With Murder Trial, Family Seeks Truth in Son's Death

With Murder Trial, Family Seeks Truth in Son's Death
'Here's a young man, a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces -- a ranger. He's not just some statistic.'

By Ernesto Londoño
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 15, 2007; Page B01

U.S. Army Ranger Michael McQueen had served three tours with special forces in Afghanistan, only to die in the living room of his Gaithersburg apartment after watching football, a .38-caliber bullet piercing his right temple.

Outside the apartment building, police later found his roommate, former sergeant Gary Smith, crying inconsolably, smeared with McQueen's blood and with gunpowder residue on his hands. Smith told police that before calling 911, he drove to nearby Lake Needwood, gun in hand, and dumped it in the water.



A Montgomery County jury is expected to decide in February whether Smith, 25, killed McQueen, 22, on the night of Aug. 25, 2006, or simply tried to cover up a suicide. Smith is charged with first-degree murder.

The two conflicting theories point to largely unseen fronts in ongoing wars, battles that are often fought after veterans return home. Burdened by memories of war, some veterans commit crimes of violence, even killing, that they might not have otherwise, while others direct the violence inward, according to studies. The most desperate take their own lives.

An estimated 5,000 veterans of all wars commit suicide each year, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, a trend that has led to congressional hearings and calls for an overhaul in post-combat screening. About one in five Iraq veterans suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, as does Smith.

The mystery surrounding McQueen's death deepened recently when a blood-spatter expert hired by the prosecution concluded that the fatal gunshot wound appears to have been self-inflicted, a finding at odds with the conclusion of the state's initial expert.
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