Assassination linked to cold medicine: husband pleads guilty to killing his wife

Matthew Phelps pleaded guilty to first degree murder on Friday after confessing in court that he stabbed his wife more than 100 times in his room and told the Raleigh police that he had taken too much medication for the cold.

Phelps, a graduate of a 29-year-old Bible college, called 911 in September 2017 and told dispatches that he had just come out of a dream, finding himself covered in blood near his dead woman and a bloody knife in her bed. An autopsy later showed that Lauren Ashley-Nicole Phelps had 123 injuries.

When calling 911, he explained that he had taken a high dose of Coricidin Cough & Cold because "it can make you feel good and sometimes I can not sleep at night".

Although the cough syrup defense drew the country 's attention, it contained little water until Friday in court. Prosecutors said that a blood test had revealed the presence of cough chemicals in Matthew Phelps' body, but not a toxic amount that could cause dizziness or hallucinations.

Phelps stood up and faced the family of his deceased wife, apologizing for a foolish act that he thought himself unable to commit.

"I feel like a monster," he said. "One of the miserable. Part of the darkness we do not talk about. "

More than 50 people, most of them from the Wake Forest Hope Lutheran Church, stormed the courthouse on Friday morning to support Lauren Phelps. They wore buttons with her and t-shirts wearing #LaurensLight. Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway said he had never seen so many supporters.

For more than three hours, they stood up and described in tears his attraction to the underdogs, especially the children, who taught Sunday school and volunteered with young people in the church. His nieces and nephews called him Aunt Mimi, and when his family members remembered his kindness, they shivered and dropped their heads in their hands.

"The thoughts of all his little body endured at the hands of Matthew are the basis of my nightmares," said his mother, Laurie Hugelmaier, in court. "Heaven does not have a phone, computer, or social media. Lauren will live in my memory. "

Many friends and relatives have presumed in court that Matthew Phelps had attracted the attention of his wife claiming to be vulnerable, which triggered his momentum of the Good Samaritan. The family initially welcomed him, they said, but many noticed that his character was plunged into darkness and encouraged him to seek treatment.

Phelps has been suffering from severe depression and anxiety since his childhood, said his lawyer, Joseph Cheshire V, who added that he shared this affection.

"I fight every day," said Cheshire. "It's a demon that enters your body."

Marital disorders

Phelps grew up without a father, and her 17-year-old mother told her grandparents, Cheshire said. The father of a girl that Phelps wanted so far has called it "illegitimate" and banned it. In high school, Cheshire said, Phelps started abusing cold medicine and was deported.

Matthew and Lauren Phelps met at college in Kentucky and he sent her an Instagram message after many years without seeing each other. She did not recognize him at first, but they started dating and got married in November 2016.

"Lauren and the accused had a tumultuous relationship," said District Assistant District Attorney Kristen Fetter.

Prosecutors said Lauren Phelps was thrifty and was hoping to open a Hallmark store, an extension of her Scentsy candle and scent sales. Matthew Phelps, they said, did not work and did not contribute to household finances, spending thousands of dollars on iTunes cards and Xbox subscriptions, forcing his wife to work more than one job.

In April, court documents described marital problems between Phelps and his wife, who had been married for less than a year. Some friends told the investigators that the couple often quarreled, and one detective wrote that Lauren Phelps took "drastic measures" to cut her husband's expenses and planned to end the marriage.

Also in April, the search warrants revealed that Phelps was obsessed with the movie "American Psycho", which describes the life of a serial killer. A detective wrote that he had posted on Instagram pictures of himself dressed as a main character and had told a friend that he was wondering how it would be to kill someone else.

He kept a secret and separate Instagram account under the name "Marty Radical" and told a neighbor that he often thought he would take the weapon that she was carrying with a concealed transport permit and would shoot in the skin.

Phelps' fascination with video games stems from a need for acceptance, said Cheshire. "There, people wanted him on their team," he said.

He has grown up in hair and beard for a long time to look older in prison, said Cheshire.

"He cracked that day"

Prosecutors said Phelps had already been married and had behaved violently towards his first wife, dragging her in the corridors by the hair, which led to their divorce.

Cheshire said the stories differed about the end of the marriage and that Phelps' first wife left for another man she met on a missionary trip. The idea of ​​his second wife leaving him shook Phelps, who did not want to endure another failure.

"It cracked that day and what happened happened," Cheshire said.

As part of his plea, Matthew Phelps will serve a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

"He is asking to spend his life in jail to avoid the risk of death," said one of his lawyers, Elliot Abrams, at The News & Observer.

Cheshire congratulated the family for allowing the plea and the life sentence, adding that he hoped his client would find redemption behind bars.

While he was speaking, Phelps said he regretted depriving Lauren of his family, his friends and himself – "the least of these".

"I will have to live the rest of my life with these hands as a constant reminder," he said.

Family members said they had trouble overcoming their hatred and living as Lauren would like. They seemed very anxious to have described the effect of the crime on their young children. One of them said, "I'll see Mimi again in paradise when the bad guy comes to kill me, right?

Beth Agner, sister of Lauren Phelps and mother of this child, spoke directly to Phelps while sitting in his brown prison suit.

"Matt, jail a scary place," said Agner. "But being separated from God is worse, and his judgment is harder than anything this court can give."

Josh Shaffer: 919-829-4818, @ joshshaffer08