A sleep scientist has spoken out about a bizarre case of sleepwalking in which a man drove miles to his mother-in-law’s house to murder her – but was found not guilty.
Professor Guy Leschziner, a world-renowned expert in neurology and sleep medicine, appeared on Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett’s The Diary of a CEO podcast to discuss sleep disorders and how sleepwalking can be used as a defence in a court of law.
The most notorious case occurred in Canada in 1988, when 23-year-old Kenneth Parks of Toronto was acquitted of the murder and attempted murder of his in-laws.
In the early morning of May 23, 1987, he drove 14 miles to his home, broke into it, assaulted his father-in-law, Denis, and stabbed his 42-year-old mother-in-law, Barbara Woods, to death.
Parks, who had gambling debts, claimed he was asleep the entire time and was unaware of what he was doing.
The most notorious case of sleepwalking occurred in Canada in 1988, when Kenneth Parks, a 23-year-old Toronto man (centre), was acquitted of murder and attempted murder of his wife’s in-laws.
Professor Guy Leschziner (pictured) speaking on The Diary of a CEO podcast, where he discussed bizarre cases of sleepwalking, including instances where people had committed murder in their sleep.
Leschziner said: ‘Apparently in While he was sleeping, he drove several miles to his in-laws’ house. and apparently got a He took an iron key from the trunk of his car and beat his mother-in-law to death.
‘He then attempted to kill his father-in-law and ended up throwing him into a swimming pool, now this was made even more curious by the fact that there had been some evidence that he had been having some financial difficulties and had had some arguments with his in-laws over financial matters but a court of law deemed that this happened while he was sleepwalking.
“He was actually acquitted, so it’s a surprising story. Is it impossible for someone to drive while asleep? No, I’ve seen it myself, but it seems far-fetched to think that someone could have done all that while asleep, but in court he was found not guilty.”
Defense attorney Marlys Edwardh said that on the night of the murder, Parks “fell into a very deep sleep. Her next memory was seeing her mother-in-law’s face.”
The lawyer said he then regained consciousness, fled the house and headed to a nearby police station.
Bob Adair of the Toronto police homicide squad testified that Parks said she had no idea how she got to her in-laws’ home and told officers she had no motive to harm them.
Leschziner revealed that while sleep-driving is rare, it does happen and he has one patient who has experienced it on numerous occasions.
In the early morning of May 23, 1987, he drove 14 miles to his home, broke into his house, assaulted his father-in-law, Denis, and stabbed his mother-in-law, Barbara Woods, 42, to death.
Leschziner is a world-renowned expert in neurology and sleep medicine and was the latest guest on Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett’s (pictured) podcast The Diary of a CEO.
He said: “I have a patient who I no longer see, who I talked about in my book. She had driven for miles in her sleep, and in fact she had ridden a motorcycle in her youth in her sleep, and all she knew was that her landlady at the time had said to her: ‘Where were you going at one in the morning with your motorcycle helmet in your hand?’
“Obviously he had gone out for a walk in the middle of the night without remembering anything.”
The professor said that in such situations most of the brain is “probably awake” because it is difficult to imagine how someone could carry out complicated tasks if Most of their The brain was asleep.
Leschziner revealed that he has seen many people commit crimes while they were sleeping and that some have been convicted.
He said: ‘I was involved with someone who shot a family member in “I’ve seen people who have committed sexual assaults while sleeping. Someone who was convicted of rape as a result of a sleep disorder.”
Speaking about how sleep disorders are examined in court after a serious offence has been committed, the professor said: ‘Firstly, is the past behaviour consistent with what happened on the night in question?
‘Secondly, is there anything about the event itself that suggests there was an attempt to cover it up or a degree of pre-planning to commit that particular act?
‘It is also questioned whether evidence can be found by studying the individual’s sleep that he or she suffers from this type of sleep disorder.’
