A man who dodged a prison sentence by pleading insanity fled the US during a 48-hour unsupervised release from his mental hospital.

In October 2022, Abdulloi Toshpulodzoda, 34, was found not guilty by reason of insanity in Fairfax County, Virginia, court for the murder of his landlord, Mohammad Hemmatian.

Toshpulodzoda was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in 2019 after police arrived at the scene and found him covered in blood.

A not guilty by reason of insanity plea acknowledges that the suspect committed the crime, but claims that they did not have the mental faculty to understand its impact or consequences, so they should be remanded to a mental facility rather than prison.

Toshpulodzoda was committed to the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services after being acquitted of his second-degree murder charge.

He was taken to the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute (NVMHI) for inpatient treatment in late 2022. The mental health facility allows patients to go on unsupervised community visits for up to 48 hours.

Toshpulodzoda received authorization for the temporary release on July 6 and was directed to stay at an apartment made available through the Fairfax Permanent Supportive Housing Program, according to court documents reviewed by the Daily Mail.

He was ordered to return to NVMHI on July 8, but never did so. Investigators soon determined that on the evening of July 6, Toshpulodzoda fled the US and traveled to Tajikistan.

The acquitted murderer had boarded an international flight at Washington Dulles International Airport bound for Istanbul, Turkey. From there, he hopped on another plane to Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

The tickets were purchased by another person in Toshpulodzoda’s name, according to court documents, though it is unclear who helped the escapee.

Just a week before he was granted the 48-hour release from NVMHI, the Circuit Court of Fairfax County had determined Toshpulodzoda was still mentally ill and remained in need of inpatient hospitalization.

‘The Acquittee remains under the jurisdiction of this Court and shall not be released from custody and inpatient hospitalization without further order of this Court,’ the court stated in its June 29 ruling.

The next hearing to review Toshpulodzoda’s need for inpatient hospitalization was scheduled for June 17, 2027. Until then, he was meant to remain in custody.

But Toshpulodzoda was still allowed to leave his mental hospital for 48 hours because he was still technically in the legal custody of the state’s Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.

It was up to the mental hospital’s discretion to allow him the unsupervised two-day community visit. The court had no say in that decision.

In 2024, Toshpulodzoda was allowed to travel to Washington DC and obtain a passport, which the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office supported, FOX 5 reported.

The document allowed him to take the international flight out of the US last month.

After investigators learned that Toshpulodzoda fled the country, NVMHI issued a warrant for his apprehension and return to the mental facility.

Police notified US Customs and Border Protection, which issued an alert in case the escapee returns to the US. The alert, however, would not provide grounds to arrest Toshpulodzoda on its own.

The court thus filed a request on August 5 for a nationwide warrant that would allow Toshpulodzoda’s extradition back to Virginia in case he appears at any port of entry in the US.

The request was quickly granted and the warrant has since been issued, the Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney’s office told FOX 5.