ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) – A Maryland jury has found a former Army Ranger guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of a fellow Ranger he had served with in Afghanistan.
Gary Smith, 25, was accused of killing Michael McQueen, 22, with a gun shot to the head in the apartment the two shared in Gaithersburg in September 2006.
Smith claimed McQueen’s death was a suicide, and that McQueen was despondent over issues such as his job prospects and a break up with a girlfriend.
Prosecutors didn’t provide a specific motive for their theory, but said Smith idolized McQueen and was upset when McQueen said he planned to move out of the apartment.
The two soldiers had served two tours together in Afghanistan with an intelligence unit with the Rangers.
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