The man who brutally killed an Alexandria shop manager last year was found “not guilty by reason of insanity.” News4’s Drew Wilder reports.
Alexandria prosecutors will not retry a man accused of killing a popular store manager from Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.
Prosecutors instead agreed to a not guilty by reason of insanity finding, the Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney in Alexandria said Monday.
Attorneys for the accused, Pankaj Bhasin, have said Bhasin thought the victim was a werewolf.
Store manager Brad Jackson, 65, was found dead July 13, 2018, inside Window Universe on Old Town's busy King Street. Bhasin, of New Jersey, was found naked in a car nearby and arrested in his killing.
Bhasin's attorneys have said their client had checked out of a psychiatric hospital just days before he left his New Jersey home and drove to the D.C. area.
Attorneys said his first stop was at the Four Seasons in Georgetown. The hotel staff called security when he told them, "People are going to die."
He also said, "It's going to be a bad day."
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Two hours later, he drove to Old Town and walked up a flight of stairs to Jackson's office at Window Universe.
Bhasin said Jackson asked him, "What are you doing here? Get the f*** out," according to the forensic psychologist who testified at trial. Bhasin then allegedly picked up a box cutter and stabbed Jackson 53 times. He also beat him and broke his neck, police said.
After Bhasin's trial ended in a hung jury in March, the commonwealth requested its own forensic exam. Their medical professional, a forensic psychologist, came back with the same conclusion that the defense's doctor did: that Bhasin was insane when he violently attacked a complete stranger.
Prosecutors also polled the first jury and found they had been 10-2 to acquit.
Commonwealth's Attorney Bryan Porter says given those factors, it would not be ethical to retry Bhasin again.
Bhasin will be committed to Central State Hospital in Virginia and will undergo regular evaluations, probably every six months, to see if he has returned to sanity.
Jackson's close friends have said they found the defense's argument difficult to believe.
"All we do is just hope that Brad didn't die in vain and this won't be, you know, a man who gets out in a couple years and has a life to live and spend time," Andrea Milliken said.
