RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – A 29-year-old Raleigh woman was stabbed more than 120 times in a September incident that saw her husband charged with murder.
Matthew James Phelps, 28, is charged with first-degree murder in the Sept. 1 death of his wife, Lauren Hugelmaier Phelps, 29, police said.
In a 911 call made by Matthew Phelps, he said he consumed too much cough syrup and he awoke from a dream to find his wife had been stabbed.
“I think I killed my (redacted),” Phelps said. “I had a dream and then I turned on the lights and she’s dead on the floor. I have blood all over me and there’s a bloody knife on the bed and I think I did it.”
Phelps then said he took more Coricidin than he should have. Coricidin is a cough medicine.
“I can’t believe this. I can’t believe this,” the caller said. “I’m so scared.”
Paramedics found Lauren Phelps in the fetal position on her bedroom floor. She was transported to the hospital where he later died, officials said.
Lauren Phelps suffered 123 stab wounds, according to the medical examiner.
Her head and neck had 44 wounds, with her left jugular suffering damage, the medical examiner’s report says. She was also stabbed in the left arm 38 times and 17 in her right arm.