00:00A million bucks and a crack team of engineers can build you a lot of things,
00:04a high-performance sports car, an endless supply of snacks, or a permanent residence under the sea.
00:11But sometimes, all you need is a few thousand dollars and a friend with a shovel.
00:17Because in the suburbs of Maryland, one man dug his own doomsday lair with just two things,
00:23determination and a friend who didn't have anywhere else to go.
00:26His name was Daniel Beckwith, and he lived in a house like any other.
00:31Well, maybe not exactly like any other.
00:34You see, Daniel was a self-taught engineer and crypto millionaire.
00:39And if his neighbors knew anything about him, it was that he was extremely paranoid.
00:45He kept a low profile, mostly to himself,
00:48except when he would order huge amounts of PVC pipes, vacuum cleaners, and industrial fans.
00:55I think that's the third time this month he's ordered some tubes, said his neighbor in an interview.
01:01They come in these big plastic things, like bigger than my doorway.
01:06I'm wondering how he gets them inside, but none of the neighbors really cared.
01:11They saw a successful businessman minding his own business.
01:15They never imagined what was happening behind the doors of his mansion.
01:19Daniel had been stockpiling supplies for years.
01:22Canned goods, water, generators, medicine.
01:27It was as though he were preparing for some kind of emergency.
01:31But he also had a more permanent solution in the works.
01:35In 2014, Daniel contacted the authorities to get permission to excavate below his property.
01:41He didn't really need it.
01:43He told them he wanted to install a geothermal system,
01:46a technology that uses the Earth's natural energy to heat and cool buildings.
01:51That sounded plausible enough, but it wasn't the whole truth.
01:55Daniel had a much bigger plan.
01:57He was digging a bunker.
01:59He started small, hiring a contractor to drill a few holes in his yard,
02:04but after that, he took over.
02:07He wanted absolute privacy, away from prying eyes and listening devices.
02:13He put ads online looking for someone to help him with manual labor,
02:16and that's where Aschia Kiffer came in.
02:20Aschia was 21 years old, a recent computer science graduate with dreams of launching his own startup.
02:27Daniel agreed to fund it if he helped him with the construction work,
02:31which involved digging tunnels under his house.
02:33Aschia moved right in.
02:35He slept in the basement next to the tunnels,
02:38next to the growing labyrinth of subterranean corridors and chambers.
02:42Down there, the air was thick with the smell of dirt and sometimes sewage.
02:48Water dripped from the ceiling.
02:50There was one bare bulb hanging from the ceiling.
02:53The walls were lined with PVC pipes,
02:56but Daniel promised Aschia that it was all temporary.
03:00It's gonna be beautiful down here, he told him.
03:03You'll see, for now, though, it was a mess.
03:07And Daniel was meticulous.
03:09The tunnels had to be perfect.
03:10If there were any mistakes, they couldn't be fixed.
03:14There were no second chances, especially not 12 feet under the ground.
03:19One slip of the shovel, one wrong move, and it would all come tumbling down.
03:25Daniel gave Aschia detailed instructions.
03:28Did carefully, he told him,
03:30Don't make any mistakes.
03:32At first, Aschia didn't know what to do.
03:35He had no experience in digging tunnels,
03:38but he had a can-do attitude and a degree in engineering.
03:42Plus, he desperately needed the money, so he got to work.
03:46Over the next three years, Daniel extended the tunnel network,
03:51installing ventilation shafts and electrical lines.
03:54He set up cameras around the house to monitor the progress and keep an eye on Aschia,
04:00but as the bunker grew, so did Daniel's paranoia.
04:03He started to believe that the FBI and the NSA were watching him,
04:08that they knew about the bunker.
04:10He told Aschia that he suspected the CIA had hacked into their Wi-Fi.
04:15And from then on, he disabled the Wi-Fi whenever he left the house.
04:20If Aschia wanted to call his family or his friends,
04:23he had to ask Daniel for permission.
04:25Daniel was obsessed with security.
04:28He installed locks on all the doors, including the ones leading outside.
04:32And sometimes he would lock Aschia in the basement overnight.
04:37I can't sleep well anymore, he told him.
04:40I don't feel safe.
04:42Aschia sympathized, but he also hated Daniel for it.
04:45He couldn't tell anyone about his situation.
04:48He tried a few times, but Daniel caught him.
04:51He was smart, paranoid, and ruthless.
04:55Even the police couldn't get in without a warrant.
04:57And Daniel destroyed anything that might implicate him.
05:02Cameras, computers, blueprints.
05:05Still, Aschia dreamed of escaping,
05:07of making a run for it when Daniel wasn't looking.
05:10He thought about knocking Daniel unconscious,
05:13but Daniel carried a pistol.
05:15He slept with it under his pillow.
05:17Plus, Aschia didn't want to hurt him.
05:20He pitied him, but Daniel wasn't always there.
05:23Sometimes he traveled.
05:25That's when Aschia made his move.
05:27He escaped above ground, called the police,
05:30and told them everything.
05:32But when officers arrived, Daniel was back.
05:36They searched the house and the grounds,
05:38but they couldn't find the entrance to the tunnels.
05:41Daniel had concealed it well,
05:42and besides, they couldn't search without a warrant.
05:46So they let Daniel know they'd received a call,
05:49and that was that.
05:50Daniel doubled down on the paranoia.
05:52He brought in more supplies,
05:54chained the door from the outside,
05:56and installed motion sensors.
05:58Aschia was trapped.
06:00He went back into the tunnels
06:01and begged Daniel to let him leave,
06:04but he refused.
06:05I'm sorry, he said.
06:07I can't let you go.
06:09I'm sorry.
06:10After a while,
06:11Aschia stopped trying.
06:13He realized there was no escape.
06:16He settled into a routine,
06:18eating canned food,
06:19exercising,
06:20and reading books.
06:21He tried to make the best of the situation.
06:24Meanwhile,
06:25Daniel kept tinkering with the bunker,
06:28convinced that the apocalypse was coming soon.
06:31But he wasn't prepared for what happened next.
06:34On September 2017,
06:36a fire broke out in the house.
06:38Flames engulfed the mansion.
06:41Thick, black smoke billowed out the windows.
06:44Neighbors watched in horror as the fire spread.
06:46Some ran to the house to try and help,
06:50but it was too late.
06:52By the time firefighters arrived,
06:54it was clear that whoever lived there had vanished.
06:57As the blaze continued to rage,
07:00firefighters discovered the entrance to the tunnels.
07:03They descended into the darkness,
07:05but it was clear that the air had become unbreathable.
07:08Smoke had seeped into every corner.
07:11They couldn't see anything.
07:12They couldn't help anyone.
07:14They returned to the surface.
07:15They were running out of options.
07:18Maybe they could pump water into the tunnels,
07:21flood them,
07:21extinguish the fire that way.
07:24But then they found his journal.
07:26It had survived the fire.
07:28Its pages outlined the entire structure,
07:31the layout of the tunnels,
07:32the location of the entrance,
07:34the layout of the house.
07:35With this map,
07:36the firefighters located the main shaft leading to the bunker.
07:40They lowered cameras into the tunnels.
07:43The images that appeared on the screen were horrifying.
07:46Twisted metal,
07:47burning wires,
07:49piles of rubble,
07:50and eventually a human figure slumped against the wall.
07:54They found Ascia,
07:55Daniel's employee,
07:57dead from smoke inhalation.
07:59The news spread like wildfire.
08:02Everyone wanted to know why.
08:04Why had Daniel trapped a man in a burning building?
08:06What had led him to do such a thing?
08:09The truth was a long time in the making.
08:13Police scoured the house for clues,
08:15looking for answers.
08:16They found his computers,
08:18his blueprints,
08:19thousands of pages detailing the bunker's construction.
08:23They discovered a note he had written to himself about a week before the fire.
08:28Everything must be scorched earth.
08:30He wrote,
08:31No prisoners.
08:32And they found another note,
08:34one he had written to his attorney.
08:36I fear for my life.
08:37I may have to destroy the hard drives.
08:40So they pieced together the events of that fateful day.
08:43Daniel had been working late in his lab when he smelled smoke.
08:47He raced upstairs and saw that the fire was spreading.
08:51He grabbed his gun and headed downstairs.
08:54That's when he remembered the entrance to the tunnels.
08:57Panic surged through him.
08:59He couldn't let anyone find the bunker.
09:01Not the FBI.
09:03Not the CIA.
09:04Not anyone.
09:06So he barricaded the entrance with heavy furniture.
09:09Then he disappeared into his lab.
09:12He hoped the fire would burn itself out,
09:14that he would survive.
09:16But he underestimated the flames.
09:18They consumed the mansion.
09:20They filled the tunnels with smoke.
09:22And by the time he realized what had happened,
09:25it was too late.
09:26When firefighters found his house,
09:28he was already gone.
09:29He had vanished.
09:31His only legacy,
09:32the hollowed-out shell of his mansion,
09:34and the memory of a young man trapped in a tomb of his own making.
09:39Daniel Beckwitt was charged with involuntary manslaughter.
09:42But many felt it wasn't enough.
09:45He had shown no remorse for what he'd done.
09:48In fact,
09:49he insisted that Ascia had perished in a freak accident.
09:53He said he was innocent.
09:55But in court,
09:56it was hard to argue against the evidence.
09:58The judge sentenced him to six years in prison.
10:02He was released in 2023.
10:04He's 69 years old now.
10:06Most people forget about Daniel and Ascia's story.
10:11The bunker remains abandoned beneath the ruins,
10:14untouched since the day it burned.
10:17But there are lessons to be learned,
10:19like never trust a rich guy with a shovel.
10:22And if you're ever offered a job in a secret underground lair,
10:26make sure you read the fine print.
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