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ANDERSON, Ind. According to court documents, an Anderson man who admitted to stabbing his wife to death on Tuesday told authorities he had “destroyed” his life.

Curtis Williams Sr., 61, has been charged with the murder of Claudette Williams, 51. According to the probable cause affidavit published Wednesday, Anderson police were dispatched to the couple’s house on West 11th Street about 10 a.m. Tuesday after Williams called 911 and informed the operator, he had killed his wife.

Officers arrived and found Claudette Williams deceased in the living room of the residence. Court documents read, “There was a large amount of blood and she had a deep laceration on her neck.” Curtis Williams Sr. was also discovered inside the house, bleeding from a wide, severe cut on his left arm. He was apprehended and transferred to a nearby hospital for treatment. The lead investigator in the case, Detective Travis Thompson, met Williams in his hospital room later in the day Tuesday.

Thompson says that when he questioned Williams what occurred, he was told, “I came home and caught my wife cheatin’.” Williams informed Thompson that he left the house Monday evening to go drinking and when he arrived home on Tuesday morning, he discovered his wife in their bedroom with another man. He also told Thompson that when he came to his door, the man ran out of the back door.

Williams claims he tried to apprehend the man as he fled, when his wife grabbed a kitchen knife and slashed him with it. Williams said, “She tried to stop me from getting him and cut me.”

Thompson wrote, “The injury is consistent with a self-inflicted wound as if to attempt suicide. The laceration was in a straight line and just missed the artery in his arm. He also noted that he believed “that the injury to Curtis Williams was a self-inflicted wound in order to establish a self-defense claim or to commit suicide.” According to court documents, Williams denied cutting himself and maintained that he was not suicidal.

The victim was said to be carrying a blue-handled kitchen knife in her right hand. There was blood on the kitchen knife’s blade, but it looked to be drops and not consistent with being used to cut someone. Because the cutting edge of the knife was facing upward toward the woman’s head, Thompson concluded, “The blue-handled kitchen knife was placed into Claudette’s hand after her death in order to stage the scene.”

Williams also said that he only cut her in retaliation. Williams said to Thompson that he stabbed his wife with his pocket knife, but he had no idea where the weapon ended up. According to court documents, Thompson did see a folding pocket knife near to the victim’s right side that was open and had blood on the blade consistent with being used to cut or stab. When asked how many times he stabbed his wife, Williams said, I don’t know. I lost my mind, man.” According to court documents, he also said “no” when Thompson asked if he intended to murder her.

Curtis Williams Sr. was arrested and sent to the Madison County Jail on a preliminary murder allegation. Williams appeared in court Wednesday afternoon.