A Carbondale, Colorado man who was involved in a car accident on Tuesday admitted to medics while being airlifted to the hospital that he had killed his wife earlier that day. He was injured when his Toyota 4Runner ran into the back of a semi truck. He confessed to killing his wife during the medical flight, and directed authorities to the apartment where he said the incident had occurred. Police responding to the scene searched the apartment complex until they found the body of a woman who had been stabbed to death.

The death is Carbondale’s first homicide since 2003. The small mountain town is about 125 miles west of Denver.

After being treated at a local hospital, the driver of the Toyota was airlifted to a regional trauma center in Grand Junction due to the severity of his injuries. It was during this flight that he told the flight crew that he had killed his wife.

Police went to the apartment complex where the man said the murder had occurred, but found the occupants of the home unharmed. Officers searched the complex, eventually encountered a woman outside one of the apartment buildings. The woman, who was just returning home, refused to let officers search her home, but agreed to check inside, where, according to the police statement, she found “a deceased individual” with “suspected knife wounds.”

The names of the suspect and the victim have not been released. An investigation is in process. The man is being held in protective custody at the hospital in Grand Junction while he recovers from his injuries.