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Our episodes deal with serious and off-end distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please contact your local crisis centre. For suggested phone numbers for confidential support and for a more detailed list of content warnings, please take the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website. Around 10pm on Thursday, January 16, 1997, Gregory Coons was watching the late-night news at his home in Phoenix, Arizona.
After 10 or so minutes, he turned to the television off and headed to bed, where his girlfriend Stephanie lay awake, looking obviously concerned. Moments earlier, she heard what sounded like a woman outside screaming, please no, or please don't. The screams had since subsided, giving way to the faint sounds of someone moaning or crying. Years of walking and construction had damaged Gregory's hearing, and while he hadn't heard anything unusual himself, he still felt compelled to check if everything was alright.
After stepping out onto his back patio and listening closely, he soon heard the strange noise Stephanie had described. It was coming from the other side of the tall grey cinder block fence that separated his yard from that of his next door neighbours, the Felito family. At first, the Gregory Coons thought the noises might be a couple having sex, but with the six-foot-high fence blocking his view, he couldn't be sure. He went into his garage, quietly opened an exterior door closer to the fence, and to listen again, only to realise the moaning had stopped.
Then, he heard the sound of footsteps crunching along the gravel path that lined to the Felito side of the fence. Driven by curiosity, Gregory silently crept to a flower plantar at the rear of his backyard. He stepped onto the railroad, as they held the plantar together, giving him just enough height to be discreetly over the fence. The Felito property featured a two-story stucco home in a warm, cream colour that occupied most of the lot.
Their backyard, like Gregory's, was compact and fully enclosed. It had a cozy patio, a towering pine tree and a small curved swimming pool. Though the Felito's yard was unlit, Gregory couldn't make out a figure riding on the ground near the pool. It was a fully-gloved woman.
She laid with her head facing the house and her feet pointing towards the pool pump equipment. She slugs like she shifted onto her left side, draped her right arm overhead, moved her legs slightly, then rolled onto her back again. Her slow, uncoordinated, movement-slide Gregory to suspect she was heavily intoxicated. Glancing toward the Felito's house, Gregory noticed multiple lights on inside, including one in the downstairs kitchen and another in the garage.
Suddenly, a light flick gone in and upstairs bedroom. The windows blinds were open, giving Gregory a clear view inside. A man wearing a white t-shirt and a red flannel sweatpants walk past the window and in to an adjoining bathroom where he turned on another light. Even though the bathroom window was frosted, Gregory could see the man silhouette as he moved about.
It was 43-year-old a Scott Felito, the family's husband and father. Scott moved in and out of sight before switching off both the bathroom and bedroom lights, then disappeared entirely. Moments later, Gregory spotted him again. Now he was downstairs near a sliding glass door that opened out to the patio.
Through the surrounding windows, Gregory watched Scott move from the kitchen to the living room, appearing to ring his hands as if he had just washed them. He then started towards the staircase leading back upstairs, but abruptly changed the direction to enter another room instead. He reappeared at the patio door again a short while later. Scott slid open the door and stepped outside.
One of the family's two pet dogs approached him and he motioned to them to lie down. They obeyed as he moved towards the woman lying near the pool. By now, Gregory had deduced that the woman was Scott's wife, 41-year-old Yama La Felito. The situation was undeniably strange, but he hesitated to jump to conclusions.
The failures had always been good at peaceful neighbors, well liked within their community, and known for their pious and pleasant nature. Nothing about them had ever suggested trouble. Yet, something about Scott's demeanor was deeply unsettling. He stopped to just a few feet from Yama La, and it stood completely still while staring down at her in silence.
It was as if he was lost in thought, contemplating his next move. Time stretched uncouftably by. Then, without a word, Scott turned to walk back toward the house. Suddenly, a noise rang out near Gregory.
He had it made it, but Scott heard it. He's had snapped in Gregory's direction, scanning the darkness. Gregory froze, holding his breath, afraid he'd been caught spying. A tense moment passed before Scott finally turned away, and disappeared through the sliding door, seemingly unaware of Gregory's presence.
The next time Gregory's source got, he was emerging from the garage. He wore a glove on one hand and was slipping the matching on as he walked along their shed fence. Upon reaching Yama La once more, he stepped over, grabbed her by the wrist, and pulled her arms over her head. He then began dragging her backwards toward the pool.
At the water's edge, Scott laid Yama's arms down, walked around her, lifted her legs, and dropped them into the shallow end of the pool. Gregory struggled to make sense of what he was witnessing. Scott knelt beside Yama La, pushed her into her body into the water, and leaned over. At first, it seemed as though Scott was splashing Yama La's face to wake her from a drunken stuber.
But as Gregory watched on, the truth became far more sinister. Scott wasn't trying to help Yama La. He was forcibly holding her head under the water. Gregory jumped down from his vantage point to entering inside his house.
Oh my god, he pulled her head under the water. He blurted to his girlfriend to Stephanie before calling 911. When the dispatcher asked about the unfolding emergency, Gregory struggled to process what he had just seen. I don't know, he said breathlessly.
My neighbours, there was a bunch of yelling and screaming going on. I looked over the fence and the husband had just threw, I believe, the wife into the pool, and it looks like he's holding her under the water. After the call, Gregory rushed him back outside to check on the ladies. Yama La was now floating face down in the pool.
Scott was nowhere to be seen. Gregory called 911 again emphasizing the urgency of the situation. Within minutes, officers arrived at his house, swiftly scaled the block fence, and dropped into the foilators backyard. Tensions ran higher.
They had no idea where Scott felt later was, or what level of danger he posed. Was he inside the house, armed and waiting? In the pool, lay a gruesome sight. The faint glow of a motion sensor light to dimly illuminated Yama La for later's motionless body.
The water around her attention with a faint pink hue. The moment an office up pulled her out to begin resuscitation efforts, the water darkened, swirling into a deeper red. It was then that the foil horror of the scene became clear. Yama La's body was riddled with dozens of open wounds.
Her blood transformed the pool into what officers were later compared to the aftermath of a shark attack. An autopsy later confirmed that Yama La had been stabbed 44 times with hunting knife. She suffered multiple wounds that her face and neck breasts also went back, most of which were deemed defensive. The blade appears her lungs, heart, spleen, spinal cord and a jugular vein.
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The biggest wound spans the full five and a half inch length of the blade. Several of her ribs and vertebrae were also fractured. Her hands and fingers bore 12-daped cuts. Evidence of a desperate struggle.
She had tried to grab the knife during the attack, nearly severing her ring finger in the process. The exact sequence of injuries remained unclear as did a total number of times the knife had been thrust at Yama La. The medical examiner determined she had died from massive blood loss and estimated she could have survived upwards of 30 minutes after the attack commenced. A key point of contention among experts was whether Yama La was already deceased when she was pushed into the pool.
Whenever the case, her official cause of death was listed as multiple sub wounds with the drowning. As the first responders processed the green scene, one of them noticed a movement inside the ladies house. Scott Feléders still well appeared at an upstairs window before vanishing again. Guns drawn, officers advanced toward the patio with a found at the sliding glass door partially open.
They entered cautiously. The house was silent, saved for the low-arm of an unwatched television in a living room. Suddenly, Scott appeared at the top of the staircase inside. It didn't look like he had been involved in a violent altercation recently.
His white t-shirt and red flannel sweatpants were spotless, but an expression of pure confusion was painted across his face. What's going on? What are you doing in my house? Why are you here?
He shouted down at the police. The officers kept their guns trained on Scott, barking at him to shut up, show his hands, and to get on the ground. He hesitated for a moment before complying and swiftly handcuffed as he lay prone on the floor. His demeanor was dazed, yet eerily calm as if he was completely detached from the chaos around him.
To some, he looked as though he had just woken up. He kept us being what's going on over and over and repeatedly inquired as he was aware about. No one told him that Yama lay dead in the backyard, but with the flurry of police activity, Scott began to piece together that something terrible had happened. He urged the officers to search for whoever was responsible, expressing concern that the perpetrator might still be inside of the house.
But the police weren't buying Scott's inner scent out. Little did he know his neighbor Greg Raccoon said witnessed him drowning Yama in the pool no minutes before they arrived. How many people are in the house and officers have been under it. Scott's hands are caught down off guard.
Or he revealed himself, his wife and their two children. Concerned searched for the welfare of the felators 15-year-old Lord Amiga and 12-year-old son Michael. Officers swept through the home and, to their relief, found the siblings in their respective bedrooms, unarms and fast asleep. Meghan and Michael had no idea of the horror that unfolded at their home that night.
Upon waking the pair, officers initially told them that their parents had got into a fight and something bad had happened. The siblings immediately found the strange. They had never seen their parents argue, let alone fight. As they were escorted from the house, they were given the devastating news that their mother was dead.
In an interview years later, with ABC's 2020, Michael Felida recalled that moment, tearfully. I went to bed as a 12-year-old kid with a happy life and I woke up to a police officer telling me that my mother died. And it's everything you think it would be and more. Scott Felida was taking into custody as investigators began searching the crime scene.
Aside from some bloodstains splattered throughout the house of garage, everything appeared relatively normal, with no signs of struggle. In the backyard, a large flashlight illuminated the pool pump equipment and the surrounding ground was stained with blood. The police collected the flashlight as well as a few bloody gravel stones and eyeglasses with bloodstains. However, the most significant discovery lay in the garage.
Through the window of Scott's white Evo Vovo hatchback, investigators spotted a bloody white t-shirt in the rear cargo area. A search of the vehicle uncovered blue jeans, a den objectored with a small Swiss army knife in the pocket and white socks. Heading inside of the spare tire compartment was a black trash bag and a large clear plastic container. The trash bag contained a pair of black leather gloves and brown leather hiking boots.
The plastic container typically used to store food, held for the motor weapon. All the items were stained with varying amounts of yarnle as blood. Shortly before 2am, Scott Felicia was led into an interrogation room at the Phoenix Police Department to be formally interviewed by a veteran homicide detective John Norman. He sat barefoot and hunched in a chair pressed into the corner, still wearing his pajamas and handcuffs.
No, no one had explicitly told him yarnle as fate. He stated that he assumed she was dead after noticing the homicide division signage around. Detective Norman confirmed, yes, she is. Obviously, you think I did it, Scott replied flatly.
After a pause, he added, I don't know what makes you think that. Detective Norman informed Scott that there was a winner so it seemed what happened. Jeez, Scott said, cool. As the details of Greg Raccoon's account were laid out beforehand, Scott maintained his demeanor of disbelief.
He asked, with the hint of skepticism in his voice, Nada's saw me pushing her into the pool. Detective Norman said, well, actually, there was a lot more described than that. Scott retorted, you've got to be kidding. Detective Norman replied firmly.
Absolutely not. So police, there was no doubt that Scott had killed his wife, yet it was clear from the outset that he wasn't a typical murder suspect. Unlike most suspects who would have been at later night, the allegations offer a staunch defense for the Mandaloyer, Scott neatly accepted everything Detective Norman asserted it happened regarding Yannell's death. His only response was to apologize and repeat that he didn't remember anything.
He offered a no explanation as to why, just that he couldn't. Scott did recall the events leading up to it, though. After a day at work, he returned home and went upstairs to change into a t-shirt and jeans. Yannell had dinner ready, so the family started the dining table together.
According to the Felicia children, that dinner conversation was normal, with nothing seeming out of the ordinary between their parents. However, 12-year-old Michael noted that he's father seemed very stressed about a work meeting, and his mother was concerned because the pool pump wasn't working properly. After dinner, Yannell went into the living room to watch television. Michael remembered seeing his father seated on the couch beside her.
Sometimes, between 9 and 9 to 9.30pm, Michael went to his room to play video games. Before he went to sleep that evening, he headed back downstairs to kiss both his parents' goodnight. He didn't notice any tension between them, nor did he hear any strife before falling asleep. 15-year-old Megan Fel His account was similar, though she added a few extra details, so she had watched television with her parents since he'd gone to bed around to 9.30pm.
She remembered them discussing the broken pool pump, with her father saying he would take care of it. Scott then got up to do some work at the family computer nearby. Before heading upstairs, Megan kissed her parents and told them she loved them. Like her brother, she didn't sense any animosity between them, and didn't hear anything worrying that night.
There was no one to verify Scott's version of events once his children had gone to bed. According to him, after finishing work on the computer, he went into the garage to fetch a pair of players, a screwdriver, and a large flashlight to repair the faulty pool pump. He then headed outside to inspect the equipment, noticing that a ring on the pump was broken and not ceiling properly. Scott decided it would be easier to fix it in the daylight after buying a replacement.
He pulled his tools back in the garage and washed his hands before re-entering the house. He found the other last sitting upright to sleep on the couch. And gently, Scott Logger had explained that he wouldn't be able to fix the pool pump until the following day. He then kissed her good night and went upstairs to bed.
It was between 9.30 and 10pm. He was adamant that this was the last time he saw Janor. The next thing he remembered was waking up to the flurry of police activity, at which point his wife was dead. He maintained that he had no recollection of the events that took place in between.
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Thank you for listening to this episode's ads. By supporting our sponsors, you support Case File to continue to deliver quality content. Unconvinced Detective John Norman pressed Scott for a motive. With his face buried in his hands, Scott professed.
I just don't know. I loved Janelle. We've been married all my adult life. She certainly didn't deserve to die.
She's a good wife, a great mother. What will I do? Detective Norman observed Scott's body language the way he avoided eye contact, sighed legally, leaned exasperated against the wall, and cradled himself called up in a fetal position. To Norman, Scott carried himself like a guilt to rid a man.
He wasn't at all convinced by Scott's claims of amnesia. You remember more than that, he insisted. Scott took a deep breath and replied, no. Scott's clean clothing raised suspicions that he must have showered and changed immediately after snapping young-aloud to conceal evidence.
But as Detective Norman observed, he had missed a spot, a small smear of blood behind his ear. Pointing to Scott's ear, Detective Norman asked, how'd you get the blood on you? Scott seemingly feigned ignorance. What blood?
Detective Norman pushed on. The blood all over your neck. Scott reached up, touched his neck, and said, I didn't know there was blood on me. Detective Norman did a believe in, but pressed on to another significant discovery.
A freshly applied bandaid covered a small recent wind above Scott's index finger. It wasn't unusual for someone wielding a knife during a violent encounter to injure themselves, especially if, as in Yarmillese case, the victim had desperately fought back. Detective Norman asked Scott directly, how'd you cut your hand? Scott hesitated, clearly contemplating his answer.
Detective Norman broke the long silence with his sarcastic jab. Forget that, too. Finally, Scott muttered. I don't remember putting that on.
By now, Detective Norman had heard enough, reflecting on the interrogation for ABC's 2020 he remarked. The only thing I believed about his story was that his name was Scott Felida. The briefing to view ended without a confession, but the evidence and witness accounts painted a damning picture. Investigators believed Scott confronted Yarmillare shortly before 10 p.m.
Given the lack of blood standing inside the home, the attack likely began in the backyard. Scott then cleaned himself up, hid a hunting knife and applied a clothing in his car, and the drowned Yarmillare to ensure she was dead. By leaving her body in the pool, he intended for their children to find her in the morning, allowing him to feign ignorance. By then, he would have driven undercover of darkness to dispose of the evidence somewhere.
What he didn't account for was that his neighbor had witnessed part of the assault and alerted the police. As a result, Scott Felida was charged with the first degree murder of Yarmillare. He faced the possibility of the death penalty he had convicted. Scott maintained his innocence while awaiting trial, spending his time in jail formulating theories about Yarmillare's death.
He suggested that he was being framed, that his neighbor Greg Rickman might have been responsible, or that he had unknowingly made an enemy who sought to ruin him. At the same time, investigators searched for a motive. Scott and Yarmillare had been high school sweetheart, who married soon after graduation. They had supported each other through further studies into state relocations and to lots of challenges, often being each other's only close friend and confidant.
In Scott's words, Yarmillare was his emotional lifeline, and her unwavering love and support had earned his lifelong devotion. Humility, kindness, and selflessness defined Yarmillare. A trained nurse she had devoted years to raising her two children before recently returning to work as a preschool teacher's aid. She planned to become a certified teacher once she completed her qualifications.
Outside of work, she enjoyed arts and crafts, particularly basket-making. Friends described her as intelligent, witty, and practical. While her marriage and a Scott had its ups and downs, she never saw Gilliam. In the weeks leading up to her murder, Yarmillare was in good spirits, showing no silence of distress or fear.
The tragedy occurred at just weeks before her 42nd birthday. Scott's reputation was just as positive. No one had about work to say about him. He had no criminal record, no history of domestic violence, and no issues with substance abuse.
Known as a mild mannered nerd, Scott was seen as an earnest and hardworking family man. He built a successful career as an electrical engineer at Motorola, a leading electronics manufacturer, while also dedicating time to teaching daily religious instruction for high school students, as part of his involvement in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Though Scott excelled in engineering, he had long-term plans to shift careers, aspiring to follow in young lives with steps by becoming a teacher. The violators lived a comfortable up-and-the-class life in a quiet, safe neighborhood.
Their finances were stable, and their home life was peaceful. According to their children, Meghan and Michael, their upbringing was full of love. The family had no secrets. Everyone was open, close, and supportive.
Their parents helped with homework, encouraged for their hobbies, took them on vacations, and even went caroling together at Christmas. Prior to the events of Thursday, January 16, 1997, Scott and Yarmillare had been planning a family trip to Europe. Meghan and Michael had never seen their parents argue or in conflict. They insisted that Scott and Yarmillare typically saw eye-to-eye only ever having minor disagreements that were resolved calmly and chemically.
While Meghan had seen her father become angry, she clarified that she would never witness him enter a full-blown rage. Scott and Yarmillare's relationship was affectionate. They frequently kissed, held hands, and went on date nights. Friends of the couple echoed this sentiment, describing the violators' marriages are monies and deeply committed.
This made Scott's violent actions all the more baffling. Weeks in these incarceration, Scott for later retained his case file and studied it, including Gregory Coons account of Yarmillare's drowning. Scott knew Gregory well and considered him trustworthy. He couldn't find that why he would have a fabricate such a story.
At that moment, Scott began to accept that everything being said about him must have been true. He had to kill Yarmillare. Yet, he continued to insist that the reason behind the attack remained a mystery to him. In a jailhouse interview with ABC's 2020, Scott reiterated that he had been hopelessly confused when police arrived at his house that January evening.
Nothing felt real, and he was certain he hadn't been 100% coherent as he was taken into custody. Even in the interrogation room, he struggled to believe Yarmillare was truly dead. He maintained that he loved his wife and was still trying to make sense of what happened, stating, I accept the fact that the neighbors saw me do the physical act. Would I have consciously and intentionally killed Yarmillare?
Absolutely not. Despite his growing acceptance of the facts, Scott remained adamant that he had no memory of the murder. He began to question whether something was wrong with his brain, perhaps an undiagnosed tumor was affecting his behavior, or he hadn't undetected mental illness. The uncertainty prompted a scotter to a Tony to pursuing insanity defense.
Scott's loved ones were outraged by this decision, convinced that he was the same in. Their belief was reinforced by a state-appointed psychologist who found Scott to be an unusual case entirely devoid of pathology. He exhibited no signs of mental illness that might have explained an intentional act of murder. Instead, the psychologist noted Scott's admirable qualities, describing him as a non-aggressive thinker who preferred resolving conflict.
through discussion rather than violence. They concluded that Scott deeply loved Yarmillare and felt genuine remorse for what had happened. Megan and Michael Fellader sued by their father, unable to accept that he could have intentionally harmed their mother. Scott's mother and siblings felt the same.
They spent countless hours by setting his past hoping to uncover an explanation for such a shocking out-of-character act. Scott's job. As the oldest child, Scott took on the role of protector, showing his mother and siblings from his father's violent outburst. The turmoil at home led to him withdrawing from his peers.
During his adolescence, he also experienced occasional bed wedding episodes, which amplified his feelings of shame and embarrassment. Despite this, Scott became in the eyes of his mother Lois, every mother's dream of the perfect child. He was incredibly helpful with his four younger siblings, highly intelligent, at a great sense of humour, and never displayed a temper. To Scott's family, nothing in his background indicated he would grow up to be a cold-blooded killer.
Then one day while discussing the case with their mother, Scott's sister Laura had a sudden realisation. A med school graduate and a writer for a medical website, she recalled a murder case from her studies that bore eerie similarities to what happened to Yarmillare. Early on the morning of Sunday, May 24, 1987, 23-year-old electronics worker Kenneth Parks walked into a police station, appearing confused and asking for help. He announced, I think I've killed some people.
Kenneth lived in Pickering Canada with his wife in five-month-old daughter. He had been going through a difficult time lately, again, playing addiction had led to severe financial debt, and in desperation he stole from his family savings. He had also been fired after he was calling Besselie money from his workplace. That May, Kenneth had been trying to overcome his addiction by attending gambling and honest meetings.
He had come clean to his wife about his struggles and also planned to tell his in-laws Dennis and Barbara Woods on Sunday, May 24, but that conversation never happened. Instead, sometime after 130 that morning, Kenneth drove 14 miles to his in-laws home in Toronto. Using a key they had previously given him, he entered a house and went into their bedroom while they slept. Armed with a tie-ring, he brutally bludgeon Barbara before stabbing her multiple times.
He then attacked Dennis, choking him until he lost consciousness before stabbing him as well. After the attack, still covered in blood, Kenneth got into his car and drove to a nearby police station where he immediately confessed. Dennis would survive to the ideal, but 42-year-old Barbara Woods succumbed to her injuries. Kenneth felt police that before the attack he had been watching television on his sofa at home.
At around 1.30am he fell asleep. The next thing he remembered was standing inside his in-laws house, covered in blood with a knife in his hands. There beat him into bloody bodies laying front of him. Kenneth claimed to have no memory of the drive to the house or of carrying out the violence.
When he insisted he had no reason to harm Dennis or Barbara and expressed a deep remorse for what had happened. Over the course of seven police interviews, his story remained consistent. He never admitted to acting intentionally. Nevertheless, he was ultimately charged with Barbara's murder and the attempted murder of Dennis.
At trial, Kenneth's legal team presented an extraordinary theory that their client suffered from some nebulism more commonly known as sleepwalking. They asserted that he had been in his state at the time of the attack with no will or conscious mind by wrapping him. The defense cited 35 documented cases worldwide in which homicides were allegedly committed while the perpetrator was sleepwalking. One case from 1859 involved a London woman who threw her infant son out of a window while screaming, save my children.
She later claimed she had been dreaming that her house was on fire and believed she was rescuing him. She was found not responsible for her absence. Another case in 1878 involved a Scottish man who dreamed of a wild beast breaking through the floorboards of his home. In his dream, he was protecting his family by smashing the beast's head against the ground.
In reality, he killed his 18-month-old son. He escaped conviction but was ordered to sleep alone in a lot room for the rest of his life. The first successful use of the sleepwalking defense in the US occurred in 1846 when a Boston man was found in the Nokia murder after sleeping a sex worker's throat. Since then, there had been more cases of apparent sleepwalking murders or nemesis, including a wife stabbing her husband, a young girl killing her father and a brother, and a boy gravely injuring his cousin, none of which resulted in conviction.
However, the controversial defense didn't guarantee freedom. A Pennsylvania man used the sleepwalking defense after fatally shooting his wife in the back. While it was found that he had a history of disruptive sleep, the fact that he knew his wife was about to leave him provided a clear motive. One that ultimately led to a guilty verdict.
Kenneth Parc's defense presented psychiatric and a scientific evidence supporting their argument that he was sleepwalking when he attacked his in-laws. This included abnormal readings of his brain activity during sleep, as well as five expert witnesses who backed the defense's theory. In contrast, the prosecution posited that Kenneth knew what he was doing to the woods, but blocked out to the very terrible events, which resulted in an amnesia effect. They suggested that he's gambling and financial struggles provided a likely motive for the attack.
After nine hours of deliberation, the jury sided with the defense, accepting that Kenneth was not conscious at the time of the assault. He was acquitted of all charges and returned to a normal life. Kenneth Parc's case peaked at the interest of Scott for later's loved ones a decade later in 1997, as they sought to understand why he had suddenly stabbed into drowning his beloved wife, Yama. During discussions about Scott's past, multiple people mentioned that he had been arrested to sleep out throughout his life and was prone to getting up in the middle of the night.
Scott's mother lowered a several sleepwalking incidents from his childhood. He once tapped the sleeping lollocks on a shoulder, fully dressed and ready to go to school in the middle of the night. On another occasion, Scott put on a coat and picked up a Christmas present. When his father attempted to take the present from him, Scott resisted and retrieved another.
He then returned to his room to off his coat, placed the present under his bed and crawled back under the blankets. When Scott was 15, he wandered into the living room completely naked while in a sleep state. During each of his sleepwalking episodes, his eyes remained open, his facial expression was flat, and he was unresponsive to those around him. By morning, he had no recollection of what had happened.
To lower Scott's history of bed waiting made more sense in this context as it was linked to the sleepwalking. Furthermore, sleepwalking is considered highly heritable disorder, and several of Scott's family members, including his own daughter, reported experiencing episodes themselves. Scott's most troubling episode was one that he sister Laura recalled. One night when Scott was around 20 years old, Laura was watching television in the living room.
Scott had gone to bed about an hour earlier, needing rest before his college finals the next day. Suddenly, Laura noticed him walking into the kitchen. She asked why he was up, but he didn't respond. Instead, he began fiddling with items around the sink before moving toward a door that laid outside.
Concerned Laura rushed to the door and locked it. In that instant, an angry expression she had never seen before flashed across Scott's face. It was almost demonic. Without warning, he grabbed Laura by the shoulders, lifted her off the ground, and threw her across the door.
Stoned, Laura watched as Scott struggled with a locked door for nearly 20 minutes until he gave up and wandered back to his bedroom. The next morning, when Laura tried to talk to Scott about the incident, he brushed her off, two focused on his upcoming tests. Laura didn't mention it to anyone else at the time. With this in mind, Scott's mother and sister research of violence on ambulance extensively, eventually becoming convinced it was the only explanation for Janel's murder.
They discovered that sleepwalking, which is typically more common in males, was often triggered by stress and sleep deprivation, both of which had played significant roles during key periods of Scott's life when he episodes occurred. In the lead-up to Janel's murder, Scott was under immense pressure at work, which involved leading a team of engineers who were developing a new product. His colleagues noticed how exhausted he seemed, his eyes were sunk in in bloodshot, his energy levels depleted, and he often appeared to taste. He sometimes noticed off during meetings and had to rely on caffeine pills to function.
Some observed that he had lost his usual spark, appearing with a drone and possibly even depressed. Yet, one thing remained certain, whenever Scott spoke about his wife and family, there was an undeniable joy in his voice, making it clear he couldn't wait to get home to them. Case-file will be back shortly. Scott openly expressed his dismay about this during a team meeting, admitting he was already under immense pressure and didn't need the added stress.
This was the first time his colleagues had seen him come close to losing his temper. Despite his frustration, he ultimately conceded, even though the competition required more time and commitment than he could afford and brought him knowing enjoyment. When Scott returned home from work that day, his stress levels were at an all-time high. On top of the competition he was now obligated to participate in, he had come to the troubling conclusion that the product he had been developing was unlikely to succeed and might need to be scrapped entirely.
This realization weighed heavily on him, particularly because of its impact on the livelihoods of his team. He planned to break the news to them the next day, but there was little time to dwell on it. Scott was already stretched thin with other commitments, including preparing for a church seminary class he was scheduled to teach in the morning and organizing a food drive. Janela was also facing her own struggles, which in turn affected Scott.
She was grieving the reason loss of her beloved father to cancer, a pain she had tried to deal with alone to spare her family. Although she loved her job at the preschool, the daily challenge of managing and detaching a group of energetic three and four-year-olds left her drained. On top of everything else, the pool came up at home at Mount Vungent. While a minor inconvenience on its own, there was yet another issue in the fall later's lives that needed attention sooner rather than later.
Given all this pressure, Scott's loved ones believed he was a ticking time bomb, primed for a sleepwalking episode. To make matters worse, in the nights leading up to Janela's motor, both she and Scott had been sheltered awake by what sounded like footsteps crunching across the gravel alongside their home. Vearing an intruder, Scott got up to investigate only to find nothing. He convinced himself the sounds, which is that their dogs moving about outside.
However, he had also noticed his family's tendency to leave the back door unlocked, a habit of their height and his anxiety. If someone truly had been working outside, they could easily enter the home through the unlock the door and threaten his family. Under these circumstances, Scott's loved ones found it plausible that he stresses had triggered a sleepwalking episode. His subconscious mind might have been in a distress zone for defensive state, expecting to encounter a threat in or outside his home, and instinctively acting to protect his wife and children.
In his altered state, he might have dreamt that any true dog was breaking into his home and mistaken Janela for the threat. Acting on this false perception, he launched a violent attack, completely unaware that he was actually harming the woman he loved. There was also the possibility that the dreamt Scott experienced was not dramatic or frightening at all. He might have simply dreamt that he needed to fix the pool pump, and in his sleepwalking state, he retrieved the hunting knife, either mistaking it for a tool or in taking a floor intending to use it to complete the task.
Janela might have then noticed Scott inexplicably moving about the backyard in the middle of the night and approached him. Generally, sleepwalking is considered relatively harmless, and waking someone in that condition isn't typically dangerous. However, experts caution against it as disorientational confusion can sometimes trigger violent reactions, even if such instances are considered rare. Dr.
Gailecional, a sleep at his or a specialist, explains the phenomenon of local sleep to help understand why a such acts occur. He notes, most of us think of being awake means our brains are fully awake, but actually little areas of our brains are constantly dipping in and out of sleep. Feeling awake and looking awake doesn't always mean that our brains are active. There is very clear evidence that when people are sleepwalking, it's the part of the brain responsible for emotion, movement, and vision that show this waking pattern, whereas the parts of the brain responsible for rational thinking and memory demonstrate sleeping behavior.
If you think about which parts of those brains are disconnected, it's the bits that are responsible for being a sensible human being. This suggests that during sleepwalking, the brain is in a state where rational thought and memory are inactive, while the more instinctual and reactive parts remain active. As a result, a person may perform actions without conscious awareness or control, sometimes leading to unintended consequences. Before presenting their unconventional theory to Scott, his mother-lowers and sister Laura first shared it with his attorney, worried it might be too outlandish to be taken seriously in court.
However, Scott's attorney embraced the idea and decided to abandon the insanity defense in favor of pursuing the sleepwalking theory at trial. This shifting strategy quickly drew public attention. While had initially been considered a relatively unremarkable case, now garnered widespread media focus as the unusual and controversial defense strategy took center stage. Reactions were mixed.
Some dismissed the idea of committing a crime while the sleep is lovable, while others compared it to a bizarre movie plot. Scott Felita was initially skeptical of the sleepwalking theory himself. He had no recollection of the incidents from his past, including the language he allegedly through his sister Laura across the kitchen. As a logical and methodical person, Scott felt the sleepwalking defense lacked any basis in reality, telling ABC's 2020, I just felt it was a bunch of bullshit.
For him to consider it even remotely possible, he needed scientific proof, so in preparation for his trial, Scott agreed to undergo a sleep study. For four nights, he was connected to electrodes and monitors that measured the depth and quality of his sleep. While the results came back as inconclusive, they did indicate that Scott fit the profile of a sleepwalker. Scott's attorney also sought the expertise of several prominent sleep disorders specialists, including leading figures in the study of sleepwalking violence.
One of the key experts was neurophysiologists, the Roger Broton, who had previously testified in the trial of Kenneth Parks over a decade earlier. In Broton's professional opinion, Scott, like Kenneth, had been in a sleepwalking state when he committed murder. As such, he was not legally responsible for his actions. This conclusion was supported by other experts that offense consulted.
Following this, Scott began to believe that sleep deprivation and work related stress had indeed triggered a sleepwalking episode, which ultimately led to him at killing his wife. The prosecution, on the other hand, remained adamant that Scott had consciously and intentionally killed Janor. His trial began in May, 1999, nearly two and a half years after Janor was neuro. While the defense presented all of their expert findings to support the sleepwalking theory, the prosecution contended that the crime said, that he had been attacked by someone who reached around to snapper in the chest.
This contradicted the defense suggestion that Janor had approached and startled a sleeping Scott, provoking a spontaneous attack. The prosecution also referred to Scott's claims that he had stirred in the nights before the attack, believing he heard any true dark-looking outside his home. Hell, that question could Scott be roused so easily then, but failed to awaken as he's dying wife screamed for her life. The prosecution also cast a doubt on Scott's alleged history of sleepwalking.
He's sister Laura testified about the time Scott had supposedly thrown her across the kitchen while asleep. However, prosecutors highlighted that Laura never mentioned that he's incident to anyone until after Janor was murder when she was the first to propose the sleepwalking theory. The prosecution emphasized how after killing Janor, Scott had removed his light clothes, hidden along with a knife in his car, cleaned himself up, tended to his own wounds and to redress. He then put on gloves before dragging Janor to the pool and drowning her.
In total, they calculated that Scott had carried out 64 distinct actions from the beginning of the attack to its conclusion, a process that they estimated had taken at least 45 minutes. The Felites' neighbour and key prosecution witness Gregory Coons provided a detailed account of many of Scott's behaviors, including in motioning for his dog to lie down, and action seen as too deliberate for someone supposedly unaware of their surroundings. Observers were left wondering how could Scott recognize his dog, but not his beloved wife. A sleep expert called by the prosecution said that Scott's actions were far too complex and methodical to have been done well asleep.
While the expert acknowledged that sleepwalkers can interact with then-to-place objects, he had never encountered a case where a sleepwalk out intentionally hid something. Furthermore, the neat way Scott concealed the evidence in his car contradicted with a disorganized behaviour typical of sleepwalkers. But to the prosecution, what happened next was the strongest proof that Scott was fully awake when he killed Janor. Supported by their experts, the prosecution argued that sleepwalking violence only occurs when someone physically confronts the sleepwalker, obstructing their movements and inadvertently triggering a defensive response.
However, Janor's drowning did not fit this pattern. By that point, she was lying on the ground, gravely winded, and unable to pose any physical obstruction. According to the prosecution, this deliberate act of drowning demonstrated a conscious intent rather than unconscious reflexive behaviour. To the defense, Scott's many illogical actions that night were in and of themselves evidence of his lack of conscious control.
First, he attacked the woman he loved while their children were home, making no attempt to die to the higher body and alleviating at him playing side. After changing clothes, he moved the uncles body without any apparent concern about transferring a blood on the his new outfit. He also left the pool light on, unconcerned that it illuminated the uncles body. Experts appearing on behalf of the defense chastised the prosecution for trying to invent a rational scenario out of something that was completely irrational.
The defense also dismissed the prolonged timing of Scott's actions, pointing to the case of Kenneth Parks, who's sleepwalking episode, which led to his acquittal for the murder and attempted murder of his in-law. Had lasted well over an hour. Gregory Coons witnessed a count raised a significant question for the defense, one that Gregory himself couldn't explain. Why didn't he yell out to Scott to stop what he was doing to Yannell?
In the defense's view, this action could have awakened a scar from his sleepwalking state and possibly prevented further harm. Scott's behaviour after police arrived was used to support the defense's narrative. Several individuals who confronted him that night described him as appearing dazed, detached, and as if he had just woken up. When asked how many people were in the house, Scott replied for, and listed everyone, including his wife.
So that offense, this suggested that Scott was unaware that Yannell was lying there outside. On the side detective John Norman, who interviewed Scott immediately after the murder, saw his behaviour in a different light. He pointed out that Scott didn't seem very upset by the news of Yannell's death and did not cry. As seen in neurophysiologists Roger Broton appeared on behalf of the defense to present his opinion that Scott had been sleepwalking the night he attacked Yannell.
However, the courtroom was stunned that during cross examination, when the prosecution presented crucial facts, Broton had not previously known, including how Scott had interacted with his dog. Broton said that these new details gave him pause regarding his initial conclusions. Broton also admitted that he'd never encountered a sleepwalking case where someone had changed their clothes once, let alone two, or even three times. Yet, he remained adamant that sleepwalking was the best explanation of the facts.
Although the prosecution caused several possible motives for Scott to kill Yannell such as allegations of infidelity, none of these claims were substantiated by evidence. Attempts to argue Scott was about husband were counted by numerous character witnesses for the defense, who unanimously spoke highly of him. According to a close friend, Yannell had once mentioned that Scott rumaged the clothes in the middle of the night while seemingly asleep. However, the witness admitted that she couldn't recall if Yannell had specifically mentioned the word sleepwalking.
Scott took the stand in an attempt to convince the jury if he stayed in line at the time of the note-up. He's testimony began with a question from his attorney. If I had been a fortune teller and I come to you on the morning of January 16, 1997 and told you, Scott, tonight you're going to stab your wife 44 times, what would you have sent to me in response? Scott replied, You're out of your mind, there is just no way I would have done anything like this to my wife.
I would never have envisioned something like this happening to someone like me, or especially to me personally. I don't know what I would do without her. As Scott's testimony progressed and he spoke about life without Yannell, he broke it down in tears. He described living two lives, one in reality, where he was confined to his jail cell, and to the other in his dreams, where he imagined an idyllic life with his wife as if nothing had ever happened.
Whenever the prosecution posed a question that Scott could answer, he deferred to the sleep experts testifying on his behalf. However, he did claim that Yannell was aware of his sleepwalking and once told him about an instance where he had grabbed her arm while asleep. The prosecution attorney sharply responded, and she can't come in and testify, can she? Maintaining that he still had a memory of killing Yannell, Scott tearfully told the court.
It took me a very long time before I could really even admit it openly to myself that I had actually done that. When asked to point blank, giving knowingly guilty wife, Scott sobbed and replied, Scott truly knew what happened that night they confidently declared. This guy here killed his wife and he's guilty of first-degree murder. It took the jury just to aid out his to reach a verdict.
Ultimately, they found the prosecution's experts more compelling than those of the defense. For the first degree murder of Yannell for later, Scott for later was found guilty. In opposed to trial interview, jurors revealed that they were open to the possibility that Scott had initially attacked Yannell while sleepwalking. However, they believed that he regained consciousness and panicked afterward.
Despite the inconclusive evidence, the jury was certain that Yannell was still alive when Scott pushed her into the pool. They agreed that he had premeditated the decision to drown her and was fully cognizant while carrying out the act. A significant portion of the jury's deliberations centered on Scott's use of hunting life, with one juror stating that such an item was not used for any other purpose, except for killing. While the prosecution pushed for the death penalty, the sentencing hearing which took place a year after the guilty verdict saw multiple character witnesses testify positively on Scott's behalf.
Among them were his two children who pleaded for his life. Even Yannell's mother supported Scott's case. She acknowledged that although he should face severe punishment, his children shouldn't be left with neither their mother nor father. During sentencing, the judge remarked, Yannell was a woman we all would have liked to know.
She was independent, feisty, totally devoted to her children, and someone who did not accept everything at face value because she had a mind of her own. But because of the defendant's cruel attack on her, she did not get to say her daughter graduated as a valedictorian of her class. She did not get to say her son, grow into the fine young man and good athlete that he is. She did not get to share in the joy of her daughter attending one of the finest universities in the country, and did not get to pursue her own returns at teaching.
She also won't have the opportunity to enjoy any grand children she might have had. In deciding Scott's punishment, the judge considered to test the money from Scott's children, friends, co-workers, and a church members, all of whom described him as living an exemplary life, and being a client, gentle, peaceful, and loving man who gave freely of his time in service to others. The judge also acknowledged that Scott had a no-crenal history, showed extreme remorse, and had been a model inmate with a positive influence on others. However, he also recognized that the murder was especially cruel and heinous.
As a result, Scott felt later I was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. At the time of this episode's release, Scott remains in prison where he practises meditation and ensures he gets adequate sleep. Over the years, he has received a letter of support from other sleepwalkers, whom he encourages to seek treatment to prevent a similar incident from occurring. He remains to be a model inmate known for assisting teaching and providing spiritual guidance to other inmates and helping prison staff with technology problems.
Scott stays in touch with his two children, with his son Michael stating, he is still my dad, and I hope to always have a relationship with him, whether he's in prison or he's out. However, Scott himself doubts he will ever be released. Multiple attempts to appeal his sentence are failed. So this day, he maintains that he has no memory of killing Janor.
All I can say is I do not know what happened until day BC 2020, adding, there's no one else I can place the responsibility on, it's on my shoulders, I accept that, and I have to move on. The death of Janor for later continues to prompt questions and debate to this day, wasn't a tragic accident or a deliberate murder. The cases central questions have never been solved to everybody's satisfaction. Even though he's so except Scott's aversion of events, still believe he committed a terrible crime and must pay a price for it.
As Scott's mother Lois stated, he's technically guilty, but he's morally innocent. He was there, and he wasn't there. Scott's story elicits its fair share of critics and skeptics. While sleepwalking is a widely accepted phenomenon, some have expressed concern that if Scott were acquitted, sleepwalking might be common excuse for any crime.
Others view the use of a sleepwalking defence as nothing more than jump science, suggesting that attorneys just pay experts to offer whatever testimonies necessary to protect their clients' interests. Since 1997, there have been a number of other criminal cases around the world that have employed the sleepwalking defence to varying success. Scott fully maintains that in his case, the jury got it wrong. He insists that he is not a monster, and believes he's verdict was influenced by the complexity of sleep disorders, a still evolving field that he's not yet fully understood.
Scott has expressed the doubt that he will ever forgive himself for killing young-er. He believes they will meant for each other, and to state that he will misor until the day he dies. He often reflects on the pain and the terror of young-er on us to felt when he attacked her, and is grateful that he does not have any memories of what he did to her that night. I kind of weird-to-wear grabbed the knife and it done me instead, he said.
But because it was me, she didn't. Scott feels that young-er would have been more understanding and forgiving of him than he had been towards himself, and expresses hope that they will be reunited in heaven, saying, she knows more than I do about what happened to that night, and she will actually know how I've conducted myself since then. I want to be sure that I'm still worthy of her by how I carry myself now.