All round
This man got away with murder thanks to a sleepwalking defense
In 1845, a man named Albert Tirrell was arrested for the murder and dismemberment of his girlfriend Maria Bickford.
Despite the fact that the jury was convinced of his guilt, they were unable to convict him due to his defense team’s successful argument that he had been sleepwalking at the time of the crime.
This marked the first instance in history of a sleepwalking defense being used in a criminal trial.
The events leading up to the murder are somewhat unclear.
On the night of October 27, 1845, a brothel owner discovered multiple fires throughout his establishment and the body of Bickford, who had been brutally murdered.
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Tirrell, who had been seen at the brothel earlier in the evening, was the prime suspect as he had disappeared after the murder.
Tirrell, who was 22 at the time, was the son of a shoemaker from Weymouth, Massachusetts and had also worked in state politics.
He had been married with two children but had left them to be with Bickford, a sex worker who lived in the brothel.
Despite the fact that he was madly in love with her, the couple had a tumultuous relationship due to Bickford’s refusal to give up her profession.
In 1845, Tirrell was arrested for adultery and “lascivious cohabitation” but was able to convince his wife to drop the charges by promising to “observe propriety in his behavior.”
However, he reportedly returned to the brothel to see Bickford on the same day that her body was later found.
When Tirrell was apprehended, he was charged with murder, but his defense team argued that he had been sleepwalking at the time of the crime.
They presented evidence that Tirrell had a history of sleepwalking, including instances in which he had left his bed and wandered around his home while asleep.
Additionally, they argued that the murder was committed with a level of precision and lack of emotion that was consistent with someone in a sleepwalking state.
The jury ultimately found Tirrell not guilty, and he was acquitted of the charges.
The use of the sleepwalking defense in this case set a legal precedent that would be used in future criminal trials.
However, the truth of what exactly happened on the night of Bickford’s murder remains unclear.
