‘Werewolf ’ killer released from mental hospital
June 10, 2022

By Catherine Kane | ckane@alextimes.com

The man who brutally stabbed an Old Town store manager to death has been released from the mental health facility at which he was being held.

Pankaj Bhasin attacked Brad Jackson, 65, inside Window Universe on King Street in July 2018. Bhasin’s defense attorneys said that he drove from his home in New Jersey to Virginia in a psychotic state and killed Jackson because he thought he was a werewolf. Prosecutors agreed to find Bhasin not guilty by reason of insanity in July 2019 and since then he has been held at the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute.

After three years Bhasin’s doctors declared him fit to leave the facility – under strict conditions. At the prosecutor’s objection, an Alexandria judge signed a conditional release.

The terms of Bhasin’s release include regular alcohol and drug testing, GPS monitoring, and Community and Services Board home visits. Bhasin will also be required to live with his parents.