Story highlights
Marine in Texas shooting spree also killed his wife, police say
Rubi Smith's body was found in a North Carolina motel room
Texas authorities killed Esteban Smith Sunday after he killed one person, wounded five
Police found two weapons, hundreds of rounds of ammunition in his truck
A Marine combat veteran killed by Texas authorities after a deadly shooting spree there has also been linked to the death of his wife in North Carolina, authorities said Tuesday.
Lance Cpl. Esteban J. Smith, 23, died Sunday in a shootout with Texas authorities after going on a two-hour rampage that left one person dead and five wounded, according to investigators.
Smith’s wife, Rubi Estenania Smith, 21, was discovered dead Sunday afternoon at a motel near Camp Lejeune, according to police in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
While it was not immediately clear when Rubi Smith died, investigators say her husband began his Texas shooting spree around 4:30 a.m. Sunday. They say he killed Alicia Torres, 41, in Eola, Texas, and also shot two people in Eden, Texas, two people in Brady, Texas, and Concho County Sheriff Richard Doane, just north of Eden.
Smith died in a firefight with state troopers and a game warden who arrived shortly after that incident.
Two victims, including Doane, remained hospitalized Monday with non-life-threatening injuries. Three other people were treated at a hospital and released.
Authorities found an assault rifle, a handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in Smith’s pickup.
North Carolina police said they found Smith’s wife dead in a motel room on Sunday afternoon after agents with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service working on the Texas incident found evidence on his body and contacted them for help.
Police didn’t describe the evidence.
It appeared Rubi Smith had been stabbed, police said.
Esteban Smith, of Bakersfield, California, was a Marine rifleman who served two tours in Afghanistan with the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, the Marine Corps said Tuesday.
He first deployed to Afghanistan from August 2010 to May 2011, according to Marine Corps spokeswoman Capt. Maureen T. Krebs.
He returned to Afghanistan with his unit in April 2012 and remained there until November, according to Krebs.
His service records included a number of routine awards for personnel assigned to combat tours, including the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and a Combat Action Ribbon, among others.
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CNN’s Adam Levine contributed to this report.