain that my interest was piqued by some yellowed clips about their case, which is true, but only technically. The clips were listed in the bibliography of a groundbreaking new book on sudden infant death syndrome, The Death of Innocents, which contends that almost all serial crib-death cases should now be considered possible murders. The book focuses on the high-profile conviction of Waneta Hoyt, a Syracuse woman who admitted killing her five children, originally reported as SIDS deaths. It also examines how the Hoyt case inspired a 1972 paper that was the cornerstone of the widely accepted theories that SIDS can run in families and is caused by sleep apnea — sudden interruptions in breathing that can be prevented by hypervigilance and expensive monitors. Neither of these theories turned out to be true, nor did the estimate that SIDS was killing some 20,000 American children a year. Today, SIDS is believed to kill about 3,500 infants annually, down 36 percent since 1992, when doctors began recommending babies be put to bed on their backs.

In the book, Molly Dapena helps authors Jamie Talan and Richard Firstman drive the final stake into the genetic and sleep-apnea theories. She also speaks in passing about the Noe case, recalling that investigators had believed “it was likely a case of multiple murder.” But the book refers to the Noes by a pseudonym, and the case — mentioned only five times in 613 pages — gets lost.

When we first meet, the Noes are still unaware of their appearance in the book, but they know all about the reopening of the Hoyt case from seeing it on television. Art seems to understand some of the risks of being interviewed again, but ultimately believes, “You’re gonna write whatever you want anyway, right? Then you might as well meet us and hear it from us.”

While they can be as cranky as any elderly couple on a fixed income in a “changed” neighborhood, they are otherwise accommodating and surprisingly open. They mix up the names of the babies and the details of their short lives, but certain memories bring tears to Marie’s eyes. When that happens, she gets up and wanders back into the dining room, where the walls have been stripped for a repair Art will probably never finish, and then into the kitchen, where their three cats lounge on the floor, table and counter while their two dogs scratch on the back door to be let in. Art goes to comfort her, and they return momentarily to their easy chairs, which bookend a fireplace decorated with statues of Jesus, a large photo of Elvis Presley and snapshots of family members. On the wall is a print of Salvador Dali’s version of the crucifixion, as well as two faded professional portraits of Cathy, the Noe baby who lived the longest.

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