Involuntary manslaughter conviction upheld; Beckwitt will be resentenced By Dan Schere |
LOGO FROM MARYLAND JUDICIARY FACEBOOK PAGE
An appellate court has overturned a two-year-old murder conviction against a Bethesda man in connection with the death of a Silver Spring man in a house fire.
Daniel Beckwitt, now 29, was convicted in April 2019 of second-degree depraved heart murder and involuntary manslaughter for the death of 21-year-old Askia Khafra in September 2017.
On Friday, a panel of three judges on the Maryland Court of Special Appeals overturned the murder conviction, but upheld the manslaughter conviction.
The court said there is sufficient evidence for “reckless disregard for human life,” the standard that must be met for a manslaughter conviction. But there wasn’t enough evidence to show “extreme disregard for human life,” the standard needed for a depraved heart murder conviction, Judges Donald Beachley, Christopher Kehoe and former judge Timothy Meredi
Murder conviction reversed in Maryland bunker case - New York Daily News nydailynews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nydailynews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Murder conviction reversed for Maryland millionaire jailed in fiery death of man he hired to dig nuclear bunker under his home Jessica Schladebeck
An appeals court has tossed the murder conviction of a Maryland millionaire previously found guilty in the burning death of a 21-year-old man he hired to dig out tunnels to a secret underground nuclear bunker beneath his mansion.
Daniel Beckwitt was sentenced in 2019 to nine years in prison after he was found guilty of second-degree “depraved heart” murder and involuntary manslaughter for the death of Askia Khafra, who was burned beyond recognition in a 2017 fire at Beckwitt’s home.
Murder conviction reversed in Bethesda nuclear bunker case washingtonpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtonpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Photo via iStock.
A Maryland appeals court has overturned the conviction of Daniel Beckwitt for second-degree “depraved heart” murder, finding that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to have warranted that charge. The Bethesda man had been found guilty in the fiery 2017 tunnel death of Silver Spring resident Askia Khafra. Beckwitt was also convicted of involuntary manslaughter, which the appeals court did not overturn. He will now face a new sentencing, and the ruling means that he could end up doing less time (he is currently serving a nine-year sentence).
The bizarre case was chronicled in an in-depth 2019 Washingtonian story. Khafra died in a fire that broke out in a series of tunnels leading to a bunker underneath Beckwitt’s home. A budding entrepreneur, Khafra was working for Beckwitt at the time, digging tunnels with a pickax and shovel. He would eat, sleep, and use the restroom in the shaft as he clocked long hours.