Husband Who Tried To Kill Wife, Burn Down Restaurant, Sentenced

HANOVER, MD — A businessman who owned the state's first Steak 'n Shake location in Millersville, has been sentenced on federal charges that he planned to kill his estranged wife, frame her as terrorist and wanted to burn down a restaurant for insurance money. Khalil Ahmad, 51, of Hanover, was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to two years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for stalking.

Prosecutors say Ahmad violated protective orders several times and planned to have his wife killed, but instead, ultimately paid a man to set her up to appear to be a terrorist and have her arrested. Ahmad paid the same person to burn down the restaurant Ahmad owned so he could collect the insurance.

According to his plea agreement, Ahmad and the victim were married in July 2015. Before and after their marriage, the victim lived in Howard County, and Ahmad lived separately in Anne Arundel County. During their marriage, Ahmad threatened to his wife; in April 2018, she told him that she wanted a divorce.

On April 24, 2018, Ahmad drove to his wife’s residence, and in front of their children poured gasoline over his body, took out a lighter, and threatened to light himself on fire if his wife did not take him back.

The next day, the victim obtained a temporary protective order in Howard County against Ahmad. Authorities say he violated the order by calling his wife twice in Howard County, and he called her and followed her vehicle in Prince George’s County.

To harass his wife and make her fear for her life, Ahmad contacted her relatives, members of her religious community, and her ex-husband, and told them that the victim was not a good person and that she was having a romantic relationship with another man; he threatened to have the victim’s brother killed in Pakistan; and he threatened to have the victim killed if she returned to Pakistan, causing her to be afraid to visit her family there, prosecutors say.

Federal prosecutors say Ahmad owed substantial debt tied to his restaurants, which included Subway and Taco Bell franchises in Maryland, and the state's first Steak 'n Shake. He planned to open Steak 'n Shake franchises at BWI Airport, Arundel Mills, Catonsville, Annapolis, Owings Mills, Bowie and Silver Spring. But, debt forced him to scale back, he sold the Steak 'n Shake and eventually decided in May to burn down Allah Rakha, a Pakistani restaurant in Hanover, to collect a $200,000 insurance policy, court documents say.

Worried that his wife would come away from their divorce proceedings with a substantial amount of money, Khalil Ahmad "wanted to set his wife up to make her look like a terrorist" after burning down the Pakistani restaurant, prosecutors allege. When confronted by police, he reportedly told them "his wife would be on the phone at night taking classes about terrorism ... (and) his wife attended a terrorist training camp," the indictment says.

"The plan was to place a ballistic vest, firearm, bottles of alcohol, and extremist jihad writings in her possession, without her knowledge, and then notify law enforcement to have her arrested," federal authorities said of his plot.

To make the proposed restaurant fire look like an accident, Ahmad showed the informant where the water heater and gas line were located, prosecutors say in court documents. Investigators also recorded conversations between the informant and Ahmad during which the details of the plans were discussed.

At one meeting with the informant, Ahmad gave the person a $5,000 down payment to have his wife set up to look like a terrorist, documents say. He planned to stay at one of his restaurant the day of the killing so he could be seen on security cameras and have an alibi if questioned by police.

Once he was confronted by authorities, Ahmad said that he had asked the informant only to "make things hard" for his wife, with whom he had troubles. As for the allegation that he wanted to kill his wife and frame her as a terrorist, Ahmad said that was the informant's idea.

As a result of Ahmad’s conviction on the federal stalking charge, the Anne Arundel County, Howard County, and Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Offices have dismissed their cases against Ahmad.