Stab in the dark: can people kill without being conscious? by Eleanor Shakespeare
The Guardian
Some types of sleepwalking are related to seizure disorders & other neurological conditions; most cases are transitory. Parasomnias/involuntary behaviours during sleep are usually harmless. But some lead to reckless or violent actions.
Law Here are some criminal cases in which the sleepwalking defence was invoked, reported in Psychology Today; Stacks Law Firm and USNews.
In 1846, Albert Tirrell cut the throat of a Boston prostitute, set fire to the brothel, then fled to New Orleans, where he was arrested. Tirrell said he was a chronic sleepwalker and perhaps committed the crime while asleep. Strangely the jury agreed and found him not guilty. Would he have been guilty if the victim wasn't a prostitute?
In Glasgow in the 1870s Simon Fraser, disoriented from a nightmare about beasts, dashed his son’s head on the family’s bedroom floor. He was acquitted for the murder, since it was so clear to the jury that he had no desire to kill his child. The episode had probably been a night terror, with or without sleepwalking.
The Boston Tragedy referred to the murder of Maria Bickford, 1846;
Tirrell was acquitted because of sleepwalking.
National Police Gazette, 1846
Texan man Isom Bradley testified in the 1920s that he and his mistress were in bed when he heard a dangerous enemy. Fearing a secret attack, he went put a pistol under his pillow. Later he jumped up and fired shots, woke up and found his girlfriend dead in bed. Bradley was convicted of murder, but the conviction was reversed on appeal; he had been acting in a somnambulistic state.
In 1950 Melbourne mother Ivy Cogdon axed her only child to death; Patricia was found early in the morning, in her bed, with the bloodstained axe near her body. The mother had long been prone to psychological conditions which had been treated by several doctors. Cogdon’s defence was that she was sleepwalking when she killed Patricia, “protecting” her girl from invading Korean soldiers in Carnegie. She was acquitted due to sleepwalking.
In 1987, Kenneth Parks sleep-drove in Ontario to his mother-in-law’s house, stabbed her to death and strangled his father-in-law almost to death. He got back in his car, drove to a police station with blood on his hands but had no memory of the murder. Parks had a strong family history of parasomnias (sleepwalking, enuresis and night terrors), and he was stressed, depressed and insomniac. These factors combined to make sense of his sleepwalking behaviours. No intent, not guilty of murder!
In 1994 Michael Ricksgers accidentally murdered his wife in Pennsylvania during a sleepwalking episode, provoked by a medical condition, sleep apnoea. Ricksgers told police that he awoke to find a gun in his hand and his wife bleeding in bed beside him. He apparently dreamt about an intruder breaking in! But prosecutors said Ricksgers was furious that his wife was leaving him, so he was sentenced to life in prison, without parole
A devout Mormon, Scott Falater stabbed his wife 44 times with a hunting knife, then dragged her into a backyard pool and drowned her in Arizona in 1997. Falater, who had no apparent motive, said he had a history of sleepwalking, was sleep-deprived and was unconscious during his attack. Yet Falater had tried to conceal the knife and bloody clothes in his car. A jury found Falater guilty of first-degree murder!
In 2001 Stephen Reitz killed his married lover, Eva Weinfurtner, during a romantic island holiday. He smashed her head, dislocated her arm, fractured her wrist, ribs, jaw and skull, and stabbed her neck. Reitz told Californian police that he remembered nothing, though through flash-backs he recalled “fighting a male intruder”. At trial, his parents testified that their son had sleepwalked since childhood. However due to the defendant's past history of violence towards Weinfurtner, Reitz got first-degree murder.
In 2009 Brian Thomas appeared in a South Wales court on a murder charge, after strangling his wife as they slept in their camper van. Psychiatrists testified that locking him up would not be helpful as he had had a genuine sleep disorder, suffering night terrors for c50 years, and thus bore no responsibility for his actions.
The Guardian
Some types of sleepwalking are related to seizure disorders & other neurological conditions; most cases are transitory. Parasomnias/involuntary behaviours during sleep are usually harmless. But some lead to reckless or violent actions.
Law Here are some criminal cases in which the sleepwalking defence was invoked, reported in Psychology Today; Stacks Law Firm and USNews.
In 1846, Albert Tirrell cut the throat of a Boston prostitute, set fire to the brothel, then fled to New Orleans, where he was arrested. Tirrell said he was a chronic sleepwalker and perhaps committed the crime while asleep. Strangely the jury agreed and found him not guilty. Would he have been guilty if the victim wasn't a prostitute?
In Glasgow in the 1870s Simon Fraser, disoriented from a nightmare about beasts, dashed his son’s head on the family’s bedroom floor. He was acquitted for the murder, since it was so clear to the jury that he had no desire to kill his child. The episode had probably been a night terror, with or without sleepwalking.
Tirrell was acquitted because of sleepwalking.
National Police Gazette, 1846
In 1950 Melbourne mother Ivy Cogdon axed her only child to death; Patricia was found early in the morning, in her bed, with the bloodstained axe near her body. The mother had long been prone to psychological conditions which had been treated by several doctors. Cogdon’s defence was that she was sleepwalking when she killed Patricia, “protecting” her girl from invading Korean soldiers in Carnegie. She was acquitted due to sleepwalking.
In 1987, Kenneth Parks sleep-drove in Ontario to his mother-in-law’s house, stabbed her to death and strangled his father-in-law almost to death. He got back in his car, drove to a police station with blood on his hands but had no memory of the murder. Parks had a strong family history of parasomnias (sleepwalking, enuresis and night terrors), and he was stressed, depressed and insomniac. These factors combined to make sense of his sleepwalking behaviours. No intent, not guilty of murder!
In 1994 Michael Ricksgers accidentally murdered his wife in Pennsylvania during a sleepwalking episode, provoked by a medical condition, sleep apnoea. Ricksgers told police that he awoke to find a gun in his hand and his wife bleeding in bed beside him. He apparently dreamt about an intruder breaking in! But prosecutors said Ricksgers was furious that his wife was leaving him, so he was sentenced to life in prison, without parole
A devout Mormon, Scott Falater stabbed his wife 44 times with a hunting knife, then dragged her into a backyard pool and drowned her in Arizona in 1997. Falater, who had no apparent motive, said he had a history of sleepwalking, was sleep-deprived and was unconscious during his attack. Yet Falater had tried to conceal the knife and bloody clothes in his car. A jury found Falater guilty of first-degree murder!
In 2001 Stephen Reitz killed his married lover, Eva Weinfurtner, during a romantic island holiday. He smashed her head, dislocated her arm, fractured her wrist, ribs, jaw and skull, and stabbed her neck. Reitz told Californian police that he remembered nothing, though through flash-backs he recalled “fighting a male intruder”. At trial, his parents testified that their son had sleepwalked since childhood. However due to the defendant's past history of violence towards Weinfurtner, Reitz got first-degree murder.
In 2009 Brian Thomas appeared in a South Wales court on a murder charge, after strangling his wife as they slept in their camper van. Psychiatrists testified that locking him up would not be helpful as he had had a genuine sleep disorder, suffering night terrors for c50 years, and thus bore no responsibility for his actions.
Scott Falater's case
The Index-Journal, Greenwood South Carolina,
June 1999
Science Ursula Voss’ team at Bonn University reported that even during lucid dreaming (a state in which some people can control their dreams), some areas of the brain associated with intent stayed Offline, while other areas associated with consciousness were On.
Similarly a study by Claudio Bassetti at the University of Zurich manoeuvred a sleepwalker into a brain scanner during a sleepwalking episode. He showed no activation in the areas of the brain associated with intent, though emotional areas and movement areas were active. So while judgement was Off, the ability to act out emotionally was On.
Antonio Zadra at the University of Montreal measured the brain activity of 10 sleepwalkers and 10 control subjects to determine what stage of sleep they were in. Their results might eventually enable a test for genuine sleepwalkers, a big break-through.
Conclusion
When the accused was sleep-deprived, under stress or had a history of sleepwalking, he was more likely to experience parasomnia behaviours. If he'd also been using alcohol or drugs, more so! But it's more difficult to explain away any behaviours as strictly biological in origin. Legal systems need to take science more seriously, finding explanations for the biological and social bases of sleep behaviours, establishing who has a genuine sleep disorder and who is faking.
In Australia, a person cannot be guilty of an offence if they were unconscious or asleep when the act was committed. Courts throughout Australia have often confirmed that finding a defendant’s actions must be voluntary for a finding of guilt. If a person is asleep and therefore not conscious, they cannot have acted voluntarily.
June 1999
Science Ursula Voss’ team at Bonn University reported that even during lucid dreaming (a state in which some people can control their dreams), some areas of the brain associated with intent stayed Offline, while other areas associated with consciousness were On.
Similarly a study by Claudio Bassetti at the University of Zurich manoeuvred a sleepwalker into a brain scanner during a sleepwalking episode. He showed no activation in the areas of the brain associated with intent, though emotional areas and movement areas were active. So while judgement was Off, the ability to act out emotionally was On.
Antonio Zadra at the University of Montreal measured the brain activity of 10 sleepwalkers and 10 control subjects to determine what stage of sleep they were in. Their results might eventually enable a test for genuine sleepwalkers, a big break-through.
Conclusion
When the accused was sleep-deprived, under stress or had a history of sleepwalking, he was more likely to experience parasomnia behaviours. If he'd also been using alcohol or drugs, more so! But it's more difficult to explain away any behaviours as strictly biological in origin. Legal systems need to take science more seriously, finding explanations for the biological and social bases of sleep behaviours, establishing who has a genuine sleep disorder and who is faking.
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16 comments:
Hello Hels, These terrible stories about people who inadvertently kill those they love are like the old saying "with friends like that, who needs enemies?"
The older tragedies you mention are beyond modern control or detection. But these days, even if a diagnosis of sleepwalking produces a verdict of not guilty, there is still the problem that they might get into a similar rage the next time they fall asleep. So they are still dangerous to be at large. With today's technology, there should be some sort of alarm system for sleepwalkers if they leave their room or house, especially if they have acted violently in the past.
--Jim
This comprehensive overview highlights the complex intersection of sleep disorders, neuroscience, and criminal law, underscoring the need for courts to carefully weigh scientific evidence when assessing criminal responsibility in cases involving alleged sleepwalking.
Tricky. I expect there has been some miscarriages of justice with both guilty and innocent verdicts.
Dear Helen! I don't think that people who sleepwalk can kill anyone.
If a person says that he sleepwalks and killed someone in his sleep, it's a lie. Russian scientists have long proven this.
In a 1992 case in Ontario, a Canadian man was acquitted of the murder of his mother-in-law and attempted murder of his father-in-law based on the defence that he had been sleepwalking. The R. v. Parks trial was on appeal from the Court of Appeal for Ontario. They had to decide whether sleepwalking should be classified as non insane automatism resulting in an acquittal or as an insane automatism/disease of the mind giving rise to the special verdict of Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity. The respondent, who was charged with first degree murder and attempted murder, presented a defence of automatism.
The testimony of five expert defence witnesses was not contradicted by the Crown. This evidence was that respondent was sleepwalking and that sleepwalking was not a neurological, psychiatric or other illness. The trial judge put only the defence of automatism to the jury, which acquitted respondent of first degree murder and
then of second degree murder. The judge then acquitted the respondent of the charge of attempted murder.
Murdering sleepwalkers are terrible to think about and I'm glad I lock my doors so none can get in. Most sleepwalkers are harmless though, my brother was one and would sometimes wake up in odd places around the house, a step sister was also a sleepwalker and held conversations with people whne she walked into a room and as we led her back to bed. She never remembered next morning.
Sleepwalkers don't remember their actions, but most don't commit murder, thankfully.
Parnassus
Inadvertently killing a loved one seems bizarre. And that the murderer might get into a similar rage the next time he/she falls asleep is also bizarre.
I would understand killing a real enemy, and being too cautious to do it when other people might be witnesses. So sleepwalking would largely hide the plan from the victim and from the murderer. Very strange :(
roentare
Yes indeed ...the courts always need to carefully weigh scientific evidence when assessing criminal responsibility eg sleepwalking, psychosis, alcoholism, poisoned mushrooms etc etc.
The big difference with the murder cases (in this blog post) is the ability to weigh scientific evidence. It is easy to detect alcoholism or brain damage, but it is not so easy to detect sleepwalking in general, and murder done during a sleepwalking episode.
Andrew
I had assumed that we would never be able to detect miscarriages of justice with either guilty or innocent verdicts. But when I saw the lawyers in a murder case asking what type of defence the defendant would prefer, and recommending that the sleepwalking defence is often successful, I have changed my mind.
Irina
The more I read about these cases, the more I agree with you. Unless the would-be murderer planned ahead of time to leave a gun or machete in the house or garage, it would be very difficult to commit a complex crime.
After all, sleepwalkers have enough trouble seeing or hearing what is happening during their walk. And in the morning, they have trouble remembering getting up during the night.
UPI
Automatism is a legal term used to describe a situation where acts occurred without the volition of the accused. The determining factor is whether the accused exercised their will rather than a lack of consciousness or knowledge on the part of the accused.
It is worrying that the trial judge put only the defence of automatism to the jury, and Parks was acquitted.
River
absolutely right! Many people sleepwalk and the most dangerous thing they do is damage their toes or ankles bumping into furniture. And of course they remember nothing in the morning.
So how would courts believe that murderers (or rapists or thieves) could successfully complete complex tasks while sound asleep?
jabblog
the best sleepwalkers can achieve, in my limited experience, is going to have a pee or to get a glass of water. If I ask my beloved to close the windows and keep the possums outside, he never remembers how to do it *sigh*.
Dreadful crimes, Hels. A sleepwalker being a true one of course in my view wouldn't be guilty.
Margaret
read the very modern Australian cases reported by Stacks Law Firm in NSW and Qld by Nathan Luke and Molly Hayter, and see what you think.
https://stacklaw.com.au/news/criminal-law/honest-honour-sleepwalking
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