After being on the run for well over three weeks, Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s ex-aide Roy McGrath has officially died in the wake of being apprehended this past Monday by law enforcement officials out of Knoxville, Tennessee.
Joseph Murtha, McGrath’s lawyer, announced that he had received a gunshot wound and ended up dying due to the injury, according to NBC News. Agents with the FBI stated that an "agent-involved shooting" was still under review but gave no additional details.
"The FBI has confirmed that Roy succumbed to the injuries inflicted earlier in the evening. It is a tragic ending to three weeks of uncertainty," Murtha explained to CNN. "I think it is important to stress that Roy never waivered about his innocence."
This manhunt for McGrath kicked off after he chose to skip court and was not discovered in the wake of a welfare check that was carried out at his Naples, Florida, residence.
"We’re concerned that something may have happened," explained one FBI agent in a recording gathered by The Baltimore Banner. "He doesn’t have any kind of violent criminal past, but we are concerned he may have committed suicide at this point."
McGrath’s attorney, Joseph Murtha, expressed that he was worried about the condition of his client and was still not at all sure what was happening.
"I haven’t a clue. I didn’t see this coming," stated Murtha after his client ended up going missing. "This behavior is so out of the ordinary for him. Obviously his personal safety is a concern."
The 53-year-old McGrath officially resigned as the chief of staff for Hogan back in 2020 in the wake of being accused of fraudulently securing an insanely large severance package of $233,648, equal to close to a year of the aide's salary, from his prior role as the head of the Maryland Environmental Service.
McGrath elected to plead not guilty to federal charges of wire fraud and theft. State charges accused him of making illegal recordings of private conversations with senior officials. If convicted, McGrath could end up with a prison sentence sporting a length of decades.
McGrath has a long history of working alongside Hogan, who once described McGarth as his "trusted adviser" and key to assisting him to set up his administration in the wake of winning the Maryland governor's race in 2014, as reported by The Washington Post.
Hogan, who could be brought in as a witness in the McGrath case, denies approving McGrath the insanely large severance for McGrath.Murtha claimed that McGrath "firmly stands by the fact that Governor Hogan formally approved of his compensation from Maryland Environmental Service, and sadly, turned his back on Mr. McGrath to avoid the political fall out of his decision."