Reality: deadly dreamer walks free
Jaliza Burwell
Issue date: 11/23/09 Section: News
Can you imagine dreaming about something, maybe it's a nice dream or it could even become a nightmare? So you react to that dream and before you know it, what you did in that dream you did in reality. Maybe you end up punching or kicking someone or even slapping yourself or in Brian Thomas's case, end up strangling someone.
Brian Thomas ended up strangling his wife and all because of a simple nightmare. In the end he walked free because the prosecution withdrew all charges saying that he was in a state of automatism. Automatism is a state where a person has no control over their actions like sleepwalking or uncontrollable reflexes.
This dream that ended his wife's life was about how intruders broke into their camper while they were on vacation and he got the intruder in a headlock. In reality he ended up strangling his wife. In July 2008, they were vacationing in Aberporth, West Wales in a parking lot when some boys came and disturbed their sleep making loud noises outside with their cars. After the boys moved to a different parking lot, they were finally able to go back to sleep. But Thomas dreamed that one of the boys came back and broke into their camper. In his dream he was fighting this intruder but in reality he was strangling his wife to death.
Thomas had a history of sleepwalking and sleeping disorders and he decided to stop taking the medication he was prescribed for his depression and Parkinson's Disease because it made him impotent.
The jury was asked not if he was guilty for the murder of his wife, but if he was mentally insane at the time of the murder. In the end, the jury found him not guilty and he was able to walk away a free man.
This goes to show how far dreams can take you and how they can impact your life. If you're not a careful a simple nightmare can cause you to do something dangerous with you being unaware of what you are doing. Dreams can be dangerous or even very pleasant, so just be aware of what you can really do when you think you are simply sleeping but instead you are sleepwalking.
Sources:
cnn.com, timesonline.co.uk
Brian Thomas ended up strangling his wife and all because of a simple nightmare. In the end he walked free because the prosecution withdrew all charges saying that he was in a state of automatism. Automatism is a state where a person has no control over their actions like sleepwalking or uncontrollable reflexes.
This dream that ended his wife's life was about how intruders broke into their camper while they were on vacation and he got the intruder in a headlock. In reality he ended up strangling his wife. In July 2008, they were vacationing in Aberporth, West Wales in a parking lot when some boys came and disturbed their sleep making loud noises outside with their cars. After the boys moved to a different parking lot, they were finally able to go back to sleep. But Thomas dreamed that one of the boys came back and broke into their camper. In his dream he was fighting this intruder but in reality he was strangling his wife to death.
Thomas had a history of sleepwalking and sleeping disorders and he decided to stop taking the medication he was prescribed for his depression and Parkinson's Disease because it made him impotent.
The jury was asked not if he was guilty for the murder of his wife, but if he was mentally insane at the time of the murder. In the end, the jury found him not guilty and he was able to walk away a free man.
This goes to show how far dreams can take you and how they can impact your life. If you're not a careful a simple nightmare can cause you to do something dangerous with you being unaware of what you are doing. Dreams can be dangerous or even very pleasant, so just be aware of what you can really do when you think you are simply sleeping but instead you are sleepwalking.
Sources:
cnn.com, timesonline.co.uk
Be the first to comment on this story