A Texas man says he cannot be held responsible for shooting his wife because he was sleepwalking.
That is the defense 67-year-old Raymond Lazarine used at the Houston murder trial of his wife, Deborah. Prosecutors say Lazarine called his son to come home saying he had a strange dream, and that is when he discovered his mother's body riddled with six gunshot wounds.
Lazarine's defense attorney says he suffers from a sleepwalking condition so he did not voluntary shoot his wife. He had 4 witnesses who testified that they had seen him sleepwalk at work. Dr Gayland Machala testified that in 2015, he gave Lazerine two separate sleep study tests. "He did have a lot of movement in REM. In REM, you are not supposed to be able to move. In REM, you are supposed to be paralyzed, but he was moving and even got up at one point".
Krysta Johns is the daughter of Debrah Lazarine, and Raymond's stepdaughter. She testified that Raymond was abusive and a heavy drinker. She said Raymond had threatened to kill her mother so many times that she was no longer afraid when he said it. She also described several incidents where she witnessed Raymond abusing her mother including one where he climbed on top of her and pointed a gun at the bottom of Debrah’s jaw.
If convicted of murder, he faces life in prison.