Former US intel director's daughter gets 35 years for murder

Publication date: 1 April 2023

Fatal Stabbing Ex Diplomats Daughter

FILE - This photo provided by the Montgomery County Police Dept. shows Sophia Negroponte. Negroponte, the daughter of former U.S. intelligence director John Negroponte, has been found guilty Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, of fatally stabbing a 24-year-old man after a drunken argument inside a Maryland home. (Montgomery County Police Dept. via AP, File)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — The daughter of former U.S. intelligence director John Negroponte was sentenced Friday to 35 years in prison in the fatal stabbing of a friend after a drunken argument at a Maryland home, prosecutors announced.

Sophia Negroponte, 30, of Washington, D.C., was convicted in January of second-degree murder in the 2020 death of 24-year-old Yousuf Rasmussen. Guidelines called for a sentence of 15 to 25 years, but Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Terrence McGann went beyond those guidelines, citing a need for community protection and rehabilitation, and calling her a “struggling, anger-filled alcoholic,” news outlets reported.

“That rage drove Ms. Negroponte to stab her friend in the neck,” McGann said.

“While nothing can ease the pain caused by this senseless loss of life, we thank Judge McGann for an appropriate prison sentence in this case," Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said in a statement.

Nearly a dozen people, including Rasmussen's mother, Dr. Zeba Rasmussen, gave victim impact statements at Friday's hearing. She remembered her son as charismatic with a “huge caring heart for everybody.” His father, Steve Rasmussen, called his son a gift, saying family and friends will always wonder what they lost with Rasmussen’s killing.

All the kind things said about Rasmussen were true, Sophia Negroponte said at the hearing.

“He was a very beautiful and loving and caring person. … I am truly sorry,” she said.

Sophia Negroponte was one of five abandoned or orphaned Honduran children that John Negroponte and his wife adopted after he was appointed as U.S. ambassador to the Central American country in the 1980s, according to The Washington Post.

Rasmussen and Sophia Negroponte attended the same Washington high school and had been drinking, along with another person, on the night Rasmussen was killed, McCarthy said. They argued twice that night and Rasmussen left. When Rasmussen returned to get his cellphone, Negroponte “stabbed him multiple times, one being a death blow that severed his jugular,” McCarthy said.

At trial, defense attorney David Moyse urged jurors to consider that Sophia Negroponte was too intoxicated to form specific intent.

“Alcohol pervades this case from the start; it pervades her life,” he said, adding, “and it is absolutely at the heart of what happened there that night. And it’s one of the major reasons that this is absolutely not a murder.”

Former President George W. Bush appointed John Negroponte as the nation’s first intelligence director in 2005. He later served as deputy secretary of state. He also served as ambassador to Mexico, the Philippines, the United Nations and Iraq.

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Eric

2 April, 2023

This person was adopted from Honduras by a very senior former political appointee, living, I would imagine, in a beautiful home and with any and all resources readily available to her. What an unfortunate lost opportunity, especially when so many others do so much better with a LOT less.

104

2 replies

jonathan

2 April, 2023

Still too weak of a sentence. Being drunk certainly doesn't absolve one from getting what they earn for their actions under the influence. All murderers should lose the right to breathe for the first offense. No exceptions.

2 replies

Farm The

2 April, 2023

They want us to feel sorry for this person. Given every chance to succeed in life. This is what happens when you give a child everything and don't have values and responsibilities. She wasn't held accountable by people who were not her parents, and sadly she killed an innocent person. A womans abil...

3 replies

KEN

2 April, 2023

If you have a problem with alcohol, seek help and STAY AWAY from all alcoholic beverages! That is the only solution.

2 replies

Cat

2 April, 2023

She was and is a danger to society

The sentence is appropriate in my view

A lot of other sentences are not-not enough

Incarceration should be a DETERRENT not only a punishment as well as protection for law abiding

peaceful citizens

Kris

1 April, 2023

Drink hot water with lemon juice for good Gut health.

4 replies

Mark

2 April, 2023

Beyond sad. She had a privileged life due to her father's standing in Washington, but threw it all away because of the little devil in the bottle.

Petite Chatton

2 April, 2023

I have to add this. I was married to a high-functioning alcoholic. He worked hard, was great at his job. But he was unfortunately, an alcoholic with a rage problem. He came from an upper-middle class family, raised with values & opportunities & love. No one else (that was known) was an alcoholic. W...

1 reply

Douglas

2 April, 2023

But since she is the daughter of a former government official, she will get out in half that amount of time, plus good behavior. We are talking ten years maybe..

neoteny

2 April, 2023

Booze kills in multiple ways.

DaveK

3 April, 2023

A lot of very successful people have children with big issues. Their success often means they don't spend much time parenting.

Disenchanted

2 April, 2023

Maybe We had better start RE-THINKING Our Policies, Concerning Adopting Children from Third-World Countries. We Already have MORE Than Enough Home-Grown "Unbalanced" Teenagers and Young Adults, We Don't Need More "Imported" Ones!

4 replies

puerile

1 April, 2023

How is not murder like that a life sentence?

2 replies

Desert

1 April, 2023

Excuse me???"Not a murder?" Of all the ridiculous things to say! This woman did indeed commit a murder. Yes, Alcohol can make a person crazy but still no excuse can be made for a person who picks up a knife and stabs someone to death.

3 replies

Angela

1 April, 2023

Run from alcohol people!!!

2 replies

Randy

1 April, 2023

So does the family sue the alcohol maker, the knife maker or both? If we had some more laws he would be alive.

6 replies

USA4Ever

2 April, 2023

Some can’t handle their alcohol

geraldm

2 April, 2023

Not all adoptions are beneficial

ODESSA

1 April, 2023

Sad 2 lives gone senseless

david

2 April, 2023

The rules distinguishing first from second degree murder seem to primarily exist so that judges have enormous scope in how much prison to hand out: Kill somebody on purpose and you may get a few years or hard time forever. It is up to them.

1 reply

sanemind

2 April, 2023

Poor girl. She sounds very troubled. Some people are just naturally angry without alcohol. Then there are those who undergo a personality change when they drink alcohol. Alcoholics are very troubled people.

It is sad that her friend had to die due to her negligence and craziness.

I dont see wh...

3 replies

RubberDucky

2 April, 2023

She is who she is. No amount of philanthropy, priviledge, or adoptive parental guidance could steer this person right.

GMoney

2 April, 2023

It's very sad that this man lost his life and that this woman was a dangerous alcoholic at such a young age. The irony is that the entire purpose of the Negroponte family adopting her was to provide her with a better life full of opportunities. I hope the other orphans that they adopted are not on...

Ted

2 April, 2023

I've been drunk,had an argument with a friend became quite heated, I never wanted to see that person again ,but not for one second did I ever think about stabbing him.........just can't get the "hood" out of some people1

1 reply

2 April, 2023

This sentencing does not seem correct. Yes the events happened. But there is circumstances. If this had been drunk driving she would have got less time. Our legal system is a travesty.

1 reply

Kris

1 April, 2023

Killings by shoot, drink, drugs, Marijuana, liquor, fentanyl, opioids, alcohol are bad for your mind.

3 replies

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