BETHESDA, Md. — Millionaire killer Daniel Beckwitt left something dangerous behind in his old neighborhood: the rotting, burned-out house where a friend died trying to help him dig a homemade nuclear bunker.
Beckwitt has yet to offer the Montgomery County a plan to clean up the house on Danbury Rd. Investigators still don't know how far the tunnels extend under the house. In court documents, they said they're filled with hazardous waste.
The county has sued to force Beckwitt to clean up the mess, but that civil suit is on hold pending the criminal trial and sentencing. County officials declined to comment on when the lawsuit might start up again.
Prosecutors said Beckwitt has as much as $16 million stashed away from profits he made day-trading stocks and buying bitcoin.
A judge sentenced Beckwitt Monday to nearly a decade in prison in the death of Askia Khafra, 21.
Now some neighbors wonder if it will take a decade to clear the condemned house. The county wants him to knock the house down, remove the hazardous waste, and refill the tunnels. But that could easily cost more than the value of the property.
The Beckwitt house is almost directly behind this writer's home.
"When you drive up that one block, it looks bad," said Maplewood-Alta Vista Neighborhood Association President Allen Myers. "The residents, I think, are frustrated, because they see this dragging out on and on and on. They don't know what the condition is of the house inside, they don't know what's in the tunnels, property values, especially around that house have really plummeted."
The house next door has been for sale for months, and the seller has had to repeatedly drop the price. The next house on Danbury is vacant and covered in vines. A third house on Danbury had a tree cave in the roof over a year ago. There's still a hole in the roof, and neighbors said wild animals are living inside.