Gupta allegedly caught his girlfriend cheating on him with Waugh.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Rahul Gupta, a graduate student in biomedical engineering at George Washington University, was found guilty by a jury of second-degree murder for fatally stabbing his high school friend Mark Edward Waugh, in October of last year, after a night of drinking and revelry to celebrate Gupta’s 24th birthday.
Montgomery County Police had found Gupta covered in blood and an unresponsive Waugh with multiple stab and “defensive-type” wounds, at the former’s Silver Spring, Maryland apartment, in the early hours of October 13, reported the Associated Press.
When an officer asked Gupta what had happened, he replied that he walked in on his girlfriend cheating on him, police say. Gupta and Waugh were friends from Langley High School in McLean, Va.
Waugh was found stabbed in the back, neck, and chest, in a scene described by local news as “a bloodbath.” At the time, the blood soaked Gupta told police his “girl and buddy were cheating … and I killed him.”
Gupta’s girlfriend told police that she couldn’t remember anything after drinking shots of alcohol at the apartment but was woken up by Gupta’s orders to call 911, the police report states, reported ABC local news WJLA.
Waugh, 23, was a first-year law student at Georgetown University.
Earlier, during his testimony to the jury before the weekend, Gupta recanted his previous testimony and indicated he was covering for his girlfriend, who is the real killer.
During his closing arguments, State’s Attorney Timothy Hagan made it a point to remind the jury that Gupta had already confessed after being found at the scene of the crime.
“He knows that telling you the truth means admitting to first degree murder … Don’t reward him for taking the opportunity to point the finger at someone else and ruining their life,” argued Hagan.
He also revisited a recorded phone call that Gupta made to his father from jail directly following his arrest where he said, “Mark and I got into a fight and he tried to get the knife.”
The girlfriend has not been charged in the homicide. During the trial, she testified she was blackout drunk and doesn’t remember anything, but she had no reason to hurt anyone.
Defense lawyer Phil Armstrong claimed police overlooked evidence that pointed right at her, namely long blonde hairs clutched in the victim’s hand, around the knife used as the murder weapon, and in blood on the wall. Gupta’s attorney also exhibited what he claims to be a knife impression on her dress.
“Is it credible to believe her testimony that she was in a total blackout and remembers nothing?” he asked.
The defense explained the confession as a bad decision. “I don’t defend the fact Rahul handled this stupid or badly. He’s a kid … he made mistakes,” said Armstrong.