In the early hours of May 24, 1987, a 23-year-old man named Kenneth Parks entered a police station in Pickering, Ontario. He was shaking and covered in fresh blood. He approached the desk officer and stated simply, “I think I have killed some people… my hands.”
When he held them out, officers saw deep cuts that had severed the tendons in his fingers. Parks appeared confused and horrified, claiming he had no memory of how he arrived there or where the blood came from. This confession launched one of the most unprecedented legal proceedings in history, centering on a killer who claimed he never woke up.
A 14-Mile Drive in Deep Slumber
The police investigation reconstructed a seemingly impossible timeline. Parks had fallen asleep on his living room couch after a night of worrying about his heavy gambling debts and unemployment. Sometime before dawn, he stood up, walked out of his house, and got into his car. Despite being in a state of deep sleep, he managed to drive his vehicle 23 kilometers (14 miles) across town.
He navigated highway interchanges and obeyed traffic signals, all while his brain remained in a non-conscious state. He eventually pulled into the driveway of his in-laws, Barbara and Denis Woods, people with whom he had a close relationship and who affectionately referred to him as a “gentle giant.”
A Brutal Attack Without Motive
Parks entered the Woods’ home using a key they had previously given him. He went upstairs to their bedroom where the couple was sleeping. He first attacked his father-in-law, Denis, choking him into unconsciousness. He then located a heavy kitchen knife and fatally stabbed his mother-in-law, Barbara.
Throughout the extreme violence, Parks did not wake up. It was only after the attack, perhaps triggered by the pain of the knife slipping and cutting his own hands to the bone, that he regained partial awareness. He did not flee; he immediately drove to the police station to surrender, oblivious to the specific details of the homicide he had just committed.
The Medical Evidence of Automatism
During the trial, the defense argued that Parks was sleepwalking and therefore could not form the necessary intent to kill. Medical experts conducted detailed electroencephalogram (EEG) tests on Parks. The results showed he suffered from a rare parasomnia disorder that caused abnormal brain activity during sleep cycles. The specialists testified that Parks was in a state of “non-insane automatism.”
Crucially, they noted that he showed no reaction to the severe pain in his hands during the attack, a physical impossibility for a conscious person. Even the surviving victim, Denis Woods, supported Parks, testifying that his son-in-law had always been kind and that the attack was completely out of character.
A Historic Supreme Court Ruling
The jury accepted the medical data presented by the defense. In 1988, they acquitted Parks of first-degree murder and attempted murder. The Crown prosecutors appealed the decision, arguing that such a defense set a dangerous precedent.
The case reached the Supreme Court of Canada in 1992. The justices upheld the acquittal, ruling that a person cannot be held criminally liable for involuntary actions performed while unconscious. Kenneth Parks walked free, having killed a person without ever being awake to witness it.
In 1987, a man walked into a police station covered in blood and said, "I think I have killed some people."
He had driven 14 miles, strangled a man, and stabbed a woman to death.
But he had an impossible defense: he did it all while he was fast asleep…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/xnFq0k3G2O
— Fascinating True Stories (@FascinatingTrue) December 12, 2025