ROCKVILLE, Md. — A jury convicted 25-year-old Rahul Gupta of murdering his high school best friend in a case the judge called “serious and tragic.”
A 13-person jury decided on a verdict in the love triangle homicide, as it came to be known, in just four and a half hours, finding Gupta guilty of murdering then 23-year-old Mark Waugh.
As Gupta stood up to remove his neck tie and put his hands behind his back to be cuffed, his mother began wailing and convulsing in her courtroom seat. It was a very emotional moment for the family who had hoped the jury would take the option to convict him of 2nd degree murder instead.
After the verdict, Bill Waugh spoke of his son as an eager young man who was happiest helping others. The Georgetown law student was committed to his family and had a bright future ahead, his father said with a quivering voice.
“Mark was a gift from God,” Waugh said.
The Gupta family was not available for comment.
Prosecutors say the Langley High School friends were celebrating Gupta’s birthday in October, 2013, when they returned to the Silver Spring apartment Gupta and his girlfriend shared.
Early the next morning, Montgomery County police responded to a 911 call from the apartment and arrived to find Gupta’s girlfriend at the door with blood on her body.
Inside the apartment, they found Waugh suffering from six stab wounds, including one to his neck and another to his throat. He died shortly after.
Police say Gupta confessed to killing Waugh in an act of jealousy because he found Waugh with his girlfriend. The girlfriend, who was never charged, says the amount of alcohol consumed the night before caused her to black out and she doesn’t remember any events of the night at the apartment.
Gupta later chaged his story to say he confessed to protect his girlfriend, who was the killer. The jury did not find that argument a possibility.
Gupta faces life in prison and will be sentenced on April 16.
