In the early morning hours of September 1st, 2017, around 1 am, a North Carolina 911 dispatcher receives a phone call from 29-year-old Matthew Phelps, an aspiring pastor. He says, “I think I killed my wife. 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. I can’t believe this.”
Matthew claimed that he had “accidentally” stabbed his wife to death while under the influence of cough medicine. 29-year-old Lauren Hugelmaier lay on their bedroom floor, having been stabbed 123 times. While the medicine that Matthew had taken can cause euphoria, agitation, and even psychoses, would a jury believe it as a defence to murder? Perhaps not, after Matthew’s dark side, history of violence and a secret Instagram account was revealed.
If you or someone you know may be in a dangerous relationship, domestic violence, or an abusive relationship, call The National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1–800–799–7233 or go to www.thehotline.org.
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPJVefybEaM
https://people.com/crime/cold-medicine-killer-pastor-pleads-guilty-murdering-wife/
https://medium.com/crimebeat/the-cough-syrup-killer-the-case-of-lauren-hugelmaier-a42d15c98653
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article219420090.html
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