Police believe North Carolina Marine killed wife before Texas shooting spree
Authorities in North Carolina on Tuesday confirmed that the body of a woman found in a Jacksonville hotel room on Sunday was Rubi Estefania, who had been married to the Marine killed by police during a shooting spree in Texas shortly before her body was discovered.
On Monday, Texas Department of Public Safety said that the 23-year-old Marine had been killed during a Sunday shootout with a Highway Patrol trooper and a game warden. Smith had been firing randomly from his truck when he killed a 41-year-old woman and five other people, including Concho County Sheriff Richard Doane.
At the time, it was not clear what prompted the shooting, but authorities said that Smith was carrying an assault rifle, a handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
Estefania’s body was found on Sunday afternoon at at the Jacksonville Sunset Inn near Camp Lejeune, where Smith had been stationed. Authorities confirmed on Tuesday that body belonged to Estafania, and that Smith was the suspect in her murder.
Jacksonville police said that the woman had a knife wound, but a cause of death had not been determined, according to WRAL.
"Because there are multiple agencies and crime scenes associated with the case, it will take several weeks for all of the physical evidence to be processed," Jacksonville Public Safety Director Chief Mike Yaniero explained in a statement.
Watch this video from WNCT, broadcast May 28, 2013.
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[Stock photo of man holding an assault rifle via Shutterstock.com]