Grad Student Allegedly Killed 'Buddy' After Catching Him With Girlfriend

Oct. 16, 2013— -- A judge has ruled against lowering the $2 million bond for a man charged with killing a law student after police say he had stabbed his childhood friend when he allegedly caught him cheating with his girlfriend.

Rahul Gupta, 24, a gifted graduate student at George Washington University, is accused of fatally stabbing high school friend Mark Waugh, 23, early Sunday morning after a weekend of drinking and birthday celebrations in Montgomery County, Md. He's charged with second-degree murder.

Gupta's attorney asked the judge to lower his bond Tuesday to $50,000 so he could be released.

"I believe the evidence will ultimately show that he has a valid defense," defense attorney Reginald W. Bours III said.

Judge William G. Simmons declined to reduce Gupta's bond.

Gupta pled not guilty at Tuesday's hearing, which he did not attend but participated in via a satellite feed from the Montgomery County jail.

There was a generous cocktail of emotions fueled Saturday night into the early hours of Sunday morning by heavy drinking to celebrate Gupta's 24th birthday, police say.

"There were friends that were together in Washington, D.C., sharing a good time with Mr. Gupta celebrating his birthday," Montgomery County Major Crimes Division Capt. Marcus Jones said.

But the good time took a turn for the worse, according to police, when Gupta, Waugh and Gupta's girlfriend returned to her apartment in nearby Silver Spring, MD. Arrest records indicate police were called shortly before 3:30 a.m. Sunday.

"[Police] could see some blood stain on the walls and they could see Mr. Gupta sitting down at the base of the bed like he was in despair," Capt. Jones said.

But Gupta and his girlfriend gave differing accounts of what happened.

Gupta told police, "My girl was cheating with my buddy. I walked in on them cheating and I killed my buddy," according to charging documents.

The girlfriend said Gupta woke her up yelling and told her to call 911, according to police.

Gupta is pursuing a master's degree in biomedical engineering at the Washington, D.C., school, his lawyer said.

"He's an outstanding young man who has absolutely no history of violence or aggressiveness," Bours, Gupta's lawyer, said during the bond hearing.

"There's just nothing in his background that would suggest this could happen."