Fatal fire at wealthy US hacker’s house exposes secret tunnels
Millionaire bitcoin trader with ‘paranoid fixation’ about possible nuclear attack by North Korea hired 21-year-old man online to dig him a bunker
A wealthy stock trader took elaborate steps to conceal the network of tunnels beneath his house in a Washington suburb. Even the young man helping him dig them did not know where they were.
A year ago, a deadly fire exposed Daniel Beckwitt’s curious campaign to build an underground bunker for protection from a nuclear attack. Neighbours 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.
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. Defence lawyer Robert Bonsib concedes Beckwitt is an “unusual guy” but said 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.