Saturday, May 26, 2018

Bethesda tunnel house suspect charged with murder

The resident of a Bethesda home where a man died last September, in tunnels dug underneath the property, has been arrested and charged in the fatality. Daniel Lewis Beckwitt, 27, of the 5200 block of Danbury Road in Bethesda was taken into custoday last night around 6:30 PM in Burke, Virginia. Beckwitt has been charged by Montgomery County police detectives with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the death of Askia Khafra, 21. Police say he will be extradited to Montgomery County to face the charges.

Khafra was hired by Beckwitt to assist in the bizarre excavation project, and was reportedly blindfolded by Beckwitt when traveling to and from the home for the work. Federal and local authorities have been tightlipped about what precisely Beckwitt was up to in, and under, the home. In a community meeting at a hotel ballroom not advertised to the general public, strange new details and questions came to light - including from the father of Khafra, who made a surprise appearance - but no real answers were to be had.

Dia Khafra charged that County officials at the meeting had "sanitized" the truth. “This thing is far more extensive and complicated than people here believe,” he said.

The question of what might be in those tunnels, and just where and how far beyond the property line they might extend, is supposedly unknown. County officials have claimed they haven't actually traveled through the entire tunnel network, because of the high risk of collapse. The lack of information - as such secrecy often does - has led to online conspiracy theories to fill the void.

Montgomery County took action last year to force Beckwitt to demolish the condemned property at his own expense. That has failed, so far. A lawsuit filed by the County this spring suggests the tunnels may actually extend under neighboring homes, and confirmed they have never been fully explored by the County. Perhaps answers will finally come to light when this case goes to trial in Rockville, but Beckwitt has intriguingly seemed to hold more cards than the average Montgomery County resident in holding any investigation of his activities at bay.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, that Boring Machine idea was mine, and I was just heading to a Baltimore to avoid waiting for the MARC.

Anonymous said...

"The lack of information - as such secrecy often does - has led to online conspiracy theories to fill the void."

Like in the paragraph immediately below. LOL

Also, that sentence could use some editing.

Anonymous said...

"The resident of a Bethesda home where a man died last September, in tunnels dug underneath the property, has been arrested and charged in the fatality."

Wrong. The younger Khafra was found in the basement of the home.

Anonymous said...

"Beckwitt has intriguingly seemed to hold more cards than the average Montgomery County resident in holding any investigation of his activities at bay."

The fact that Beckett was just arrested for second-degree murder suggests that an investigation has been going on for some time and that incriminating evidence has been found.

Anonymous said...

That it's taken so long to determine whether the tunnels threaten neighboring structures is an embarrassment. Diane Schwartz Jones did not take this seriously from the start, but the neighbors and developers trying to sell properties in the neighborhood finally found a way to pressure DPS to move.

Robert Dyer said...

3:04: You are correct regarding the investigation of the death. However, as the sentence you quoted indicates, I was referring to what Beckwitt was up to regarding the underground tunnels and bunkers. MoCo government itself has been unable to explore the tunnel system, and news accounts have said they are unable to obtain search warrants. Why is that?

Anonymous said...

"MoCo government itself has been unable to explore the tunnel system, and news accounts have said they are unable to obtain search warrants. Why is that?"

Did you ask anyone?

Anonymous said...

@10:11 PM: It was earlier reported that the State's Attorney did not believe there was probable cause to believe a crime had been committed. This was in February or so.

Anonymous said...

Remember,
Right after this happened, the FBI director, Wray, briefed Congress saying a drone attack was imminent. Drones were taken from this location. This guy was a known hacker. Those tunnels weren't dug for fun. MoCo is not the lead agency. What was going on there clearly was quite serious and alphabet agencies have locked it all down. It's not really conspiratorial to say that it's likely a bomb-making factory was uncovered here thank goodness. The fact that this scum bag is alive, well and in custody, is great. Put him in a CIA black site and make him talk. Go Trump!!!

Anonymous said...

"It's not really conspiratorial"? Uhhhhh...how conspiratorial is it?

Anonymous said...

7:13 - No, not really. This has been shrouded in secrecy from the beginning and police and media haven't said a word. Something else besides a simple house fire was going on here. Chemicals and other material were recovered from those tunnels. So you tell me what a known hacker was doing with secret but elaborate tunnels, chemicals and drones don't forget.

Anonymous said...

Well, that's kind of the point. I can't. So I'm certainly not going to say something ridiculous like "it's likely a bomb making factory". And what "alphabet agencies" have locked what down exactly?

Anonymous said...

8:41 - The FBI director briefed Congress the day after the house fire warning that a weaponized drone attack was likely. Coincidence? I don't think so. This is certainly FBI and likely CIA as well. This guy in custody is a very fortunate thing for all of us as he was a known and convicted hacker. It's not ridiculous to say that this was likely a bomb-making factory because of the materials taken out of these tunnels and the fact that nothing is being said about what went on. But it will come out eventually and I'll be basking in the glow of vindication. What in the world were elaborate tunnels under a home in Bethesda possibly being used for? It wasn't for playing Dungeons and Dragons I'll say that.

Anonymous said...

Wait...the FBI director briefed Congress about THIS INSTANCE being the source of a weaponized drone attack? Or are you just connecting those dots? What materials were taken out of the tunnels that were bomb-making materials? If nothing is being said about what is going on, how do you know any of this?

My money is on him building the bunker as a place to hide and do his hacking business undetected, maybe because he was either legally not supposed to be using computers or had grown increasingly paranoid about the world after reading posts like yours.

Anonymous said...

Hilarious!

Anonymous said...

The guy was paranoid, being a hacker and reading so much of what the CIA & the underground deep state have done over decades and planning to do has pushed him to extreme paranoia. He believed that a nuclear bomb was at high risk of being set off in the United States whether it was a red flag or by terrorist. SO he dug a bunker to stay safe. That's it nothing more to it than that. He would not harm a fly. It was an accident that was caused by neglect. I am curious by the chemicals he had and what they were used for. They could of been used to wash the clay to retrieve nickel & silver out of the laterite to help fund his bunker. Not much to it guys just a very paranoid hacker that knows way more than we do about our deep CIA and agendas.

Anonymous said...

#DerpState