Man Admits To Shooting His Wife Dead, But Claims He Was Sleepwalking While Doing It

A Texas man doesn't deny fatally shooting his wife six years ago, however, he maintains that he shouldn’t be held responsible because he killed while sleepwalking in the midst of a weird dream.

The murder trial for Raymond Lazirene, 67, began Monday in Houston and his attorneys argue that he’s not responsible for killing his wife Deborah, 63, because he wasn’t aware of what he was doing, according to local outlet KPRC.

"Our position over here is this was a dream and it wasn't voluntary,” defense attorney Feroz F. Merchant said in court. 

Lazirene’s son, Nathan Lazirene, testified that his father had been under a psychiatrist's care for more than 10 years at the time of his mom’s death. Lazirene said he was taking prescription medication at the time of the shooting.

After shooting his wife, he then called his son to ask him to come over, telling him he had just experienced a strange dream, according to KPRC. Deborah’s body was found in the couple’s living room full of bullets. She had been shot twice in the head and once in the back, according to KTRK in Houston.

The two had been married for 35 years.

Raymond Lazarine Photo: Houston Police Department

Four different men testified for the defense Tuesday that they had witnessed Lazirene sleepwalking when they were incarcerated with him.

However, the couple’s daughter, Krysta Johns, characterized her father as abusive when she took the stand on Tuesday, KTRK reports. She said that her mother acted as her dad’s caretaker and that he abused and controlled her. Additionally, she alleged that her mother had become numb to her father’s constant threats to murder her. She testified that decades ago, she even saw her dad hold a gun under her mom’s chin.

Both Krysta and Nathan Lazirene testified that their father sometimes mixed alcohol with his prescribed drugs.

Lazirene could face up to life in prison is he's convicted.