The broken glass shattered the silence of the English winter night. George Harrison stirred in his upstairs bed.
The former Beatle woke from a deep sleep and stumbled to turn on a bedside light. The sound of footsteps on the lower floor rang out into the night.
He gently shook Olivia, a 51-year-old Mexican-American and his wife for 21 years, and asked her to use an intercom to tell staff on their estate to call the police.
Then the 56-year-old musician told Olivia he was going to check what was going on. He put on a dressing gown over his pyjamas.
"This was the nightmare scenario for them," said a friend who spoke to the Harrisons yesterday.
"You try to protect yourself and be as normal as possible but after John Lennon's death, there is always a fear in the back of your mind."
"There were other people staying in the house and George thought he had to see what was happening."
Downstairs was 33-year-old Michael Abram, a mentally ill heroin addict from Harrison's home city of Liverpool who had an obsession with the Beatles. He had told his mum the Beatles were 'witches'.
What drove the demons in Abram's mind to take him to the singer-guitarist's 122 room mansion, Friar Park, in Henley-on-Thames, west of London, in the early hours of a Thursday remains unclear.
But friends of Harrison feel sure he was intent on taking the former Beatle's life.
It is believed Abram drove to the 14ha estate soon before 3am and scaled one of the few sections of fence not topped with razor wire.
He then walked 800m to the 15 bedroom, 8 bathroom mock Gothic house that Harrison bought in 1971 and then restored.
Abram passed cedars, rhododendrons and laurel bushes as he walked, unhindered, through what experts regard as one of Britain's best gardens.
Last night, there was much speculation about why Harrison's elaborate security system of cameras, alarms, floodlighting and wired fences failed to detect or deter the intruder.
Harrison had spent up to $1 million on security since John Lennon was murdered by a fanatical fan Mark Chapman in New York on 8 December, 1980.
But the truth, said friends who spoke to Harrison, was that the alarm system was turned off on Thursday. Abram had picked a perfect night for a break in.
"You spend millions making the house look like a fortress but the reality is no one wants to live in a fortress - it's like a prison," a friend said.
"The alarms were not turned on."
"People will find that hard to believe but there is a whole thing about sometimes relaxing and not being paranoid."
"It can be just crazy in itself having every alarm always on."
As Harrison descended the main staircase, he saw a shadow with white hair lunge towards him with a 15cm long knife.
Abram was reportedly screaming incoherently.
"They started wrestling and George fell to the ground," said a friend.
"You have to remember, this bloke was incredibly pumped up with adrenalin - he was out of control - while George was half asleep and groggy."
The scuffle lasted just a few minutes but long enough for Harrison to be stabbed several times, once in the chest, causing a collapsed lung.
He screamed and Olivia, hearing her husband, grabbed a lamp with a brass base and ran downstairs to confront Abram.
Olivia hit him once on the head with all the might her tiny frame could muster. But her husband's assailant was so hyped up he hardly noticed the blow.
So she continued in a frenzy, hitting him repeatedly over the head with the lamp until, after about seven blows, he slumped to his knees.
She then struck him again, temporarily knocking him out and loosening his grip on the knife.
Harrison lay moaning on his back on the floor. Olivia crouched by him, comforting him and placing a towel on his wounds.
Soon after, as police arrived, Abram came to and grabbed for the knife.
"They (the police) arrived just in time. I don't think Olivia or George could fight much more if he had attacked them again," a source said.
Olivia suffered cuts to her forehead and hands but her husband was gasping for air.
An ambulance was called and police searched the grounds for any accomplices.
A police helicopter flying overhead alerted local residents there was trouble on the reclusive Beatle's property.
Forensic experts found blood from Harrison scattered over three downstairs rooms.
"It was really bad," said a friend. "He was terribly lucky. He was fighting for his life."
Olivia and their 21-year-old son, Dhani, accompanied Harrison to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in nearby Reading.
He was then taken to Harefield Hospital in Uxbridge, northwest London, where chest specialist William Fountain treated him.
Harrison, who has a dry sense of humour, joked that his attacker "wasn't a burglar and he certainly wasn't auditioning for the Traveling Wilbury's".
Dr Fountain said that one stab wound narrowly missed the superior vena cava, a vein carrying blood from the head arms and upper body to the heart.
Harrison had been lucky but would take up to a month to recover.
Close friends who have spoken to Harrison say the attack has rocked his confidence.
They say all the Beatles harbor the thought that someone crazy may get them one day.
"You live with that every day," said one friend. "Everywhere you go, it is somehow there after John's death. George knew that."
Sir Paul McCartney said: "Thank God both George and Olivia are all right. I send them all my love."
Ringo Starr also sent his love and sympathy from his home in California. He said he and his wife, actor Barbara Bach, were "deeply shocked".
Sir George Martin, the Beatles' producer, said: "I am astonished and appalled."
Barry Sheene, the former motorcycle and Formula One racer who has been a friend of Harrison for more than 30 years, praised the couple's courage. He said Olivia was a martial arts expert and "a real brave lady".
Sheene added: "It is incredible that some madman has done this. Quite frightening."
Harrison's home has been the target of a number of attackers.
In 1990, police were called to investigate a stream of hate mail, including threats to kill the star and his family.
Two years later, the FBI revealed a deranged American had been prowling round Friar Park and planned to burn it down. He had also managed to speak to Harrison's son on the phone.
There have been at least two attempted burglaries in the past decade.
Harrison has also revealed that, soon after Lennon's death, a gunman vowed to kill him too and police marksmen were sent to surround his house.
"The death of John brought out a lot of crazies," he once said.
"But you have to take care in case there is the odd one - like Chapman - who will act upon his madness."
Police worked well into the night, scouring the mansion for evidence. Detectives took away a dark blue bag found in bushes by the estate and examined a car parked nearby.
Harrison, the youngest and quietest of the Beatles, has largely shunned the limelight since the group broke up 29 years ago.
During the 1980s, he released several singles with the Traveling Wilburys and campainged for the Natural Law Party.
His Handmade Films backed the Monty Python movie Life of Brian.
But for the most part, he has devoted his life to Olivia, his second wife.
His first wife was model Patti Boyd, who left him for his best friend, guitarist Eric Clapton.
Locals said the estate was still constantly besieged by Beatles fans.
David Cheney, landlord of the nearby Row Barge pub, said: "There are always people hanging around the gates to his house, trying to catch a glimpse of him."
"He's a very unassuming and very natural person."
"He certainly doesn't act the rock star and he's very popular in Henley. We are all very shocked."