Matthew Phelps has been charged with murder after claiming he woke from a dream to find his wife stabbed to death. Source: ABC
A man has been charged with murder after he claimed he woke from a dream to find his wife stabbed to death in bed beside him.
Matthew Phelps, 28, called emergency services in Raleigh, North Carolina, to report the death.
In the call he appeared to acknowledge responsibility for the alleged killing before appearing to blame his actions on a strong dose of cough medicine he had taken before going to bed.
Matthew James Phelps, 27, has been charged with murder. Photo / Raleigh Police
In a transcript of Phelps' seven-minute 911 call he can be heard telling the operator "I think I killed my ..."
"Okay," the dispatcher said after a long pause before asking him to stay on the phone.
"I can't believe I did this," Phelps said. "I can't believe I did this."
Police discovered Lauren Ashley-Nicole Phelps, 29, at the home the couple shared in the early hours of last Friday, the Miami Herald reported. The paper said the pair had been married less than a year.
She was severely hurt and died in hospital from her injuries.
Later in the 911 call the operator asked Phelps if his wife was awake to which he replied "she's not breathing".
"Do you think she is beyond any help?" they asked.
"I think so. I'm too scared to get close to her," Phelps said.
Near the end of the call he begins crying, appearing to blame the stabbing on his cough medicine.
The couple had been married less than a year. Photo / Facebook
"I took more medicine than I should have. I took Coricidin Cough and Cold because I know it can make you feel good and sometimes I can't sleep at night."
Phelps later told the dispatcher the blood he had on him was dried.
