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In this episode of Strange Matters the bizarre and unusual topic of crimes involving sleepwalking murders is discussed. Though hard to imagine, in rare instances of homicide crimes an individual is actually capable of brutal and violent murder, all the while remaining asleep. Though many have tried and failed to use the “sleepwalking defense” through the years, for a select few cases the actions of the killer, and the science behind the condition, do show that a person is perfectly capable of murdering others while sleepwalking.
The idea that people were capable of killing in their sleep has been around for hundreds of years, but very rarely has it been successful in defending the accused. Many have tried to claim they were in a parasomnia state at the time they committed murder, but due to the scientific and behavioral studies of the modern world it is known their actions could not have been done while sleepwalking. However, there are a small number of cases where the most likely and agreed upon theory is that the murderer was actually asleep during the entirety of their crime.
Mary Ann Cotton was a killer in the 1860’s and 70’s. Mary was a poisoner, using arsenic to kill off multiple husbands, friends, and over a dozen children. Her usual trick was to find a suitable man and quickly marry them, often times becoming pregnant right away. Shortly after marriage, she would convince her husband to take a life insurance policy with her as the benefactor. Mary would then poison the husband, and usually several of the children involved as well. This sadistic woman would repeat this process several times, until she had poisoned as many as 21 people before the authorities finally caught on to her act.
