After a night celebrating his 24th birthday, graduate student Rahul Gupta told police that he walked in on his girlfriend cheating on him with a friend he had known since high school, and then killed him.
Gupta was arrested Sunday after Montgomery County police found 23-year-old Mark Waugh stabbed to death in a Silver Spring apartment at 3:25 a.m. The woman, also 23, had called 911 and said she did not remember what happened.
Police told WJLA that the two men and the woman had known each other for “some time,” and all had been drinking earlier in the night. Gupta’s girlfriend had also been a student at GW, a former classmate told The Hatchet.
Gupta, who had earned a bachelor’s in biomedical engineering in 2012 and is now pursuing his master’s degree at GW, was charged with second-degree murder, or killing without premeditation, according to court documents.
Officers entered the apartment after they heard yelling inside and saw blood on the walls of the kitchen and living room, the Washington Post reported. They found Gupta on the floor, covered in blood. He was not injured.
“I walked in on my girlfriend cheating on me,” Gupta told officers. “My girl and my buddy were cheating. My girl was cheating with my buddy. I walked in on them cheating and I killed my buddy.”
He later told an officer that he had made a mistake, adding, “He tried to kill me, though.”
The former classmate said Gupta was smart, hard-working and “always talked enthusiastically about what he was building” for engineering projects. He was also athletic and spent a lot of time at the gym.
The classmate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect his career, said he last talked to Gupta a couple weeks ago, and Gupta mentioned he was interested in pursuing a Ph.D.
“He really had a bright future ahead of him. It’s pretty shocking,” the classmate said.
Waugh and Gupta both attended Langley High School in McLean, Va.
Gupta earned his bachelor’s degree from GW in May 2012, and began a graduate program also in biomedical engineering this fall, University spokeswoman Candace Smith said Monday. He worked in a bioengineering lab for nanomedicine and tissue engineering.
He also earned a master’s degree in physiology at Georgetown University, the Post reported.
As an undergraduate, Gupta won a prestigious research award from the Office of the Vice President for Research. Chemistry professor Susan Gillmore, who served as his mentor for the project, said Gupta was a “terrific student” in her lab, but declined to speak further.
Waugh was a graduate of James Madison University and studying at the Georgetown University Law Center.
Armin Aflaki, who is pursuing a master’s degree in public health from GW, was one year below Waugh and Gupta at Langley High School, a suburban school with about 2,000 kids. Aflaki took a sports medicine class with Waugh as a freshman, where he remembers talking about their shared affinity for the Redskins.
“He was a very sociable, likable kind of guy,” said Afklaki, who also earned his bachelor’s degree from GW. “It’s a big loss. It’s really a shame.”
Marisa Kashino, a spokeswoman for Georgetown, said the school currently did not have plans for a memorial service for Waugh. A release from the university called Waugh a “bright young man, full of potential.”
“At this time, the investigation into Mark’s death is ongoing and we have no additional information to share,” the release read.
Montgomery County jail was holding Gupta on $2 million bond Monday, the Post reported. The District Court for Montgomery County scheduled a preliminary hearing for Nov. 8.
– Sarah Ferris contributed to this report
