Left: Rainor Joiner (Taos County Adult Detention Center). Center: Matthew McLaughlin (The AWARE Foundation/Facebook). Right: David Degroat (Taos County Adult Detention Center).
A New Mexico man has reportedly admitted to killing a U.S. Army veteran who served with him in the same unit at Fort Benning in Georgia, with prosecutors saying he teamed up with another soldier buddy who told investigators that he chopped up the victim”s body parts and that “I don’t f—ing regret it.”
David Degroat, who was 22 at the time of the 2025 slaying, has accepted a plea deal to reduce his first-degree murder charge to second-degree murder, according to local ABC affiliate KOAT. He and his pal, Rainor Joiner, were accused of killing their roommate, Matthew McLaughlin, 25, in Taos County and scattering his body parts in “several locations” along U.S. 64 near Tres Piedras.
Joiner is scheduled to go on trial in December.
McLaughlin was reported missing on July 31, 2025, and a search was conducted locally by authorities and a group out of Virginia — The AWARE Foundation — while cops opened a missing persons case and investigated. McLaughlin was from West Virginia, police said.
On Aug. 17, 2025, deputies detained Joiner and Degroat for questioning. They learned that the three men had served together at Fort Benning and were living together in New Mexico, according to a Taos County Sheriff’s Office press release. Joiner and Degroat allegedly deserted and had active military warrants for their arrest at the time of McLaughlin’s disappearance. McLaughlin was described by police as an “Army veteran.”
During police questioning, Joiner allegedly admitted to shooting McLaughlin, “and with the help of Degroat, dismembering him and disposing of the body parts,” according to the sheriff’s office. “Joiner led Deputies to these areas where they recovered several plastic bags just as Joiner described,” according to the sheriff’s office.
“The bags contained human remains and were turned over to the Office of the Medical Investigator,” the sheriff’s office said.
Both Joiner and Degroat were taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder and “other violent felonies,” according to police.
Court documents obtained by local NBC affiliate KOB said Joiner allegedly told investigators that McLaughlin was a bad roommate who started rumors about him, was using drugs regularly, and was bringing people to the residence that Joiner and Degroat didn’t know. The two men allegedly ambushed McLaughlin on July 25 and shot him dead, according to the court documents.
“[Joiner] admitted he shot the individual with a rifle and then again with a pistol, then, days later, he continued to dismember the victim,” TCSO Undersheriff Gabriel Ortiz told KOAT in August 2025. “The individual was very much non-remorseful. No emotions, just a kind of blank face and told them [deputies] exactly what he did and didn’t have any emotions at all.”
McLaughlin’s mother, Rebecca McLaughlin, told KOAT this week that she wanted both men’s cases to go to trial.
“There has been confessions from both of them,” she said. “So in that aspect, that’s where I don’t fully understand why they don’t do a trial if they have all this information.”
KOAT reports that under the terms of the plea deal, Degroat could serve about 30 years in prison instead of a potential life sentence.
“Right now, I’m honestly torn,” Rebecca McLaughlin told the outlet. “I know the one thing I am grateful for the plea deal is there’s no chance for them to file an appeal and there’s no chance of a mistrial. But with a trial, it is first-degree murder. And he would get longer time in jail.”
The Taos District Attorney’s Office told KOAT that the state and Degroat’s defense team worked together to negotiate a plea agreement. When asked if prosecutors would seek a similar deal for Joiner, the DA’s office said there is nothing to report regarding his case, according to KOAT.
Degroat’s plea deal is expected to be finalized by early August.
