An overseas case featured on a TV show like Unbelievable. One day in America, an elderly couple was stabbed to death in their home. The culprit was the husband of the murdered couple's daughter. There was no history of bad blood between them; in fact, their relationship was extremely good, with frequent visits back and forth. There had been no trouble whatsoever between the sincere, amiable husband and the gentle elderly couple. Suffering from somnambulism (sleepwalking), the husband had gotten out of bed while asleep, gotten into his car, driven many kilometers to his parents-in-law's house, and murdered the elderly couple with his own hands. He remained fast asleep the entire time. It caused a controversy over whether such a crime was even possible, but the trial resulted in an acquittal. The husband tearfully stated in court, "I never once hated my wife's parents. I loved them. How could something like this have happened..." I was genuinely shocked when I saw this at the time. Can someone really drive a car while asleep, no matter how bad their sleepwalking is? I remain half-in-doubt myself... Either way, the elderly couple, killed without rhyme or reason, are to be pitied. If it really was sleepwalking, the husband is to be pitied, too. Above all, the wife left behind is the most tragic of all.
Case Details: Though extremely rare, there are even reports of people committing murder while asleep. In 1987, a Canadian man named Kenneth Parks drove a car in the middle of the night to his parents-in-law's house, beat his mother-in-law to death with a tool, and severely injured his father-in-law. Upon being arrested, he had no memory whatsoever of the events and had turned himself in at a police station immediately afterward. With a history of somnambulism, and following verification by experts, it was concluded that "at the time of the incident, he was in a deep non-REM sleep and unconscious," leading to an acquittal in court. His "actions" were entirely separate from his "personality."
One night, Kenneth Parks, a resident of Toronto, fell asleep, then unconsciously got out of bed and drove his car. His destination was his parents-in-law's house, 20 kilometers away. Breaching the house, he killed his mother-in-law and severely injured his father-in-law. After harming the two of them, he returned to his car covered in blood, and drove straight to a nearby police station, where he confessed, "I think I've killed two people." During the trial, he maintained, "I was asleep the entire time the incident happened and remember nothing." Naturally, no one believed him, but brainwave measurements taken during sleep showed activity characteristic of sleepwalkers. Furthermore, due to the complete lack of a motive for the murder and the absence of any inconsistencies across repeated interrogations, it was concluded that the crime was an unconscious act caused by sleepwalking, and the Supreme Court of Canada handed down a not-guilty verdict in 1992.
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