Deadly fire exposes wealthy man's secret underground tunnels [View all]
A year ago today, a deadly fire exposed Daniel Beckwitt’s curious campaign to build an underground bunker for protection from a nuclear attack.
Neighbors knew nothing about the tunnels before they heard Beckwitt’s screams and saw smoke pouring from the house where 21-year-old Askia Khafra died that afternoon.
The wealthy stock trader took elaborate steps to conceal the network of tunnels beneath his house in this Washington, D.C., suburb. Even the young man helping him dig them didn’t know where they were.
Maryland prosecutors portray Beckwitt, a 27-year-old millionaire, as a paranoid computer hacker who recklessly endangered Khafra’s life. In May, they secured Beckwitt’s indictment on charges of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.
Beckwitt’s lawyer calls Khafra’s death a tragic accident, not a crime. Defense attorney Robert Bonsib concedes Beckwitt is an ‘‘unusual guy’’ but says his client risked his own life in a failed attempt to rescue Khafra.
Beckwitt was freed on bond after his May arrest. His trial is scheduled for April 2019.
At: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/deadly-fire-exposes-wealthy-man-e2-80-99s-secret-underground-tunnels/ar-BBN9lSQ
Eccentric millionaire Daniel Beckwitt and Askia Khafra, the Mali-born man who died helping Beckwitt create his bunker.
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