Bio

Mir Aimal Kasi was born on February 10, 1964, in Pakistan. He was also known by the name Kansi. Before the murders, Kasi had been living in Reston, Virginia. He became angry over United States foreign policy, especially American actions in the Middle East. An FBI agent later testified that Kasi said he wanted to punish the U.S. government because of the bombing of Iraq, the killing of Palestinians, and what he believed was CIA involvement in Muslim countries.

Kasi was not proven to be part of a terrorist organization. However, his attack created serious security concerns because it targeted people near CIA headquarters. After the shooting, he fled the United States and returned to Pakistan. He remained a fugitive for more than four years before FBI agents arrested him in 1997.

Murder Story

On the morning of January 25, 1993, Mir Aimal Kasi drove to the area near the main entrance of CIA headquarters in Langley, Fairfax County, Virginia. Several vehicles were stopped at a traffic light on Route 123 during the morning rush hour. Kasi parked his pickup truck, took an AK-47 assault rifle, and began walking among the stopped cars. He fired into five vehicles, shooting people as they sat inside. In total, he fired 11 bullets.

Frank Darling, age 28, and Lansing Bennett, age 66, were killed. Nicholas Starr, Calvin Morgan, and Stephen Williams were wounded. After the attack, Kasi returned to his truck and left the scene. The next day, Kasi flew to Pakistan. He avoided capture for more than four years and reportedly spent much of that time in Afghanistan and Pakistan. On June 15, 1997, FBI agents arrested him in a hotel room in Pakistan and brought him back to the United States for trial.

At trial, Kasi admitted the shooting. Prosecutors argued that he had acted out of anger toward the U.S. government and had deliberately targeted people near the CIA. A Fairfax County jury convicted him of capital murder, murder, malicious wounding, and firearm charges. On February 4, 1998, he was sentenced to death.

Kasi’s lawyers raised several appeals, including arguments about how he had been brought from Pakistan to the United States and whether he had been given proper consular access. The courts rejected those claims. Virginia Governor Mark Warner later denied clemency, saying Kasi had admitted the crimes and had shown no remorse.

On November 14, 2002, Mir Aimal Kasi was executed by lethal injection at Greensville Correctional Center in Virginia. He was pronounced dead at 9:07 p.m.