A soldier at Fort Leonard Wood has been referred for court-martial on charges of murder and obstructing justice, it was announced July 10 by U.S. Army’s Office of Special Trial Counsel at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
Spc. Wooster Racy is charged in the death of a sergeant, Sarah Roque, and dumping her body into a dumpster near her barracks in October 2024.
The announcement follows an earlier Article 32 hearing May 6 at Fort Leonard Wood in which prosecutors outlined their case before a hearing official, with Rancy and his legal defense team present, along with Roque’s family. Rancy’s attorneys questioned witnesses in a procedure comparable to a preliminary hearing in civilian court, intended to determine if sufficient evidence exists to proceed with trial.
“Now that the case is referred to court-martial, a military judge will be assigned and schedule the arraignment, dates for pre-trial hearings and the trial itself,” said Michelle McCaskill, director of communications for the U.S. Army Office of Special Trial Counsel, in a prepared statement.
Both Rancy and Roque had been stationed at Fort Leonard Wood. According to McCaskill, during pre-trial confinement, Rancy is being held in military detention at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
During the earlier evidentiary hearing, Army investigators said Roque’s DNA was found on Rancy’s pistol, and also said Rancy had done internet searches on subjects including how to determine if someone is lying and the dumpster pickup schedule on FLW. Roque was shot in the head after being forced to a position lower than her natural height, according to forensic evidence presented at the hearing.
The second charge of obstruction of justice was added at the preliminary hearing based on testimony that Rancy spent about an hour in Roque’s barracks room cleaning up bloodstains, but failed to find a bullet that went through Roque’s refrigerator door and lodged in a banana.
No date for the court martial has been set. No motive has been publicly released.