WASHINGTON — A lawyer for an ex-Maryland political aide has confirmed former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s ex-chief of staff Roy McGrath is dead following an arrest attempt turned shooting.
According to a spokesperson with the FBI, when agents attempted to take McGrath into custody Monday evening when there was a shooting and McGrath was injured.
It is unclear who shot McGrath and what led up to the shooting.
McGrath's attorney Joseph Murtha confirmed to WUSA9 that McGrath has died from his injuries.
"The FBI has confirmed that Roy succumbed to the injuries inflicted earlier this evening," said Murtha in a statement. "It is a tragic ending to the past three weeks of uncertainty. It is important for me to stress that Roy never wavered about his innocence."
The Associated Press spoke with the attorney representing McGrath's wife, Lauran Bruner.
“She’s absolutely distraught,” attorney William Brennan said by phone of his client.
McGrath, 53, served as chief of staff to former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan briefly in 2020. He has been a wanted fugitive since he disappeared in March, missing a court date for an eight-count federal indictment. In that case, McGrath faced charges including wire fraud, allegedly securing a $233,648 severance payment equal to one year of salary as the head of Maryland Environmental Service, a quasi-governmental corporation he led before joining Hogan's staff. He also faced fraud and embezzlement charges.
FBI agents caught up to McGrath at a strip mall outside Knoxville, Tennessee after tracking multiple cell phones and spotting the Cadillac SUV linked to McGrath, according to reporting from the Baltimore Banner which cited law enforcement sources.
At that point, McGrath may have attempted to kill himself, and at least one agent also fired a gun, according to a law enforcement document cited by the Washington Post.
Video shows the driver's side window of the SUV shattered.
McGrath's death was preceded by the puzzling release while he was on the run of two self-published books by an unknown author calling himself Ryan C. Cooper claiming to tell McGrath’s side of the story.
The books appeared on Amazon after McGrath disappeared, but the author’s identity has not been uncovered.
The books have reached best-seller status on the website and feature handwritten notes from Governor Larry Hogan who is painted as backstabbing and secretive.
McGrath also faced charges of theft, misconduct in office and breaking Maryland’s wiretap laws for allegedly recording conversations with Hogan.
Hogan was scheduled to be a witness in the trial which will now never happen.
A federal judge issued an arrest warrant Monday for the ex-chief of staff to former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Roy McGrath, who didn't show up to court.