An alleged murderer and undocumented immigrant, who escaped from the United States last month, was granted a 48-hour leave from a Virginia mental facility; it has surfaced that he had been previously permitted unsupervised departures, staying in an apartment funded by taxpayers during these breaks.
On July 6, Abdulloi Doniyor Toshpulodzoda departed the U.S. during a weekend leave, taking a one-way flight from Washington Dulles International Airport back to Tajikistan, his home country, with a layover in Istanbul. Court documents reveal the Turkish Airlines ticket was issued in his name and paid for using an American Express card.
Toshpulodzoda, despite facing murder charges, was allowed temporary release from the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute (NVMHI). During these 48-hour leaves, he stayed at a taxpayer-supported apartment in Alexandria provided by the Fairfax Permanent Supportive Housing Program, as indicated by court filings.
The Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute in Falls Church, Va., where Abdulloi Toshpulodzoda was receiving treatment before his authorized escape on a 48-hour pass. (Google Maps)
Back in 2019, Toshpulodzoda tragically killed Mohammad Hemmatian by stabbing him inside his residence in Vienna, Virginia. When the police arrived, they found Toshpulodzoda at the scene, covered in blood.
He was ultimately found not guilty by reason of insanity of second-degree murder and committed to a state psychiatric facility in 2022. To be found legally insane, a defense expert, and then a separate, independent expert for the prosecution evaluated the defendant, Laura Birnbaum, chief of staff for Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, told News Media.
If the prosecution’s expert also finds the defendant to be legally insane, there is functionally no way to get a conviction at trial, Birnbaum added.
As recently as June, a judge determined that Toshpulodzoda “shall not be released from custody and inpatient hospitalization without further order of this court.”
However, Virginia state law permits certain patients committed to psychiatric facilities — including those accused of violent crimes — to receive temporary day or weekend passes.
NVMHI’s Internal Forensic Privileging Committee approved Toshpulodzoda for unaccompanied community visits, allowing him to leave the facility without hospital staff for up to 48 hours at a time. Because this authorization remained in place, he was legally permitted to make unsupervised visits in the period leading up to his escape.
In May 2024, Toshpulodzoda was granted permission to visit the Tajikistan Embassy in Washington, D.C., with an escort to obtain a passport.
In a post on X, former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican, put much of the blame for Toshpulodzoda’s escape on Descano, beginning with his trip to Washington to get his passport.
“A judge said no, Virginia authorities said yes anyway. Fairfax’s Steve Descano supported a violent, committed man accused of killing his landlord to obtain a passport,” Miyares wrote. “The passport request should have been the five-alarm fire, but instead it (was) ignored and he was allowed to walk out of a mental facility and flee the country. This is an unconscionable level of incompetence.”
News Media reached out for comment to the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS).
On Aug. 5 — a month after Toshpulodzoda fled the country — the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office asked a judge to issue an arrest warrant.
“Abdulloi Toshpulodzoda was found by clinicians to be insane at the time he killed Mohammad Hemmatian, a legal finding that means the Commonwealth would be unable to secure a conviction at trial,” the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Steve Descano, commonwealth’s attorney for Fairfax County, Va., speaks at an event at the Center for American Progress about Virginia’s newly elected progressive prosecutors. (Getty Images)
Prosecutors noted that they opposed his release during annual review hearings in June.
The office added that a bench warrant was issued immediately after it had learned he had escaped custody, ensuring that if he reenters the U.S., he will be arrested and extradited to Virginia.
Toshpulodzoda entered the U.S. on Dec. 15, 2009, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told News Media. He violated the terms of his admission, DHS said, losing his status to remain in the U.S.
“Against our nation’s laws, he failed to depart when he no longer had permission to remain in the country,” the agency spokesperson said.