The Tuscaloosa County man charged with murdering his wife at their home in Brookwood Sunday told police he must have "blacked out" and either shot or stabbed her, according to court documents filed this week.

In a deposition filed after James William Sheppard was charged with murder this weekend, investigators said the 42-year-old Brookwood man called police himself just after 4 a.m. Sunday and said he "must have shot or cut the victim because he had a knife in his hand along with his handgun."

Sheppard told police he had "blacked out" and woke up holding the weapons. His wife, Stephanie Megan Sheppard, was on their bed bleeding heavily from her neck when he came back to his senses.

Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's deputies and Brookwood police officers rushed to the scene in a remote area on Poplar Springs Road east of Brookwood and north of Lake View. According to the deposition, they found the victim near the front door of the home with a "major wound" to her neck. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators are still awaiting an official autopsy determining the woman's cause of death, but they believe she was either shot or stabbed.

The couple were alone in their home, and based on James Sheppard's initial call to police, investigators had probable cause to arrest him and charge him with murder.

Sheppard was booked in the Tuscaloosa County Jail, where he remained Thursday. His bond is set at $160,000.

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