Recently Peggy Sue Hilt was featured in the WE documentary Women Behind Bars. Hilt was convicted of 2nd degree murder in the beating death of her Forever Russian Adoptee, Nina, born Viktoria Bazhenova. Vika was 2 1/2 years old when she died on July 2, 2005. She was adopted from a Siberian orphanage about 6 months earlier. We do not know who conducted the home study, but Vika was placed with the Hilts by Adoptions International in Dallas, Tx. owned by adoption attorney Jody Hall. The agency refers to adoption as “the best experience of your life.”
After Viktoria’s murder, the couple’s older Forever Adoptee, Nataliya Oksana, (born Olga, last name unknown) adopted from Ukraine through an independent adoption handled by Cathy Harris, was placed in protective custody with an adoptive aunt. Last we heard, Hilt’s husband Christopher, who was not implicated in the murder, was divorcing his wife and seeking permanent custody of Nataliya. Peggy Sue Hilt was sentenced to 35 years in prison (with 10 years suspended and another 5 years of post-release probation). Her projected release date is 2022.
The following is taken from the WE website. It is an account by First Sergeant John Buttner, Sup. of the Crimes Against Children Unit of the Wake Forest Police Department. WARNING: graphic testimony follows:
As we carefully entered Nina’s [victim] bedroom there were noticeable small fluid stains on the floor in the middle of the room. Along with the stains were numerous strands of hair. More than should ever be in one small area. Upon looking into the bed there was a considerable amount of what appeared to be blood stains on the pillow. For the first time I truly realized just how severe the assault was on the victim who wasn’t even 3 years old yet. For a brief moment, I was caught up with images in my mind of what went on there just a few days before. I then had to clear my mind from the troubling images and focus again on what we were there for. We even found blood in the other daughter’s bed on a pillow where Nina was placed by Peggy when she wouldn’t go to sleep in her bed.
According to Prosecutor Paul Ebert as reported in the Raleigh News-Observer
This child had numerous bruises and at least one laceration and internal injury… It took a long time to kill this child.
This is the woman who murdered Viktoria Bazhenova aka Nina Hilt. Before and After:
And another Before and After picture. The Hilts look like they’re auditioning for a community theatre production of Grease. (Thanks to E Case for the “glamor shot” heads up.) The Hilt Family webpage is here.
According to defense attorney, William Stephens. Peggy Sue Hilt is a closet alcoholic who started drinking when she was 12 but never sought help for her problems.
Yet she passed two home studies and was seen fit by the adoption industry to adopt other people’s children.
Updated 22 April 2008, 11:37 AM.
Nikto ne zabyt – Nichto ne zabyto
The agency refers to adoption as “the best experience of your life.” For who?
This twat should be in prison for life! Sounded like little Nina was a normal 2 year old. Nina didn’t like Piggy Hilt, couldn’t bond? Well, Nina probably knew something was wrong with this ugly pig of a so-called mother. Other people didn’t have a problem with Nina, just Piggy. That says something, Piggy probably wreaked of alcohol smelling breath!! Peggy needs to get the shit beat out of her!!
Yep. I hate her. What a slob. And the justice system is gonna let her out. Balls
For the aagency owner?–who just happens to be an adoption lawyer.
The agency refers to adoption as “the best experience of your life.”
What life?
The adoption agency the Hilts used was Adoptions International run out of Texas. The agency’s owner’s name is Jody Hall.
As soon as Nina’s murder hit the web, Jody Hall pulled Nina’s photo and happily ever adoption blurb from the site.
Some of us out here in post-adoption land managed to print it out.
Also Marley – you should have used Peggy Sue Hilt’s “glamor shot” from their original website. The website detailing their lives pre-adoption (but during the adoption of their other child from Ukraine with Cathy Harris)
E.Case
What a crock a shit that bitch is,I hope I never see here
Thanks EC. I’ve added the “glamor shot” I think you’re talking about as well as a link to the Hilt Family page. I’m surprised that’s still up. I tried to download that page last week and had problems with it.
M:
Thank you for posting the “glamor” shot of the Hilts.
What different people they were PRE adoption.
One can’t even recognized the incarcerted Peggy Hilt in her pre-adoption glamor shot. Ah, to better days…
EC
2022 is not long enough for her violent crime
ITS BULL SHIT THAT SHE GOT OFF SO EASY I FEEL SHE SHOULD HAVE GET LIFE
She should have got death
thats bullshit the dumb bitch should still be in prison…. if not she should be beat to death just like she did to that poor little girl. How can a 2 year old defend herself aginst anyone thats just fucked up.if you want to adopt kids then treat them right dont beat them. She needs to grow up and take the shit she put on that poor little girl
Exactly
Wow!!!…”the dumb bitch should be beat to deat”????
I Love everyone…even the dumb bitches, cause I know I’ve been one more than a couple times. Do you feel like you are THE one that is not wrong? Life is the most important thing on earth, but she is a life…she is a perfect child of God, created with her own strengths and weeknesses. If you’ve ever messed up, can you really judge her’s as the unforgivable? And what of your casting judgement of her? Is that more forgivable?…because you didn’t kill someone?
We are ONE….none worse and none better. We are all struggling children that lose our way. Sometimes its big, but most of the time, we can hide our mistakes from everyone else, and pretend like we’re perfect.
Love
Yes beat to death
I also feel she got off easy…but I am curious what the significance is of mentioning Cathy Harris? Why drag Cathy’s name through the mud, she had no involvement in Nina’s murder.
How she helped Peggy to start the ball rolling to get the child home is not truly the issue here. She is merely a facilitator.
How about the social worker who did their homestudy. She failed to see red flags in her screening. Peggy was a lifelong raging alcoholic from what I know. Cathy is not guilty of anything here.
Just for clarification…I did NOT use Cathy Harris, so I am not one of those die-hard CH fans. I used a major agency. I just fail to see the significance in mentioning the adoption agency or facilitator here…and linking Cathy’s name to this heinous crime as if she aided and abetted in it.
Just my 2 cents!
I understand the frustration of an innocent child being harmed so brutally but the agency tried to make dreams come true, the social worker is the one who did home study and having been in the field myself i can say sometimes the red flags are not there …friends must have backed her up and natayla being a well adjusted child played a role social workers are not psychic and are limited on the info gathered …they had adopted before, other references backed them up and they are not allowed to smell breath or do any alcohol testing….unless there is a past dui or family issue caused by drinking who knows? Social workers are limited by laws as far as how they find info…even if theyre suspicious sometimes they cant put a finger on it for a report….they cannot predict anymore than anyone can predict a future accident….i feel the same about peggy but SHE is the blame for hiding her issues….i believe her story and description of Nina to be self-serving but some cases are very difficult to see coming…. The way the info is gathered and how much is governed by the employer…. This is terribly hard for all good people to imagine and we try to find answers blame or new ways to prevent child abusers from adopting but truth be it, sometimes predictions are just plain impossible …..
I was incarcerated with peggy and she shows no remorse at all and to be honest shes a mean and horrable person who is in and out of female female relationships and uses people i agree she needs life i hate to see what she will do when she gets out
Thanks for your comments. If you want, I’d like to hear more.
tabby, I knew her as well, i know she is unlikely to be remorseful but i hope to see her released one day, she will be very welcome at my cabin off in the middle of nowhere. my birth name was Patrick Kelly and i grew up down the road from Peggy, she is a few years older than me, in fact my mother hired Peggy many times to watch me and my sisters. oh i remember how she used to hit me, slap me so hard i would collaspe to the floor crying, it was like walking on eggshells, i had no idea what would set her off, once down of course she would kick me too until i was crying so hard i would be gasping unable to breath. i couldn’t complain to my parents, susette and denis, because they beat me as well, and told me i shouldn’t have done whatever it was that peggy beat me for. i remember the times my mother dropped me and my sister Kristina off at Peggys house and we would walk down to a camp nearby where my sister and i sat on the porch while she went in the cabin alone to drink. Joey would watch us too but he never hit us, i think that was his name anyway, thats what we called him. peggy used to put my youngest sister, Kady, in the refrigerator when she wouldn’t stop crying. she had one of those instant polaroid cameras that she took naked pictures of me and my sisters with. I changed my name long ago out of sheer hatred for my family (peggy was actually not that bad compared to some of the monsters i am related to), but i would love to see peggy again. I wish the police would release her, and drop her off at my place in the middle of nowhere now that I’m 6’4″ and 220lbs of muscle
Why would they ever even give her a release date the should of sentence her to death