0:00

From m night shyamalan comes the final

0:02

reckoning of the twisted series servant,

0:04

streaming January thirteenth on Apple TV

0:07

plus. Sears follows Dorothy

0:09

and Sean Turner, a seemingly happy

0:11

couple who hire a nanny to watch over their

0:13

newborn son. But as Leanne enters

0:15

the picture, a dark future lies

0:17

ahead for the family. In the fourth

0:19

and final season, their story comes

0:21

to an epic and emotional conclusion where

0:24

all the questions are answered. Watch

0:26

the final season of Servant on Apple TV

0:28

plus January thirteenth.

0:34

It begins at the moment of birth,

0:36

something unconscious, uncontrolled,

0:40

the half glimpsed world of sleep.

0:44

Soothing, amusing,

0:49

sometimes terrifying. And

0:52

on the rarest of occasions, unconsciously

0:56

deadlaid. Sleepwalker,

1:00

sex.

1:01

What is a person capable of without

1:04

even knowing it? Such

1:12

a beautiful place, Catalina, such

1:14

a perfect evening for escape is

1:16

Dreams, an Island Trist

1:18

with a younger man.

1:22

Her name was Eva, and she was

1:24

exotic, lovely, magnetic

1:27

and forty two. Eva was

1:29

always living like she was twenty

1:31

two. Carefree, very

1:34

young for her age. She was

1:36

fun and she was generous and

1:39

she light up a room. She's the

1:41

person you call and no matter what,

1:44

you always feel better for what she

1:46

had to

1:47

say. She told her niece, Lonnel

1:49

Piro about the young man. Stephen

1:51

was just twenty five. Not

1:53

that it

1:54

mattered. I guess

1:55

he'd come over to the house one day.

1:57

Came to hang out with Eva's son who

1:59

made the introductions. I remember

2:02

she called me and told me

2:04

that she met this really

2:06

nice guy. He's really good looking.

2:08

You know? It was instant

2:11

chemistry. He was

2:13

obviously attracted to her. Who wouldn't be?

2:15

She's dropped it gorgeous. She

2:17

had an enormous capacity to

2:19

love people and people were drawn

2:21

to

2:21

her. There was seventeen years age

2:24

difference. So she was the ultimate

2:26

cougar. Steven worked sporadically

2:28

at a variety of odd jobs, sometimes

2:31

even at sea as a commercial fisherman.

2:33

Eva was a thrice married and

2:35

separated former flight attendant. Why

2:38

don't I keep thinking of that Cindy offer

2:39

song? Girls just wanna have fun. That was us.

2:42

That was definitely us. Yes.

2:46

April Bose Earth was Eva's friend and

2:49

flying companion back at the airline, a

2:51

kind of magic time for both of

2:53

them.

2:54

Everywhere we went, people

2:56

would just be drawn to her and

2:59

she just had a presence

3:01

about her that was just Fun

3:04

loving, you know, very welcoming.

3:06

She would give you the shirt off of her back.

3:09

But as April came to understand Eva

3:11

could not abide boredom.

3:14

She was restless.

3:15

So when she left the flying life

3:18

settling down was not

3:20

easy.

3:21

think she was looking for the excitement in other

3:23

ways. I was

3:24

almost let me stir the pot a little bit.

3:27

Yeah. You know? How long comes this young

3:29

guy?

3:29

Sure. Exciting.

3:31

April was Eva's bridesmaid.

3:34

Hoped Eva would reconcile with her pilot

3:36

husband. And when the Steven THINK

3:38

began, she heard all about it.

3:39

He's, you know, a good looking

3:42

guy, fun to be around.

3:44

He was available to do pretty

3:46

much anything she wanted to do because

3:48

I don't really think he had job. And

3:51

I think that, you know, they'd go on these little

3:54

trips to different places. I think

3:56

that he was kind of a trophy to

3:58

her being so much younger, you

4:00

know, here she is in her early forties and,

4:02

you know, oh, wow. Look,

4:05

I'm I'm with somebody that's in their

4:06

twenties. I just said

4:09

proceed with caution. You know? Steven

4:11

knew she was married, of course, knew the marriage

4:13

was on again, off again. He was wrong

4:15

for her. She seemed to know it. Seventeen

4:18

years younger, no career. It

4:21

couldn't last.

4:22

She really did love her husband and

4:24

wanted to reconcile that and

4:26

move forward with their

4:27

relationship. And

4:28

yet, as the months went by,

4:31

Eva and Steven carried on.

4:33

And she was open to me and

4:35

my sister and just a few

4:38

people about her relationship with Steven,

4:40

but still hiding him, still

4:42

keeping the extent of their relationship

4:44

just between

4:45

them, mostly because I don't think

4:47

she was proud of it.

4:48

But with Steven, it was something else. I

4:51

think he was kind of like a drug to her in

4:54

a way like nothing that she had ever

4:56

had

4:56

before. She was I

4:58

think extremely conflicted with

5:00

what to do how

5:02

to break this off. And

5:04

then that Friday in

5:05

September. She

5:07

phoned me on Friday.

5:08

Eva, had promised to be with April

5:11

for the birth of her baby, now just

5:13

days away. And she said, so if

5:15

Sunday looks good for you, I'd like

5:17

to come

5:18

out. And I said that'd be great, you know?

5:20

Just let me know what time, you know, and I'll pick you

5:22

up. Already, Eva's husband

5:24

had invited her to Catalina Island

5:26

when he returned from a flight the following week,

5:29

an effort to reconcile. She

5:31

accepted, and then Eva placed

5:33

another call must have, though it

5:35

was secret. To Steven.

5:37

How about Catalina right now? She

5:39

asked him before the trip she

5:41

was supposed to take with her husband.

5:44

And then Sunny Night kind of rolled around

5:46

and I never heard from her,

5:48

and I thought this is getting kind of strange,

5:50

you know. Strange indeed.

5:53

How strange? She had

5:55

no idea.

6:09

On

6:13

a cool autumn morning in October two

6:15

thousand and one, Los Angeles County

6:17

Sheriff's Detective Richard Tom. Lifted

6:20

off in a department helicopter and

6:22

rode twenty six miles across the

6:24

sea to Santa Catalina

6:25

Island. Virtually crime

6:27

free. Dateline, That was

6:29

the first murder in twenty years, I believe.

6:32

So it was unheard of. I

6:34

mean, it's a resort

6:34

area. Sure. People go there to

6:36

get away. Beside

6:39

him in the helicopter was his partner, detective

6:42

Ken Gallatin, ahead on the

6:44

island. Perhaps the most unusual

6:46

case of their

6:46

careers. We just knew we had a dead

6:49

female and a boyfriend

6:51

who they felt was responsible

6:53

for it.

6:53

They were the crew at Catalina's fire station

6:56

who early that morning had received

6:58

an unexpected visitor, Stephen

7:00

Reitz. He

7:02

had actually gone down to the fire station

7:04

and and said that his girlfriend was heard up in the

7:06

apartment. He may have killed her.

7:09

Theramedics rushed to the hotel. And

7:12

tried to revive EVO wine furtener,

7:14

but it was far too late for that.

7:17

And then a few hours later,

7:19

detectors Gallatin and Thalmann arrived

7:21

in lovely Avalon, the island's

7:23

little town. They'd both been there before

7:26

on vacation, but

7:28

this was awful. You

7:31

walk in and you just

7:33

see

7:33

devastation, you see a horrific scene,

7:35

and you're wondering what the heck happened

7:37

in here?

7:41

That is the evidence that we're going to

7:44

retain. A

7:46

police photographer pushed record

7:49

and wandered through the brutal crime

7:51

scene. She had a broken jaw,

7:53

three places, a fractured

7:54

skull, shoulder

7:57

elbow, wrist broken.

7:59

My

7:59

god. That's that's Should I not

8:01

want a self? That's a continuing dislocated shoulder

8:04

and boshing on a hand which kind

8:06

of appeared maybe as a defensive one.

8:08

You know, we don't know. But

8:10

within minutes, detectives did know what

8:13

actually killed EVA. Something

8:15

even more shocking than all the other injuries

8:17

put

8:17

together. It was several

8:21

large stab wounds in her neck. In a

8:22

spinal call. In a spinal call.

8:25

Exactly.

8:26

And there, not far from EVA's body,

8:28

detectives found a small, bloody

8:30

pocket life. And they could hardly

8:33

miss seeing the large flowerpot that

8:35

appeared to have been shattered on her head.

8:36

The first

8:37

thing that jumped out at you is

8:40

the like

8:41

a better term mayhem. But

8:43

there were plenty of other clues of the crime

8:45

scene that seemed to back up young

8:47

mister Wright's story that he and

8:49

Eva had come to Catalina the party

8:52

for

8:52

romance, not violence. There

8:54

was a half a bottle of tequila sitting

8:56

on the table. There were several empty beer

8:58

bottles. There was a five dollars

9:00

bill rolled up with cocaine residue or

9:02

white powder

9:03

residue. Later, her no pickle came on

9:05

the table. They found cards on

9:07

the table too, at a scorebook with

9:09

the results of several hands of Jin

9:11

Rummy. Strange. All

9:14

kinds of evidence of an intimate

9:16

evening. And yet, they're on the

9:18

floor by the

9:18

bed, was the carnage. What had to

9:20

be a bloody rampage. There

9:22

was only two people there. And

9:24

so only he knows whether or not

9:26

there was a motive and whether they gotten

9:28

an dollar argument or a little

9:31

pushing match over

9:32

something. An argument

9:34

is one thing, but a brutal

9:36

murder like this is quite another. It

9:39

didn't make any sense. Why

9:41

in the world would Steven writes do

9:43

such a thing? Especially

9:45

to his

9:46

girlfriend. Rights,

9:48

as it turned out, was eager to explain.

9:51

I

9:51

woke up looking at Eva's body

9:54

on ground.

9:54

Next thing you know, you're looking at her laying on the fly. We're

9:56

dreaming about being into conflict. What

9:59

was the conflict about? Yeah.

10:01

I think could have been an intruder or

10:03

something, I'm thinking. I knew I was felt

10:05

threatened for some

10:06

reason, but it it had nothing to do with

10:08

Ava. I wasn't dreaming about Ava.

10:11

then said something chilling. There's no other way

10:13

to put it. He said he was sitting

10:15

on the bed and she was still alive

10:17

and she was

10:17

moaning. And he saw the lacerations

10:19

to her neck. And he said

10:22

It

10:22

began to occur to me that I was

10:24

responsible

10:24

for that

10:25

because of the weapons that was

10:27

what I do shark fishing. And I

10:30

said, why would you recognize that? And he says, when

10:32

I was a commercial fisherman, that's the way we'd

10:34

kill sharks. We'd take a knife and serve their

10:35

spinal, and they would and incapacitate

10:38

the sharks. And so is it right? He

10:40

must have done just the same thing to Eva

10:43

thinking somehow she was an intruder.

10:45

Must have, he told them. But there was

10:47

really only a guess. Rights

10:49

insisted he remembered virtually nothing

10:52

about his violent attack on Eva.

10:56

Blashes, but I don't, you know. I really

10:58

I mean, it's hard to believe,

11:01

but I also have other roommates that

11:03

have watched me sleepwalking.

11:05

Sleepwalker? Now,

11:07

rights made the

11:08

most remarkable claim. This

11:11

horrible violence grew out

11:13

of a completely unconscious sleepwalking

11:16

episode. He

11:18

told us that he has reoccurring

11:21

sleepwalking

11:21

episodes. And

11:23

this time, he must have been when it

11:25

happened. Was this a clever

11:27

ruse that writes it cooked up in the minutes

11:29

after the killing? Or was his

11:31

claim actually

11:32

legitimate? Rights parents who

11:34

by now had arrived at the sheriff's station

11:36

in Also claimed that

11:38

their son had a history of

11:40

sleepwalking. They relayed at

11:42

least one, maybe two incidents. That

11:44

they were aware of, that they knew that

11:46

he has to walk in the

11:47

past. And

11:48

they also told detectives Steven

11:50

was under treatment for bipolar disorder

11:53

He'd said he'd forgot his bipolar

11:55

medicine during the interview, and she'd

11:57

given him some kind of a prescription that she

11:59

had had for anxiety or something like

12:01

this. Suddenly,

12:02

this confession was making what seemed like

12:04

a clear cut crime, a

12:06

lot more complicated. We knew

12:08

who our suspect was, if you will. There's

12:11

no doubt that this occurred,

12:13

and there's no doubt that he did it. Now

12:15

the only question is, was

12:17

he in his right frame of

12:18

mind? Was he sleepwalking? If he

12:21

truly was sleepwalking and not

12:23

conscious of his actions, Steven

12:25

writes would also walk away from any

12:27

at all charges. He

12:29

not and would not. He held

12:31

accountable for Eva's death,

12:33

a killing to which he had just

12:35

confessed.

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for details. The

13:37

case should have been a cakewalk for

13:39

detectives Ken Gallatin and Richard Tomlin.

13:41

The evidence was in room number two of

13:43

a small Catalina hotel and

13:45

their suspect had just

13:46

confessed. I woke

13:49

up and and I began getting consciousness as

13:51

a situation, and I realized

13:53

that was

13:53

avo. Right. And I looked around

13:56

and I I couldn't believe it was her. And I think I

13:58

might have killed Ava in my

14:00

sleep. Or

14:02

more specifically, while

14:04

Sleepwalker,

14:05

Steven Wright claimed he was fending off an

14:08

intruder and didn't remember

14:10

killing his girlfriend, Eva Weinford,

14:12

during the deadly

14:12

dream. But he did recognize

14:15

his fatal handy work.

14:17

He told us I must have done

14:19

it. And we asked

14:21

him why. He goes, well, I'm a commercial fisherman

14:23

and that's the way we kill sharks.

14:25

I must have done. This

14:27

is curious way of being

14:30

responsible without being responsible. Absolutely.

14:32

And in situations like

14:34

this, you don't wanna press an individual

14:36

too bad. You wanna hear what they have to say.

14:38

Number one, have to give them a fair shake.

14:40

Okay. What happened? Tell us you're your

14:42

side.

14:44

Nothing in writes a story suggested he

14:47

would ever want to harm Eva. Let

14:49

alone kill her, especially during

14:51

their stay in

14:52

Catalina. There was no indication that

14:54

they'd argued or thought about

14:56

anything. And according to him, they were having a

14:58

wonderful, beautiful evening. And when he was awakened by

15:00

an intruder and everything else transpired

15:02

after that. Over and

15:04

over, he told detective he couldn't

15:06

quite remember, just flashes,

15:09

a hazy feeling he'd fought against this

15:11

intruder. But beating

15:13

and stabbing Eva, of

15:15

that he said he could recall

15:16

nothing. And this is a

15:17

woman supposed He's having an affair with her. If he

15:19

doesn't love her, he at least likes

15:21

her. Because we didn't have

15:23

a motive an apparent, an

15:25

obvious motive. I'd send him back your mind. It's like,

15:27

okay. Is he sleepwalking? Is there

15:29

some validity to what he's

15:30

saying? And maybe there

15:33

was. After all, rights claimed

15:35

to have a history of sleepwalking. He

15:37

was also diagnosed as being

15:39

bipolar

15:40

and he certainly seemed forthright, cooperative.

15:43

When I saw him,

15:45

horrific I mean, it just amazed me.

15:47

I couldn't believe it. Really?

15:49

I mean, just There was no reason

15:51

for it. No.

15:52

Obviously, you're you Okay. You're really

15:54

sorry. I want to face the music.

15:56

But

15:56

who could back up his story?

15:59

Nobody heard the attack. Nobody saw a

16:01

man with vacant eyes walking the

16:03

halls carrying a flowerpot or

16:05

a bloody

16:06

knife. Nobody screamed.

16:08

That was extremely odd because once

16:10

again, if you saw the destruction, the

16:12

mayhem in the room, you had to figure somebody had

16:14

to hear

16:15

something. And based on the chaos

16:17

of the crime scene, detectives surmised

16:20

the attack must have taken several

16:21

minutes. This was not a

16:24

quick two second

16:26

stabbing and maybe a

16:28

muffled scream or cry

16:30

for

16:30

help, this took a little

16:33

while to do. And all

16:35

done according to Steven writes

16:37

completely unconsciously, while

16:39

sleepwalking.

16:40

There was no outward emotion

16:42

where there was any indication that he

16:44

was remorseful for his actions. And

16:47

then as they wrapped up their interview

16:49

with rights, The detectives got one

16:51

more surprise. This is

16:53

a parting question. Was it do I get to go home with mom

16:55

and dad? They're here to pick me up. Can I go home

16:57

with him? I don't

16:59

think so. I was under arrest for murder.

17:02

Rights was flown back from Catalina to Los

17:05

Angeles later that same day.

17:07

So was Eva's body for the

17:10

autopsy. The medical examiner

17:12

confirmed Steven Reits' gruesome

17:14

confession regarding the cause of death a

17:16

deep slash to her spinal

17:17

cord. I

17:18

attended the autopsy. That's

17:21

not standard protocol for

17:23

a prosecutor. I attended it

17:25

because I've never

17:26

seen a

17:26

case like this. Chris Frisco,

17:29

then the deputy DA, was

17:30

initially assigned to look into the case,

17:33

he'd never encountered such an alibi.

17:35

What I was concerned about was

17:37

looking at the injuries and

17:39

trying to determine if in fact

17:41

the defendant is

17:42

or was sleepwalking. Frisco

17:45

studied the detectives report. It

17:47

appeared that Eva's murder was now both

17:49

a legal and medical issue.

17:52

For

17:52

advice, Frisco consulted another d

17:55

a, Dinko Bosanich, who

17:57

specialized in cases involving

18:00

mental defenses if

18:02

he truly was sleepwalking

18:04

at the time

18:06

of the episode then he was

18:09

not conscious, not criminally

18:11

responsible, not guilty. Really?

18:13

The

18:14

idea that right might not be held responsible for

18:17

Eva's death, horrified her

18:19

family. How is

18:19

that possible? How could he even

18:22

get off on that type of defense. You know, he did it. He was

18:24

there. He knows he did it. We

18:27

know he did it. How

18:31

how why is why is this even

18:33

going to trial?

18:36

Science took over then for

18:39

a while. A world recognized sleep disorder

18:41

expert from Stanford University

18:43

joined the case. Rights was also

18:45

sent to a sleep clinic for a battery

18:47

of tests. To see if he really did

18:49

have a recognized sleeping disorder,

18:51

something severe enough to have produced

18:53

such violence. He was

18:55

wired and monitored and

18:57

recorded And as he fell asleep,

18:59

cameras rolled. Then,

19:05

The test revealed not only a propensity to

19:08

sleep walk. Rights also

19:10

suffered a significant night

19:12

terror. It was caught on tape.

19:14

And later featured in an Australian documentary

19:16

on sleepwalking. Is it

19:18

possible that in this case there was

19:21

a sleep terror episode and a sleepwalking Sleepwalker,

19:23

which would somehow happen at the

19:25

same time, and thus created this tremendous

19:28

violence.

19:28

It's very likely patients

19:31

may wake up, be

19:34

terrified, fulfill all the criteria

19:36

for what we call sleep terror. And

19:38

then go on to develop a

19:41

sleepwalking

19:41

episode. Doctor Alain Avidan

19:44

runs the UCLA sleep center in Los

19:47

Angeles He was not involved in the case, but

19:49

has studied sleepwalking for

19:50

years. It's one of many types of

19:53

sleeping disorders. Now

19:55

what is patients are neither asleep

19:58

nor awake, but when you look at

20:00

their brain activity, terraced

20:03

Sleepwalker yet they act out

20:05

behaviors that are often

20:07

as simple as talking to

20:10

more complex

20:11

up. Soats such as walking,

20:13

that we've seen sleepwalking. And in

20:15

the morning, they wouldn't be aware of any hazard.

20:18

No recollection. And if someone has a history

20:20

of like Stephen Reitz

20:22

was

20:22

claiming, and who uses drugs

20:24

or alcohol like those found at

20:26

the crime

20:27

scene, and the chances of an episode

20:29

are even more likely.

20:32

And there was one more

20:34

risk fact that may have contributed to

20:36

the violent nature of Stephen Reitz's

20:38

alleged sleepwalking

20:39

episode. He was bipolar,

20:42

which made him more susceptible to violent

20:44

behavior during a sleepwalking

20:46

episode, much like those seen in

20:48

sleep disorder clinics. They

20:50

may be dreaming that there's an intruder in

20:52

the house, and they're trying to

20:54

protect themselves against the

20:56

intruder. And in a

20:58

way punch and kick

21:00

and hurt their bet partner.

21:03

And perhaps even kill them? Yes,

21:06

says doctor Avidong. It's

21:08

rare, but it happens.

21:10

Consider the story investigators

21:13

were about to in town Hunter.

21:15

It had happened before with

21:17

an astonishing result. If

21:20

you think you know that you wouldn't mind,

21:22

prepare to be amazed,

21:24

or perhaps disturb.

21:42

Unfortunately, the best witness in this case is

21:45

dead. It was gone. She was

21:47

the best witness in this case.

21:48

DA, Chris Frisco, had a

21:51

problem. Stephen writes, under

21:53

investigation for killing his girlfriend,

21:55

Eva Weinfeiter, claimed to be

21:57

sleepwalking, not in control when

21:59

he beat and stabbed her to

22:01

death. But judging from the violent crime scene and witnessing

22:03

Eva's autopsy, Frisco was convinced this

22:05

had to be calculated,

22:08

conscious, People are

22:09

sleepwalking. It's not easy to

22:12

form all of these various steps in

22:14

your mind. It's not as if you had thrashed about

22:16

on the room and knocked over the furniture

22:18

and then woke up. Everything he

22:21

did was directed specifically

22:23

at Eva to ultimately murder

22:25

her. But ultimately, DA Frisco

22:27

wouldn't get a chance to make that case to a

22:29

jury. He was transferred to another office

22:31

and handed the case to DA Dinko

22:33

Bazanich. To remember, specialized in

22:36

cases involving mental

22:38

defenses. How many times do

22:39

you hear about anybody really committing

22:42

a crime while they're Sleepwalker? Except

22:45

for the ones that have been

22:47

caught and then

22:49

raise that as a defense instead of something

22:51

else. Well,

22:54

it turned out there was one particular

22:56

case in Toronto, Canada,

22:58

it was decades ago.

23:00

And it too was a violent crime,

23:03

involved a man who had no apparent

23:05

motive and who later on had absolutely

23:08

no recollection of what he

23:10

had

23:10

done. Just like Stephen writes.

23:13

This killer's name was Kenneth

23:15

Parks, and his story made

23:17

headlines around the world.

23:20

It was nineteen eighty seven, Parks with twenty three,

23:22

married the father of a baby girl.

23:25

It happened about two AM Parks

23:27

had fallen asleep in front of the television set. He

23:29

got up, put on his coat, walked out the

23:31

front door of his house, climbed into his

23:33

car, drove fourteen miles,

23:35

a drive on which he encountered several major

23:38

intersections. Park that is

23:40

in law's home went inside,

23:43

his father-in-law leaving him barely alive and

23:45

then beat and stabbed to death,

23:47

his

23:47

mother-in-law. Then he got back into

23:50

his car. And drove

23:52

away.

23:52

And only

23:53

realized what he had done after

23:56

the episode and turned himself into

23:58

the police. He

24:00

had said that he had been there and he had

24:02

done it and they found blood in

24:04

his truck on the steering

24:05

wheel. It was

24:07

in some ways just like the killing

24:09

of Eva Weinfurtner, a fatal

24:11

beating and stabbing. The killer

24:13

claiming no memory of what he

24:16

Nor was there any apparent

24:18

motive. The Toronto investigation

24:20

revealed that Parks was very close to his

24:22

in

24:22

laws, was either truly horrified

24:25

or was a very good actor. He

24:28

didn't know what had happened.

24:30

He didn't know how he got from his house

24:32

to their house. He didn't know why he would

24:34

have done anything like

24:35

THAT, BECAUSE HE SAID THAT LOVED HER. HE WAS GREAT

24:37

TO ME. Reporter:

24:38

SECRETTRAS DR. R. H. BILLINGS WAS ASSIGNED

24:41

THE CASE OF KEMATH PARKS SAW

24:43

HIM SOON AFTER THE KILLING. He

24:45

was believable because he was so distraught and

24:48

and he was extremely willing to

24:50

talk about anything he asked him.

24:52

Doctor Billings delved into Park's

24:55

medical background and

24:57

initially found nothing unusual. Was

24:59

he psychotic in any

25:00

way? No. No history of

25:03

this. No history of that. And

25:05

I think it was by chance really when

25:07

another patient told me

25:09

about sleepwalking, how complicated the behavior

25:11

could be. Like both must have gone

25:13

on your head. Right

25:14

then. And I thought, I

25:17

wonder if that's what it is.

25:19

So Ken Parks, just like Stephen

25:21

Reitz, underwent a series of

25:23

steep tests and also psychological

25:25

exams conducted by a number of specialists.

25:27

They discovered he had a family history

25:29

of the disorder and tests

25:31

confirmed parks had periods of awakening from

25:34

deep sleep and a strong

25:36

propensity to sleep Sleepwalker

25:38

anything could happen.

25:40

There's no conscious awareness of what

25:43

happens. So thus

25:45

a mother could kill her

25:47

child --

25:47

Yes. -- a husband could kill his wife --

25:49

Yeah. -- has been cases

25:52

of mothers throwing their kids out a

25:54

window and of husbands

25:56

killing their lives in

25:58

bed. Or perhaps even killing their girlfriends

26:00

in Catalina. Diagnosis

26:04

or

26:04

no, Ken Parks was charged with

26:07

first degree murder, just like Stephen Reitz

26:09

was. Parks spent a couple of years in

26:12

jail before he went on trial. And

26:14

his defense made the case that

26:16

he should be found not guilty

26:18

because he was completely unconscious

26:20

of what he had done. Their

26:23

argument that he committed this

26:26

crime being completely unaware of

26:28

what he was

26:28

doing. And would never have done it had it been And would

26:30

never have done it had it been conscious.

26:32

And aware. After a lengthy

26:34

and well publicized trial, the case

26:37

finally went to the jury. And

26:39

they

26:39

said him, pray it. They let him go. Said he was

26:42

not guilty. Not guilty.

26:44

Kenneth Parks was allowed to walk

26:46

because he was sleepwalking

26:49

when the incident occurred. So

26:51

what seemed like a clear case of murder

26:54

was now ruled an

26:56

involuntary act. Now some

26:58

fifteen years later and three thousand miles

27:00

away in California. That

27:02

verdict in Toronto resonated

27:04

as the trial approached in the case

27:06

against Steven

27:07

writes. And

27:07

so you see something like that and you

27:10

go, well, yeah, there's possibility

27:12

it could happen here again. Hearing

27:14

about trials that had gone on and the

27:16

people were innocent. That's scary. It's very

27:19

scary. There's no

27:21

accountability. But

27:22

the LA County District Attorney's Office

27:24

was determined to hold rights accountable

27:27

and sought a first degree murder

27:29

conviction, which seemed a bit

27:31

risky. Given rights as Sleepwalker

27:33

history, the park's case in Toronto

27:35

and the medical experts backing up his

27:36

story. Second degree murder,

27:39

even manslaughter, would be

27:41

easier to prove and might ensure

27:43

a conviction I

27:45

would rather try the case and

27:47

lose it. Let them present

27:49

their defense as skeptical as I am

27:51

and we don't prove it and

27:53

the defendant walks so

27:54

beyond. Without some sort of

27:57

motive though, persuading a jury that

27:59

rights was fully conscious and in control

28:01

might be difficult So

28:03

could anything else besides

28:06

sleepwalking have triggered the

28:07

attack? We have to look

28:09

into everything. You know,

28:12

we we we trying to find a reason

28:14

why.

28:14

Was there more to

28:17

that secret love affair? Perhaps

28:19

there was another secret, something

28:22

writes kept it himself, which just might

28:24

explain what really happened.

28:26

That night in Catalina and

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why? This

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listening right now. You're

29:46

thinking, god. What was she doing with him? Their life

29:48

sales were so different. But she thought

29:50

she was in a bad relationship with

29:52

her

29:52

husband, and she just got involved and

29:55

couldn't get out of it, and it ultimately

29:57

cost her life. Eva Wein

30:00

Ferdinand's Secret affair with Young Stephen

30:02

Wright had boiled along for the better

30:04

part of six months. Yet she was

30:06

also trying to reconcile with her

30:09

husband. Though Eva told those in on her

30:11

secret that she was addicted to

30:13

rights. He was her drug She

30:15

couldn't

30:15

let him go. She didn't let go of him. And

30:17

she confided in her sister except that

30:19

their sexual relationship was very

30:21

good. You know, I'm addicted to this

30:23

kid, but I can't let go of him. It was just

30:26

like I I need

30:26

him. Bile in

30:29

death, as a way of prying open the deepest secrets,

30:32

especially under the gaze of two experienced

30:34

detectives. The

30:35

affair, it soon became apparent. Was

30:38

as too muchuous as it was passionate.

30:40

My uncle called and

30:42

said, you're aunt Eva's

30:44

dead, and I said Steve Kilder.

30:47

Didn't he? He didn't

30:49

know at that point really details

30:51

or anything, but I knew.

30:56

Knowing Eva and Steve's relationship,

30:58

knowing the violence, it was obviously

31:00

shocking, but not surprising.

31:03

Violence. What violence? Steven

31:06

writes told detectives that he and Eva had

31:08

a very loving relationship

31:10

rarely if ever did they

31:12

quarrel or disagree. Odd then that

31:15

he never mentioned the incident in San

31:17

Diego a few months before

31:19

Eva's

31:19

death. Did he think the detectives

31:22

wouldn't hear about this?

31:24

She didn't want him to

31:26

be at her house and somehow,

31:29

he climbed to the third floor

31:31

to her balcony and kicked

31:34

in a plain glass window

31:36

with a huge knife. And he said to

31:38

her, I'm gonna cut

31:40

a man. I'm gonna

31:42

gut him like a fish.

31:44

And I'm gonna name him Eva. And

31:47

then she got scared

31:49

and ended up leaving the

31:50

house. Eva called the police who

31:53

filed a report Then later

31:55

that very same evening, Wright

31:57

was arrested for driving under the influence

31:59

he was taken to jail where he

32:01

received a visitor. Either.

32:04

She went down and bailed him out,

32:07

and that was it. And then they

32:09

continued to see each other. So why did that happen?

32:11

I don't know. I think that she thought she could

32:13

save him and that it would end.

32:15

I feared for her life.

32:17

I think a lot of us feared for her life

32:19

with him. So

32:20

bizarre that she would not see it that

32:23

way, that she didn't see it as

32:25

a threat. I don't think that she

32:27

really understood how

32:30

capable

32:30

he was of hurting her. I think that she

32:32

was in denial. And

32:34

in hindsight, one alleged incident might

32:37

have been a warning. She had

32:39

told me a time where she

32:41

woke up in the middle of the night and

32:43

he was on top of her choking

32:45

her bizarre bizarre

32:46

behavior. Could that have been another

32:49

sleepwalking episode? Another unintended

32:51

attack, perhaps even a

32:53

precursor to what happened in Catalina. Detectives

32:56

kept digging and from

32:58

Eva's friends and

32:59

family, They heard allegations

33:01

about a dark side of Steven's

33:04

personality. He had a temper

33:06

talking to family members

33:08

of Eva friends of his. He had a

33:10

temper. He had a history of being violent with

33:11

her. She'd come home and her sister and her

33:14

mothers. They'd see bruises all over about it. And

33:16

they knew that Stephen was

33:18

being he was very violent at

33:19

times. They were

33:19

obviously bite marks

33:22

on her legs or whatever, and I

33:24

would ask her, you know, what is that? Oh,

33:27

it's from Stephen,

33:29

you know, we were playing Raffer,

33:32

you know, wrestling around

33:34

some type of sexual

33:35

thing. Eva conflicted

33:38

perhaps confused, ignored the advice of

33:40

her friends, and even as the

33:43

story

33:43

goes, a mystical warning. She'd gone

33:45

to a psychic. She didn't tell the woman

33:47

anything about her life, and she

33:49

said, you're in a relationship with

33:51

a younger man. That's not your

33:54

husband. Nevo was like, yeah, that's really

33:56

weird, you know. And

33:58

the psychic said if you don't break it

33:59

off, he will kill you. I

34:02

think that she knew that she had

34:04

gotten in a little bit too

34:07

deep. I think

34:07

we've all gotten in situations that we really don't know

34:09

how to get out

34:12

of. And I think that's where she was in her

34:13

life. They'd all tried to get

34:14

her to leave him alone, get away from him,

34:17

and she'd always find

34:19

her way back. Which she had done on that last

34:21

sex and drug and blood soaked night in

34:24

Catalina. Why did Eva

34:27

invite him there? And why just after she'd

34:29

made that far better plan to go to that very same place

34:32

the following week for a reconciliation

34:34

with her

34:34

husband. I think Eva was breaking it

34:38

off telling him that this was their last time together.

34:40

He couldn't handle it. He if

34:42

he couldn't have her, no one could.

34:46

And, you know, that probably started to fight and

34:49

ended

34:49

up, you

34:51

ended up killing

34:53

her.

34:53

But Stephen Reitz,

34:56

who is now facing a first degree murder

34:58

charge, never once wavered from

35:00

the story he told that morning of the

35:02

Catalina fire station. He

35:04

was not conscious. He did

35:06

not want to kill EVA, had no

35:09

recollect whatsoever of what he did, he was

35:11

not in control. Now

35:16

writes and medical science would be on

35:18

trial. Was his lover, Eva Wein

35:20

Ferdinand, killed in a tragic,

35:22

unconscious accident?

35:25

Or was it a gold blooded

35:28

calculated murder?

35:33

There was

35:42

no question he did

35:44

it. But was Steven Wright's

35:46

conscious or actually asleep

35:48

when he killed his lover, the beautiful evil

35:50

wine furtener that night in Catalina,

35:52

Now a jury would decide. It had taken more

35:54

than three years to get here. And

35:56

Eva's family had mixed emotions about

35:58

finally going to trial, especially such

36:02

a high profile case that featured cameras from ABC's Good

36:04

Morning America in the

36:06

courtroom. You

36:06

know, you're

36:07

working through healing and trying to move

36:09

on with

36:11

your And then it has to be brought back up

36:14

again and you have to deal with the

36:16

monster face

36:18

to

36:18

face. But Steven

36:20

writes looked nothing like a monster. When

36:22

he finally entered the courtroom to face a

36:24

charge of first degree murder, He

36:26

was twenty eight by then. He seemed calm, composed,

36:29

didn't appear to be at

36:31

all

36:31

threatening. He

36:34

looked like nice little school boy in the courtroom. He

36:36

had his glasses on, his hair

36:38

was freshly cut, and you look at him

36:40

and he's

36:41

like, wow, this kid you

36:43

know, this young man no way could he

36:45

have done what

36:47

occurred. Prosecutors, however, would

36:50

be a new DA The third one assigned

36:52

to the case. Remember, the first

36:54

day eight Frisco was transferred away. The

36:57

case reassigned to Dinko

36:59

Bazanek who specialized

37:01

in mental defense cases. And then And

37:03

I had the misfortune of

37:06

having had a heart attack and bypass

37:08

surgery that causing me

37:10

to retire if someone had

37:12

asked me of the thousand deputy

37:14

justice attorneys in the DA's

37:16

office. Who would be your

37:18

choice to try the

37:19

case? I said Lam. Ken Lam, a

37:22

former

37:22

LA Police officer, he'd never

37:24

handle anything like this case before,

37:26

but he picked it

37:28

up. Fast. It's whether or not

37:30

during this murder. He

37:32

was conscious or unconscious.

37:35

Yes. You're conscious,

37:38

then he's guilty of murder. And

37:40

based on what happened to Eva that

37:42

night, argued Lam, rights had to have

37:44

made a series of complex decisions fully

37:47

aware of exactly what

37:49

he was doing. Look at the

37:51

beating. This is repeated over and

37:53

over and

37:54

over. That takes energy,

37:56

that takes thought, that takes awareness.

37:59

Lam

37:59

proposed to the jury, his theory of what

38:02

must have happened that night

38:04

in Catalina.

38:04

Something, perhaps an argument, you said, must have prompted rights

38:06

to get out of bed and walk outside and

38:08

pick up a heavy flower pot. And

38:11

carry it back to the door of the room, which would have

38:14

been locked behind him. So he must have

38:16

pouted on the door until Eva

38:18

opened it to

38:20

the prosecutor. Then he knocked her unconscious with the

38:22

flowerpot. He must have beaten her and stabbed

38:24

her and finally inflicted the fatal

38:26

wounds to

38:28

her neck. Dateline

38:29

Talman offered a theory of his own during

38:32

testimony about the attack,

38:34

and that theory did not

38:36

involve sleepwalking. I think

38:39

something went wrong obviously in

38:41

that room and he

38:41

snapped. Then the prosecutor told the

38:44

jury about right episode of jealous

38:46

rage a few months before he killed Eva,

38:48

told them her rights broke into her apartment,

38:50

waved a knife around. He

38:53

told them rights at a temper and that Eva's

38:55

relatives had noticed bruising bite

38:55

marks. So you see,

39:00

the parallels the very same

39:02

behavior pounding on the door, breaking into

39:04

the room, wielding a pocket

39:05

knife, and then threatening the to

39:08

gut

39:08

her. Is the very same thing he

39:10

did in this case. And how do you say that he was sleepwalking

39:12

when Sleepwalker a prior occasion

39:15

rehearsal. At trial,

39:18

writes never denied breaking into

39:20

Eva's apartment with the knife.

39:23

Nor did he deny that he was

39:25

responsible for her bruises, the ones

39:27

Eva's family noticed. Instead, Wright said,

39:29

in their passion, sometimes he

39:32

grabbed her too

39:33

firmly. She even went to a doctor, said

39:35

writes to ask why she

39:37

bruised so easily.

39:38

As for the night she was killed, Rights' attorney Ted

39:40

McGinnis insisted Steven couldn't

39:42

possibly have been that angry.

39:45

Couldn't have known what he was

39:47

doing. There's nothing that occurred that

39:49

makes sense. The act itself

39:52

is bizarre. The act itself is

39:54

an act of somebody losing

39:58

it. And then the heart of the

40:00

defense. The medical expert from

40:02

Stanford University explained how people can and sometimes do

40:04

violent things unconsciously, well

40:06

asleep. He detailed the battery of

40:08

tests, rights had

40:10

been

40:10

given. Which showed his propensity

40:12

to sleep walking. Is it a

40:14

fake

40:15

No. No. No. No. No. When you're in in

40:17

a rather sleep, there's no

40:19

way you can fake. The

40:22

trial lasted three weeks,

40:24

and now the jury would have to decide

40:26

if it was conscious rage or

40:28

unconscious

40:29

tragedy, guilty or not.

40:31

I was extremely worried

40:34

and scared because

40:36

what then What happens then?

40:38

If if he's if he's

40:40

innocent because he was

40:41

sleepwalking, how do you

40:44

how do you go on? How do you move on after

40:46

that? The

40:46

jury was out for a day and a half, and then

40:49

We've a jury by

40:50

the defendant, Steven Auto Wright, guilty

40:53

of murder.

40:55

The jury

40:58

rejected the science, didn't

41:02

the data and tests that show a link between sleepwalking

41:04

and

41:04

violence, at least when it

41:07

came to Stephen Wright.

41:10

It

41:11

was such a relief, but at the same time, it doesn't

41:13

bring her back. It doesn't

41:15

erase everything. Steven writes

41:17

was sentenced to

41:20

twenty six years to life and prison with the possibility

41:22

of parole and justice

41:24

if you believe an ex district attorney

41:28

won the day. If he had prevailed, I'm

41:30

sure we would have seen a bunch of sleepwalking

41:33

defenses presented since. The

41:35

verdict, you hope that that

41:38

closes the book. I don't

41:40

know if it'll

41:42

ever be closed in my

41:43

heart. In November twenty

41:46

twenty two, Stephen Reitz was

41:48

found suitable

41:50

for parole. And

41:52

his case is now under review. It's possible he

41:54

could be released sometime in

41:57

twenty twenty three. After serving

42:00

nearly twenty years

42:02

in prison.

42:07

Hello. I'm Keith Morrison. Friday on an

42:09

all new two hour date line.

42:11

It's the story of those four

42:13

college students in Idaho's

42:15

stabbed to death in the middle of the night, well,

42:18

the whole world has been watching this case,

42:20

and we have

42:22

new

42:22

information. The latest on the story,

42:24

Friday night,

42:25

nine eight central on

42:28

Dateline.

42:29

Dateline episode

42:32

is brought to you by Zelle. Whenever you're sending money

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