David Degroat’s sentence resolves one prosecution in Matthew McLaughlin’s death while the case against Rainor Joiner remains pending.

TAOS, N.M. — David Degroat was sentenced to 44 years in prison for his role in the 2025 killing of Army veteran Matthew McLaughlin, closing one part of a case that began as a missing-person investigation and led authorities to human remains scattered along a northern New Mexico highway.

Degroat had accepted a plea agreement that reduced an original first-degree murder charge to second-degree murder. He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, assault with intent to commit a violent felony and three counts of tampering with evidence. His sentence includes a five-year firearm enhancement and is to be followed by two years of parole, according to recent reporting on the case. His co-defendant, Rainor Joiner, still faces a first-degree murder charge and is expected to be tried separately.

The sentence marks a major change from the legal position Degroat faced after his August 2025 arrest. Prosecutors initially accused him and Joiner of participating in a planned attack on McLaughlin, 25, who had served in the Army with both men at Fort Benning, Georgia. All three later lived together near Tres Piedras, a rural community northwest of Taos. When the investigation began, Degroat and Joiner were also described by authorities as having active military warrants related to desertion.

McLaughlin was reported missing July 31, 2025. Taos County sheriff’s deputies eventually obtained a warrant to search the home where the three men had been living. On Aug. 17, deputies detained Degroat and Joiner for questioning. Investigators said the interviews changed the direction of the case. According to the sheriff’s office, Joiner admitted shooting McLaughlin and said Degroat helped him conceal what had happened afterward. The statements led deputies away from the residence and toward locations along U.S. 64 near Tres Piedras.

Authorities said Joiner directed investigators to areas where several bags were recovered. The sheriff’s office reported that the bags contained human remains, which were transferred to the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator. Investigators said McLaughlin had been killed July 25, several days before he was reported missing. The prosecution later alleged that the shooting was not a spontaneous confrontation but an ambush that had been arranged in advance.

The accounts given by the two defendants were not identical. Court records and local reporting described Joiner as the person accused of firing the fatal shots. Degroat, meanwhile, told investigators that Joiner had been planning to kill McLaughlin and claimed he had tried to discourage him. Degroat also alleged that Joiner threatened him if he refused to help. Prosecutors nevertheless argued that Degroat’s conduct before and after the shooting made him criminally responsible for his role in the plan and its concealment.

Investigators said McLaughlin was lured away from the house before the shooting. Reporting on the case said Degroat asked McLaughlin to help with groceries as the men walked along a dirt road near their home. Prosecutors alleged that Joiner was positioned to attack McLaughlin. Authorities said McLaughlin was shot several times. In the days that followed, investigators alleged, his body was dismembered and portions of his remains were placed in bags and left at several locations near the highway. Those details have been described in restrained terms in court and law-enforcement accounts because of the disturbing nature of the evidence.

The prosecution’s theory also focused on evidence that authorities said was destroyed or hidden after the killing. Degroat’s guilty pleas to three counts of tampering with evidence reflect allegations that the effort to conceal McLaughlin’s death extended beyond moving his remains. Investigators examined the defendants’ actions during the period between McLaughlin’s killing and the missing-person report, as well as what each man said after deputies began asking questions. That evidence became important when prosecutors sought to keep both defendants in custody before trial.

In September 2025, a judge ordered Degroat held while his case proceeded. The Eighth Judicial District Attorney’s Office said at the time that the evidence presented was sufficient to bind over charges including first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and tampering with evidence. Prosecutors emphasized what they described as Degroat’s participation in a premeditated killing and the steps taken afterward to conceal it. The detention ruling did not decide Degroat’s guilt but kept him jailed as the prosecution moved into district court.

The case changed again in July 2026, when Degroat accepted the plea agreement. The deal removed the first-degree murder count as the charge to which he would plead and substituted second-degree murder while leaving several other serious counts in place. McLaughlin’s mother, Rebecca McLaughlin, had publicly expressed mixed feelings about the agreement. Before sentencing, she said she had wanted the cases to go to trial, while also recognizing that a negotiated resolution removed the risks of a mistrial or later appellate litigation tied to a trial verdict.

At the sentencing stage, McLaughlin’s family addressed the effect of his death and the betrayal they associated with the killing. Their statements focused on McLaughlin as a son, brother and former soldier rather than only as the victim in a criminal case. The family had previously told news organizations that McLaughlin traveled west to live with men he knew through military service and was looking for a fresh start. Friends described that decision as unusual for him and said his death was difficult to understand because of the trust he had placed in his former military companions.

Degroat’s 44-year sentence resolves the charges against him but does not end the prosecution arising from McLaughlin’s death. Joiner has not been convicted and is entitled to the presumption of innocence on the charges still pending against him. Prosecutors have continued to describe him as the alleged shooter and principal actor in the killing. His case is expected to return to court for trial in December, when a jury would be asked to determine whether the state can prove its allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.

Author note: Last updated August 24, 2026.