Maryland Jury Finds George W. Bush's Former U.S. Intelligence Director's Daughter Guilty Of Second Degree Murder
Jan. 5 2023, Published 7:00 p.m. ET
The daughter of a former U.S. National Intelligence Director was found guilty of murder by a Maryland jury this week, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Sophia Negroponte is the daughter of John Negroponte, who served under President George W. Bush as the nation's first Director of National Intelligence in 2005. Before his work with the White House, John had a long career in Washington as a diplomat.
The 29-year-old was convicted of second-degree murder for the February 2020 death of Yousuf Rasmussen. With the conviction, Negroponte faces up to 40 years behind bars, which will be determined at her sentencing trial set for March 31.
The jury made the decision after hearing the prosecution's record of an argument between Rasmussen and the defendant at a Maryland Airbnb.
John Negroponte
According to Maryland County State Attorney John McCarthy, Negroponte and Rasmussen attended the same high school and had been drinking together, along with another unnamed individual, at a Maryland Airbnb on the night of his murder.
McCarty claimed that Negroponte and Rasmussen had been involved in two arguments that night, which resulted in Rasmussen leaving the Airbnb.
Upon his return to retrieve his cell phone that he had left behind, McCarthy alleged that Negroponte "stabbed him multiple times, one being a death blow that severed his jugular."
Police arrived at the gruesome scene and saw an emotional Negroponte.
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According to Maryland police, when they arrived, Negroponte was on top of Rasmussen. "I'm sorry," she allegedly screamed. Negroponte allegedly said during the investigation that she only remembered removing the knife from Rasmussen's neck.
Negroponte's attorney, David Moyse, attempted to argue his client's intoxicated state to jurors, claiming she was too inebriated to form intent for murder.
"Alcohol pervades this case from the start; it pervades her life," Moyse told jurors. "And it is absolutely at the heart of what happened there that night. And it's one of the major reasons that this is absolutely not a murder."
Jurors ultimately did not find Negroponte guilty of first-degree, premeditated murder — but did return a conviction on second-degree murder, per The Washington Post.
Jurors came to the conclusion that Negroponte's actions were "to inflict such serious bodily harm" to Rasmussen "that death would be the likely result."
Montgomery County Judge Terrence J. McGann revoked Negroponte's bond and stated that the victim was "taken from this earth, at a very young age with his whole life ahead of him, in such a horrific way."
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