WEBVTT - The Night Season 0:00:02.600 --> 0:00:06.600 You're listening to American Shadows, a production of iHeartRadio and 0:00:06.640 --> 0:00:22.480 Grimm and Mild from Ahar and Manky. Like most American 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:25.720 women in the eighteen hundreds, Rachel Baker didn't have a 0:00:25.720 --> 0:00:29.440 lot of autonomy. Her fate rested in the hands of men, 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:34.600 of both her fathers and others within society. Her father, Ezekiel, 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:38.440 was deeply religious and raised his daughter with strong views 0:00:38.479 --> 0:00:41.720 about sin and sinners, but little else in the way 0:00:41.720 --> 0:00:46.479 of education. Rachel was seventeen when the sleepwalking began in 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:50.800 November of eighteen eleven. At first, these episodes of somnambulism 0:00:51.040 --> 0:00:54.720 horrified her, and she became despondent. When the rate of 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:58.160 incidents increased to nearly every night, she gave her parents 0:00:58.160 --> 0:01:02.400 a solemn warning she'd be dead and would go straight 0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:07.000 to Hell. She even seemed unhappy during the incidents, becoming 0:01:07.120 --> 0:01:11.280 agitated in her sleep. These fits of despair lasted until 0:01:11.360 --> 0:01:16.319 January of eighteen twelve. One night, Rachel said God had 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:19.520 spoken to her and forgave her sins. From then on, 0:01:19.720 --> 0:01:24.199 she remained calmer during the episodes. Seeing their daughter's mood 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:29.640 had significantly improved. Her parents no longer hid Rachel's affliction. Instead, 0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:34.960 they invited others to investigate her nightly activities. Observers witnessed 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:38.680 the snambulism for themselves. Rachel got out of bed and 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:42.680 started with a half hour of prayer. Still asleep, her 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:46.760 breathing became labored, and she gnashed her teeth. Everyone waited 0:01:48.000 --> 0:01:50.520 As her eyes met at church elder, she warned him 0:01:50.560 --> 0:01:54.520 of the dangers of eternal damnation. The witnesses gasped the 0:01:54.560 --> 0:01:58.520 short tirade. Then Rachel regained her composure and spoke about 0:01:58.560 --> 0:02:02.640 the scriptures she had learned. Finally, she shook violently and 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:06.680 collapsed back onto her bed. Locals thought God had made 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:10.320 Rachel a vessel for his teachings and possibly a prophet. 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:16.320 Her words and pronunciations contrasted with her blesser education. Outsiders 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:19.080 were more skeptical and suggested she might be faking the 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:24.520 episodes to garner attention. As word of Rachel's midnight sermons spread, 0:02:24.720 --> 0:02:27.400 people traveled from all across the state of New York 0:02:27.440 --> 0:02:30.520 to meet her. Aside from the fact that Rachel gave 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:33.160 sermons in her sleep, what made her stand out from 0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:37.480 other preachers was her gender. Women were not permitted to preach, 0:02:37.680 --> 0:02:42.800 and those who dared caused scandals. Rachel spent her days 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:46.200 recovering from her knightly sermons, which left her emotionally and 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:50.240 physically exhausted. To give her a short break, a Baptist 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:53.080 minister and his wife offered Rachel the opportunity to travel 0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:56.680 with them to New York City. Than she accepted, the 0:02:56.760 --> 0:03:00.560 trip was hardly a vacation. They introduced her to doctor 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:04.800 John Douglas. He and other doctors studied her, hoping to 0:03:04.840 --> 0:03:08.360 find a cure for her sleep walking. Rachel submitted to 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:13.600 every test. Her episodes intensified, causing her to jerk, flail, 0:03:13.680 --> 0:03:17.960 and cry. The only relief came when she preached the 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:21.320 following days. She acted as though nothing unusual had happened. 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:25.960 Skeptics flocked to her bedside, though the doctors defended her 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:29.919 as the real thing. Rachel showed strong similarities to other 0:03:29.960 --> 0:03:34.160 cases of sleepwalking, where people remained unaware of their nocturnal actions. 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:38.840 The ministers grilled her, other doctors tried bleeding her or 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:41.840 gave her opium to sedate her. They had no effect. 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:46.400 After a while, Rachel had enough of the examinations and 0:03:46.560 --> 0:03:49.920 returned home. She hadn't been back long. When her father 0:03:50.000 --> 0:03:53.600 received a letter from doctor Douglas, several colleagues wanted to 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:58.240 sponsor Rachel's formal education at Missus Bowering's Seminary for Young Ladies. 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:04.320 Her parents agreed. Rachel's classmates, doctors, and various religious officials 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:09.960 attended her sleepwalking sermons with rapt attention. After graduation, Rachel 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:14.560 went on to lead a quiet life. Skeptics and believers 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:17.839 alike watched her case transition from a weakness of a 0:04:17.839 --> 0:04:22.280 woman's nerves to a medical and religious oddity, but she 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:28.360 wouldn't be the last sleepwalking curiosity. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. Welcome 0:04:28.640 --> 0:04:42.880 to American Shadows. We've all heard the advice get plenty 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:46.440 of sleep. How much depends on our age and health, 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:50.440 among other factors. The message is clear, though we don't 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:55.880 always get enough sleep restores our body and brain. Along 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:58.440 with the advice to get plenty of rest, we've probably 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:02.839 heard adages to follow circadian rhythm. With this method, people 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:05.560 go to bed sometime after dark and rise with the sun. 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:09.800 Usually we try to sleep straight through the night, but 0:05:10.040 --> 0:05:13.320 that hasn't always been the case. The how and when 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:17.960 of how we sleep has changed during the Renaissance era, 0:05:18.080 --> 0:05:21.440 people slept for short periods, waking during the night, briefly 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:25.360 followed by a second sleep cycle. Often people used the 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:29.160 waking cycle in between for prayer, chores, or other activities. 0:05:29.880 --> 0:05:32.920 Sixteenth century doctors told couples that they were most likely 0:05:32.960 --> 0:05:37.840 to conceive during this time. During the Industrial Revolution, long 0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:42.200 work hours and strict schedules changed when people slept. With 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:46.040 the invention of electricity, came lighted streets, businesses, and homes. 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:50.240 In the eighteen twenties, doctors commonly told parents to break 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:53.719 their children from sleeping in shifts called bi phasic sleep 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:57.760 and sleep through the night instead. Some researchers speculate that 0:05:57.800 --> 0:06:01.479 by phasic sleep might be more natural than one long segment. 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:05.159 They point to nineteenth century medical journals where cases of 0:06:05.160 --> 0:06:10.040 insomnia first appear. By the nineteen twenties, medical records discussing 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:15.640 by phasic sleep vanished altogether. Insomnia did not. Many of 0:06:15.720 --> 0:06:19.240 us toss and turn from dark till dawn, and some 0:06:19.279 --> 0:06:22.520 of us enjoy the night until we're out to sea 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:26.480 or in another remote location. It's hard to fathom how 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:30.160 different the night sky looks without city or neighborhood lights. 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:34.719 No longer do a thousand stars glitter like diamonds on velvet. 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:38.520 Though some of us would prefer such a sight, we 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:43.120 once longed for a means to illuminate the shadows. Paris 0:06:43.160 --> 0:06:45.839 became the first city to use candles and glass lamps 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:50.120 to light streets in sixteen sixty seven. As technology evolved, 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:53.840 cities used oil and gas lamps at night. The invention 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:57.360 of electricity for lighting our homes altered how we viewed sleep. 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:01.480 Light on demand shifted our awareness of our available time. 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:06.159 In eighteen eighty two, Edison's electric light became the miracle 0:07:06.200 --> 0:07:09.480 technology of its day, though getting it to just half 0:07:09.480 --> 0:07:14.360 of America's homes took another twenty five years. We've come 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:17.480 to view light as a sense of safety. The night 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:22.240 and darkness are places of danger and uncertainty. Criminals have 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:25.600 often used the cloak of darkness to commit unspeakable acts. 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:28.840 People associated those who went out into the night with 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:34.480 crime and immoral behavior. Such nighttime activity caused the early 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:39.160 colonists a good deal of anxiety. People expressed their secret 0:07:39.200 --> 0:07:43.240 desires at night and took part in lawlessness and sinful behavior. 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:47.200 Working women and their male clients were called night walkers. 0:07:47.960 --> 0:07:52.480 Adulterers met their lovers at unreasonable hours. Thieves, according to 0:07:52.520 --> 0:07:57.080 court records, behaved in unbecoming ways. People called the time 0:07:57.120 --> 0:08:01.120 after dark the night season, a time of danyer, depravity 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:06.280 and great sorrow. In seventeen oh three, authorities created the 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:10.280 Act to prevent disorders in the night. Anyone wandering the 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:13.440 streets past nine pm had to have a legitimate reason 0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:16.559 to be out of the Townfolk lit streets with oil 0:08:16.640 --> 0:08:21.280 lamps to help prevent crimes and carousing. Night watchmen monitored 0:08:21.280 --> 0:08:25.840 town squares and certain alleys in urban areas. Of all 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:28.800 the people who ventured into the night, one alarmed the 0:08:28.840 --> 0:08:34.959 colonists the most. Sleepwalkers, otherwise calleds and ambulists. No one 0:08:35.040 --> 0:08:38.560 understood what caused the disorder, but many thought that anyone 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:41.960 who could wander around at night while sleeping was capable 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:45.880 of anything. A Witnesses said that watching as anambulist was 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:50.280 like seeing a dead person come to life. Sleepwalkers often 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:53.480 said they had no recollection of their actions, spurring people 0:08:53.520 --> 0:08:57.360 to wonder about the boundaries between life and death. With 0:08:57.440 --> 0:09:01.720 the association between wicked behavior and the night, sleepwalkers found 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:05.040 themselves lumped into the same category as those participating in 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:11.199 illicit activities. The weaf made strides towards understanding sleepwalking. We've 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:13.920 learned that the disorder can be genetic, caused by a 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:17.360 lack of quality sleep, a side effect of drugs or alcohol, 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:22.200 and certain illnesses. Yet even today we can't help but 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:33.320 wonder how much control sleepwalkers have over their actions. Night 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:36.319 had barely given way to morning on October twenty seventh 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:40.320 of eighteen forty five, when screams woke Joel Lawrence and 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:45.200 his wife. They lay in bed listening. The screams stopped, 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:50.319 and a loud thought followed. The sounds had come from upstairs, 0:09:50.440 --> 0:09:53.880 the room they had rented out to Mary Bickford. Undoubtedly, 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:57.360 she and Albert had gotten into another fight. This one 0:09:57.520 --> 0:10:01.280 sounded a little more serious than the others, though after 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:04.040 a moment of silence, someone ran down the stairs and 0:10:04.080 --> 0:10:07.240 out the front door. In a hurry. The couple climbed 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:10.880 the stairs to check on Mary. Joel pushed the door open. 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:15.240 Smoke hung in the air, though they barely noticed, and 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:17.360 Mary lay in a pool of blood on the floor 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:20.520 next to her. Wisps of smoke drifted from her bed. 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:23.400 Some one had killed her, and then tried to set 0:10:23.400 --> 0:10:27.480 her mattress on fire. The brutal death shocked the Lawrences, 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:31.280 though the fights leading up to them at Knock. Mary 0:10:31.320 --> 0:10:33.679 had been renting from them since June, though she had 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:37.000 lived in Boston for a while. A couple of years earlier. 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:38.920 She had come to Boston with a few girl friends 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:41.640 after a bout of depression, as she and her husband 0:10:41.640 --> 0:10:44.160 had lost a child, and her family and friends thought 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:47.360 the bustling city would do her good. And it did, 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:51.040 and Mary couldn't get enough of it. She had fallen 0:10:51.120 --> 0:10:54.360 in love. She wanted to move to Boston permanently and 0:10:54.520 --> 0:10:58.280 live like the rich people on Beacon Hill. Her husband, James, 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:02.280 a poor shoemaker, was less than thrilled, and Mary returned 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:05.600 without him. It wasn't the city alone that she had 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:08.760 fallen in love with. During her first visit, she had 0:11:08.800 --> 0:11:10.920 met a handsome man with whom she had carried on 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:15.040 a flirtatious relationship. Upon her return, the two continued their 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:19.160 whirlwind romance. Her new bows swept her off her feet 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:24.280 and whisked her away to Newburyport, Massachusetts. Mary never divorced James, 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:26.520 though she had put the days of being a poor 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:31.400 shoemaker's wife behind her, or so she thought. Her new 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:35.160 boyfriend dumped her shortly afterward, and Mary returned to Boston. 0:11:36.120 --> 0:11:39.280 She wrote to James, consenting to return, but only if 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:42.960 she could do as she pleased. James tracked her down, 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:47.360 hoping to bring Mary home. However, hope turned to anger 0:11:47.480 --> 0:11:50.760 when he found her working in a brothel. James had 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:54.640 had enough. He promptly returned to Maine, washing his hands 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:59.480 of his marriage. Mary was less upset. She hopped from 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:03.920 brothel toroel, finally finding one with more league clientell. Her 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:06.960 beauty made her popular with the men. One of those 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:10.240 men was Albert Terrell, whose father was a wealthy merchant 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:15.520 and former state legislator. Mary and Albert began a passionate relationship, 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:19.160 and he showered her with gifts. Albert soon abandoned his 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:23.000 wife and children. Mary thought she'd hit the jackpot. In 0:12:23.040 --> 0:12:26.040 her mind, leaving his family was the ultimate proof of 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:31.079 his devotion. Albert's father died in eighteen forty four, leaving 0:12:31.160 --> 0:12:33.439 him with what would amount to over three hundred thousand 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:38.679 dollars today. Albert immediately began spending that inheritance on Mary. 0:12:39.559 --> 0:12:41.880 They dined on the finest food and stayed in the 0:12:41.960 --> 0:12:46.680 poshest hotels. He bought her expensive clothes and jewelry. Albert 0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:50.720 flaunted his affair. Those who knew him called the relationship 0:12:50.760 --> 0:12:54.520 scandalous and without a hint of decency. But as much 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:57.959 as Albert devoted himself to Mary, the same was not 0:12:58.080 --> 0:13:01.080 true of her. Refused used to give up working in 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:05.960 the brothel. Cozy dinners turned into fights, both in public 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:10.600 and private. At first, Mary shrugged off the arguments, claiming 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:15.880 she enjoyed making up with him and still kept her clientele. Eventually, 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:19.760 Albert began escalating his demands that she quit, and Mary 0:13:19.800 --> 0:13:24.720 wrote to James complaining about her poor treatment. Perhaps unsurprisingly, 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:29.240 James did not come to her rescue. Mary broke up 0:13:29.280 --> 0:13:32.520 with Albert in June and moved to the Lawrence's boarding house. 0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:36.000 The breakup was temporary, and the two resumed where they 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:40.040 had left off. On September twenty ninth, Albert was indicted 0:13:40.120 --> 0:13:44.320 on charges of adultery. He evaded capture for weeks. The 0:13:44.360 --> 0:13:47.920 press gleefully took to reporting Albert and Mary's sordid love affair. 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:52.720 Though humiliated, his wife and family pleaded with prosecutors to 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:57.440 postpone the proceedings while they helped him reform. The prosecutors 0:13:57.440 --> 0:14:01.640 gave them six months, and Albert immediately left for Mary's 0:14:01.679 --> 0:14:11.640 side once more. If the press didn't have enough to 0:14:11.679 --> 0:14:15.319 print before October twenty seventh, they certainly did after the 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:20.160 Lawrence's discovery of Mary's body and their statement to the police. 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:22.720 And not only had the Lawrences found Mary on the 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:26.240 floor with a severed windpipe and jugular vein, but they'd 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:29.320 also found the murder weapon, a blood stained razor, at 0:14:29.320 --> 0:14:32.040 the foot of the bed. They also found a man's 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:37.160 cane and vest, along with several items belonging to Albert. Furthermore, 0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:39.960 they'd seen Albert enter the house the previous evening, and 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:43.000 just as Mary had finished with a client, the case 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:46.120 seemed open and shut, Albert had killed her in a 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:50.320 fit of rage and jealousy. That morning, Albert fled the 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:53.400 house and headed for a livery stable. He told the 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:56.600 stable hand that he was having some difficulties and demanded 0:14:56.640 --> 0:15:00.480 a horse. After briefly stopping at home, he fled again, 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:03.240 making his way to Vermont and Canada for a couple 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:06.360 of days. He wrote to his family that he intended 0:15:06.400 --> 0:15:09.320 to go to Liverpool. He might have made it too, 0:15:09.720 --> 0:15:12.080 except for the storm that forced the ship to dock 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:15.920 in New York. On December fifth, he boarded another ship 0:15:15.960 --> 0:15:19.480 heading to New Orleans. Authorities were waiting for him when 0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:22.920 he arrived and took him back to Boston. The press 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:27.120 reported every move and readers awaited the trial. As far 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:30.720 as Boston residents were concerned, the guilty verdict couldn't come 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:35.880 fast enough, except Albert's lawyer had a plan every bit 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:39.680 as devious as his client, and taking a queue from 0:15:39.800 --> 0:15:42.680 Daniel Webster's claim that the best defense is an offense, 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:47.160 Attorney Rufus Choke began building his case, calling into question 0:15:47.280 --> 0:15:52.000 Mary's character. It was victim blaming, for sure, and even 0:15:52.040 --> 0:15:55.080 though Mary had been brutally murdered, a public opinion of 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:58.320 her was only slightly more favorable than that of Albert, 0:15:59.040 --> 0:16:01.360 and people had little sympathy for a woman who had 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:04.520 abandoned her husband, engaged in an affair with a married man, 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:08.440 and become a sex worker. But while victim shaming is 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:11.520 daring enough, Choate took it to a whole new level. 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:14.640 He based his case on an idea that came to 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:17.280 him at the office. He noted the title of a 0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:23.600 book on an intern's desk, Sylvester Sound, the Snambulist. Choate 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:26.320 kept his strategy as secret until the trial began on 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:30.320 March twenty fourth of eighteen forty six. Before the big reveal, 0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:34.640 Choate started with a different tactic. He pushed one of 0:16:34.680 --> 0:16:37.920 the physicians at the coroner's office to concede that Mary's 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:41.360 three inch deep and six inch wide neck wound could 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:45.760 have been self inflicted. Then he brought another witness to 0:16:45.800 --> 0:16:48.840 the stand. A woman who lived near the Lawrence's boarding 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:52.080 house testified that Albert had arrived on her doorstep that morning. 0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:55.640 She said he had acted strangely and asked if there 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:59.000 was anything in the house for him. A brother in 0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:01.640 law admitted that al Albert had arrived home and said 0:17:01.680 --> 0:17:05.240 he was fleeing the adultery indictment. O When confronted with 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:09.680 the murder, the news seemed to surprise Albert. Choate's junior 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:13.600 council then stated that Mary might certainly have committed suicide, 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:17.600 since that was the natural progression for women of her character. 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:22.959 The coroner took the stand, disagreeing with the earlier doctor's testimony, 0:17:23.240 --> 0:17:26.480 and stated that Mary's wounds were impossible to self inflict. 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:31.720 In response, Choate diverted the court to another possibility, the 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:35.520 Lawrences had committed the crime. He brought in a fireman 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:38.000 to confirm that mister Lawrence had tried to keep him 0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:42.080 from entering the room. Choate insisted that the Lawrences had 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:45.080 made up the story about seeing Albert arrive the night before, 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:49.480 and finally he told the court that Albert hadn't tried 0:17:49.480 --> 0:17:52.440 to flee a murder charge. He had simply fled due 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:56.520 to his shame as part of the adultery charges. Albert 0:17:56.600 --> 0:17:59.440 was a good man of honorable character and good breeding. 0:17:59.680 --> 0:18:03.520 Choate told the court Mary had been the aggressor, seducing 0:18:03.600 --> 0:18:06.800 him with her lewde behavior and indecent ways, and she 0:18:06.840 --> 0:18:11.080 had kept him spellbound, he argued. Choate told them that 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:14.320 Alexander the Great had once penned an entire battle plan 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:17.720 in his sleep, and that writers and philosophers had also 0:18:17.840 --> 0:18:22.359 done their best work while sleepwalking. Albert, he went on, 0:18:22.760 --> 0:18:25.720 was a sleepwalker. He brought in the dean of Harvard's 0:18:25.720 --> 0:18:29.000 medical school to testify that it was possible that someone 0:18:29.040 --> 0:18:35.359 could dress, murder, light fires, and escape while sleepwalking. Choke 0:18:35.400 --> 0:18:39.080 claimed the prosecutor's case was shaky. No one had seen 0:18:39.160 --> 0:18:43.200 Albert kill Mary or flee the scene, but if they had, well, 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:48.480 then Albert had been sleepwalking. Two hours later, the jury 0:18:48.520 --> 0:19:05.919 returned to the verdict not guilty. Unsuccessful at bringing Albert 0:19:05.960 --> 0:19:09.639 Terrell to justice for murder, the prosecution tried again with 0:19:09.680 --> 0:19:14.199 a lesser charge arson. Once more, the jury returned a 0:19:14.280 --> 0:19:17.680 not guilty verdict, agreeing with the defense that Albert could 0:19:17.680 --> 0:19:23.040 not be held accountable for actions during episodes of sleepwalking. However, 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:26.720 he hadn't been sleepwalking during his affair and stood before 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:30.560 the court again, this time for adultery. The jury found 0:19:30.640 --> 0:19:33.760 him guilty and sentenced him to three years of hard labor. 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:37.399 He lived the remainder of his life in relative obscurity, 0:19:37.840 --> 0:19:42.720 though the case lived in infamy. It seems ridiculous that 0:19:42.840 --> 0:19:46.080 anyone could claim sleepwalking as a defense in a murder trial. 0:19:46.720 --> 0:19:49.160 Yet if we thought this case would be the last 0:19:49.160 --> 0:19:53.359 of its kind, would be very wrong. There have been 0:19:53.400 --> 0:19:57.200 sixty eight murder cases where sleepwalking was used as a defense. 0:19:58.200 --> 0:20:00.880 In the eighteen seventies, a hotel goes asked in Kentucky, 0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:03.200 drew his gun and shot the clerk sent to wake 0:20:03.240 --> 0:20:06.720 him up. A witnesses testified that during the incident, the 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:11.360 man whooped and yelled excitedly. When he awoke, he seemed 0:20:11.400 --> 0:20:15.879 confused and immediately apologized. He admitted his guilt, and the 0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:20.000 court found him guilty of manslaughter. Later, a higher court 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:24.360 repealed the decision and in Texas during the nineteen twenties, 0:20:24.680 --> 0:20:27.280 esaum Bradley was anxious as he went to bed with 0:20:27.320 --> 0:20:30.840 his mistress one night. He slid a pistol under his pillow, 0:20:30.960 --> 0:20:33.240 which he later claimed was due to a death threat 0:20:33.280 --> 0:20:36.600 he had received earlier in the day. During the night, 0:20:36.720 --> 0:20:39.199 he awoke to a noise in the room, He grabbed 0:20:39.200 --> 0:20:42.160 the pistol and shot into the dark. When he turned 0:20:42.160 --> 0:20:44.600 on the light, he discovered the body of his mistress. 0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:48.879 Initially convicted of murder, a higher court overturned the verdict 0:20:49.040 --> 0:20:53.960 due to a sleepwalking defense. Certain prescription sleep medications have 0:20:54.080 --> 0:20:56.520 come into the spotlight over the years for causing some 0:20:56.680 --> 0:21:00.800 patients to sleepwalk, but thankfully, eating has seemed to be 0:21:00.880 --> 0:21:05.520 the most prominent side effect. Since Albert Terrell's case, sleepwalking 0:21:05.640 --> 0:21:10.080 is a murder defense has been relatively rare. While we 0:21:10.160 --> 0:21:13.520 have plenty of new medications to help insomniacs. We still 0:21:13.520 --> 0:21:16.520 have a lot of unanswered questions when it comes to sleepwalking, 0:21:17.160 --> 0:21:21.480 though there have been numerous studies. The disorder affects children 0:21:21.560 --> 0:21:24.760 more often than adults, roughly twenty nine percent between the 0:21:24.800 --> 0:21:28.080 ages of two and thirteen, with the most incidences occurring 0:21:28.119 --> 0:21:31.919 in those between ten and thirteen. A few adult sleepwalk 0:21:32.200 --> 0:21:36.320 just four percent. A study in France concluded that fifty 0:21:36.320 --> 0:21:41.119 eight percent of adult sleepwalkers displayed violent behavior, while thirty 0:21:41.160 --> 0:21:44.720 one percent of those harmed themselves. Forty six percent became 0:21:44.800 --> 0:21:49.199 violent with their sleeping partner. Most sleepwalkers say they have 0:21:49.280 --> 0:21:52.399 no recollection of sleepwalking or the events that took place 0:21:52.520 --> 0:21:56.600 during an episode, So despite our advances in medical technology, 0:21:56.920 --> 0:22:00.720 were not much closer to understanding what's going through someone's head, 0:22:01.240 --> 0:22:06.600 even temporarily while sleep walking. Creepy stuff for both the 0:22:06.640 --> 0:22:16.359 person afflicted and those sleeping next to them. There's more 0:22:16.400 --> 0:22:19.320 to this story. Stick around after this brief sponsor break 0:22:19.400 --> 0:22:29.320 to hear all about it. Famous Impressionist artist Jeanne Louis 0:22:29.320 --> 0:22:32.720 Boudin is said to have painted in the colors of Lavre, 0:22:33.160 --> 0:22:36.840 a port in France, the vivid mix of cobalt and 0:22:36.920 --> 0:22:39.880 ultramarine is seen in a few of his paintings, and 0:22:39.960 --> 0:22:42.840 his pastel works are said to have captured the skies. 0:22:43.720 --> 0:22:46.920 Visitors say the area is beautiful and full of light. 0:22:48.640 --> 0:22:51.359 In eighteen eighty seven, a vacation to take in the 0:22:51.400 --> 0:22:54.360 scenery was the furthest thing from thirty five year old 0:22:54.440 --> 0:22:58.320 Robert l Dru's mind. By all accounts and his own 0:22:58.320 --> 0:23:02.800 admission he was married to his considered one of France's 0:23:02.800 --> 0:23:06.439 most outstanding police detectives, all nighters while working on a 0:23:06.480 --> 0:23:11.280 case were more the norm than the exception. Three years earlier, 0:23:11.359 --> 0:23:13.520 he had been the lead investigator on a case where 0:23:13.600 --> 0:23:18.120 anarchists sought to overthrow the government. His tireless work helped 0:23:18.160 --> 0:23:21.159 crack the case, resulting in the capture and imprisonment of 0:23:21.160 --> 0:23:25.760 the rebels. He solved the unsolvable, Even in murder cases. 0:23:27.160 --> 0:23:30.080 L Drew often worked until he passed out from exhaustion, 0:23:30.480 --> 0:23:32.720 sometimes at his desk or en route to his bed. 0:23:33.960 --> 0:23:37.359 All this lack of sleep made him both nervous and irritable, 0:23:38.480 --> 0:23:41.320 So when he left to investigate the disappearance of several 0:23:41.359 --> 0:23:44.960 sailors in Lavre that summer, his coworkers hoped l Drew 0:23:45.200 --> 0:23:48.359 might also get some much deserved rest. Once he solved 0:23:48.359 --> 0:23:52.960 the case, he dove right into work the moment he arrived. 0:23:53.800 --> 0:23:57.240 Exhausted and making little progress, L Drew went to bed early. 0:23:58.560 --> 0:24:01.680 When he arrived at the police station next morning, detectives 0:24:01.720 --> 0:24:03.800 asked him to work on a different case that had 0:24:03.840 --> 0:24:08.480 taken priority. A prominent businessman, Andre Monette, had gone for 0:24:08.520 --> 0:24:11.520 a swim the previous evening and someone had shot him 0:24:11.520 --> 0:24:14.600 in the chest. The lack of evidence that the scene 0:24:14.680 --> 0:24:20.000 stumped the local detectives. La Drew interviewed Monet's wife. They 0:24:20.119 --> 0:24:23.040 hadn't named any heirs to his estate, and he didn't 0:24:23.040 --> 0:24:25.720 have a single enemy. He had simply gone to the 0:24:25.720 --> 0:24:27.720 beach for a night swim to cool off from the 0:24:27.720 --> 0:24:31.760 summer heat, and never came home. La Drew headed to 0:24:31.760 --> 0:24:35.199 the scene not far from his hotel. He understood the 0:24:35.200 --> 0:24:39.159 detective's confusion. None of Monette's possessions had been taken, there 0:24:39.200 --> 0:24:42.760 had been no signs of a struggle. Yet the scene 0:24:42.840 --> 0:24:47.679 bothered him greatly, especially the footprints around the body. He 0:24:47.840 --> 0:24:51.720 ordered a plaster cast be made. After reviewing the cast, 0:24:52.000 --> 0:24:55.960 he sat on the beach for hours. One detective observed 0:24:56.000 --> 0:24:58.160 that l Drew seemed as though he were in some 0:24:58.200 --> 0:25:02.600 sort of trance. He sat in the same position without moving, 0:25:03.200 --> 0:25:08.320 impervious to the glaring sun and heat. Suddenly he stood 0:25:08.520 --> 0:25:11.399 and walked over to the police chief they could stop 0:25:11.440 --> 0:25:14.640 the investigation. He said he knew without a doubt who 0:25:14.640 --> 0:25:18.520 the killer was. Before the chief could ask who, the 0:25:18.600 --> 0:25:23.520 Drew walked back to his hotel and waited. The following morning, 0:25:23.760 --> 0:25:26.280 the chief informed him they had uncovered a bullet from 0:25:26.280 --> 0:25:29.560 a German luger pistol, which is quite common in France. 0:25:30.359 --> 0:25:33.040 The Drew returned to Paris and went straight to the 0:25:33.080 --> 0:25:36.720 police station where he worked. He showed his boss the 0:25:36.760 --> 0:25:39.840 plaster cast and told him that while he knew who 0:25:39.880 --> 0:25:43.439 the killer was and he had no motive, then he 0:25:43.560 --> 0:25:49.359 said I killed Monette. His superior wouldn't believe it. But 0:25:49.440 --> 0:25:51.359 then Le Drew told him how he had gone to 0:25:51.359 --> 0:25:53.879 bed early and how he woke the next morning with 0:25:54.040 --> 0:25:57.960 wet socks. Then he pointed out that the cast revealed 0:25:57.960 --> 0:26:00.639 the killer was missing their big toe on their right foot, 0:26:01.119 --> 0:26:04.320 just like him. He also owned the same make of 0:26:04.400 --> 0:26:08.239 gun used to kill Monette. To prove had done it, 0:26:08.480 --> 0:26:10.639 l Drew had a cast made of his right foot 0:26:10.680 --> 0:26:14.880 for comparison. He insisted that his colleagues arrest him, even 0:26:14.920 --> 0:26:17.000 though he knew he had killed Monette in his sleep, 0:26:18.320 --> 0:26:21.280 to test out Ledru's sleepwalking theory. They kept him in 0:26:21.359 --> 0:26:25.640 jail and under constant watch. They handed him a revolver, 0:26:25.960 --> 0:26:30.320 but this one contained only blanks, and sure enough, one night, 0:26:30.520 --> 0:26:32.760 l Drew got out of bed and took the pistol 0:26:33.000 --> 0:26:37.760 and coldly fired upon a guard. L Drew was sentenced 0:26:37.800 --> 0:26:41.879 to a lifetime confinement, but not in jail. It was 0:26:41.960 --> 0:26:44.480 ruled that such a punishment would be too harsh for 0:26:44.520 --> 0:26:49.800 someone who couldn't control their sleepwalking tendencies. Instead, he spent 0:26:49.840 --> 0:26:52.280