Man charged over death of worker he hired to dig tunnels
One step below premeditated murder, depraved-heart murder is punishable by up to 30 years in prison
The death of 21-year-old Askia Khafra inside a Bethesda, Maryland home last fall was tragic and bizarre.
Hired to help dig a network of secret tunnels leading from the basement, Khafra burnt to death when a fire broke out.
Now, according to authorities, his death amounts to something else as well: an act of “depraved-heart” murder, committed by the man who supervised him.
Daniel Beckwitt, 27, who lived at the home, created conditions that posed a huge risk to Khafra, authorities said in court papers, acting in what the law defines as “extreme disregard” for the young man’s life.
One step below premeditated, first-degree murder, depravedheart murder is punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
Mystery
Beckwitt is expected to make his first appearance as soon as this week in a Montgomery County, Maryland courtroom.
He was arrested on Friday in Fairfax County, Virginia, and has been held there.
New details in the case are spelt out in an affidavit that Montgomery detectives filed to secure charges against Beckwitt. The document describes the extent of the tunnel complex, which was at least six metres deep and approximately 60 metres in length.
Still a mystery is why Beckwitt wanted the tunnels and how he intended to use them.
But the affidavit describes efforts Beckwitt took to keep his project secret. He 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.
Police also charged Beckwitt with a lesser crime, involuntary manslaughter, which carries a sentence of 10 years, court records state.
According to the affidavit in the criminal case, Montgomery 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.
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.