Federal authorities said Thursday that a Fairfax County man deemed mentally unfit to face murder charges in 2019 deported himself to Tajikistan last month while on an unsupervised weekend pass.
The Department of Homeland Security said Abdulloi Doniyor Toshpulodzoda, 34, was complying with an immigration judge’s final order of removal when he fled to his home country on July 6.
The immigration judge issued the removal order on June 24 — five days before a municipal judge in Fairfax County ruled that Mr. Toshpulodzoda was still mentally ill and needed to remain in psychiatric custody in Virginia.
Mr. Toshpulodzoda had been committed to the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute since 2022 after pleading not guilty by reason of insanity in the 2019 slaying of his landlord.
During an Aug. 5 hearing in Fairfax County, a judge signed a warrant permitting authorities to bring Mr. Toshpulodzoda back to the commonwealth.
Documents from the court hearing said U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued an alert in case Mr. Toshpulodzoda was spotted at a point of entry into the States.
But a statement from Homeland Security suggests his departure from the U.S. was by design.
“Abdulloi Doniyor Toshpulodzoda is a criminal illegal alien from Tajikistan previously charged with second-degree murder,” an agency spokesperson said. “He lawfully entered the United States on December 15, 2009, under the Obama administration, and violated the terms of his admission, losing his status to remain in the United States.”
“Against our nation’s laws, he failed to depart when he no longer had permission to remain in the country,” the statement reads. “Under President Trump and [Homeland Security] Secretary [Markwayne] Mullin, criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S.”
The Washington Times asked Homeland Security when immigration proceedings against Mr. Toshpulodzoda began, but did not receive a response.
The Times contacted the office of Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano to see if his office knew Mr. Toshpulodzoda was going to self-deport.
A note from a June 11 court hearing about Mr. Toshpulodzoda seems to acknowledge that the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office knew of his immigration case. The note said: “Court determines acquittee will not receive treatment if deported.”
Mr. Descano, a Democrat whose campaign has benefited from left-wing billionaire George Soros’ groups, has taken the brunt of the criticism for Mr. Toshpulodzoda leaving the country. He agreed in 2024 to let Mr. Toshpulodzoda travel to the Tajik Embassy in the District to receive his passport.
A spokesperson for Gov. Abigail Spanberger told WTTG-TV that her office “intends to get to the bottom of how a murderer who has been in custody for inpatient treatment for years — and as has been publicly reported, was denied conditional release as recently as June by a judge — was able to get a passport and flee the country.”
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis told the station that his department is not informed when violent psychiatric patients are given unsupervised passes to leave their facility.
Police said Mr. Toshpulodzoda fatally stabbed his landlord, 61-year-old Mohammed Hemmatian, inside a Vienna home on Dec. 29, 2019.
Court documents said officers arrived at the scene to find Mr. Toshpulodzoda covered in blood.
The suspect suffered a medical emergency following his arrest but later stabilized, police said.
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