Midnight Murders: The Chilling World of Sleepwalking Homicide; When the Mind Sleeps, But the Body Kills, By Ian Wilson LL. B

It sounds like something from a Hitchcock film or a gothic courtroom drama: a man drives 14 miles in his pyjamas, breaks into his in-laws' home, bludgeons and stabs his mother-in-law to death, brutally assaults his father-in-law, and is acquitted because he was asleep the whole time!

But this isn't fiction. It's the real-life case of Kenneth Parks, a 24-year-old Canadian whose 1987 acquittal for second-degree murder stunned a courtroom and left the public questioning the boundaries between sleep, consciousness, and criminal responsibility.

Parks was a suburban Toronto man under stress, dealing with a gambling addiction, financial troubles, and strained family relations. But on May 24, 1987, what happened defied all normal explanations. According to police reports and testimony, Parks had gone to bed that night as usual. Sometime later, he got up, entered his car, and drove 23 kilometres (14 miles) to his in-laws' home in Scarborough.

Once there, he used a tire iron to bludgeon Barbara Woods, his mother-in-law, and stabbed her four times. He then attacked his father-in-law, Denis Woods, choking and stabbing him as well. Remarkably, the father-in-law survived and later testified that he never saw his assailant.

What makes this case so unique is what happened after the crime. Parks drove straight to a nearby police station, his hands covered in blood, reportedly in a state of confusion. He told officers, "I think I've killed some people... my hands." He claimed to have no recollection of the acts.

His defence? He was sleepwalking.

Parks' legal team, led by Marlys Edwardh, called in sleep experts and psychiatrists who testified that he had a long history of parasomnias, including sleepwalking. Sleep disorders run in families, and Parks' relatives gave evidence of his history of complex night-time behaviours.

Under Canadian law, "automatism," actions performed without conscious control, can serve as a complete defence if it's proven that the accused had no voluntary intent. The jury accepted the defence, acquitting Parks of murder and attempted murder (though he initially remained in custody due to the ongoing nature of charges).

The case became a landmark in legal and psychiatric circles, one of the most well-known examples of homicidal somnambulism, killing while asleep.

Cases like Parks' are rare, but not unique. According to expert testimony during his trial, there have been around 35 documented cases of sleepwalking homicides worldwide. Some notable examples include:

Scott Falater (USA, 1997): Claimed to be sleepwalking when he stabbed his wife 44 times and drowned her in the pool. He was convicted.

Brian Thomas (Wales, 2008): Strangled his wife while on a camping holiday, claiming he thought she was an intruder in a night terror. He was acquitted.

These cases often hinge on detailed sleep studies, prior history of parasomnias, and consistency in the defendant's account. Courts examine whether the individual had voluntary control over their actions, and whether motive, concealment, or premeditation is evident.

Australia, too, has wrestled with the possibility of sleepwalking defences. While no high-profile murder acquittals exactly mirror the Parks case, Australian courts have considered automatism defences in violent crime cases.

The most notable Australian precedent on automatism is R v Falconer (1990), where a woman claimed to be in a dissociative state (not sleepwalking, but a kind of trauma-induced automatism) when she shot her husband. The High Court ruled that the jury must consider automatism seriously when raised with supporting evidence.

There have also been medical and legal discussions in Australian psychiatric literature addressing the forensic implications of parasomnias and involuntary violence, especially in the context of family violence and nocturnal behaviour.

But so far, Australia has not seen a public case quite as dramatic, or as cleanly acquitted, as Kenneth Parks.'

The Kenneth Parks case raises unnerving questions. What if the mind truly sleeps while the body commits horror? Can someone really kill in their sleep, without memory or motive? And what safeguards exist to prevent misuse of such a defence?

In a world where neuroscience continues to reveal how much of human behaviour is automatic or unconscious, the boundary between sleep and culpability will only grow more contested. But one thing's clear: sometimes the most chilling killer isn't the one who hides in the shadows, but the one who doesn't even know they did it.

https://apnews.com/article/c7c3bc37038fdde048fd8e3caf3c84ee

"A man who said he was sleepwalking when he drove 14 miles to his mother-in- law's house and killed her was found innocent of murder charges.

Kenneth Parks, 24, was acquitted by an Ontario Supreme Court jury of killing Barbara Woods, 42.

Parks is still charged with the attempted murder of his father-in-law, Denis Woods, and remained in custody today.

Prosecutors said Park's defense was ludicrous.

Parks, of Pickering, Ontario, was charged with second-degree murder in the beating and stabbing death of his mother-in-law.

Mrs. Woods was struck with a tire iron and stabbed four times and died in bed in her suburban Scarborough home on May 24, 1987. Her husband, who was choked and stabbed, recovered from his wounds and testified that he never saw his assailant.

Defense attorney Marlys Edwardh said that on the night of the killing, Parks ''plunged into a deep, deep sleep. His next memory is seeing his mother- in-law's face.''

The attorney said he then regained consciousness, fled the house and drove to a nearby police station.

Staff Sgt. Bob Adair of the Toronto police homicide squad testified Parks said he had no idea how he got to his in-laws' home and told officers he had no reason to harm them.

Testimony indicated Parks, married to the Woods' daughter, Karen, was under pressure from gambling debts.

Ms. Edwardh said psychiatric evidence indicated that Parks was sleepwalking at the time of the killing.

She said Parks had a history of sleepwalking and asked the jury to acquit him because he was in ''a sleep-state in which ... there is no will or conscious mind directing (the activity).''

The jury did so Thursday after nine hours of deliberation.

According to testimony, there are about 35 documented cases worldwide of homicides committed during sleepwalking.

Crown attorney Cathy Mocha argued Parks must have known what he was doing, but may have blocked "the very terrible events" from his mind."