Aspiring Pastor blames cold medicine for stabbing death of his wife in his sleep..

[HipChick]

A 28-year-old North Carolina man is facing a murder charge after allegedly stabbing his wife in bed — but the newlywed claims he doesn’t remember carrying out the alleged crime because he might have done it in his sleep,
Matthew Phelps, of Raleigh, called police distraught early Friday morning, declaring that his wife, Lauren, was dead on their bedroom floor covered in blood.I had a dream and then I turned on the lights and she’s dead on the floor,” he says in a 911 call obtained by PEOPLE. “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.”

He told the dispatcher through tears that his wife wasn’t breathing and that he was afraid to get close to her — “I’m so scared,” he said.

Phelps is charged with murder and is being held at Wake County Detention Center without bail, a jail spokesperson tells PEOPLE. As police work to determine the circumstances around Lauren’s death, Phelps suggested during the 911 call that cold medicine he took the night before might have led to his alleged actions.
“I took more medicine than I should have,” he said. “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.”He added: “Oh my God. She didn’t deserve this.”

Phelps and Lauren had been married for less than a year, ABC News reports. Both of their apparent Facebook pages are filled with wedding photos of the young couple along with pictures that show their shared love for Star Wars.

Phelps’ account shows that he studied missions and evangelism at Clear Creek Baptist Bible College. Lauren was a Sunday school teacher and Phelps was studying to be a pastor, a friend told ABC.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2017/09/04/i-think-i-did-it-man-tells-911-he-took-cold-medicine-woke-up-to-find-wife-stabbed-to-death/?utm_term=.45df2abd32da

[CurtEastPoint]

1. This one is from the local paper and not behind a paywall.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/crime/article170673717.html

[Initech]

2. This is extremely fucked up.

[struggle4progress]

3. A Bad Trip That Kills

April 04, 2004|Robert Salladay | Times Staff Writer'

... In September, 19-year-old Nathaniel Bell was convicted of first-degree murder for stabbing Jose Felix-Martinez "amid a blaze of drugs in an apartment illuminated by only a strobe light," wrote the Wichita Eagle newspaper. Bell admitted to police that he had taken up to 16 Coricidin cold tablets, which contain dextromethorphan, also known as DXM, as well as beer and cocaine. Felix-Martinez was 22, and died of stab wounds.

In Pennsylvania, a 14-year-old boy killed his only brother by smashing his head with a claw hammer, then turned up the music in his room to muffle his brother's cries. The boy had been "eating pills" all day -- Coricidin HBP Cough and Cold tablets, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported. The boy was convicted of third-degree murder and is serving a 20- to 40-year sentence ...

http://articles.latimes.com/2004/apr/04/local/me-cough4

[USALiberal]

4. Praise Jesus! n/t

[jpak]

5. Thank Gawd it wasn't a Twinkie

n/t

[struggle4progress]

6. Dextromethorphan abuse leading to assault, suicide, or homicide

J Forensic Sci. 2012 Sep;57(5):1388-94. doi: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2012.02133.x. Epub 2012 Apr 26.

Logan BK1, Yeakel JK, Goldfogel G, Frost MP, Sandstrom G, Wickham DJ.

Dextromethorphan is a commonly encountered antitussive medication which has found additional therapeutic use in the treatment of pseudobulbar disorder and as an adjunct to opiate use in pain management. Dextromethorphan at high doses has phencyclidine-like effects on the NMDA receptor system; recreational use of high doses has been found to cause mania and hallucinations. The toxicology and pharmacology of the drug in abuse are reviewed, and the historical literature of adverse psychiatric outcomes is assessed. Five new cases of dextromethorphan intoxication that resulted in assault, suicide, and homicide are reported, together with the corresponding toxicology results. Blood concentrations ranged from 300 to 19,000 ?g/L. These results are compared with typical concentrations reported in therapeutic use and impaired driving cases. Based on these findings, dextromethorphan should be considered as a potential causative agent in subjects presenting with mania, psychosis, or hallucinations, and abusers are at risk for violent and self-destructive acts.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22537430

[Grassy Knoll]

7. .

[Sneederbunk]

8. Cold medicine? Yes, that's the ticket.

[struggle4progress]

9. EX PARTE ANDRE LEE THOMAS

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TEXAS

NO. WR-69,859-01
EX PARTE ANDRE LEE THOMAS, Applicant

ON APPLICATION FOR A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS
CAUSE NO. 051858-15-A IN THE 15TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT

FROM GRAYSON COUNTY

... About twenty days before the killings, he took Coricidin and then tried to commit suicide by overdosing on other medications. He was taken to the local MHMR facility, but then walked away before he could be treated. (4) Two days before the killings, he drank vodka and took about ten Coricidin tablets (5) and then stabbed himself. (6) His mother took him to the local hospital. (7) But again, applicant left the hospital before he could be committed for observation or psychiatric treatment. (8) On two occasions in the days before the killings, applicant was seen by friends to be highly intoxicated; they described him as vomiting, delirious, incapacitated, and lying on the floor ...

http://law.justia.com/cases/texas/court-of-criminal-appeals/2009/18123.html

[struggle4progress]

10. Man accused of killing partner, son

Originally published December 26, 2015 at 5:26 pm
Updated December 27, 2015 at 7:17 pm
By Sara Jean Green
Seattle Times staff reporter

It’s been more than four years since Dr. Louis Chen was charged with aggravated murder in connection with the deaths of his longtime partner and their toddler son, but the first hint of his likely defense — that cough syrup contributed to his psychosis — only recently emerged during a legal debate over an expert witness.

Suspected prescription-drug abuse and a looming child-custody battle are described in search warrants as possible motives for the deaths of Eric Cooper, 29, and 2½ -year-old Cooper Chen, whose bodies were found inside their 17th-floor apartment in Seattle’s First Hill neighborhood in August 2011.

While Chen’s defense team announced nearly three years ago that it intended to pursue an insanity or diminished capacity defense at trial, the basis for that defense remained a mystery.

That is, until the defense filed a motion in October suggesting Chen was suffering from cough-syrup induced psychosis as a result of a buildup of the drug dextromethorphan in his system. The motion further intimates that the drug metabolized slowly in Chen, who is Taiwanese, due to his genetic makeup ...

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/cough-syrup-could-be-defense-at-trial-over-first-hill-killings/

[nolabear]

11. I don't know but I suspect this is legit, poor guy.

People can experience some shockingly altered sleep states from what for most of us is benign.

Until I find out any different I'll hope for the best for the poor bastard.

[gratuitous]

12. Story's so pathetic, I'm inclined to lend it credence

At least he didn't try to blame a black intruder.

[malaise]

13. His dream

Her nightmare.
An amazing defense - he killed her in his dreams - throw away the keys for this snake oil salesman

[Sunlei]

14. at least he admitted to police he was addicted to Coricidin & knew thats why he killed his wife.

probably why Coricidin CORP gets giant shelf space and has huge dosage bottles of medicine in the local drug stores.

[Archae]

15. Some OTC medicines can have rare wild side effects, I had my own experience with NyQuil.

Back when it was 25% alcohol, I took a prescription medicine, and 3 shots of Nyquil.

Complete blackout, people said I had to be restrained and I was screaming at others.

I don't remember it at all.