Dead Asleep

In DEAD ASLEEP, young addict and alcoholic Randy Herman calls 911 one morning and confesses to murdering his roommate and close friend Brooke Preston. From that moment on, two mysteries dominate: Under what circumstances did the attack take place, and why did he kill her? Using footage from his police interrogation, interviews with friends, family, and Herman himself, director Skye Borgman pieces together a puzzling narrative and poses nagging questions that eventually fall to a jury to sort out. We learn that Preston was a lively and attractive go-getter in her 20s originally from small-town Pennsylvania. She and her sister had moved to West Palm Beach, FL for new opportunities. Soon after, Herman followed, struggling with his alcoholism, addiction, and a dead-end job. The three friends got on well as roommates, but there was heavy drinking and the possibility that Herman nursed a crush on Brooke that would eventually result in the brutal murder. His public defenders settle on the unusual and infrequently used sleepwalking defense, with warring expert witnesses debating whether his documented sleepwalking habit made it possible for him to savagely attack someone without knowing it or having any memory of it.