Episode 7 - A Walk On the Wild Side Artwork

Professional Weirdo Podcast

Where I research strange stories and tell them to you. Because, let’s face it, I’m gonna research this anyway and blurt it to someone, might as well be a willing audience. Some of these stories might get dark, morbid, murdery…. so listener discretion is advised.

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Professional Weirdo Podcast

Episode 7 - A Walk On the Wild Side

June 21, 2025 • Anonymous Narrator • Season 1 • Episode 7

Dive into parasomnia and sleepwalking - and all the other things that can go wrong in our sleep. And listen to a few stories where "sleepwalking" led to murder. Allegedly. Supposedly. Brutally.

Songs:

I’m Not Falling Asleep by Andy Shauf
Sleep to Dream by Fiona Apple
Heavy Water/I’d Rather be Sleeping by Grouper, and
Wake Up by Arcade Fire

Sources:

Sound mixing performed by Brother Jay from The Rule of Scary podcast - check that out if you’re a horror movie fan! And hey! Thank you for listening to my stories. Keep it weird out there.

To find song recommendations for this podcast, check out the Spotify Professional Weird playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5jIkaamOZlCwtd2peUk9lF?si=0238d524a374492d

Email me at professionalweirdopodcast@gmail.com

Hello listeners, new and old. After the release of the last couple of episodes I could see downloads from new locations. I have no idea how some people find this podcast, but I guess it must be the algorithm. Speaking of the algorithm- after I do an episode, I’m bombarded in Instagram with posts related to the last episode’s topic. My insta feed has been stocked recently with UFO related posts and reels. I hope you haven’t been losing sleep watching the skies for strange lights and unidentified moving objects. Because getting your 7-9 hours of sleep each night is important. And if you suffer from a parasomnia, you know how important a restful night of sleep is. Parasomnia - we’ve all experienced it in some form. It could be a nightmare, or talking in your sleep or night terrors, or sleep paralysis, or sleepwalking. And that’s where we’ll dive in - sleepwalkers. Also called sahm-nam-bue-lists (somnambulists) nock-tam-bue-lists (noctambulist,) or, my favorite - nightwalkers.

This is episode 7 - A Walk on the Wild Side

Welcome weirdos, to the Professional Weirdo podcast, where I research strange stories and tell them to you. Because, let’s face it, I’m gonna research this anyway and blurt it to someone, might as well be a willing audience. Some of these stories might get dark, morbid, murdery…. so listener discretion is advised.

While parasomnia is more active in children, and I’m aware that I have some young fans out there, our topic will get into some spooky stuff. Some stories in this episode will discuss scary imagery and violence, even murder. We’ll start nice and easy, and I’ll give a heads up when it’s time to put the kids to bed. for now, let’s get the teeth brushed, PJs on, and plug in that nightlight. And while you’re at it, put on your fuzzy slippers because that’s our rating system for today - 1 to 5 fuzzy slippers. Everyone cozy?

Our bodies are actually very busy while we sleep, even during the most restful nights. Sleep is directly related to brain plasticity - our ability to adapt to input. It’s how we take in new information, process it, learn it, and are able to remember it later. During sleep neurons in our brain reorganize and communicate and the body repairs cells and releases necessary proteins and hormones. One type of protein, called cytokines, produce antibodies and immune cells, which helps us fight infection and inflammation - it’s why you want to sleep more when you’re sick. During sleep our muscles repair. And our hearts need sleep as well. Studies have shown that people who have disrupted sleep, like those with sleep apnea, have higher risks for heart disease. In fact, if you think you might have sleep apnea, do me a favor and talk to your doctor, because you need to take care of that ticker. how are you gonna love this podcast with a tired heart? (I’m winking now but you can’t see it)

Areas in the brain that regulate emotion become active during sleep. For instance, in our temporal lobe we have the amygdala, which controls how we respond to stress and fear. At its best it can be more adaptive in handling stress. At its worst, we can overreact. And sleep deprivation has major impacts on our bodies - increasing the likelihood of infection, depression, high blood pressure and headaches. Push it too far, and our bodies might not leave it to us to decide to get some sleep - whether it’s falling asleep at our desks, or even micro sleep episodes - where we actually check out for a couple of seconds with our eyes open - our body’s sleep drive will literally demand us to sleep. Another extreme side effect from poor sleep is crankiness. Sources say that people low on sleep will be motivated to get a soft blanket, flip off anyone in the general area, and go to bed at 7:30. In this specific study, sources are me.

Now let’s get into the phases of sleep. I know, I know - you’re thinking - “Get to the good stuff! Where’s the scary stories you just warned us about?” It’s coming. But understand what our bodies SHOULD do running sleep will be important in a bit.

The first part of sleep is non-REM (that stands for rapid eye movement)

There are four stages within this part =

The first happens between awake and falling asleep, which only lasts about 7 minutes. Our breathing shifts, our heart rate shifts, and our eye movement slows.

The second part is Light sleep - Our body temperature starts to drop and our eye movement stops temporarily. Our muscles relax. The brain waves temporarily spike, then slow. Our heart rate slows.

And then we head into the 3rd and 4th parts of non-REM sleep. It’s called “deep sleep” and this is the good stuff. It’s restorative. The eyes and muscles don’t move, brain waves are nice and slow, and your body starts to repair and replenish muscles, cells, and tissues, building up your energy for the next day.

That’s it for the non-REM sleep. Next we cycle into REM.

This starts is about 90 minutes after you fall asleep. Now the brainwaves are active, like when we are awake. Even our breathing rate picks up. Our eyes move behind our eyelids. But an important note here is - our bodies become paralyzed temporarily as we dream. That part there is important, because if the timing of our brains and bodies going in and out of sleep is not in sync, things can go a little haywire.

Normally we go through 4-5 cycles between non-REM and REM phases in a night, where the non-REM parts are shorter, and the REM phases become longer.

Now that we know how it’s supposed to work, let’s talk about how things could go wrong. Parasomnias that happen in non-REM sleep can vary, but it’s understood that the person is partially awake. This can include night terrors, where a person appears to be awake and distraught - crying, screaming, sweating, and breathing rapidly. Those around them can try and calm them, but because the sleeper is only partially awake, often these efforts don’t work and the sleeper can’t articulate what’s wrong. Night terrors can last from a few minutes to over half an hour. Nevertheless, the sleeper often has no memory of the episode later.

Sleepwalking happens in the deep sleep stage of non-REM sleep, before our bodies are temporarily paralyzed. AS the director of the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center said, “Sleep is not a whole-brain phenomenon” which explains how they can open their eyes, take in their surroundings, see their car keys, and go start the car, but throughout this activity they cannot calculate the consequences of their actions. And they don’t feel pain. Sleepwalkers have been known to walk barefoot in snow until they have frostbite. The part of the brain that’s processing cause and effect, pulling information from memory, monitoring what’s happening with the body and interpreting what it means, is still snoozing away. And in a specialized type of sleepwalking, some people have episodes of sleep-related eating disorders, where they drink or eat…. Stuff. Could be food. Let’s hope it’s food. But also maybe food that hasn’t been cooked or is still frozen. Also dog food or tubes of chapstick or cigarettes. And sleepers in this stage don’t remember what they’ve done. So…. No idea why they are waking up with their mouth full of mustard or that they peed in the closet.

As we do in sleep, let’s cycle into REM sleep and their disorders. That’s where our nightmares live. Literally. If you wake up from a nightmare and can remember the details, that’s happened during your REM sleep cycle. It’s also in this stage that people experience sleep paralysis. Remember how in this stage our bodies are paralyzed? Well if everything isn’t “powering down” at the same time, a person could wake up in a body that is unable to move or speak. Combine that with sleep-related hallucinations, when a person can see, feel, hear, or sense hallucinations before they have gone through the full cycles of falling asleep or waking up in REM. Now they may be experiencing their real environment, but with a nice layer of nightmare hallucination smeared on top. And the inability to move or yell out. That my friends, would be the ingredients for a sleep paralysis demon. Whoops - hold on, now may be the time for the kids to head off. Good night, Penelope. Off you go, George.

Okay, so back to sleep paralysis demons. There are types - did you know that? One is labeled “The Intruder” - a presence or figure that lurks in a shadowy corner or slowly approaches the bed. There’s “The Shadow Person” with is faceless and dark and like the Intruder can be stationary and just watching the sleeper, or can move about the room. One very common in folklore is the “Old Witch” or “Hag.” I think you know what they look like. This sleep crone sits on a person’s chest or stands near them and it’s said they steal the sleepers breath. A similar sleep paralysis demon is “the Incubus.” The sleeper feels a heavy pressure on their chest and may or may not see, but definitely feels as if someone is sitting or laying on their chest. And for the last one, the sleeper sees themselves. It’s called “Out-of-Body Figures, or Doppelgangers,” where a person might see themselves sleeping, or see a version of themselves floating nearby the bed.

On the flip side of sleep paralysis with sleep-related hallucinations, we have false awakening. This occurs when a person is having a nightmare in REM sleep, but instead of jolting awake at the jump scare, they become aware that they are dreaming and, disturbingly, that their physical body is paralyzed. They can have difficulty waking themselves up from the nightmare. So I guess the question is, do you want to be stuck in the dream with the scary stuff, or do you want to be stuck in reality and the scary stuff comes to you? Either way, let’s all appreciate when our brain and body get the timing right. And let’s give 5 out of 5 pairs of fuzzy slippers - one pair for each sleep paralysis demon, so they can shuffling on out of here!

Now that we’re studied up on the science of sleep, let’s put our expertise to work on a series of stories I’ve put together for you where sleepwalking has led to murder. Supposedly. Allegedly. Brutally. So - trigger warning.

This defense has been used going way back. In the 1846 trial of Massachusetts v. Tirrel, sleepwalking was the defense for a man named Albert Jackson Tirrel, who was married and wealthy and went into a brothel on the night of Oct. 27, 1845 to visit Maria Bickford. Leading up to this, he had left his family to live closer to Maria, wanting her to leave the brothel, but she preferred her independence. According to Tirrel’s lawyers, he was known sleepwalker, and that’s what he was doing when he slit Maria’s throat from ear to ear, violently enough to almost decapitate her. Then, more sleepwalking as he started 3 different fires in the brothel, which woke the owner who called the police. And I suppose he was still sleepwalking as he fled to New Orleans to try and escape capture, which didn’t work. The jury at the time didn’t know what we now know - most sleepwalkers have no memory of their activity. So if Tirrel had attacked Maria and started the fires in his sleep, he likely would have been just as shocked as bystanders upon waking, rather than making a run for it. Alas, the jury didn’t know this and found him not guilty. 1 out of 5 fuzzy slippers. That’s right, not even a full pair.

In Fain v. Commonwealth in 1879, the sleepwalking defense might seem more plausible. A man with a lifelong history of sleepwalking, and who was sleep deprived at the time (something that can exacerbate episodes of sleepwalking), fell asleep in the lobby of a Kentucky hotel. A porter approached him and tried to wake him up. The man suddenly pulled a gun and fired 3 times at the porter, who would die of these injuries But in the moment the porter was able to wrestle the man to the floor, where the man repeatedly yelled, “hoo-wee!” (I don’t know about you all, but that’s where I’m convinced it was sleepwalking). The man was able to get up and run away, later telling a witness he thought he had shot someone. When it was explained to him that he had shot and killed the hotel porter witnesses say he seemed saddened to hear this. The first trial, which didn’t use the sleepwalking defense, found him guilty of manslaughter. Later this conviction was appealed when evidence of a prior history of sleepwalking was explained and his conviction was reversed. I’m sorry the porter died, but this is getting 5 fuzzy slippers for that hoo-wee. 2 pair and a spare.

In a famous case that appeared on Dateline and is a leading Supreme Court of Canada decision, 23-year old Kenneth Parks was charged with murder. Kenneth had driven himself to a police station in the middle of the night. He was confused, bloody, and didn’t seem to be aware that he had tendons severed in both of his hands. Upon investigation it was found that Kenneth had fallen asleep on the couch in his own home that night while watching TV. Kenneth had been under a great deal of stress due to recently becoming unemployed and having heavy financial and gambling problems. He also had a lifelong history of sleepwalking. It’s suggested that the next day Kenneth was going to go with his wife to visit his in-laws, who he was reported close to, and explain the financial issues they were in. But this night, after getting up from the couch, Kenneth put on his coat, got into his car, and drove 14 miles to where his in-laws lived. Once in the house, Kenneth strangled his father-in-law until the man lost consciousness, then beat his mother-in-law with a tire iron, and eventually stabbed both with a kitchen knife. The father-in-law miraculously survived, but the mother-in-law died. It’s thought that Kenneth had entered their house in the night, and when they discovered him and tried to restrain him, he attacked. He was acquitted, largely based on the sleep experts testimony regarding his long history of sleep issues and the confusion and obliviousness to pain from his own injuries that the police witnessed on the night of the attack. 4 out of 5 fuzzy slippers.

Keep in mind Kenneth’s story was big - hitting the papers and reported on widely. And much like the 1986 season of Dallas, we’re about to see a bunch of people claiming “it was all a dream.”

In 1994, seven years after Kenneth was acquitted, in Pennsylvania, Michael Ricksgers claimed that he “might have dreamed about an intruder breaking in” and therefore accidentally shot his wife while she was sleeping in their bed. His defense sited sleep apnea as a contributing case of possible sleepwalking, and he claimed to have just woke up to find the gun in his hand and his wife bleeding. But the jury was more moved by the evidence that Ricksgers wife was leaving him and sentenced him to life in prison without parole. 1 out of 5 fuzzy slippers for Michael.

In Arizona, 1997, Scott Falater’s neighbor heard noises next door. When he decided to go out and check on things at the Falater’s house, he walked into a horror show. The neighbor witnessed Scott dragging his seemingly unconscious wife in the yard. Wondering if she was intoxicated, the neighbor watched, confused, as Scott stood over his wife, went into the garage, came out and put on work gloves, and then proceeded to drag his wife to their pool and hold her head under water. The neighbor called the police. Unfortunately they were too late to help her, because Scott had actually stabbed her 44 times with a hunting knife prior to the neighbor coming outside. Falater’s defense claimed he had a history of sleepwalking, was under pressure at work and was sleep deprived. He claimed he had been planning to do some repairs to the pool pump and must have walked in his sleep to start the repair, only to be interrupted by his wife and attacking her during his sleepwalking episode. However, some key evidence was presented that indicated otherwise - the neighbor witnessed Scott give a command to the family dog to lie down and experts thought this was an indication of consciousness. Remember that part of the brain that thinks about strategy and consequences? That’s supposed to be sleeping. So understanding that you don’t want your dog to get in the middle of what you are doing and determining you can avoid that by commanding it to lie down - that doesn’t jive in a sleepwalker’s brain. But, it also didn’t help the sleepwalking defense when the police found that while the neighbor was calling the police, Scott had been stuffing the knife, bloody clothes, boots, gloves, and undergarments into a Tupperware container and hiding it in his car. He was found guilty of 1st degree murder.

In October of 2001 in California, sailing instructor and shark fisherman, Stephen Reitz went to Catalina Island with his girlfriend for a weekend trip. Later, he approached a fire station at 1 am saying he had woke up and found his girlfriend dead in their hotel room. He said she had injuries to the back of her neck - 4 stab marks - that were similar to what he used to kill shark. He said he had flashes of a dream where he had been fighting with an intruder that he thought was a man, and thought maybe he had killed her while sleepwalking, which he had a history of. There were some problems with this story and I have a couple of lists to read to you. The first details the other injuries that Eva had, so if you get queasy, maybe jump forward a few seconds. Here goes - A flowerpot had been smashed on her head, leaving pieces in her scalp, she had a dislocated elbow and wrist, she had puncture marks from a plastic fork, a fractured wrist, ribs, jaw, facial bones, and skull. And the wounds to the back of her neck. Now for the 2nd list. You see, Reitz was under treatment for bipolar disorder, but he’d forgotten his medicine. He said he’d taken some of his girlfriend’s medication for anxiety as well. And he had consumed some recreational drugs. And the price found half a bottle of tequila, several empty beer bottles, and a rolled up five-dollar bill with cocaine residue. It appeared the couple had been playing Gin Rummy before the attack. Evidence was also presented that Reitz had broken into his girlfirend’s apartment once and threatened her with a knife, saying he would gut someone like a fish. Despite a sleep study test being done that determined Reitz did have significant sleep issues, including a verified night terror during the study, he was sentenced to 26 years to life in prison. 3 out of 5 fuzzy slippers.

There’s a hilarious story on This American Life where comedian Mike Birbiglia talked about his sleepwalking. I’ll put a link in the show notes that will take you to this story. It’s very funny and worth the listen, but the quick version here - essentially he’s aware of his sleepwalking problem and is on the road in Walla Walla Washington at a hotel. He accidentally falls asleep to the news (which is something he tried to avoid to keep from having nightmares that might propel him into a sleepwalking episode) and it happens. He has a dream about military personnel being in the room and telling him a guided missile is headed that way, trained on him, and this leads him to jump out of the 2nd story window of his hotel room. He gets up and starts running, naked and bleeding in his underwear and starting to realize it was a dream and there is no missile and now he has to walk back into the hotel lobby at 3 am in his underwear to explain what’s just happened and that all those calls that are now coming into the lobby about the noise and someone having jumped from a window - yeah, that was him. Fast forward - now he takes a pill before bed and sleeps in a sleeping bag zipped to the neck with mittens on his hands so he can’t unzip it if he does have an episode (because remember, the part of his brain that would say “I bet I could unzip this bag if I took these mittens off” is fast, fast asleep.) 5 out of 5 fuzzy slippers

They say nothing is more boring than someone describing their dream to you. So it would probably be a bad idea for me to tell you about a couple of mine on my podcast. Mmmmmm - I’m going to anyway. My most boring dream? I hand-washed a sink full of dishes. Sleep interpretations are welcome on that one! My favorite dream? I was running through a parking lot being chased by “bad guys” (whoever that might be), but the fun part was I was running away from them with, none other than, David Bowie. As we were running for our lives, I realized that the muzak version of Changes was playing over speakers in the parking garage. Still a fangirl despite running for my life, I said, “Mr. Bowie! That’s your song!” And he very politely said, “Yes, love, but let’s keep running.”

For any of you out there finding yourselves stuck in a nightmare, running from the generic “bad guys,” let’s all try to follow Mr. Bowie’s advice and just keep running.

And that’s another episode done. Once I release this I expect the Instagram algorithm will bring me lots of fun information related to sleepwalking and sleep paralysis demons, which I’ll share with any of you who want to sleepwalk your way over and follow me on Instagram, under professionalweirdopodcast. If you are enjoying the podcast and would like to support it, please make sure you follow. And if you have friends who are weirdos, tell them to come on over and listen as well. You can also email me at professionalweirdopodcast@gmail.com

Songs I recommend with today’s episode can be found on the Spotify playlist I made to accompany this podcast. For each episode I’ve done or will do, I’ve pulled together a few songs. The ones for this episode are:

I’m Not Falling Asleep by Andy Shauf

Sleep to Dream by Fiona Apple

Heavy Water/I’d Rather be Sleeping by Grouper, and

Wake Up by Arcade Fire

I’ll list these, along with the link to the playlist, in the show notes.

Sweet dreams, weirdos.

That’s a wrap! Sources used for this episode can be found in episode notes. Sound mixing performed by Brother Jay from The Rule of Scary podcast - check that out if you’re a horror movie fan! And hey! - thank you for listening to my stories. Keep it weird out there.