The funeral of a woman whose husband claims to have killed her after taking too much cough medicine was held on Monday as he awaited arraignment.
Matthew Phelps, 28, is charged with killing his wife Lauren Hugelmaier, 29, at their home in Raleigh, North Carolina, in the early hours of Friday morning.
Phelps, who worked for a lawn service company but who once studied at a bible college, called 911 to say he had woken up to find his wife dead, himself covered in blood and a bloody knife on their bed.
He later said he had taken the cough and cold medicine Coricidin HBP before going to sleep and suggested that it may have driven him to kill his innocent wife.
On Monday, mourners piled in to Hope Lutheran Church, where the couple married less than a year ago, for Lauren’s funeral.
The funeral of Lauren Hugelmaier, 29, was held in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Monday. Her husband Matthew (right in his mugshot) is accused of murdering her on Friday
Her obituary in the local newspaper made no mention of her husband or of her married name.
Phelps will appear in court for the first time on Tuesday to face murder charges.
The harrowing 911 call he placed after his wife’s death was released by police over the weekend.
In a recording of the call, he can be heard telling an operator coldly: ‘I think I killed my…’ before tailing off.
In a flat voice, he went on: ‘I had a dream and then I turned on the lights and she’s dead on the floor.
‘There’s blood all over me, and there’s a bloody knife on the bed and I think I did it. I can’t believe this.’
Struggling for breath, he continued: ‘I can’t believe I did this. I don’t even know what time it is.’ Through tears, he said: ‘I can see her. She’s not breathing. Oh my God.’
Phelps called 911 from the couple’s home (above) to say he had woken up to find his wife dead and a bloody knife on the bed. He said he too was covered in blood and sobbed: ‘I think I did it’
Phelps cried: ‘She didn’t deserve it’ as he waited for emergency services to arrive on Friday morning
Asked if she is beyond help, he sobbed: ‘I’m scared to get too close to her.’
Phelps said he took ‘too much’ Coricidin HBP Cough and Cold before he went to bed
‘I took more medicine than I should have. I took Coricidin Cough and Cold because I know it can make you feel good so a lot of times I can’t sleep at night…’
The cough drug contains the antihistamine Chlorpheniramine Maleate and Dextromethorphan Hydrobromide, a cough suppressant.
In high amounts, the latter component causes a lack of oxygen in the brain. In 2004, ABC published a worrying report on teenagers who were using the drug to get high.
‘It’s just like pot, except it’s better and it tastes just like candy and your parents won’t know if you get high cause your eyes won’t be red,’ one said at the time.
The drug is known to cause drowsiness. On its box, it advises that ‘excitability’ may occur during use but it says nothing of hallucinations.
On Monday, mourners piled in to Hope Lutheran Church in Raleigh (above) for Lauren’s funeral
People taking monoamine oxidase inhibitors are warned not to take it.
At the end of his 911 call, Phelps wailed: ‘She doesn’t deserve this,’ as he waited for paramedics to arrive at the home he shared with his wife.
Bayer, the pharmaceuticals giant which owns Coricidin, did not respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment on Tuesday.
Before her funeral, Lauren’s friends and family launched a YouCaring page to raise money for her grieving loved ones. It has so far raised $7,000.
Her relatives are yet to speak publicly of her killing.
The couple had not yet been married for a year when Lauren died