Matthew Phelps, North Carolina Man Charged Of Murdering Wife Blames Cough Medicine

A 28-year-old North Carolina man is facing a murder charge after it was alleged he fatally stabbed and killed his wife, reports said Monday.

However, Matthew James Phelps, 28, from Raleigh, North Carolina, claimed he had taken too much of a cold and cough medicine and didn't remember carrying out the alleged crime as he might have done it in his sleep.

Phelps called 911 early last Friday morning and told the operator he woke up to find himself covered in blood and his wife, Lauren Phelps, dead beside him, according to Huffington Post.

He said he awoke from “a dream” and found his wife “dead on the floor” and, as he told a 911 dispatcher, “I think I did it.”

“I have blood all over me, and there’s a bloody knife on the bed. And I think I did it,” Phelps told the dispatcher. “I can’t believe this. I can’t believe this.”

Phelps blamed his alleged black out on the cold and cough medicine he took the previous evening in order to help him sleep.

“I took more medicine that I should have,” he said. “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.”

Raleigh Police confirmed that Lauren died of stab wounds. Phelps reportedly told the police that he was sure if he could help his wife after waking up as he had been too afraid to get close to her. He also mentioned that the blood on him had dried by the time he woke up, ABC News reported.

“I can’t believe I did this,” Phelps was heard sobbing."Oh God. She didn’t deserve this. Why?"

Phelps and Lauren were married on Nov. 11, 2016, according to his Facebook page; the couple were said to be members of Hope Lutheran Church in Wake Forest, according to Lauren’s obituary.

Photos on their Facebook pages show that the couple started dating in 2014; soon they got engaged and married in 2016. According to their wedding website, the couple went to middle school together, and according to Phelps’ Instagram account, they first began dating after coming across each other on social media.

Phelps works at Dunlap Lawn Service in Greensboro and hails from Bowling Green, Kentucky, according to his Facebook page. Phelps was described as an aspiring pastor on his Facebook page, and is said to have studied missions and evangelism at Clear Creek Baptist Bible College in Pineville, Kentucky. He graduation from school in 2011.

A friend of the couple told ABC affiliate WTVD-TV that he was surprised to know about the incident as Phelps hailed from a conservative Christian family.

Police said that Phelps did not seem to have a criminal record and it was also not known whether he had hired an attorney. Phelps is due in court Tuesday and is being held at the Wake County Jail without bail, according to New York Daily News.

A memorial fund for Lauren was set up at Youcaring.com, and it had raised more than $6,000 by Monday.