Millionaire conspiracy theorist charged with murder of doomsday digger

A MILLIONAIRE conspiracy theorist faces a murder charge after a man died under his house digging a secret, vast tunnel network.

A MILLIONAIRE blindfolded a man he asked to dig a doomsday tunnel every day so he would not know its location, a court in the United States has heard.

Daniel Beckwitt, of Bethesda, Maryland in the state of Washington, has been charged with the murder of Askia Khafra, 21, who recruited to build tunnels at his home for protection against North Korea, reports say.

Mr Beckwitt, 27, a conspiracy theorist and millionaire stock trader, was arrested last Friday, accused of complicity in the death of Mr Khafra in September 2017.

Mr Beckwitt is charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.

Mr Khafra died when a fire broke out in the basement as he dug the secret tunnel under the home where Mr Beckwitt lived near Washington, D.C.

Mr Beckwitt was “an unusual individual,” his lawyer Robert Bonsib told court on Thursday when a grand jury indicted the millionaire, The Washington Post reported.

After months of North Korea conducting nuclear tests, Mr Beckwitt had grown frightened at the prospect of a nuclear missile attack by North Korea, and decided to construct an underground bunker at his home.

“There was nothing nefarious about his building of the tunnels,” Mr Beckwitt’s lawyer, Robert Bonsib, said. “They were just a product of his world view.”

Askia Khafra, pictured working in the tunnel, was blindfolded daily on his way to the tunnels so he would not know their exact location, prosecutors say. Picture: Montgomery County Court

Mr Beckwitt had hired Mr Khafra, who he reportedly met through social media, to help him dig an underground tunnel network, spanning more than 60 metres, Fox News reported.

Mr Khafra 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 attorney Doug Wink told the court, according to WJLA-TV.

Mr Beckwitt allegedly picked up Mr Khafra from his home elsewhere in Maryland, made him wear dark glasses and drove him on a roundabout route to hide the project location, the New York Post reported, citing a court document.

The tunnels reportedly began at the base of a three-metre shaft below the basement and branched out about 60 metres.

The prosecution alleges that piles of junk in the house and basement, as well as a “daisy-chain” of power cords in the tunnels, made the project unsafe.

“You were essentially acting in a way that you were disregarding human life,” Montgomery County state’s attorney John McCarthy said.

Mr Khafra died during a period of high tension between the US and North Korea, leading to fears of war over that country’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

Mr Beckwitt has posted a $US100,000 ($AU131,400) bond and will be released from detention on Monday morning, US time, WRC-TV said.

“My client is a very intelligent individual,” Mr Bonsib said. “He just marches to the beat of his own drum. That’s one the wonderful things about this country. You can do that.”

Mr Beckwitt is set to appear again in court on June 8.

WRC-TV showed earlier footage of what it said was Mr 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”.

— With wires

Originally published as Millionaire conspiracy theorist charged with murder of doomsday digger