The fact that this or that person is a lunatic is usually known only to his relatives and friends. As a rule, somnambulists are quite harmless: immersed in a deep sleep, they wander around the rooms, sometimes go outside, and in the morning they do not remember anything.
But among them there are also unfortunate people for whom somnambulism becomes the curse of their whole life. Without realizing it, a harmless lunatic sometimes turns into a bloodthirsty monster and commits terrible and senseless crimes.
Brandon McGill from Norwich, which in England, suffered from somnambulism since childhood, could go out at night naked from the house and walk in this form through the streets until he was detained by police for disturbing public order. Three times his wives left him, who did not want to put up with the night antics of their husband, several times Brandon ended up in psychiatric hospitals. However, tranquilizers and other medications did not help him. At best, he slept peacefully for a month or two, and then the bouts of somnambulism began again.
On a May night in 2002, McGill left the house and went to no one knows where. To his misfortune, on the way there was an unlocked car of a night guard with a key in the ignition, which was standing near the supermarket. Brandon got behind the wheel, started the engine and raced through the city towards the center, not observing any rules.
Soon after the intruder was chased by a police patrol, demanding that he stop immediately. But the lunatic, on the contrary, increased speed and at one of the intersections knocked down two midnight passers-by. Brandon then knocked down a police officer who tried to block his path. (The guardian of the order, by the way, died on the same night in intensive care without regaining consciousness.) Then the policemen pursuing him opened fire on the wheels of the car, which led to a new tragedy. The car on which the somnambulist was racing was thrown aside and he drove into a convenience store, running over the seller.
EXECUTE CANNOT PERMIT
It was only then that McGill, who was slightly injured, finally woke up. While he was trying to figure out what had happened, the police arrived in time and tied him up. A blood alcohol test was negative. This became evidence in favor of the sleepwalker, who was initially mistaken for a roaming alcoholic. During the examination, doctors confirmed that McGill had committed criminal acts in a state of complete insanity. And yet his fate was to be decided by the court.
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The opinions of the judges were divided: some insisted that the legally accused was not subject to jurisdiction and should be treated. Others believed that Magkill deserved the most severe punishment. Fortunately for the defendant, the supporters of the first opinion were in the majority, and the somnambulist was sent to a psychiatric hospital.
ARMED AND VERY DANGEROUS
For the time being, 34-year-old Christopher Paris from Sheffield was an unremarkable office worker. In his spare time, he liked to watch bloody thrillers on TV, despite the warnings of a neurologist who consulted Paris about his sleepwalking.
For a long time, Christopher did not have any special problems, since during night walks he did not leave his house. But in the spring of 1998, the sleepwalker and his wife got into a car accident. The wife died, and Paris escaped with bruises and a concussion. Obviously, it was a head injury and extreme stress that changed the course of his illness.
In his testimony during the investigation, Christopher Paris said:
“The most terrible thing for me was that I did not remember anything about what I had done. My first murder, like everyone else, I overslept. I had some kind of nightmares, it seems that the living dead were chasing me. When I woke up, I saw that my pajamas and hands were bloody, and a bloody kitchen knife was lying near the bed. I turned on the TV and heard that an unknown maniac had killed a 30-year-old man, Alan Louth, in one of the neighboring streets at night. I suspected that this was my handiwork, I was terribly worried and did not know what to do. Going to the police was scary, no one would have believed me. I was also afraid to go to psychiatrists. I wanted to believe that all this is just an annoying misunderstanding that will never happen again …
But a month later, when I woke up one morning, I realized that I had become a murderer again. I found a severed female ear with an earring on the floor. I got hysterical. The news program announced that 47-year-old Barbara Smith, whom the maniac overtook in the alleyway, had been killed. I tried to hang myself, but the hook flew out, to which I tied the rope. Then he swallowed sleeping pills and slept for two days.
By the way, the stomach after that was ruined …
Then I began to take measures that would help me prevent new attacks on people: I hid knives in a safe at home, and handcuffed myself to the bed at night. But each time it turned out that the devil taking possession of me can kill without a knife, and finding the key and opening the lock of the handcuffs is not a problem for him. In the end, something happened that should have happened sooner or later: I was caught. I woke up in great pain and found myself lying on the sidewalk surrounded by police. It turned out that I attacked a bystander and began to strangle him. But he managed to escape and reported the attack to the police. The patrol caught up with me near my house. I didn’t react to the demand to stop, put up active resistance, and they tied me down by force.”
In total, five people became victims of Christopher Paris, two of whom remained alive. He attacked not only on full moon days. For the crimes he had committed, he could be sentenced to life imprisonment, but experts proved that he committed them in a state of insanity, and the lunatic was sent to a psychiatric hospital for treatment.
Sergey DEMKIN
COMMENT
People have been walking in a dream for many centuries, but science has not figured out this mysterious phenomenon. It is believed that night walks and, in general, any physical activity is possible when the inhibition of the central nervous system during sleep does not extend to those parts of the brain that are in charge of motor functions.
The reason for this failure is nervous disorders or damage to the cerebral cortex. But this scientific explanation does not solve the mystery of somnambulism. After all, a sleepwalker does not just randomly move his arms and legs, but performs very complex actions. This is impossible without the coordinated work of many centers of the brain that control our behavior.
Besides, the brain must receive and process information about the environment. The somnambula is not aware of what he is doing, but at the same time he behaves reasonably enough: he exits and enters through the doors; bypasses obstacles, rather than bumping into them; picks up various objects and uses them purposefully. The actions of a sleepwalker are similar to the behavior of a zombie person or a biorobot that someone controls. But who? According to parapsychologists, only one thing is indisputable: some essences from the subtle world infuse lunatics.
Their victims are neurasthenics and psychopaths, in whose protective energy cocoon holes appear due to mental trauma. They can also arise as a result of severe stress, and in children - because of the still fragile energy armor. When the brain's control over the body weakens during the night's sleep, the invading otherworldly entity takes its place and uses the person as a biorobot. It is difficult to judge why she performs certain actions. Sometimes it seems as if the somnambulist is actually possessed by a malicious demon.
According to medical statistics, periodic somnambulism is observed in five percent of children, but then, having matured, the majority get rid of it. However, later, under the influence of severe stress or a nervous breakdown, night walks sometimes resume.
It is not always possible to recover from somnambulism with the help of psychotherapists and hypnologists. Therefore, it is important to avoid the appearance of holes in the energy protection. There are certain meditative techniques for this. But most of us, unfortunately, treat them with unfounded skepticism …
Sergey MILIN