In May of 1987, a Kenneth James Parks got into his car in the dead of night, drove a full 15 miles to the home of his in-laws, and proceeded to ruthlessly beat and stab his mother-in-law to death, so viciously attacking her with so much vigor that he reportedly tore a tendon in the process. He also tried to choke his father-in-law to death, who went unconscious but was not actually dead, unbeknownst to Parks. Parks then calmly drove to the nearest police station and admitted that he had just killed two people, although the father-in-law would end up surviving his injuries.
Parks then claimed that he had been sleepwalking, and could remember none of what he had done. As far as he was concerned, everything before walking into that police station was a total blank. At his trial, his defense attorney would use this as his excuse, claiming that his client had indeed been sleepwalking and thus could not bear the responsibility of what he had done.
A perhaps understandably skeptical court demanded that a Electroencephalography (EEG) scan be carried out, and it indeed showed that Parks suffered from a type of sleeping disorder called “parasomnia,” which involves abnormal movements, behaviors, emotions, perceptions, and dreams, leading to bizarre bouts of sleepwalking, night terrors, and other random acts or odd behavior while asleep.
Considering this diagnosis, a lack of motive, and the adamant defense, the court eventually found Parks not guilty of the murder of his mother-in-law. The prosecution then worked this into their case, and argued that Parks had woken up while strangling his father-in-law and thus was guilty of attempted murder, but he was completely acquitted of any crime nevertheless.
