- Police video shows suspect guiding officers to victim’s dismembered remains
- Two Army deserters charged with murdering their former unit member
- Victim, 25, was reported missing in late July in Taos County, New Mexico
- Body parts recovered in multiple locations along U.S. 64
- Suspect allegedly confessed, showing no remorse during questioning
A chilling police video has surfaced showing a New Mexico man calmly directing deputies to sites where the dismembered remains of his former Army comrade were scattered.
Authorities say 23-year-old Rainor Joiner and 22-year-old David Degroat, both Army deserters, murdered their roommate Matthew McLaughlin, 25, and disposed of his body parts along U.S. Highway 64 near Tres Piedras in Taos County.
In squad car footage obtained by KOB, Joiner can allegedly be heard confirming the location of the remains. “If it’s not [there], I assume animals got to it,” he reportedly told officers. “That is definitely the spot.”
According to investigators, the three men had previously served together at Fort Benning, Georgia, before moving in together in New Mexico. At the time of McLaughlin’s disappearance in late July, both Joiner and Degroat were already wanted by the military on desertion charges.
McLaughlin, originally from West Virginia, was reported missing on July 31. Local authorities and The AWARE Foundation, a Virginia-based group, launched a search as the Taos County Sheriff’s Office opened a missing persons case.
Joiner later confessed to fatally shooting McLaughlin on July 25, claiming that Degroat helped him dismember and hide the remains. Deputies recovered multiple plastic bags containing human body parts in the areas Joiner described. “The head and hands were in a trash bag that were then put inside a Harbor Freight f–king bucket,” Joiner allegedly told police in the recorded video.
Court documents reveal that Joiner characterized McLaughlin as a disruptive roommate, accusing him of drug use and spreading rumors. Investigators say the suspects ambushed McLaughlin inside the residence before carrying out the gruesome killing.
“He admitted he shot the individual with a rifle and then again with a pistol, then, subsequent days later, he continued to dismember the victim,” Taos County Undersheriff Gabriel Ortiz told ABC affiliate KOAT. “The individual was very much non-remorseful. No emotions, just a kind of blank face and told them exactly what he did and didn’t have any emotions at all.”
Both Joiner and Degroat are now charged with first-degree murder and multiple violent felonies. The recovered remains have been turned over to the Office of the Medical Investigator for further analysis. Watch The Video Here.
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