The Barbara Ann Woods Murder
Barbara Ann Woods, a Canadian living in the Toronto suburbs, was the mother-in-law of Kenneth James Park. In 1987, her son-in-law was a 23 year old, happily married to Barbara Ann’s daughter. The young couple had recently given Barbara Ann an infant granddaughter, upon whom her relatives doted. However, all was not well with Barbara Ann’s son-in-law.
Kenneth suffered from insomnia and stress, and was going through a rough patch because of a gambling addiction that drove him into debt. Barbara’s son-in-law embezzled money from his employer, hoping to make some winning bets that would allow him to pay off his debts, then return the money before it was discovered missing. He bet on the wrong horses, lost it all, and the embezzlement was discovered. Barbara’s son-in-law was fired, and his employer filed charges. Things got so bad that he stole from his family’s savings account.
Despite all that, Kenneth had the good fortune to be on excellent terms with his in laws, and Barbara Ann referred to him as her “gentle giant”. In the early morning hours of May 24th, 1987, her gentle giant got out of bed and drove 15 miles to his in laws’ home. Upon arrival, he got a tire iron out of his car’s trunk, and broke into the house. There, he assaulted his father-in-law and choked him unconscious. He also beat Barbara Ann Woods with the tire iron, and stabbed her to death with a kitchen knife.
Kenneth then drove to a police station, arriving at 4:45 AM, covered in blood. He told the cops: “I just killed someone with my bare hands; oh my God, I just killed someone; I’ve just killed two people; my God, I’ve just killed two people with my hands; my God, I’ve just killed two people. My hands; I just killed two people. I killed them; I 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“. Kenneth later claimed that the first thing he remembered from that night was being at the police station.
He was charged with murdering Barbara Ann, and attempting to murder her husband. Kenneth’s defense was that he had been unaware of his actions because he committed them while asleep. Sleep specialists were skeptical that somebody could get in a car, drive it 15 miles, get out and kill somebody, then get back in the car and drive it to a police station, all while asleep. However, the specialists could find no other explanation and eventually concluded that it was possible that Kenneth had been asleep.
In the trial, the defense emphasized Kenneth’s lack of motive, the history of excellent relations with Barbara Ann and her husband, and the consistency of his story during numerous interviews. Also, his brain’s electromagnetic activity readings were extremely irregular, even for people suffering sleep disorders, and such readings were impossible to fake. That convinced the jury, which acquitted him of all charges.