“He boarded an international flight at Washington Dulles International Airport and traveled to Istanbul, Turkey. He thereafter traveled to Dushanbe, Tajikistan.”
A Tajik national who stabbed his roommate to death in Virginia and was later found not guilty by reason of insanity fled the United States after officials helped him obtain a passport and a state-run mental hospital permitted him to take unsupervised trips into the community.
According to court records obtained by The Daily Wire, Abdulloi Toshpulodzoda killed his roommate, Mohammed Hemmatian, inside their Vienna, Virginia, home in 2019. Police reportedly found Toshpulodzoda “covered in blood from head to toe,” and he told officers, “I am guilty.”
Despite the admission, Toshpulodzoda was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 2022. His attorney argued that he had become “fixated on religious topics and he was illogical and nonsensical.” Two psychologists, including one tasked with evaluating him “given the intertwining of Islam with Mr. Tospulodozoda’s delusions,” supported the insanity determination, according to the outlet. Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano’s office concurred with the judgment.
Two years later, Descano’s office joined Toshpulodzoda’s attorney in requesting court approval for an escorted trip to the Tajikistan Embassy so he could obtain a passport. In 2025, officials with the Fairfax County Community Services Board and Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute recommended conditional release despite acknowledging his immigration status and murder case.
A judge rejected permanent release on June 11, 2026, finding that Toshpulodzoda “remained mentally ill and in need of inpatient hospitalization” and ordering that he “shall not be released from custody and inpatient hospitalization without further order of this Court.” Court records cited concern that Toshpulodzoda would not receive treatment if deported.
But the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute continued allowing him unsupervised community visits of up to 48 hours. On July 6, Toshpulodzoda was released on one of those passes to an apartment provided through Fairfax County’s Permanent Supportive Housing Program. He instead headed for Washington Dulles International Airport.
“On July 6, 2026, the Acquittee was permitted to leave [the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute] on an approved forty-eight hour pass to an apartment made available through the Fairfax Permanent Supportive Housing Program,” court documents stated. “He boarded an international flight at Washington Dulles International Airport and traveled to Istanbul, Turkey. He thereafter traveled to Dushanbe, Tajikistan.”
Descano’s chief of staff, Laura Birnbaum, told the outlet that prosecutors assisted Toshpulodzoda with obtaining the passport “for documentary purposes” and said the insanity ruling “is made by a judge after reviews from multiple independent clinicians.”
“We have opposed his release specifically because of community concerns,” Birnbaum said. Asked whether Descano supported deportation, she said, “our goal is to make sure people are not harmed wherever he ends up.”
Following Toshpulodzoda’s flight from the country, Descano sought a judicial capias allowing authorities to apprehend him if he returns to the United States.
The case comes as Descano faces federal scrutiny over his pledge to help defendants avoid “immigration consequences,” a policy federal officials and congressional Republicans have alleged resulted in discriminatory treatment. Descano has denied implementing such a policy.
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