Pastor Who Blamed Wife's Stabbing Death on Cough Medicine Revealed to Have Slashed Her More Than a Hundred Times

An aspiring pastor in North Carolina told police he believed he killed his wife after overdosing on cold medicine. The authorities have revealed that the woman, 29-year-old Lauren Hugelmaier Phelps, sustained 123 wounds from the stabbing.

Police charged 28-year-old Matthew James Phelps with first-degree murder in the Sept. 1 death of his wife, Lauren.

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"I had a dream, and then I turn on the lights and she's dead on the floor," Phelps told a 911 dispatcher. "I have blood all over me, and there's a bloody knife on the bed, and I think I did it."

He then explained that he had taken too much cough medicine.

"I took Coricidin Cough and Cold because I know it can make you feel good. A lot of times I can't sleep at night. So I took some," he said.

"Oh, my God! She didn't deserve this. I can't believe this. I can't believe this," Phelps continued. "I'm so scared."

When the authorities arrived, Lauren was found curled in a fetal position on her bedroom floor in a pool of blood, the autopsy states, according to the New York Post.

The medical examiner counted 24 stab wounds and 20 cuts to her head and neck. On her torso, she sustained 13 stab wounds and 11 cuts to her torso. According to WRAL, there were 16 cuts and one stab wound on her right arm and 35 cuts and three stab wounds to her left arm.

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The toxicologists did not detect alcohol in the woman's body and she did not have any pre-existing natural diseases, News & Observer of Raleigh reported.

After conducting a search of the Phelps' residence, an empty box of Coricidin HBP Cold and Cough was found. The medication's potential side effects include both out-of-body experiences and hallucinations.

Joseph Blunt Cheshire V, Phelps attorney, states that the effects of the cold medicine are "certainly an interesting subject of inquiry."

The evidence of the case was presented to a grand jury back in September. According to the indictment, Lauren's death was an act of premeditated murder.

Jurors felt there was enough probable cause to determine that her husband "willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously did of malice aforethought kill and murder" his wife.

Phelps has yet to enter a plea. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, according to the Wake County Clerk's Office.

He also urged the public not to jump to conclusions about the case.

"It's a very tragic situation — sad and tragic. And at the same time we have to ask everybody to withhold judgment in this particular case until we know more and we're able to develop more," he said. "There's a lot to this story I believe that will be told in the future."