Joshua Danehower of Arlington is accused of shooting DonorSee CEO Gret Glyer who was asleep in bed next to his wife.
FAIRFAX, Va. — Loved ones of a CEO killed while asleep in his Fairfax City home are speaking out against a potential plea agreement that would allow the suspect to serve time in a mental institution instead of prison.
Authorities say Gret Glyer, 32, died while he was in his bed next to his wife in June 2022. Joshua Danehower, 36, of Arlington, was accused of shooting Glyer 10 times. Glyer’s wife and two children, who were home at the time, were unharmed.
Glyer was the CEO of DonorSee, a nonprofit organization that allows donors to directly give to people in need across the world.
Sister Gizan Glyer, who has continued operations at the organization, and her parents are coming forward before a status hearing on January 23. They claimed they were already notified by prosecutors about a possible plea deal to deem Danehower not guilty due to reasons of insanity after a psychiatrist they hired preliminarily evaluated him as insane at the time of the murder.
“We were told this whole time for three-and-a-half years that the insanity plea was not an option only because of how much evidence that there was in the case and that the man who killed my brother intended to kill him,” Gizan Glyer told WUSA9. “There’s so much evidence in this case that he knew what he was doing was wrong. That’s why we were shocked and appalled that the prosecution team would allow this to happen and not fight for a trial, which there’s legal precedence to do.”
The Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office had a meeting with the family over the holidays, claiming to lay out options, including a plea agreement. This also comes after an expert for defense attorneys ruled he was insane.
The report from the prosecution’s behavioral health expert has yet to be submitted, and a final decision from them has not been made. However, loved ones left that meeting feeling prosecutors were no longer pursuing other options.
“I don’t really know what’s going to happen, but when we heard that there was a possibility, we did not accept that,” father Grid Glyer added.
The family is urging prosecutors to pursue a trial despite what any mental health evaluation may find. If a judge accepted that he was insane at the time of the murder, Danehower would spend his time at a behavioral health institution and would have a hearing every year.
“I want to say a message to the judge, don’t let injustice prevail in Virginia,” mother Silvia Glyer said.
While the motive is unknown, court documents revealed that Danehower had some sort of relationship with Glyer’s wife, Heather, before she got married. Glyer’s family said that after going on one date with Heather a decade earlier, Danehower was insistent on reconnecting. They added that the year of Glyer’s death, he and Heather attended church. Danehower happened to be a church member.
Since 2022, the time it took to move the case forward has also been upsetting. A trial date was initially set for December 2023, but was delayed for months to determine whether Danehower was competent to stand trial.
“It should not have taken this long,” Grid Glyer said.
Danehower was indicted on charges of murder and for the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Detectives identified Danehower as the alleged killer through analysis of the bullet casings found on the scene, according to evidence provided at a preliminary hearing.
After his bail hearing in 2022, in which the judge ruled he must remain in detention, Danehower allegedly said, “Can I order a pizza?” The court document said Danehower was “not taking the situation seriously at the slightest.”