Indian-American charged with murder of friend denied bail

Washington: An Indian-American student charged with murder of his high school friend after catching him having an affair with his girlfriend, has been denied bail by a local Maryland court.

Rahul Gupta was arrested Sunday from his Montgomery County high-rise apartment on charges of killing his high school friend Mark Edward Waugh, 23, a Georgetown University law student, by inflicting serious wounds with a knife. His girlfriend was the only other person beside him and Waugh inside the apartment. During the court hearing yesterday, Gupta was denied a bail. The 24-year-old biomedical engineering student was being held in the Montgomery County jail on USD 2 million bond. "This was a vicious attack," the Assistant State`s Attorney Stephen Chaikin said. "The victim, and it`s obvious by the forensic evidence, defended himself from a savage knife attack," he was quoted as saying by The Washington Post. Gupta`s attorney, Reginald W Bours, asked the bond be lowered to USD 50,000 so that he could be released. He was not in the court at the time of hearing, but participated in the court proceedings through video conference. "I believe the evidence will ultimately show that he has a valid defense," Bours said. "It`s particularly tragic for someone who has a defense, and who has a promising career and a proven track record at school, to be held on a bond of this amount," Bours told the District judge William G Simmons. According to court records, on Saturday night Gupta, his girlfriend, Waugh and another common friend went out to celebrate his birthday. After the celebrations, the three, sans the common friend returned to the apartment where Gupta and his girlfriend were living together. The police said it responded a call from Gupta`s girlfriend at 3.25 a.M. Sunday (local time). After they arrived at the location, police found Waugh seriously injured and pronounced him dead on the scene. "I walked in on my girlfriend cheating on me," Gupta told the officers, according to the court records. "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 had said. This was disputed by Bours in the district court yesterday, who argued that the apartment is a studio and the three was together at the time of the incident. Gupta`s parents, who were also present in the court, said they will be willing to keep him at home if he was granted bail. His parents own a small business in Northern Virginia and employ about 15 people. The case has been scheduled for November 8. PTI