Cold medicine murder: Wife stabbed 123 times, autopsy shows

A North Carolina woman whose husband told a 911 dispatcher he might have killed his wife after taking too much cold medicine had 123 stab wounds and cuts on her body, according to an autopsy. 

Lauren Ashley-Nicole Phelps, 29, had 123 stab wounds and cuts on her body, 44 of which were cuts and stabs around her face and neck, according to the autopsy report, the News & Observer reported. Some of the wounds were more than four inches deep.

Matthew Phelps, 29, is currently being held at the Wake County jail without bail. He is charged with first degree murder in the slaying of his wife. 

Phelps, who was an aspiring pastor, called 911 early on Sept. 1 and told a dispatcher he woke to find his wife stabbed and bloody on their bedroom floor. Phelps told the operator he took too much cold medicine earlier in the evening. 

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"I have blood all over me, and there is a bloody knife on the bed, and I think I did it,"  Phelps said in a 911 call released by police.

During the 911 call, Phelps told the operator he took the medicine to sleep. 

“I took more medicine than I should have,” he told the dispatcher. “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. So, I took some.”

Bayer, which makes Coricidin, told ABC in a statement that "there is no evidence to suggest that Coricidin is associated with violent behavior."