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A southside youth pastor told police he killed his wife while the two were arguing about the amount of time he was spending with one of the children from his ministry, according to testimony Thursday at a preliminary hearing in Chatham County Recorder's Court for Eric B. Golden.

Golden, 35, has been held at the Chatham County jail since Nov. 20 when he drove himself there and told police he'd killed DeeDee Golden three days earlier and buried her in Bryan County.

Golden led Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department officers to his wife's body, which was buried in a shallow grave in a remote area on Fort Stewart off of Ga. 204.

At the hearing, Detective LaPrentice Mayes testified about what Golden told investigators before and after he'd taken them to the grave.

According to Mayes testimony:

DeeDee Golden began arguing with her husband as soon as he got home from work at about 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 17. Golden said his wife had been drinking alcohol and became physical with him. They fought on and off throughout the evening but the conflict escalated after their 15-year-old son went to bed.

He told police their marriage had been "rocky" for two years.

The pastor told police that, after killing his wife he'd driven to work at the Southside Assembly of God on Tibet Avenue, to get two shovels so he could hide her body.

Mayes also read a letter Golden gave to police, in which he claimed his wife died accidentally while the two were struggling in their home in the Stone Lake subdivision at Berwick Plantation.

"I feel like a monster for what I've done," Golden said in the signed letter.

Also in the letter, Eric Golden apologized for the killing.

Autopsy results showed DeeDee Golden died from a broken neck and also showed signs of having been strangled, Mayes said.

After hearing the detective's testimony, Recorder's Court Judge Lawrence Dillon sent the murder charge against Golden to the grand jury.

Several of DeeDee Golden's family members were in court Thursday wearing memorial T-shirts but declined to comment.