From: Virus Guy 

Bizarre Secret Tunnels Discovered After Deadly Fire Underneath Wealthy 
Hacker's House

Sun, 09/09/2018

A deadly fire underneath a wealthy hacker's Maryland home has exposed a 
bizarre underground nuclear bunker project that claimed the life of a 
young man he hired over the internet to dig tunnels, Askia Khafra, 
reports the Associated Press.

     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. -AP

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Prosecutors say Beckwitt had a "paranoid fixation" about a possible 
nuclear attack by North Korea.

27-year-old millionaire Daniel Beckwitt took elaborate steps to conceal 
the tunnels, which begin 20 feet underground and extend approximately 
200 feet out from from the property - going so far as to hide the 
location of his house from the 21-year-old Khafra, who lost his life in 
a September 10, 2017 fire in Beckwitt's basement.

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     A police report said Beckwitt told investigators how he tried to 
preserve his project's secrecy when he took Khafra there. Beckwitt said 
he would rent a car, pick Khafra up and drive him to Manassas, Virginia, 
where he had the younger man don “blackout glasses” before driving him 
around for about an hour. Khafra spent days at a time working, eating 
and sleeping in the tunnels. He had his cellphone with him, but Beckwitt 
used internet “spoofing” to make it appear he was in Virginia, according 
to Montgomery County prosecutor Douglas Wink.

     Investigators found the younger Khafra's charred body in the 
basement of Beckwitt's Bethesda home. A hole in the concrete basement 
floor led to a shaft that dropped down 20 feet (6 meters) into tunnels 
that branched out roughly 200 feet (60 meters) in length. -AP

“These are the lengths the defendant went through in order to hide the 
truth from Askia Khafra as to where he was and to maintain the secrecy 
of these tunnels,” Wink said during a May 31 hearing.

Khafra met Beckwitt online and agreed to dig the tunnels in exchange for 
an investment in an internet company the younger man was launching.

Beckwitt lived alone in what are described as "extreme hoarder 
conditions," which forced he and Khafra to navigate through a maze of 
junk and trash, according to Wink. The tunnel dig had lights, an air 
circulation system and a heater which were supplied by a "haphazard 
daisy chain" of power strips which created a fire risk, according to the 
prosecutor.

Several hours before the deadly fire, Khafra texted Beckwitt to notify 
him of a smoke smell in the tunnels. Beckwitt responded by flipping a 
breaker that turned off the lights, however he turned the power back on 
when Khafra said he could not see. Prosecutors say Beckwitt ignored 
"obvious signs" of danger.

"I always feared something dangerous would happen to him" said Khafra's 
father, 69-year-old Dia Khafra, who says his son was impressed by 
Beckwitt's wealth.

“I think Askia was very trusting,” he said. “He believed in the guy.”

Dia Khafra said he only met Beckwitt once, when he dropped off his son 
at their home. He seemed shy.

“He said he made his money off bitcoins,” Khafra recalled. -AP

Beckwitt's attorney describes him as a successful "day trader" who has 
made millions trading stocks, and compared his client's concerns to "the 
days of the Cuban missile crisis."

According to AP, Beckwitt lived with his parents at the Bethesda house 
until he left for college at the University of Illinois, where he was 
arrested by campus police in 2013 for charges including computer fraud. 
Authorities suspected him of installing keystroke loggers on the Urbana 
school's computers. Beckwitt pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two 
years probation.

     The conviction did not steer Beckwitt away from computers after he 
moved back to Maryland. In 2016, he spoke at a hacker convention using 
the alias “3AlarmLampscooter” while wearing a fire-resistant suit and 
visor that obscured his face.

     Wink said Beckwitt was teaching his audience how to make thermite 
bombs to destroy computer data “to get away with hacking”.

     Bonsib said his client's use of a pseudonym and disguise was 
harmless, typical of the “weird things” people do on the internet. -AP

Beckwitt was sued by county officials over his property's condition, 
calling it an unsafe "public nuisance." Wooden boards are now covering 
the doors and windows of the house, which is currently encircled by a 
chain-link fence and police tape.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-09/bizarre-secret-tunnels-discovered-after-deadly-fire-underneath-wealthy-hackers
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