Suspect to Face Trial Near Site of 1993 CIA Shootings

A Pakistani man accused of gunning down two CIA employees outside the agency gates will be tried next month in a courthouse 10 miles from the scene of the killings, a judge ruled Monday.

A lawyer for Mir Aimal Kansi had asked to move the murder trial out of the Washington area, where news coverage of the 1993 killings has been heaviest.

Public defender Richard Goemann also argued that the large percentage of federal employees in the area could harm Kansi’s chances for a fair trial because they might identify too closely with the slain CIA workers.

Circuit Judge J. Howe Brown rejected the request, as he has rejected a long list of defense requests to dismiss the charges or delay the trial.

Kansi’s trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 3. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Kansi, who was arrested in Pakistan in June, is accused of firing into cars stopped at a light outside the spy agency during the morning rush hour on Jan. 25, 1993. Witnesses described a gunman calmly aiming an AK-47 at windshields and windows as he walked between two lines of stopped traffic.

Lansing Bennett, 66, and Frank Darling, 28, were killed. Three others were injured.