Former Ranger guilty of murder

A Montgomery County jury found a former Army Ranger guilty of second-degree murder yesterday in the shooting death of a fellow Ranger he had served with in Afghanistan.

Gary J. Smith, 25, was charged with shooting Spc. Michael A. McQueen II, 22, in the head in the apartment the two shared in Gaithersburg in September 2006.

Smith was found guilty of second-degree murder — depraved heart — but the Montgomery County Circuit Court jury acquitted him of a first-degree murder charge after deliberating for six hours. The depraved heart qualification indicates a killing that is not intentional but results from reckless behavior that shows an extreme disregard for human life.

Smith, an Army sergeant, was stoic as the verdict was read, and there was little reaction in the courtroom from the families of the two men. Judge Eric M. Johnson revoked Smith’s bond, and Smith was led away in handcuffs by sheriff deputies. He could be sentenced to up to 50 years in prison for murder and the jury’s guilty finding on a handgun charge.

During the more than two-week trial, Smith’s attorneys suggested Spc. McQueen’s death was a suicide, and that Spc. McQueen was despondent over his job prospects and a breakup with a girlfriend. Prosecutors didn’t provide a specific motive for their theory but said Smith idolized Spc. McQueen and was upset when Spc. McQueen said he planned to move out of the apartment.

Spc. McQueen’s father, Mike McQueen, the New Orleans bureau chief for the Associated Press, said the suicide claim tarnished his dead son’s name, amounting to a “public lynching” that was painful for his family to hear.

“We knew all along our son was killed in cold blood,” he said after the verdict.

Smith’s parents did not comment as they left the courtroom.

The case centered on competing forensic experts who gave conflicting views on the meaning of crime scene clues.

Prosecution experts testified that blood spattered on the rug left the imprint of a shoe and hand, evidence that Smith was standing next to Spc. McQueen when he died. Prosecutors said the presence of Spc. McQueen’s blood on Smith’s pants and shoe backed up that theory.

But Smith told police after his arrest that he was in the bathroom when he heard a shot and found Spc. McQueen bleeding. Forensic examiners called by defense attorneys said the blood spatter pattern did not match the outline of Smith’s shoe, and that the way Spc. McQueen had been shot in the head was consistent with a suicide, not murder.

Smith and Spc. McQueen had served two tours together in Afghanistan in an intelligence unit with the Rangers. They had met during their training in Georgia, but the strength of their friendship is in dispute. Smith’s attorneys said they were good friends, while prosecutors said they were more casual acquaintances.

Spc. McQueen moved to the Washington area in the summer of 2006 with plans to start college. Smith grew up in Montgomery County and was having trouble dealing with the effects of his military service, which included a tour in Iraq. He had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Police went to the apartment after getting a distressed 911 call from Smith. They found Spc. McQueen in a small chair, his head bent backward, in front of a television. He had been shot once in the head with a .38-caliber revolver.

Smith told police during lengthy questioning that he panicked after he came out of the bathroom and took the gun to a nearby lake where he dumped it in the water. His attorneys said he was scared because there was marijuana in the apartment and the gun was his.

But one juror, a 37-year-old woman who declined to give her name for privacy reasons and due to the nature of the case, said Smith’s behavior after the shooting cast doubt on his claim of innocence. The blood evidence showed he was in the room at the time of the shooting, she said. And jurors didn’t think Spc. McQueen showed any sign of suicide before his death.

“He had plans to get a haircut,” she said. “Suicidal people don’t make plans.”