Jury Finds Rahul Gupta Guilty of Killing Georgetown Law Student


After several hours of deliberations in the murder trial of a graduate student charged with stabbing his friend to death, the jury reached a verdict late Monday afternoon. Rahul Gupta was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Mark Waugh amid a love triangle that involved Gupta’s girlfriend.

Montgomery County Police were called to Gupta’s apartment in Silver Spring around 3:25 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 13 for a report of ”unknown trouble.” Officers found Gupta ”covered in blood” and an ”unresponsive Waugh” with a number of stab and ”defensive-type” injuries. Gupta said he had walked in on his girlfriend cheating on him, according to the arrest report.

Gupta’s girlfriend Taylor Gould told police that she couldn’t remember anything after drinking shots of liquor at the apartment but was woken up by Gupta’s orders to call 911. The girlfriend has not been charged in the crime.

Gupta and Waugh became friends whilst attending Langley High School in McLean, Va. Waugh, 23, was a first-year law student at Georgetown University at the time of the incident. Gupta, on the other hand, was enrolled in a master’s biomedical engineering program at George Washington University.

Closing arguments in the two-week trial concluded Friday. Prosecutors assert that Gould had nothing to do with the killing of Mark Waugh.

Gould testified that she had no reason to hurt anyone but said she has no memory of what happened. Gupta began testifying on Thursday and was insistent he didn’t kill Waugh. However, he noted that he had limited memory of the incident because he tripped and hit his head during the attack.

He also said it was soon clear Waugh’s injuries were crucial and Gupta gave him chest compressions and yelled at Gould to call the police, Gupta testified. Under cross-examination from prosecutor Patrick Mays, though, Gupta offered no details about how Gould could have stabbed and slashed Waugh so many times.

The prosecutor pressed Gupta on why — after the police officers arrived — he would confess to a murder he didn’t commit. “In a sense, it was almost instinctual,” Gupta said emphasizing his desire to shield Gould.

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