Calgary man says he beat prostitute in his sleep

cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2010/06/14/14390896.html

CALGARY ? Gary Gordon Yuen testified Monday that he brutally beat a $1,000-a-night prostitute while he slept.

He told court he had recollection of his attack on the woman in the master bedroom of his northwest Calgary home.

Yuen said he can?t deny repeatedly beating the victim with a baseball bat, choking her unconscious, removing her clothing and sexually assaulting her.

But the professional engineer said the Feb. 11, 2007, attack occurred while he was in an altered state of consciousness brought on by a sleep disorder.

Defence lawyer Balfour Der plans to call Ontario sleep expert Dr. Colin Shapiro to explain a disorder he calls sexomnia, where people have sex while not awake.

Yuen testified he believes that?s what happened to him when he awoke to find he had badly beat a woman he regularly hired at $1,000 a night, who ran naked from his home.

?Dr. Shapiro says that I have a sleep disorder,? Yuen said, while taking the witness stand in his Court of Queen?s Bench trial.

Yuen, 47, is charged with aggravated assault, sexual assault, unlawful confinement and choking in connection with the attack on his victim, who can?t be named.

The woman told court last year she was beaten with a bat, knocked off Yuen?s bed, choked until she lost consciousness and then awoke to find Yuen on top of her.

She ran naked from his home into frigid winter temperatures and was rescued by a passing driver who got her to police before she was hospitalized.

Dr. Pauline Head said the woman?s injuries were so severe she would have died had she not received medical attention.

Yuen didn?t deny responsibility for causing the woman?s wounds.

?There?s nobody else that could?ve done it,? he said.

Under cross-examination, Crown prosecutor Pam McCluskey asked why Yuen didn?t seek an explanation for his memory gap until he saw Shapiro in January.

?You had a bloody woman on your bed and that didn?t concern you ... that you might do it again?? McCluskey said.

?That didn?t cross my mind,? Yuen said.

But he readily admitted hiring the high-priced call girl for sex.

?I didn?t pay her $1,000 to come over and watch news,? he said.

Evidence continues on Tuesday.

I saw on Dr. Oz a while back women who suffered from this sleep disorder. One left her bed and went to her ex-boyfriends house to have sex with him but with never a recollection of what was happening. He thought she was awake.

A couple of others ate in their sleep and one even ate steel wool in her kitchen thinking it was food.

It is a real disorder but whether or not this guy actually has it remains to be seen.

My belief is that people who have it need to be thoroughly re-diagnosed. I would bet a ton of money they are on anti-depressant meds or other brain chemistry altering drugs that affect their sleep in such a major manor.

Frightening what your subconscious and unconscious mind can do.

It is a real disorder but I have my doubts about this case. Of course all the information hasn't been presented and what the press reports is even less but from the sounds of it this man only became aware of his disorder after he beat this woman. Most with sexsomnia have a history of episodes, visits to a psychiatrist, sleep disturbances, often it's coupled with post-traumatic stress disorder, etc., From what has been reported this man has nothing of the sort, just one serious assault and he is now claiming that he was asleep when he assaulted her so I'm very skeptical, hopefully they will publish more of the case and she will be given a fair trial.

http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/536135