As a rule, only his relatives and friends know that a person is a lunatic. The overwhelming majority of sleepwalkers are completely harmless: immersed in a deep sleep, they wander around the rooms, sometimes go out into the street, and waking up in the morning do not remember anything. For some, however, somnambulism becomes the curse of a lifetime. Without realizing anything, a harmless person can turn into a cruel killer in a dream.
Brandon McGill
Brandon McGill from Norwich, UK, suffered from sleepwalking from early childhood. He left the house at night naked and walked in this form through the streets until the police detained him. Twice his wives left him who did not want to endure antics, four times Brandon ended up in psychiatric hospitals. However, doctors could not help him. At best, he slept peacefully for two months.
On a summer night in 2003, McGill once again left the house and went in a dream to who knows where. Unfortunately for him, an unlocked car near the store was on the way. Brandon got behind the wheel, started the engine, and raced through the city without following any rules. Soon after the offender was chased by a police car, demanding that he stop immediately. But the lunatic, on the contrary, drowned the gas pedal even more and knocked down two teenagers. Brandon then knocked down a police officer who was trying to block his path. The policeman died that night in intensive care. The police were forced to open fire on the wheels of the car, which led to another tragedy: the car was thrown aside, and he drove into a convenience store, crushing the seller there. Only then did McGill finally wake up. While he tried to figure out what was going on and how he ended up in the convenience store,the cops twisted him. The blood alcohol test was negative. During the examination, the doctors confirmed that McGill committed all the crimes in an unconscious state.
The opinions of the judges were divided: some insisted that McGill should be treated, others believed that he deserved the most severe punishment. And yet, the somnambulist was sent to a psychiatric hospital for compulsory treatment.
Christopher Paris
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For the time being, 35-year-old Christopher Paris from Sheffield was the most ordinary office worker. In his spare time, he enjoyed watching bloody thrillers and horror films, despite warnings from doctors who advised Paris about his sleepwalking.
In 1999, the sleepwalker and his wife got into a car accident. The wife died, and Paris escaped with a concussion. Most likely, stress and head trauma drastically changed his life.
In his testimony during the investigation, he said:
“The terrible thing is that I did not remember anything about what I had done. My first murder, like everyone else, I overslept. I had some nightmares, as if zombies were chasing me. When I woke up, I saw that I was covered in blood, and a bloody kitchen knife was lying near the bed. Urom I turned on the TV and heard that an unknown maniac had killed a 30-year-old man at night. I suspected that I did it, was terribly worried and did not know what to do. I really didn't want to go to the police. I was also afraid to go to psychiatrists. A month later, when I woke up in the morning, I finally realized that I was a murderer. A bloody woman's hand lay beside my bed. I got hysterical. The news announced that a 27-year-old girl had been killed at night. I tried to hang myself, but the hook flew out, to which I tied the rope. Then I began to take measures that would help me stop. I locked all sharp objects in the safe, and at night I would handcuff myself to the bed. And yet, one day I woke up from severe pain and found myself lying on the sidewalk surrounded by police. It turned out that I attacked a passer-by and began to strangle him, but then the police came running”.
Christopher Paris killed four people and wounded five. For the crimes he had committed, he could have been sentenced to life imprisonment, but the court proved his insanity and sent him for treatment to a psychiatric hospital.
Expert opinion
People have walked in their sleep for centuries. It is believed that night walks and physical activity are possible when the inhibition of the nervous system during sleep does not extend to the parts of the brain that are responsible for motor functions. However, this scientific explanation does not reveal the reasons for somnambulism. After all, a sleepwalker does not just randomly move his body and limbs, but performs complex actions. As it was written above, in a dream they drive cars, take off their handcuffs and kill. This is impossible without the coordinated work of most of the brain centers. Moreover, the brain must receive and process information about the environment. The sleepwalker, although he does not realize what he is doing, behaves rationally: he exits and enters through the doors, and does not bury himself in the walls; picks up objects and uses them for their intended purpose. And how to explain all this?
Some parapsychologists believe that certain entities from the subtle world infiltrate lunatics. Their victims are more often neurasthenics, in whose protective energy field there are holes. When during sleep the brain's control over the body becomes many times weaker, the invading otherworldly entity uses the person as a puppet. And you must admit that the cases described above are more like not a disease, but the invasion of the Devil himself.