Army Spc. Wooster Rancy was found guilty Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, in the 2024 shooting death of another soldier whose body was found in a dumpster on post. (Phelps County Sheriff’s Office)
A Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., soldier will spend the rest of his life in prison without parole after a bullet lodged in a banana was among the evidence that led to his conviction in the shooting death of a sergeant.
Military judge Col. Alexander Pickands on Friday sentenced Spc. Wooster Rancy, 22, after a jury convicted him Wednesday of premeditated murder and obstructing justice in the October 2024 death of Sgt. Sarah Roque, according to the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel.
Rancy, a combat engineer assigned to the 509th Engineer Company, 5th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, was also sentenced to reduction in rank to E-1, total forfeiture of pay and allowances, and a dishonorable discharge from the Army.
He will serve his prison sentence at the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
“This case was an important step toward justice for Sgt. Sarah Roque and her family,” said Lt. Col. John Haberland, the prosecutor.
On Oct. 21, 2024, Roque, 23, a mine-detection dog handler from Ligonier, Ind., was reported missing after failing to report to her unit for morning formation, according to the special trial counsel. A search began, and her body was found that evening in a garbage bag placed inside a dumpster behind the barracks where she lived in an apartment.
Roque had been shot in the head. The top of the bag was closed by a zip tie, according to the special trial counsel.
Agents with the Army Criminal Investigation Division, along with the FBI, conducted the investigation and found evidence that Rancy purchased heavy-duty trash bags and zip ties from a local Walmart in Waynesville on the morning of Oct. 20. Cellphone data showed both Roque and Rancy were in her apartment for about an hour around 10:30 a.m. the same morning.
In her apartment, investigators found a bullet lodged in a banana inside the refrigerator. That bullet matched a firearm found in Rancy’s off-post apartment.
Rancy also had searched the internet for “how long it takes for a garbage bag to end up in a landfill” and for Fort Leonard Wood’s trash pickup schedule.
During the trial, a witness testified that while digging through a dumpster near Rancy’s off-post apartment he found Roque’s cellphone inside of it.
No clear motive was presented during the trial for the murder, according to the Pulaski County Daily News, which attended the court-martial.
The jury trial began Jan. 27 at the Pulaski County Courthouse in Waynesville, which was chosen to host the trial because it is larger than the courtrooms on post, according to the special trial counsel.
“This sends a clear message that Army CID and our justice system will not waver in the pursuit of justice,” said Special Agent in Charge John McCabe of Army CID’s Midcentral Field Office. “While no ruling can bring back Sgt. Sarah Roque or restore what was stolen from her loved ones, this sentencing brings accountability for this senseless act of violence.”