Cough medicine murder case Coverage

Durham police make fifth arrest in October homicide of 19-year-old man

Yakir Ben-Zion Lee is charged with conspiracy to commit murder in connection to the Oct. 23, 2023, fatal shooting of Semar Barbour.

WRAL Staff

Prayer vigil held for Allisha Watts, boyfriend charged with her murder is due in court

Friends and family of Allisha Watts gathered for a prayer vigil in her honor nearly five months after her body was found deep in the woods in the town of Norman.

Chelsea Donovan, WRAL reporter

'We will remember:' Families speak for loved ones silenced by violence

A vigil Wednesday night celebrated the lives of loved ones lost to violence.

Ken Smith, WRAL anchor/reporter

Vigil honors those killed by acts of violence

A vigil Wednesday night celebrated the lives of loved ones lost to violence.

Blue shirts, raw emotion plentiful in plea hearing for woman's stabbing death

A Raleigh man pleaded guilty Friday to stabbing his wife to death a year ago in a case that gained national notoriety for the "cough medicine defense" he initially used to explain the crime.

Family, friends of slain Raleigh woman confront her husband and killer

A Raleigh man pleaded guilty Friday to stabbing his wife to death a year ago in a case that gained national notoriety for the "cough medicine defense" he initially used to explain the crime.

Raleigh man pleads guilty to wife's murder

A Raleigh man pleads guilty to stabbing his wife to death in September 2017.

Matthew Phelps apologizes for killing his wife

After pleading guilty to stabbing his wife to death last year, Matthew Phelps apologizes to her family before he is sentenced on Oct. 5, 2018.

'I feel like a monster': Raleigh man who once blamed cold medicine for making him stab his wife to death pleads guilty

A Raleigh man pleaded guilty Friday to stabbing his wife to death a year ago in a case that gained national notoriety for the "cough medicine defense" he initially used to explain the crime.

Amanda Lamb and Adam Owens, WRAL reporters

Warrants: Raleigh man accused of stabbing wife to death fascinated with serial killers

A Raleigh man charged with stabbing his wife to death last fall was so fascinated with serial killers that he posted photos of himself online dressed as the main character of the film "American Psycho," according to newly unsealed search warrants in the case.

Matthew Burns, WRAL.com senior producer/politics editor, & Amanda Lamb, WRAL reporter

Attorney: Cough medicine 'not a total defense' for man charged in wife's death

A Raleigh woman whose husband says he awoke from a dream last month to find her dead had been slashed and stabbed 123 times, according to an autopsy report released Tuesday.

Autopsy: Raleigh woman slashed, stabbed 123 times

A Raleigh woman whose husband says he awoke from a dream last month to find her dead had been slashed and stabbed 123 times, according to an autopsy report released Tuesday.

RAW: Raleigh man charged in wife's death makes first court appearance

A Raleigh woman's family was in court Tuesday afternoon as her husband, and accused killer, made his first appearance in front of Wake County judge.

'There's a lot to this story' attorney says of cough medicine defense

A Raleigh woman's family was in court Tuesday afternoon as her husband, and accused killer, made his first appearance in front of Wake County judge. Matthew James Phelps, 27, is charged with one count of first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Lauren Ashley-Nicole Phelps, 29.

Family, friends stunned by Raleigh woman's death

A 29-year-old recent bride was laid to rest Monday while her husband stis in jail, charged with her murder.

Wife laid to rest, husband faces murder charge with cold medicine defense

The death of a Raleigh Sunday school teacher and the apparent 911 confession of her husband was drawing national attention Monday because of his unusual defense.

Raleigh man tells 911 he awoke from dream to find wife stabbed to death

A Raleigh man has been arrested after his wife died following an overnight stabbing, police said Friday.

Raleigh man tells 911 he awoke from dream to find wife stabbed to death

A Raleigh man has been arrested after his wife died following an overnight stabbing, police said Friday.