Man Drove Miles While Sleeping and Murdered In-Law | Sleepwalking Murder Case of Kenneth Parks

Now part of the Darkcast Network. Welcome to Indie Podcasts with a Dark side. In the early morning hours of May 24, 1987, 23 year old Kenneth James Park walked into a Toronto police station covered in blood and told officers, quote, I think I have killed some people. My hands, my God. I’ve just killed two people with my hands. It’s all my fault. And then went even further, repeating over and over, I just killed someone with my bare hand. I’ve just killed two people. I’ve just killed my mother and father in law. I stabbed and beat them to death. It’s all my fault. Welcome LaMs. Welcome to Love and Heartbreak to Homicide, your weekly true crime podcast, telling you cases of relationships that turn to murder. I am your host, Ky, and in today’s episode, I tell you about a case that would turn into one of the most controversial and debated defenses in criminal history. But before we get into it, I need to tell you about what’s happening over in the Patreon. Patreon.com/loveandmurder Right now, as you know, the Gerhard Konig trial is going on and I’m covering each day with my commentary at the $10 a month tier. You also get clips of the trial as well as the full day’s videos to follow along yourself. In the end, the fictional LaM jury will give our verdict and see if it matches the actual verdict. Now, once the case is actually done, I’m going to do an update episode for the public LaMs. So no worries, you’re still going to get your update episode. But right now we’re going through this trial day by day with my commentary and you can watch the trial yourself in the Patreon. Patreon.com/loveandmurder also in the Patreon. If you caught that surprise public episode I dropped this Saturday, look, it was a surprise to me too. I was writing an article and this case was just, I was just so passionate about it. I was like, I had to stop everything. I was literally on the phone with my husband while I was writing. So he was on the phone while I was recording. That’s how fast I went to record. But if you want the full experience of that case where you can hear my husband talking and I’m just, uh, head on over to the Patreon. My husband gave his own commentary on that case and he, uh, didn’t hold back. Only thing I did ask him was not to curse because he does curse like a sailor. And at the $10 a month tier, you also get in, uh, Bonus episodes every month after shows, case files, and the deeper conversations that don’t always make it onto the main feed. All while helping keep this podcast listener funded and centered on the victim’ voices. Patreon.com/loveandmurder and now that we got all the housekeeping taken care of, let’s get back to this case of love and murder. To understand what led up to this moment of Kenneth walking into a police station in Toronto, Canada, telling them that, you know, he thinks he killed somebody with his bare hands and everything like that. We have to look at what his life looked like. In the year before May 1987, Kenneth was working as a project coordinator for Revere Electric. He was married to Karen and they had a five month old daughter. He had a close relationship with his in laws, Barbara Ann woods and Dennis woods and Barbara even referred to him as a, uh, gentle giant. They were aware he had struggles and they had always been supportive of him. But at the same time, Kenneth was hiding a serious problem. About a year before the attack, he developed a severe gambling addiction and began placing heavy bets on horse races. That addiction escalated quickly into financial ruin. He started stealing from his family’s savings, and when that wasn’t enough, he embezzled, uh, $30,000 from his employer. In March 1987, his employer discovered the theft and fired him. Even after that, that still didn’t stop him. He continued trying to get money, forging Karen’s signature twice to support his gambling. Ah, uh, that’s so unfortunate. I always see these gambling commercials and then they’re like, you know, if you have a gambling problem, like in little words at the bottom of the screen, if you have a gambling problem, call this number. It’s like you’re advertising gambling. To, like, somebody who may be addicted to gambling, you know, they’re not going to look at that little disclaimer at the bottom of the screen and, or call this number. So I always like wonder about that whenever I see that stuff. Now at the same time all of this is going on. Kenneth had a long documented history of parasomnia that would later become the center of this entire case. As a child, he frequently talked and walked in his sleep and suffered from chronic enuresis. I think that’s how you say it. And he suffered from that until he was nearly 12 years old. Now, enuresis, again, I think that’s how you say it is the medical term for bedwetting, which, why is there a medical term for bedwetting? Why can’t you just say bedwetting? There was even an incident once where his brother had to grab him by the leg to stop him from climbing out of a, uh, window while he was asleep. Ah, uh, sleepwalking. Sounds scary. This wasn’t isolated to him either. His family history showed a multi generational pattern of sleep disorders, including sleepwalking, adult bedwetting, nightmares, and sleep talking. Leading up to May 24, he was under significant stress and severely sleep deprived. So you already know whenever you’re stressed, especially severely stressed, that is like the melting pot, the bubbling cauldron, for whatever problems that you have that you don’t even know, you have to come to the surface. I know when I’m overstressed, like I have to be overstressed. I have sleep seizures. Um, I knew it was, I know it’s happening and you know, I’ve known people, like, they’ve seen it happen to me and it freaks them out. But I never researched it. I never figured out what it was from. It was somebody in my family who mentioned it to me and told me that it was stress. Ah, related. So throughout the years I’ve tried to bring down my stress significantly. But yeah, I have sleep seizures. Do you have something that happens, you know, and when you’re overly stressed to you? Let me know in the comments below. On the night of May 23, he fell asleep on his couch while watching television. What happened next became one of the most debated sequences in criminal law. While in a state of deep sleep, Kenneth got up, put on his coat, left his house, got in his car, and drove approximately 14 miles, or 23 kilometers from his house in Pickering to his in laws house in Scarsboro. How many people are on the road right now sleep driving? Can you imagine? New fear unlocked. Anyway, he successfully navigated traffic lights and a freeway during that drive. When he got there, he used the key that his in laws had given him to enter the house. He went to his car, took a tire iron from the trunk, and then entered the bedroom where Barbara and Dennis were sleeping. He then bludgeoned Barbara with the tire iron and then went to the kitchen, uh, to get a knife. He returned and stabbed her four times, killing her. Where is Dennis? Okay. Then he attacked Dennis, attempting to choke and strangle him. Hold on, I’m confused here. So he bludgeoned Barbara with the tire iron and then left the bedroom, went to the kitchen to get a knife, and then came back and stabbed her four times. Does Dennis and Barbara sleep in different rooms? Either that or Dennis sleeps heavy. Maybe he takes sleeping pills. Why didn’t he wake up throughout all this and fight Kenneth off. This is. That’s confusing to me. Of course, I’m not attacking the victims or blaming, you know, blaming the victims at all. It’s just that part’s confusing. Kenneth had time to bludgeon Barbara, had time to go to the kitchen, get a knife, come back, stab her, and then he turned around and attacked Dennis. You know, this is. This is confusing. Is it just me who’s confused, or are you confused too? So he attacked Dennis, trying to choke him. And Dennis did end up surviving. But he later testified that he never saw his attacker’s face. During the attack, Kenneth severed tendons on both of his hands so severely that he required surgery. But at the time, he appeared completely unaware of the pain. Oh, I can’t even imagine what that must have felt like. But, you know, when you hurt yourself in your sleep, you don’t feel it till you wake up. Oh, uh, after the attack, he left the house, got back into his car, and drove to the police station. So was he still sleeping? But I guess when he started talking to the officers, he was saying, I think I killed someone. My hands. My hands. So maybe he was confused as to why his hands look like that or that his hands were hurting. You know, so maybe on the way back, that’s when he woke up and realized something was wrong. So when he got to the police station, like I said, that’s when he started speaking to officers. And throughout more than seven police interviews, he remained consistent in one key claim. He had no memory of what had happened and no reason to harm his in laws. He was charged with first degree murder for Barbara’s death and attempted murder for what happened to Dennis. As ah, the case moved forward, investigators also conducted medical testing, including EEG readings and sleep studies. These tests showed that Kenneth had abnormal sleep patterns, including unusually deep sleep and frequent cycling through sleep phases. So during all this time, an investigation is going on. They’re testing Kenneth to make sure, you know, he is someone who sleepwalks and not that he just said he sleepwalked. And then in 1988, his trial took place, and it centered entirely on one question. Was he conscious during the attack? His attorney, Marlise Edworth, built the defense around non insane automatism, arguing that Kenneth had been in a, quote, deep, deep sleep and that there was no will or conscious mind directing his actions so he could not be held criminally responsible. To support that, the defense presented five expert witnesses, including Kennedy neurophysiologists and psychiatrist Dr. Roger James Boreton, Dr. John uh, Gordon Edmeans, Dr. Ronald Frederick Billings and Dr. Robert Wood Hill and, sorry, Dr. Frank Raymond Irvin. These experts testified that Kenneth was sleepwalking during the incident. Dr. Boratan said, quote, my opinion is that he did it during a sleepwalking episode and explained that his EEG readings showed, uh, abnormal brain activity characterized by unusually deep sleep. In this state, there’s no evidence of voluntary planning or intent. He also testified that the risk of recurrence was infinitesimal and absolutely improbable, and that Kenneth had no capacity to intend his actions or appreciate their consequences. Dr. Irvine described what was happening in the brain during these episodes, explaining that the cortex, which controls voluntary movements and complex thought, is essentially in a coma. He said that part of the brain is effectively in a coma. What is left is those deep structures to handle the whole set of problems of moving about in the world and responding to stimuli reflexively. This explanation was, uh, used to show how Kenneth could perform complex actions like driving while remaining unconscious. That is still very scary. The defense also introduced the idea of, quote, a switch in error, which the parts of the brain responsible for movements and emotion are active, while the prefrontal cortex, the area responsible for judgment, is, quote, offline. They pointed out that his symptoms aligned with studies dating back to 1974 involving adults who exhibited violent behavior while sleeping, many of whom had similar childhood histories of bedwetting and sleepwalking. They also addressed the rarity of the case, noting that at the time, there were only about 35 documented cases worldwide of homicides and committed druin. Sleepwalking. Very scary. Even though it’s 35. Still very scary. Dr. Broton testified that in his own career, he had only seen five or six cases involving aggression. There were also theories, uh, presented about what might have triggered the violence itself. Some experts suggested that when Kenneth entered the house, Barbara or Dennis may have encountered him in that sleepwalking state and tried to wake or restrain him, which would actually make sense if one of them wasn’t in the bed. Uh, like Barbara maybe wasn’t in the bed and she saw him when he got in the house. And then, you know, he did all of this. That would make sense as to why Dennis didn’t wake up and try and stop it. Because his logical brain wasn’t functioning. His primitive brain may have interpreted that as a threat, causing him to react violently in what it perceived as self defense. Now, I do want to point out that we’re not saying people who sleepwalk are dangerous. I just want to point that out because sometimes People go overboard when they hear stories like this. We are not saying at all. And by we, I mean me. And then the people who actually study this are not saying that sleepwalkers are dangerous at all. It just happened in this case, and it happened in the case of Benjamin Elliot. That is, out of how many millions of people who probably sleepwalk? Okay. And then, like they said in here during the trial, out of billions of people on this earth and possibly millions who sleepwalk. 35. 35. That’s it. Okay. So nobody’s saying that sleepwalkers are dangerous. The prosecution, led by Kathy Mocha, took a completely different position. She described the defense as, quote, ludicrous, and argued that Kenneth, quote, must have known what he was doing, but had simply blocked out the very terrible events due to guilt over his gambling debts and embezzlement. The Crown questioned how someone could drive through multiple traffic lights and navigate a, uh, freeway while unconscious, and suggested that his financial situation gave him a motive to lash out at the very people he was planning to confess to. They also relied on a British case, r. Uh, versus Burgess, where a sleepwalking defendant had been found legally insane, attempting to push the idea that even if this was sleepwalking, it should be classified as a disease of the mind. Despite that, the defense maintained that Kenneth’s condition was a, uh, natural sleep disorder, not a, uh, psychiatric illness. They emphasized his lifelong history, his family background, and the medical evidence showing abnormal sleep patterns. After hearing all of that testimony, the jury deliberated for nine hours. I know that was a hard case to deliberate for. I know, uh, that would have been hard on me. And ultimately returned a verdict of not guilty. They were more convinced by the scientific evidence than the prosecution’s skepticism. Kenneth was acquitted of both the murder and the attempted murder charges in 1988. Because the jury accepted that he was in a state of non insane automatism, he was not sent to a psychiatric hospital and was instead released. He walked out of the courtroom a free man. I mean, in a sense, a free man. He didn’t go to prison, but he stuck with the idea that while he was sleeping, he murdered two people while he murdered one person and tried to murder another that he actually cares about. However, even after the verdict, the case did not end there. Even after Kenneth was acquitted, the Crown immediately appealed the decision, arguing what the jury had accepted that he was sleepwalking should not automatically mean he walked free. Their position was that sleepwalking, especially in a case involving that level of violence, should be classified as a disease of the mind, which Would shift the legal outcome entirely. If the courts had agreed with that argument, Kenneth wouldn’t have been released. Instead, he would have received a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity and been sent to a psychiatric hospital, Potentially indefinitely. So at this point, the case turned into something much bigger Than just what happened inside the house. It became a legal battle over how the justice systems defines responsibility when someone commits a violent act without conscious awareness. The supreme court of canada heard the case on January 27, 1992, and the final decision came down on August 27, 1992. In what became the landmark rule in versus Parks. The court ultimately upheld the original acquittal, Agreeing that the trial judge had been correct not to classify sleepwalking as a disease of the mind. Instead, they affirmed that it was a sleep disorder, which meant Kenneth’s action fell under non insane automatism. The court confirmed that there was no criminal responsibility and no requirement for psychiatric detention. Kenneth remained a free man. But even with that ruling, There wasn’t complete agreement among the justices. Chief justice antonio lamer and justice corey actually dissented in part, not on whether he should be acquitted, but on what should happen afterwards. They raised concerns about public safety and argued that the case should be sent back to consider imposing a, uh, keep the peace order, Something that would require Kenneth to follow strict conditions like maintaining sleep, sleep hygiene and reporting to specialists. That I agree with, But I don’t know what sleep hygiene is, but reporting to specialists, Definitely, I do agree with that. The majority rejected that idea, Stating that the courts were not equipped to monitor a permanent order like that, and that imposing lifelong restrictions on someone who had been fully acquitted could violate his rights. I mean, it’s not for the court to monitor it. It’s really for his family to monitor. Is like, is he actually going to the specialists? Um, you know, stuff like this. And I don’t think that’s imposing lifelong restrictions. I mean, he drove while sleeping. He murdered somebody. You know, like, obviously, I don’t think it’s his fault it was a sleep disorder, but still, it’s still dangerous for him, you know, so if he gets really, really stressed out, who knows, it could happen again. You know, I’m not saying he’s a violent person when he’s awake, but there’s a possibility that this could happen again. Possibility that it could happen again. So I think for his safety, his family safety, public safety, he should have been required to report to specialists. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. In the end, uh, they ruled, quote, not conscious, not responsible not guilty. And that became the defining takeaway of the case. But outside of the courtroom, things were a lot less settled. Even though Kenneth was acquitted of the murder and attempted murder, he still had to face the consequences of everything that led up to that night. Around the time of the trial, he pleaded guilty to the fraud and embezzlement charges tied to the $30,000 he stole from his employer. And he paid full restitution for that money. So while he walked free from the homicide charges, his financial crimes were still acknowledged and addressed medically. He was placed on treatment and followed strict sleep hygiene practices. And according to reports, he never experienced another violent sleepwalking episode. I’m happy. So he placed himself on a treatment and followed whatever strict sleep hygiene practices are. Let’s find out what this mean. Sleep hygiene practices. Let us find out what this means. Ah. Uh, okay. So. Sleep hygiene practices, according to Harvard Health, is a set of practices and routine that help you get better sleep. Adequate, good quality sleep allows your body to experience the physical maintenance and repair, immune system boost, and emotional and cognitive renewal that sleep provides. Sleep hygiene encompasses. And this is continued on with Harvard Health publishing. Sleep hygiene encompasses making your sleeping environment comfortable and conducive to uninterrupted sleep, keeping a consistent sleep schedule of seven to nine hours per night for most adults, following a bedtime routine that helps you fall asleep, establishing daytime habits that optimize restful sleep at night, and tailoring these practices for your own best results. Expert recommendations have traditionally emphasized going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day, including weekends. Wow. I need to take that advice, uh, my daggone self. Sorry. I just wanted to look up what sleep hygiene meant, so. And I figured there’s some of my LaMs out there who didn’t understand that either. So we were learning together. Kenneth and Karen stayed together, and over time, they built a life that included six children. On paper, it looked like he had managed to rebuild and move forward, but the public never really let it go. That became very clear in October 2006, when Kenneth ran for school trustee and in the Durham region. By that point, nearly 20 years had passed since the killing of Barbara Ann Woods. But the reaction from the community showed just how much the case still lingered. People weren’t just focused on the sleepwalk in defense. They were also looking at his history of embezzlement and what that said about his character. Professor Ann Lessige spoke out, saying her concern was a quote, that lack of ethics and lack of professionalism on someone who is representing our school. Board. Another community member, Alan McDonald, made a distinction that a lot of people seem to agree with, saying, quote, sleepwalking, perhaps a medical thing, but not the embezzlement. Okay, So I thought they were getting on him about the sleepwalking incident, because I was about to say that’s literally not his fault. But I can see where they’re coming from. Despite the legal exoneration for the death of Barbara, the public remained deeply divided over whether Kenneth could ever truly leave the shadows of that May morning behind. And that is the case of Kenneth Parks and his sleepwalking defense. Now, if you remember, last week’s case was about sleepwalking, too. And I’m going to be doing throughout season six, I’m going to be doing more episodes about sleepwalking and true crime, um, because it’s just fascinating. And we’ll see how the cases all line up together. Some of them, they’re acquitted, and some of them, they’re not. So throughout the year, we’ll be doing more of these cases. However, if you missed or forgot about the case of Benjamin Elliot, I will put the link in the show notes below that you can go ahead and listen to it. And then what I want you to do is, when you listen to it, let’s figure out together why they ended vastly different. And for this case, I want to hear from you. Do you believe someone can commit a crime this violent while sleepwalking and truly have no responsibility, or do you think there has to be some level of awareness there? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. So those are two questions I have for you. Do you think, uh, it’s possible for somebody to commit a crime this violently and just have no awareness about it? And also, why do you think that Kenneth was found not guilty, but Benjamin was found guilty? So, because I’m asking you to compare and contrast the two cases and their results this week, I’m not asking for a final fictional verdict from the LaM Patreon jury, but we can go over the fictional verdict for last week’s sleepwalking case. That episode was the case of Benjamin Elliot, like I said before, who killed his twin and said he was sleepwalking. If you missed that case, the link is in the show notes below. The question I put forward last week towards our fictional LaM jury was, do you believe the sleepwalking claim, or do you think there was some unknown motive for Benjamin to have killed his twin? Now, I did get a fictional verdict, but let’s read a closing statement from one of our jurors, Chelly Xoxo. Said if there was digital evidence of him searching things that made him sound like he hated his sister or had a liking for murder or had evil tendencies, then I wouldn’t believe it. But nothing in his character would state that this was on purpose. I feel for him. I agree. Chelli, thank you so much for your comment. I do agree with you. That was my whole thing. Nobody said he had any ill feelings towards his sister. Nobody said that ever in their lives. You know, they didn’t get into fights. He was her protector. He loved her. This is all you hear from everybody, family and non family alike. Um, and then testing was done on him too, just like it was done on Kenneth. And it did show that he was a sleepwalker. So I believed that he was actually a sleepwalker and I believed that he didn’t do it. And I do feel for him that his twin sister’s dead, number one, he finds out he’s the one who did it, number two. And then number three, they find him guilty. And now he’s dealing with prison, even though he’s already in the prison of his mind that he lost his twin sister and he was the one who did it. So, yeah, I feel for him as well. So, all in all, from the fictional LaM jury, the final verdict was not guilty. Thank you to my fictional jury for chiming in. Continue to leave your comments because I love to hear from my LaM. And even if your comment isn’t read on air, I do interact with the comments that I see online. Now, I do have a comment that corrected me on one episode, and this was from the case of Monica Simentelli. And if you don’t remember that, then the link is in the show notes below. The correction came from my awesome LaM, Renee L. They told me that Monica and Fabio were actually four years apart, not 15 as I previously reported. Now, I went and did some research, and although some, um, places did say they were more than a decade apart, I looked up their actual birth years, and Monica was born in 1972 and Fabio was born in 1960. 67. So Renee was correct. Now I’m wondering maybe those other sources, because there were a couple. Maybe I did something wrong too. And I’m thinking maybe they did the same thing as me, maybe instead of five, because 1972, 1967, that’s about five years, depending on the month they were born. It could have been five years, it could have been four years. You know, maybe I accidentally put a, uh, one in front of the five when I was writing. And maybe those couple sources did that too. I’m not really sure, but it’s something I was just now thinking as I was reading this. So either way, I wanted to make that correction. Monica and Fabio were four years apart, not 15. And thank you so much, Renee for calling that out. And if you want more, more conversations with me, more cases, more ranting that doesn’t always make it into the full episodes, then come and join me over on the Patreon. Patreon.com uh, forward/loveandmurder at just a $3 a month tier, you do get access to the after show where I break down shorter cases with my LaMs in a more relaxed real talk format. You’ll also hear my LaM husband’s commentary on that surprise case from Saturday. I know I’m saying my LaM husband, but he’s, he’s actually, he’s, he’s my husband. So if you want to hear his voice, you want to hear his commentary, you want to hear somebody that, you know, I talk to on the daily, then you can hear his commentary at the $3 a month tier and above over in the LaM Patreon fam. Patreon.com forward/ uh, love and murder. Thank you so much for being here with me. Thank you so much for listening and thank you so much for caring about these stories. And as we say at the end of each episode, I want to remind you that it’s say it with me now. All, uh, love and no murder, y’. All. See you in the next case. Bye, Foreign. Hey LaMs, and welcome to your after show. This after show is going to be made public for everybody. So if you’re not part of the LaM Patreon Fam yet, then you can get a glimpse of what happens in the after shows happening after most of the full episodes and you can become part of the LaM Patreon Fam and get these after shows at just a $3 a month tier and above. And at that tier, not only do you get the after show episodes, but you also get extras in most cases, not all, but in most episodes, which includes pictures of the cases, videos if they’re available, pictures of the evidence if they’re available, and so much more that starting at only the three dollar tears and going up. Patreon.com loveandmurder now let’s get into your after show. Now you know each after show I just read from an article that I had to write and this one is no different. So in May 2022, 32 year old Dorrilia Espinosa walked into an Albuquerque, New Mexico hospital carrying her 16 year old daughter. The girl was unresponsive, and it didn’t take long for medical staff to realize she had been already dead for quite some time. Dorilia was a mother of five, and she described herself as a, quote, hard working mother who does everything for her children. But when investigators started digging into her history, her description of herself didn’t hold up. Notice I said that she described herself. How do you describe yourself? A single mom who works two jobs, who loves her kids and never stops. Sorry. When she says she described herself as a hard working mother. I thought about Reba’s, uh, song from, uh, from her show Reba. If you haven’t watched that, I like that show. So anyway, she’s describing herself as this hard working. Oh my God. It has never been such a hard working, you know, but when investigators looked it up, they were like, ah, yeah, that’s not what we see here. Back in 2019, when her daughter was just 12 years old, Dorelia had already been charged with cruelty to children and deprivation of necessary food, clothing, and shelter. Um, ma’, am, did you describe yourself as a mother who does everything for her children? I guess everything except the basics. When officers responded at that time, they found conditions that were disturbingly similar to what would later be discovered. In 2022, there were four other siblings in the home, ranging in age from 9 months to 12 years old, all living in that same environment. And even after those charges were filed, Dorelia never showed up to court. A, uh, warrant was issued for her arrest, but. Oh, uh, my God. They issued a warrant, but it was never served. And it just sat there for three years untouched. And also they never went back and checked on those children. The whole thing sat there untouched until the day her daughter died. It’s everybody’s fault. Everybody’s fault. Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. They had an opportunity to save those children. I don’t know what the problem is when I do cases like this. I just, I don’t understand it. By May 3, 2022, everything came to a head. When Derrilia brought her daughter to the hospital, doctors immediately saw the level of neglect. At 16 years old, the girl weighed just 40 pounds, which is a typical weight of an 8 year old child. According to the evidence presented later, she had no fat, tissue or muscle left on her body, which proved that this wasn’t a sudden decline. It happened over time. And then there were the details that made this case even harder to process, if you can believe that. So pause here. Graphic child abuse described ahead. Listener discretion is advised. So I’M going to pause before I continue. Investigators found, uh, maggots crawling out of the 16 year old’s body, and she had severe rashes and scrapes around her vaginal area. These weren’t minor injuries, and they weren’t recent. Prosecutors later described it as physical injury and suffering that had been going on for days. At a minimum, five or six days before she died. The girl herself had been dealing with significant medical challenges throughout her life. She was blind, uh, and suffered from frequent seizures, which made her completely dependent on the person who was supposed to be taking care of her. You know, there are certain cases that really lets me know that I cannot be a police officer, an attorney, a judge, or anything dealing with any kind of law enforcement, because my job would always be just hanging by that one thread of sanity. Because if you come in here and you tell me this woman starved her and the maggots were coming out of this child and she was blind and she had seizures, I would Superman my ass across the desk trying to grab this bitch. Oh, my God. I belong right here behind a microphone, not in front of anybody who will tell me these stories in person. Do you hear me? Because there would be a whole different news report. Like, mother arrested for violent abuse of her daughter. Arrest an officer, uh, violently assaulted said mother. I think there would be, like, riots every day that I arrest somebody, because everybody’s gonna be like, let her go. She did what nobody else would do. Like, I. I won’t kill them. I’m not crazy, but I will assault them. You know what I’m saying? After the hospital visit, investigators went to the home and found a girl’s bedroom filled with feces, blood, and flies. Wow. Detective Roger Garcia later said that the case was difficult not just because of the harm that had been done, but because of who inflicted it. At that point, Dorilia was arrested, and along with the new charges tied to her daughter’s death, that 2019 warrant was finally served. Oh, yay, Justice. That was heavy sarcasm, by the way. As the case moved forward, Derrelia, uh, eventually entered a plea. Now, do you think she took accountability and entered a guilty plea and said, I’m so sorry for the horrible, terrible asshole of a mother that I am? Or do you think she didn’t take accountability at all? If you chose that she didn’t take accountability at all for 500, Alex, then you would be right. She pled no contest to reckless abuse of a child, resulting in death and child abuse. So what that means is that the court was recognizing that the death didn’t come from a single violent act, but from ongoing neglect that ultimately led to her daughter’s death. Basically, she tried not to take accountability, and the court was like, well, we’ll take accountability for you. But because she didn’t actually say she was guilty, it was no contest. By the time the case reached sentencing in January 2026, it had turned into a direct clash between what the prosecution said happened and how the defense wanted the court to see it. Pause here. January 2026. When did this happen? 2022. Why does stuff take so freaking long? Oh, my God. On one side, Bernalillo County Deputy District attorney Savannah Brandenburg Koch laid out the state’s argument. She argued that this case is not a tragic accident, a lapse in judgment, a parent that is frustrated. This case is about prolonged abuse. And based on that, the prosecution pushed for the maximum sentence of 18 years. I’d have been like, your honor, can I get the maximum sentence of 18 years? A minimum sentence of, I don’t know, 20 minutes in a room with her, bare knuckle boxing. That’s all I ask for, Your Honor. Just 20 minutes. You know, maximum sentence, 18 years, 20 minutes. Bare knuckle boxing. Is that asking too much, your honor? And I know some people are going to be like, oh, my God, I can’t believe you’re laughing in a case of child abuse. I’m not laughing at the child abuse. But think about how many cases like this. I do. It’s been six years. How many cases like this do I do? I have to research the case. So now I heard about the case. I have to write about the case. So now I heard about the case. I have to record this. So now I heard about the case. That’s just three times already. Then I have to edit this. So I have to hear about the case. Then I have to re listen to my episode to make sure that I don’t make a mistake. Like I did when I posted day one of, uh, the Gerhard Koenig trial, where I was so tired that I didn’t listen to the episode after I did everything and I put out the raw episode. So that’s five times that I have to listen to the horrors of a case. Y’ all just listen to me saying this five times. I have to listen to the bullshit these people put these poor children through. This is how I stay sane. I’m not making fun. I’m not making light. It is a freaking terrible, horrible, no good, very bad situation that I don’t take lightly. But you have to understand, I Have to be for me to be able to continue to bring light to these cases, which do need to be talked about, because Derelia, uh, her case needs to be talked about. We need to hear about what this woman did, and maybe it’ll help other children going through this. Like, somebody will recognize that, oh, I saw this happen. Ky’s speaking about this. This reminds me of somebody else’s child. Let me call 911 and make sure that they’re following up. This might save somebody’s life. I am compelled to continue bringing light to these cases, but I am also compelled at saving my fricking sanity. So although you may hear laughing, that does not mean that I care any less about what’s happening to these children. You hear what I say? I can’t be anybody in law enforcement. What does that say to you? That I care very deeply. Very deeply. Probably too deeply. So please, give me a break if you hear me laughing in a case. Okay? I haven’t had anybody complain about it in a while, but it was a time when they were always complaining about it. And there was a time in the beginning when I started recording and I was trying to figure out how to do these cases and what I was doing here and, you know, why I was doing this, how, where, when, who, and why. Back in the beginning, I understand it wasn’t for everybody. It was cringe. Like, if I really look back at my beginning cases, I really don’t like how I navigated them and, um, how I hosted them. I really don’t like it. But I was just getting used to being a true crime podcaster, and I was kind of following some of my favorite true crime podcasters. But that’s just a lesson. Do what you can do, not what others do, you know? So I haven’t had a lot of people, so I haven’t had anybody actually in recent times complain about the laughing. But I still wanted to put that PSA out there just in case someone new comes upon it and then they want to complain. So that’s my psa. So back to what we were talking about. So the prosecution is asking for the maximum sentence of 18 years. And they talked about the condition of the victim, the timeline, the suffering for five to six days, and the fact that nothing was done to stop her suffering. Uh, I mean, I would have laid it out like the maggots, the house, the state of the house. That’s what I would have said. I’m pretty sure they did, too. But on the other side, Dorelia’s defense attorney asked for a reduced sentence. Because, I mean, we’re the defense, we gotta ask for this, right? They asked for a reduced sentence of 12 years. And Dorelia, uh, addressed the court. I mean, at least they didn’t ask for like probation, I guess. So the defense had to defend. Somehow, I think this defense really didn’t want to defend because they’re asking for 12 years. So Dorilia addressed the court and spoke through a translator. And she said, quote, I never wanted this. I want to say that I love my children with my whole heart, from the oldest to the youngest. I’m not a bad person. I’m just a hard working mother who does everything for her children. And as the judge, after she finished saying that, I’d have literally, literally not figuratively, thrown the book at her and then said 28 years. I’d have gone above the maximum because how dare you, you freaking piece of crap. I’m a hard working mother who does everything for her children except the bare minimum. Remember, we go back to the beginning. What did they say she had been charged with? Cruelty to children and deprivation of necessary food, the basics. Necessary food, necessary clothing and necessary shelter. That is literally the basics of being a parent. Not even anything beyond that. The, um, basics. You couldn’t give them breakfast, lunch and dinner, even if it was a sandwich and some milk for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You, uh, couldn’t give them clothing, even if it was one outfit for every day of the week. And you couldn’t provide them with necessary shoes, shelter. Remember, that was what her first warrant was for. And you want to sit here and open your mouth after your 16 year old starved to death with maggots coming out of her body and try and tell me that you’re a hard working mother who does everything for her children. Book at your face. Book thrown at your face. Uh, okay. On January 25, 2026, Judge Bruce Fox delivered the sentence. He didn’t give the prosecution the full 18 years they were asking for. But he also didn’t agree with the defense that 12 years was enough. Instead, he sentenced Dorilia, uh, to 15 years in prison. I wonder why he chose that nice odd number. I wonder why. And when he explained that decision, he focused on the timeline, saying it was physical injury and suffering for this child that took place. It didn’t happen in a moment or a reckless decision. This happened at a minimum of five to six days. So yeah, including with her previous warrant, it should have been more than 18 years according to the USA law, let me put it that way. According to USA law. It should have been more than 18 years, but you just gave 15. I don’t understand that. So by the end of this case, a 16 year old girl who was blind, who suffered from seizures and who was completely dependent on someone else for care died weighing 40 pounds with no fat or muscle left on her body after days of suffering that investigators said should never have happened in the first place because there was also an active warrant out and they didn’t follow up with it for three years. Not only that, it should have been her mother who was taking care of her. So it’s like she was failed at every turn. Now, if you suspect child abuse, call the Child Help National Child abuse hotline at 1-800-for a child or 1-800-422-4453. You can also go to childhelp.org all, uh, calls are toll free and confidential and the hotline is available 24. 7 in more than 170 languages. You could also visit my site for more resources. Murderandlove.com that’s loveand murderbackwards. Murderandlove.com so that is all I have for you for your after show and for the LaMs who are not part of the LaM Patreon Fam. This is what you get at your after show. You get episodes like this, you get my unhinged commentary and you get to help bring more cases to light. So join us over in the Patreon. Become part of the LaM Patreon Fam. The after shows start at the bonus tiers, just $3 a month and above. And the higher the bonus tier you sign up for, the more bonuses you get. But you can start off at the $3 a month tier and you will hear me ranting and raving at the after show and other things. Patreon.com forward/loveandmurder thank you so much for joining me. It was a pleasure bringing Dorelia’s stank face to the forefront so everybody could hear what a stank ass she is. And her 16 year old’s life will not be forgotten. And I really hope her other children are in a very safe place right now. Thank you for your support and I will see you in the next episode. Bye. Editing Ky here. I just wanted to come on and apologize because for the past, what has it been, like a month? I’ve been getting your episodes out late. Like I get it out on Monday, but I was getting it out on Monday at 6am now it’s just on Monday. So I do want to apologize for that. Um, I’m going to spend this week getting myself back on track with my schedule. So thank you for being patient with me. Hopefully after this week your episodes will start coming back out at 6am and if you’re part of the lam fam at 12am um, so I do want to apologize for that. I was just thinking about that as I was editing this show and it’s already 12:24pM and um, like I’m six hours late with the episode. So just wanted to point that out. Apologies and say that I will try and get back on track. Thanks. Bye.

Since you listened to this case, maybe you’d be interested in:

“I Thought It Was a Dream” Teen Kills Twin Sister, Sleepwalking or Murder? | Benjamin Elliott
https://murderandlove.com/i-thought-it-was-a-dream-teen-kills-twin-sister-sleepwalking-or-murder-benjamin-elliott/

Celebrity Hairstylist Murdered as Wife’s Secret Life is Exposed | Monica Sementilli
https://murderandlove.com/celebrity-hairstylist-murdered-as-wifes-secret-life-is-exposed-monica-sementilli/

Sources: (what the sources say)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_v_Parks
https://legalclarity.org/the-kenneth-parks-case-a-landmark-sleepwalking-defense/
https://anomalien.com/kenneth-parks-the-story-of-sleepwalking-killer/
https://toronto.citynews.ca/2006/10/27/man-acquitted-of-sleepwalking-murder-running-for-school-trustee-in-durham/
https://dirkdeklein.net/2017/07/09/homicidal-sleepwalking-the-kenneth-parks-case/
https://apnews.com/article/c7c3bc37038fdde048fd8e3caf3c84ee
https://decisions.scc-csc.ca/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/907/index.do
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8583408.stm
https://sleepforensicmedicine.org/case-studies/sleep-walking/
https://www.whythoseverdicts.com/2022/02/the-trial-of-kenneth-parks.html
https://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/sleep/articles/2009/05/08/7-criminal-cases-that-invoked-the-sleepwalking-defense
https://allthatsinteresting.com/sleepwalkers-who-kill/2
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/enuresis
https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthy-aging-and-longevity/sleep-hygiene-simple-practices-for-better-rest