Kenneth Parks: The Sleepwalking Murder

[00:00:00] Hey everyone, my name is Nikki Young and this is Serial Napper, the number one true crime

[00:00:23] podcast for NAPS.

[00:00:25] I'm back with another true crime story to Wally to sleep or perhaps to give you nightmares.

[00:00:31] In the early morning hours of May 24th, 1987 Kenneth Park got up from the sofa where he

[00:00:37] had been watching TV, he got into his vehicle and he drove 20 kilometers or 12 and a half

[00:00:43] miles from his home in Toronto to his in-laws home in Scarborough.

[00:00:48] He used the spare key that they had given him to enter the residence and then proceeded

[00:00:53] to the master bedroom where he found his mother and father-in-law sleeping in their bed.

[00:00:59] He proceeded to bludgeon his mother-in-law with a tire iron which he had brought with him

[00:01:04] from home before proceeding to choke his father-in-law.

[00:01:08] Then he got into his car and drove to the nearest police station where he turned himself

[00:01:13] in saying, quote, I think I have just killed two people.

[00:01:18] An open and shut case for murder, right?

[00:01:20] Wrong because Kenneth Park's had a story that could save him from a life sentence in prison.

[00:01:27] He claimed that he was sleepwalking during the murder and was completely unconscious

[00:01:32] and unaware of what he was doing until he surrendered to the police.

[00:01:37] While sleep experts battled the prosecution in court, testifying in support of Kenneth

[00:01:42] Park's sleepwalking defense much of the public at the time thought that he was lying,

[00:01:47] picking up this story of sleepwalking so that he could get away with the perfect murder.

[00:01:53] Kenneth Park's sleepwalking murder trial was front page of papers all around the world

[00:01:58] as it set a precedence for the level of responsibility one has for their actions done when in a state

[00:02:05] of sleep.

[00:02:06] So, let's jump right in.

[00:02:09] Kenneth Park's grew up in Toronto, Canada with two brothers and a single mother to take

[00:02:14] care of the family up until she met and married his stepfather.

[00:02:18] In his early teens, his mom and stepdad decided to move out of the city and Kenneth didn't

[00:02:24] want to go so he moved in with his grandparents.

[00:02:27] It was supposed to be a temporary living situation but he really enjoyed living there so he

[00:02:33] wound up staying for years.

[00:02:35] He wouldn't finish high school instead dropping out in the 11th grade so when he later encountered

[00:02:42] his future wife, a high schooler named Karen Woods he knew how difficult life could be

[00:02:47] and encouraged her to stay in school.

[00:02:51] Karen was a bit of a rebellious teenager who often ran away from home.

[00:02:56] She rebelled in ways like dating the much older Kenneth Park's who was in his early 20s.

[00:03:03] One would think that Karen's parents would be furious about her dating a much older

[00:03:07] man but they actually thought that Kenneth was a good influence on her.

[00:03:12] He encouraged her to finish school and to stay living at home as long as possible, at

[00:03:18] least until she was an adult which she did.

[00:03:21] Once she graduated, Kenneth married Karen.

[00:03:24] This was a different time of course it was the 80s and Karen's parents felt like Kenneth

[00:03:29] really loved their daughter.

[00:03:31] They accepted him into their family and they treated him as if he were their own son, fully

[00:03:36] supporting their marriage.

[00:03:39] Even once they moved out of their family's homes and into their own house and began to

[00:03:43] plan their future family together, Kenneth and Karen continued to spend a lot of time over

[00:03:48] at the Woods residence.

[00:03:51] Karen's sister still lived at their parents' home so they would stop by to visit her and

[00:03:56] enjoy all of the holidays together.

[00:03:58] Remember, Ken kind of came from a broken home.

[00:04:02] He wasn't all that close with his mother.

[00:04:04] He didn't get along with his stepfather and he never really grew up around his siblings

[00:04:09] because he had moved in with his grandparents pretty early on in life.

[00:04:13] To be accepted into his new wife's family was a blessing.

[00:04:17] Kenneth Parks was known as a gentle giant.

[00:04:20] It was a nickname that his mother-in-law Barbara would often use and it was true.

[00:04:26] He was a giant towering over his wife and his in-laws at 6'5 and weighing over 200 pounds

[00:04:33] but he was also very gentle.

[00:04:35] By all accounts, he was very soft with his wife and he treated her like a princess.

[00:04:40] No one ever saw him be abrupt or loud or violent.

[00:04:45] But Kenneth Parks was hiding a secret.

[00:04:48] He had developed a fairly severe gambling habit that had left him with a huge amount

[00:04:53] of debt.

[00:04:54] It was a new development in Kenneth's life.

[00:04:57] A friend had recently taken him to a horse race and he decided to place a modest bet.

[00:05:02] Well, he was struck by beginner's luck and he won pretty big.

[00:05:07] All it took was one win for Kenneth to be hooked.

[00:05:11] And now he found himself betting any extra money that he had and sadly losing it all.

[00:05:17] The timing of his new addiction and rising debt wasn't great.

[00:05:21] It's not good at any time but particularly at this time because Kenneth and Karen they

[00:05:26] had just decided to start their family having a baby girl together at the end of 1986.

[00:05:33] They were young parents and they didn't anticipate the high cost of having a child.

[00:05:38] Kenneth was chasing another windfall, showing up at Woodbine racetrack any chance he could

[00:05:44] to try to win money to support his growing family but he just couldn't keep up.

[00:05:50] He was also working a ton just to keep food on the table.

[00:05:54] His job as a project coordinator for Revere Electric, it had him working 10 hours a day.

[00:06:00] He was also up with the baby at all hours of the night helping his wife because he was

[00:06:05] a great husband.

[00:06:07] All while worrying about how much longer he could hold it all together.

[00:06:11] The gambling debt was growing so Kenneth decided to do something really risky.

[00:06:17] He stole $30,000 from his employer to pay down some of his gambling debts.

[00:06:23] Unfortunately for Kenneth, his employer soon found out that he had embezzled this money

[00:06:28] and they fired him but not before pressing charges against him.

[00:06:32] Once this happened everything came to light there was no more hiding.

[00:06:37] His wife Karen learned what he had done as did his in-laws Barbara and Dennis Woods.

[00:06:44] Like I said Barbara and Dennis loved their son-in-law like he was their own child so when the gambling

[00:06:50] and the embezzling was revealed they really did try to support him as best that they could.

[00:06:56] They felt like he had made a mistake but his heart was in the right place so they would

[00:07:01] try to help him find a path forward.

[00:07:04] There was no turning back time only looking ahead and no time to waste because now there

[00:07:09] was a baby to take care of.

[00:07:12] There were talks of possibly selling the house that they bought together which they would

[00:07:16] only do as a last resort but things were just really tense at home.

[00:07:21] Kenneth started to attend meetings for gamblers anonymous and they were hoping that over time

[00:07:26] things would get better.

[00:07:28] The Woods invited their daughter and son-in-law to come over for supper at their home on

[00:07:32] May 24th so that they could figure out a solution.

[00:07:36] That supper would never happen.

[00:07:39] The evening prior 23 year old Kenneth lay on his couch enjoying some downtime watching

[00:07:44] TV.

[00:07:46] With all of the problems going on in his life, he wasn't sleeping well.

[00:07:51] Maybe a few hours at night when he could find them in between taking care of his new baby.

[00:07:56] His anxiety was so far through the roof that he had even had to go to the hospital just

[00:08:02] a week prior reporting chest pains and dizziness.

[00:08:06] He honestly thought he was having a heart attack.

[00:08:08] He was feeling extra anxious that evening because the following day he was to have that

[00:08:13] big discussion with his in-laws over supper.

[00:08:17] He dozed off watching Saturday Night Live.

[00:08:20] It was around 1 a.m. when he got up from the couch and then he got into his car.

[00:08:26] He left his home in Toronto driving about 20 kilometers or 12 and a half miles away to

[00:08:32] his in-laws' home which was located in Scarborough.

[00:08:35] When he arrived, he grabbed a tire iron from the back of his vehicle, walked up to the

[00:08:40] front door and then he found it was locked which makes sense.

[00:08:44] It was the middle of the night.

[00:08:46] So he used a spare key that his in-laws had previously given him to unlock the door and

[00:08:51] he walked right in.

[00:08:53] He makes his way to the master bedroom where he finds his mother and father-in-law both

[00:08:58] asleep in their bed.

[00:09:00] With this tire iron, he began bludgeoning his mother-in-law Barbara until she stopped moving.

[00:09:07] When he turned his attention to his father-in-law Dennis and he attempted to strangle him to death.

[00:09:13] He only let go when Dennis stopped moving and appeared to be lifeless.

[00:09:18] His wife's teenage sister who still lived at the home came running in from the bedroom

[00:09:24] and she began screaming at the bloody scene in front of her.

[00:09:28] We can only piece together this scene from others' reports because it was just now that Kenneth

[00:09:34] regained awareness.

[00:09:37] As he looked around the bedroom, he saw his mother-in-law Barbara gravely wounded, covered

[00:09:43] in blood with extensive injuries to her head.

[00:09:46] He looks next to Barbara and he sees his father-in-law Dennis lying on the ground unconscious,

[00:09:53] possibly dead.

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[00:13:11] He's still holding the tire iron in his hand and his clothing is bloody but he has no

[00:13:16] recollection of what had just happened in that room but he's obviously done something

[00:13:21] horrific so Kenneth leaves the home.

[00:13:24] He gets back in his vehicle and he drives to the nearest police station still in a state

[00:13:29] of complete shock.

[00:13:31] At around 415 am when he gets there he tells the officer on duty quote I just killed

[00:13:37] someone with my bare hands.

[00:13:39] Oh my god, I just killed someone.

[00:13:41] I've just killed two people.

[00:13:43] My god, I've just killed two people with my hands.

[00:13:47] My god, I've just killed two people.

[00:13:49] My hands, I just killed two people.

[00:13:52] I killed them.

[00:13:53] I just killed two people.

[00:13:54] I've just killed my mother and father-in-law.

[00:13:58] I stabbed and beat them to death.

[00:14:00] It's all my fault.

[00:14:02] They immediately arrested Kenneth Park's unsuspition of a murder and they dispatched officers

[00:14:07] to the woods home to confirm the details of his story.

[00:14:11] Officers were already on scene having been called by the teen daughter who also lived at

[00:14:16] the home.

[00:14:17] They would find Kenneth's mother-in-law dead from a fracture to the skull.

[00:14:21] Miraculously, Kenneth's father-in-law was unconscious but still alive after he had attempted

[00:14:28] to distrangle him to death.

[00:14:30] Kenneth was charged with first-degree murder as well as attempted murder.

[00:14:34] Karen, Kenneth's wife was absolutely shocked when she heard the news.

[00:14:40] Her husband was known as the friendly giant.

[00:14:42] There wasn't a violent bone in his body and he had such a close, amazing relationship

[00:14:48] with both of her parents.

[00:14:50] She couldn't imagine him hurting them.

[00:14:53] So why would this young man who seemingly had this close loving relationship with his

[00:14:57] in-laws suddenly snap, turning violent on them both in a late-night home attack?

[00:15:04] According to Kenneth, there was no motive.

[00:15:07] He didn't remember doing any of it.

[00:15:10] He claimed he must have been asleep when it all happened.

[00:15:13] He was sleepwalking, unaware of his actions and unable to stop them.

[00:15:18] In a move that shocked the country, this would be the basis for his complete defense.

[00:15:24] The crown prosecutor and the general public weren't so convinced.

[00:15:29] Neither were investigators who thought that his motive could be related to his recent gambling

[00:15:34] and debt problems.

[00:15:36] But he also really liked his in-laws.

[00:15:38] He got along well with them.

[00:15:40] They were even helping him.

[00:15:42] Kenneth stalked his explanation, never wavering from his original story each time he was interviewed.

[00:15:48] Kenneth Park's trial was a media sensation.

[00:15:52] The page of most newspapers because people just couldn't believe that sleepwalking was

[00:15:57] being used as a defense for murder.

[00:15:59] The official defense presented was that of a tomatism.

[00:16:03] According to Black's law dictionary, a tomatism is defined as follows, quote, behavior performed

[00:16:10] in a state of mental unconsciousness or disassociation without full awareness.

[00:16:15] The term is applied to actions or conduct of an individual apparently occurring without

[00:16:21] will, purpose, or reasoned intention on his part.

[00:16:25] A condition sometimes observed in persons who, without being actually insane, suffer from

[00:16:31] an obscuration of the mental faculties, loss of volition, or of memory or kindred affections.

[00:16:37] The defense presented evidence that showed that Kenneth had a history of sleepwalking.

[00:16:42] He was a deep sleeper, and he had a really tough time in general just waking up.

[00:16:49] They conducted sleep tests on him which found that his brainwave activity while he was sleeping,

[00:16:54] it was highly abnormal.

[00:16:56] Also there were several of his family members who also suffered from sleep issues like sleepwalking

[00:17:02] and sleep talking, and there's research that shows that sleep disorders are often inherited.

[00:17:07] So this only bolstered his claim that he was actually sleepwalking at the time.

[00:17:13] The defense also added that Kenneth was going through a really difficult time in his life

[00:17:17] when the murder occurred, and stress it can be a huge trigger for sleepwalkers.

[00:17:24] Five expert witnesses would be called to the stand to speak in support of the sleepwalking

[00:17:28] defense.

[00:17:29] They included Dr. Rogers-Jame Broughton, a neuropsychologist and specialist in sleep and

[00:17:35] sleep disorders, Dr. John Gordon Edmonds, a neurologist, Dr. Ronald Frederick Billings,

[00:17:41] a psychiatrist, Dr. Robert Woodhill's a forensic psychiatrist, and Dr. Frank Raymond Irvin,

[00:17:48] a neurologist and a psychiatrist.

[00:17:50] These experts were there to confirm whether or not they believed Kenneth was sleepwalking

[00:17:55] at the time, and they all agreed that he was.

[00:17:59] Meaning he was suffering from a sleep disorder, not any kind of neurological or psychiatric

[00:18:06] illnesses.

[00:18:07] When asked on the stand, is there any evidence that a person could formulate a plan while

[00:18:12] they were awake and then in some way ensure that they carry it out in their sleep?

[00:18:17] One expert testified, no, absolutely not, no.

[00:18:22] Probably the most striking feature of what we know of what goes on in the mind during sleep

[00:18:26] is that it's very independent of waking mentation in terms of its objectives and so forth.

[00:18:32] There is a lack of control of directing our minds in sleep compared to wakefulness.

[00:18:38] In the waking state, of course, we often voluntarily plan things, what we call volition.

[00:18:44] That is, we decide to do this as opposed to that.

[00:18:47] And there is no evidence that this occurs during the sleepwalking episode.

[00:18:52] Kenneth Parks was not denying that he murdered his mother-in-law and attempted to murder

[00:18:57] his father-in-law.

[00:18:59] The defense of automatism simply meant that he wasn't in control of his actions at the

[00:19:04] time due to this sleep disorder, not a mental disorder.

[00:19:08] The prosecution pushed back against this claim of being in this sleepwalking state.

[00:19:13] Kenneth had gotten into his car and then drove to his in-laws, which would have taken

[00:19:19] him about 15 minutes.

[00:19:21] There was probably no traffic at the time because it was after 1 a.m. in the morning,

[00:19:26] but on average around 15 minutes of driving time.

[00:19:29] Then he managed to stay in that sleepwalking state when he entered the home and killed his

[00:19:34] mother-in-law before turning on his father-in-law.

[00:19:38] Most incidents of sleepwalking occur in a much shorter window of time like 15 to 20 minutes.

[00:19:45] If Kenneth's claims of sleepwalking were true, he would have been in that state for

[00:19:50] about an hour, but it wasn't entirely impossible.

[00:19:55] Ultimately and shockingly, Kenneth was acquitted of first-degree murder, then he was acquitted

[00:20:01] of second-degree murder and finally acquitted of attempted murder.

[00:20:06] He escaped a life sentence in jail versus a life sentence at a mental institution.

[00:20:11] Kenneth Parks was found not guilty much to the shock of the community.

[00:20:16] However, the Crown Prosecution didn't push back on any of the expert testimony about sleepwalking.

[00:20:22] When this case was appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, they unanimously upheld the acquittal.

[00:20:29] Kenneth walked out a court as a free man and returned to his normal life.

[00:20:34] His wife, Karen, she had supported him throughout the entire trial even testifying on his behalf.

[00:20:41] And now she was ready to move forward.

[00:20:44] She had tragically lost her mother and almost her father too, but she didn't blame her husband.

[00:20:51] She truly believed that he was sleepwalking at the time.

[00:20:54] There was no other explanation for it.

[00:20:57] About four years after his acquittal, Kenneth and Karen decided to divorce.

[00:21:03] He eventually remarried and he would go on to have five more children.

[00:21:08] Now there isn't any specific treatment for sleepwalking

[00:21:11] other than to de-stress, to eat healthier and to try to exercise.

[00:21:16] So there really wasn't anything further for Kenneth to do

[00:21:19] to prevent sleepwalking episodes in the future.

[00:21:22] Beyond that, Kenneth tried to move on from the sins of his past.

[00:21:27] He had to live with the knowledge of what he had done, even if he didn't carry the memories.

[00:21:33] His marriage to Karen was forever irreparable despite her believing in his sleepwalking claims.

[00:21:40] In 2006, with five of his own children still in school,

[00:21:44] Kenneth tried to run for a position on the Durham District School Board.

[00:21:48] But the community that he lived in, they had not forgotten what he had done.

[00:21:53] There was a huge amount of backlash.

[00:21:56] So while Kenneth had escaped jail time,

[00:21:59] he hadn't come out of this situation completely unscathed.

[00:22:03] And his isn't the only claim of sleepwalking as a defense to murder.

[00:22:08] S. Thurgrigs was a young, poverty-stricken mother

[00:22:11] who was seen tossing her baby out of the window of her home

[00:22:15] while she screamed, save my children.

[00:22:18] She claimed that she was sleepwalking,

[00:22:20] dreaming that her house was on fire

[00:22:23] and that she was tossing her baby out the window to help waiting below.

[00:22:27] Sadly, this was not the case and her baby died,

[00:22:31] but the courts found her story to be credible.

[00:22:35] She was found not responsible for her baby's death.

[00:22:39] Then there was also Simon Frazier,

[00:22:41] a father of two from Glasgow who dreamed that a large beast had broken into his home

[00:22:45] through the floorboards,

[00:22:47] and he was now saving his family by smashing the head of this beast into the ground.

[00:22:52] Sadly, this beast he was dreaming about turned out to be his 18-month-old son

[00:22:58] and of course the child died.

[00:23:00] He was found not criminally responsible for his son's death,

[00:23:04] however he was ordered to sleep by himself in a locked room for the remainder of his life.

[00:23:10] Now, these last two stories took place in a time

[00:23:13] before we had the technology to monitor someone's brain activity while they're sleeping.

[00:23:18] In Kenneth's case,

[00:23:20] the experts all agreed that he was likely sleepwalking at the time.

[00:23:24] He clearly suffered from a sleep disorder.

[00:23:27] You can't fudge the evidence there.

[00:23:29] But some people believe this to be a convenient excuse.

[00:23:33] Sure, he may have had a sleep disorder,

[00:23:35] but did he use it as an excuse that night to get away with the perfect murder?

[00:23:40] Let me know what you think.

[00:23:42] That's it for me tonight.

[00:23:44] If you want to reach out, you can find me on Facebook at serialnapper.

[00:23:48] I also have a serialnapper True Crime Discussion Group.

[00:23:50] It's called serial society and I'll have the link in my show notes.

[00:23:54] I'd love to chat with you about this case and all of the cases that I cover

[00:23:57] and everything else happening in True Crime.

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[00:24:16] I'm over on X, formerly known as Twitter at serial underscore napper

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[00:24:25] Until next time.

[00:24:27] Sweet dreams, stay kind, especially in the comments.

[00:24:33] Bye.