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Agencies

A US millionaire will appear in court on Friday charged in the murder of a man recruited to build tunnels at his home near the US capital for protection against North Korea.
Daniel Beckwitt, a conspiracy theorist and millionaire stock trader, has posted a US$100,000 bond and will be released from detention on Monday morning.
Beckwitt, 27, is charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death in September 2017 of Askia Khafra, 21.
‘Doomsday Clock’ nears Armageddon as Trump ups chance of nuclear war
Khafra died when a fire broke out in the basement as he dug a tunnel under the home where Beckwitt lived in Bethesda, Maryland, a Washington suburb.

Beckwitt is “an unusual individual,” his lawyer Robert Bonsib told court on Thursday when a grand jury indicted the millionaire.
Beckwitt, set to appear in court on June 8, sought to “create a secure bunker because of his concern about international tensions, North Korea, intercontinental ballistic missiles,” Bonsib said.
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WRC-TV showed earlier footage of what it said was Beckwitt – his identity hidden under a shiny gold outfit and hood resembling a firefighter’s protective suit – addressing a computer hacking convention.
Beckwitt spoke of “legislative creepings by our misguided government toward the Orwellian tyranny … powered by signals intelligence.”


Khafra reportedly met Beckwitt through social media, and was told “if he digs in this tunnel, day and night, and sleeps in this tunnel, and eats in this tunnel, and goes to the bathroom in buckets in this tunnel, he will be compensated financially so he can start his dream company,” Montgomery County assistant state’s lawyer Doug Wink told the court.
Beckwitt allegedly took a rental car to pick up Khafra at his home in Silver Spring, Maryland, drove him to Manassas, Virginia, had him place “darkened, blackout glasses” on his face that kept him from seeing and told him he was taking him to a job site in Virginia.
Instead, according to detectives, Beckwitt drove Khafra to his home in Bethesda, led him to the basement and only then allowed him to remove the blackout glasses.

U/D Danbury Road. Fire extinguished MCFRS Fire Investigations and MCPD on scene to conduct the joint investigation. @MCFRSNews pic.twitter.com/tNjDL3bNt8
— Daniel Ogren (@mcfrsPIO4) September 10, 2017

The tunnels reportedly began at the base of a 3-metre shaft below the basement and branched out about 60 metres.
According to the affidavit in the criminal case, firefighters and police officers responded to the Bethesda home at 4:23pm on September 10 for a call about a house fire.
They found fire in the basement and Beckwitt outside the home. He told them that someone was in the basement.
It was there, according to the affidavit, that investigators found Khafra’s body.
“Fire investigators discovered a hole in the concrete basement floor, which led to an underground tunnel complex underneath the basement,” Montgomery detective Michele Smith wrote in the affidavit, signed May 25.

According to an affidavit, detectives built much of their case based on two significant conditions in the house.
The first involved “hoarding” conditions that would have made it difficult for anyone to escape quickly.
Smith wrote that investigators found “immense piles of garbage and discarded items strewn throughout the entire home.”
She said there were “narrow, mazelike pathways throughout, which significantly prevented normal ease of movement within the home.”
Authorities also alleged that the tunnel complex required “substantial electrical needs” that “were served by a haphazard, daisy-chain of extension cords and plug extenders that created a substantial risk of fire.”
“You were essentially acting in a way that you were disregarding human life,” Montgomery County state’s lawyer John McCarthy said.
Khafra died during a period of high tension between the United States and North Korea, leading to fears of war over that country’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.
Agence France-Presse, The Washington Post


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Crime

US millionaire built secret tunnels because he feared North Korean missiles. Now he’s charged with murder of man hired to dig them

Askia Khafra posted this photo of himself in the tunnels on August 26, 2017. Photo: Facebook/Askia Khafra

epa06780244 An undated handout photo made available by the Montgomery County Police on 02 June 2018 shows a booking photo of Bethesda man Daniel Lewis Beckwitt, who was arrested without incident on 25 May 2018. Police charged Daniel Lewis Beckwitt, 27, with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the death of Askia Khafra, age 21. According to authorities investigating a September 2017 fire at Beckwitt's Danbury Road residence in Bethesda, Maryland, USA located the deceased man in the basement of the home. A Chief Medical Examiner ruled his death by smoke inhalation and thermal injuries. Beckwitt purportedly hired Khafra to dig a series of secret tunnels in the basement of his residence in fear of a possible bombing by North Korea, media reported. EPA-EFE/MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Khafra sent photos of the tunnels to his friends weeks before his death. Photo: Fox 5 DC

‘Doomsday Clock’ edges closer to Armageddon as Trump’s erratic moves raise chance of nuclear war

Rachel Bronson, president and CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists listens to her fellow members talk about their decision to move the 'Doomsday Clock' hands to two minutes until midnight at a news conference in Washington, on January 25, 2018. The clock is a metaphor for how close humanity is to destroying the planet. Photo: Reuters

People queue to collect water from a natural spring in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday, Jan 22, 2018 as the city suffers from one of the worst droughts in recent history. Officials are looking to combat the drought, saying it was looking more likely that it will have to turn off most taps on "Day Zero," or April 21 stating that 60 percent of residents are "callously" using more than the current limit and that the city will fine households that use too much water. (AP Photo/Anwa Essop)

Where China’s top leaders will hide to survive nuclear fallout

China’s Joint Battle Command Centre is located in caves about 20km northwest of downtown Beijing. Photo: News.china.com

Photos showing Chinese President Xi Jinping (C, front), also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission at the Central Military Commission’s Joint Battle Command Centre in Beijing. Photo: news.china.com

Western Hills National Forest Park, Beijing. Photo: HANDOUT

The Cheyenne Mountain Complex is located at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station (CMAFS), a short distance from NORAD and USNORTHCOM headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Photo: norad.mil

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Daniel Beckwitt, a conspiracy theorist, recruited Askia Khafra to build tunnels with the promise of payment enough to start his own company


United States

US millionaire built secret tunnels because he feared North Korean missiles. Now he’s charged with murder of man hired to dig them

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Daniel Beckwitt, a conspiracy theorist, recruited Askia Khafra to build tunnels with the promise of payment enough to start his own company

Daniel Beckwitt, a conspiracy theorist, recruited Askia Khafra to build tunnels with the promise of payment enough to start his own company