Ex-Hogan aide Roy McGrath was shot simultaneously by self, FBI agent, prosecutor says
BALTIMORE -- Roy McGrath, the disgraced ex-top aide to former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, died after he was shot in the head both by himself and an FBI agent, Knoxville, Tennessee prosecutors said.
Medical examiners are unable to determine which of the two gunshot wounds killed the fugitive in the suburbs of Knoxville.
McGrath was on the run for weeks after he skipped out on his federal fraud trial in Baltimore on March 13.
The manhunt ended outside a strip mall in Knoxville, Tennessee, where McGrath allegedly pulled out a gun in front of agents.
Three weeks into McGrath's disappearance, an investigation led FBI investigators to Knoxville. On April 4 agents tried to conduct a traffic stop, but McGrath kept driving until he boxed himself in outside a strip mall, prosecutors said.
Agents ordered McGrath to put his hands out the open driver's side window, prosecutors said, but McGrath replied, "No," and, "I have a gun, and it's loaded."
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McGrath allegedly had a handgun raised to his right temple.
Prosecutors said the way McGrath held the gun had agents within the trajectory of the gun. McGrath allegedly fired his gun striking his right temple, and simultaneously an agent fired one round striking McGrath's left cheek.
No criminal charges were filed against the agents because "it is clear that agents had probable cause and a reasonable belief that McGrath posed a threat of imminent death or serious bodily injury," prosecutors said.
McGrath was facing a maximum of 100 years in federal prison for charges of illegally recording Hogan and stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from state government.
At an oversight hearing in 2020, lawmakers including Erek Barron, who was then a delegate and is now Maryland's U.S. Attorney, tried to get to the bottom of what happened. You can watch that full hearing here.
Hogan denied he authorized the severance and later called McGrath's death tragic.
McGrath skipped out on his trial in Baltimore on March 13 and was considered to be a fugitive by the U.S. Marshals. The FBI searched his home in Florida and offered a $20,000 reward.
During those three weeks, two books outlining McGrath's case, from his perspective, were published on Amazon.
Speculation has swirled around whether McGrath wrote the books himself.
The recordings, which violated state wiretapping laws, have never been released.
McGrath's lawyer said his client never wavered in his innocence.
In an interview with WJZ's news partner The Baltimore Banner, McGrath's attorney Joe Murtha said, "It is really sad. I think Roy came to a point in his life where his sense of betrayal led to a place of darkness that he never escaped, resulting in his death."
