A Marine killed after going on a shooting spree that left one person dead and several hospitalized in Texas also is suspected of fatally stabbing his wife, whose body was found in a North Carolina motel room hours after the rampage, police said Tuesday.
Rubi Estefania Smith of Bakersfield, Calif., was found dead Sunday afternoon in a motel room near Camp Lejeune, N.C., police said in a news release. She was the wife of Lance Cpl. Esteban J. Smith, a 23-year-old Marine who died Sunday in a gunfight with Texas authorities.
Police spokeswoman Beth Purcell said Rubi Estefania Smith appears to have died from a knife wound.
Esteban Smith is suspected in a West Texas shooting rampage that left one woman dead and five others wounded. An assault rifle, handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were recovered from Smith’s vehicle.
The Texas shootings began about 4:30 a.m. Sunday, when a gunman in the Eden area of Concho County shot a motorist. The victim was hospitalized in San Angelo with wounds that were not life threatening, Department of Public Safety spokesman Tom Vinger said.
In the next 90 minutes, two more people were shot while sitting in a car at a convenience store in adjacent McCulloch County. Both were treated and released from a hospital, Vinger said.
Shortly after 6 a.m., Alicia Torres, 41, was found dead in her car in Eola, just east of San Angelo, Vinger said.
The suspect fired on the vehicle of Concho County Sheriff Richard Doane when the sheriff came upon him north of Eden, according to DPS. Doane was wounded and released from a San Angelo hospital early Tuesday, a spokeswoman said.
Marine Corps spokeswoman Capt. Maureen Krebs said Smith served two combat tours in Afghanistan, returning most recently in November 2012.
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