Fairfax family still waiting for justice more than 3 years after fatal shooting

For three and a half years, a Virginia family has grieved what they call a cold-blooded killing while patiently waiting for the accused killer to stand trial.

Now, their patience has run out.

In June 2022, 32-year-old Gret Glyer was sleeping next to his wife in their Fairfax City home where they were raising their two kids. Fairfax County Police say early one morning, Joshua Danehower snuck into the family’s home and fatally shot him 10 times.

“There are people waiting for a trial to make justice to his death,” his mother, Silvia Glyer, told News4.

Gret Glyer had devoted his life to helping some of the poorest people in the world doing charity work in Malawi, a small country in East Africa.

“While he was teaching math in Malawi, he was also doing charity work for the widows and orphans in Malawi, and he started a foundation called the DonorSee Foundation,” said his sister, Gizan Glyer. “[…] So it’s a generational impact that he had in Malawi.”

Prior to his death, he said, “I wanted to give other people the same ability to see how giving to those in need matters. It makes a difference, and you know it makes a difference because you can see it with your own two eyes.”

But the work was cut short by his death.

In 2023 a grand jury indicted Danehower on first degree murder, but the case has never gone to trial.

Danehower’s defense has told the court he meets the Commonwealth’s legal definition of not guilty by reason of insanity.

“The killer had a list of how he was going to do it, when he was going to do it, what he was going to dress, what road he was going to take after the murder so he could go as fast as he can to his house,” Silvia Glyer said.

At Danehower’s preliminary hearing, prosecutors entered into evidence what they called a manifesto, outlining a murder plot. The family says they believe the evidence doesn’t support an insanity argument.

“If you’re insane and you don’t know the difference between right and wrong, you’re not gonna go at night, you’re not gonna go at three in the morning, you’re not gonna tiptoe through the backdoor,” said his father, Grid Glyer.

Prosecutors sought their own mental evaluation of Danehower and the Commonwealth’s Attorney says the final report hasn’t come back yet.

However, the Glyer family says the prosecutor called them and said that while they await the final report, they might seek a not guilty by reason of insanity plea, or NGRI, though prosecutors tell News4 that the final decision on a plea hasn’t been made, writing, in part, “The judicial process relies heavily on third-party clinical experts to determine if a defendant’s mental state at the time of an offense meets the legal definition of insanity, thus remanding the individual indefinitely to a Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services facility.”

It’s that word “indefinitely” that really worries the Glyers.

According to attorneys, if a defendant is found not guilty by reason of insanity, they would have annual hearings to assess updated mental health evaluations. If a new evaluation found a defendant was no longer insane, the court could release them.

“Every year, we’ll have to deal with this,” the victim’s father said. “My original hope, based on the evidence, was that he would be convicted of first degree murder, sentenced to life in prison, and in Virginia there is no parole, so basically he would die in prison, and we would never have to worry about him again. But unless we get a trial, we will have to worry about him every year because he could be released at any time.”

Another Northern Virginia prosecutor who has tried several similar cases talked with News4 on background about NGRI cases and says he would be reluctant to use a plea agreement in this case. He says it’s not consistent with public safety to plead out the case at the outset because there is a danger the defendant could eventually get out and hurt someone else.

“Is that what we want? Is that what I can tell other mothers who have lost their children at the hands of a criminal? That Virginia, there is no justice — that they will play you for years and then they will tell you there is no trial?” Silvia Glyer said.

A status hearing in this case is set for Jan. 23.

Even if the Commonwealth ultimately offers the defendant a plea, the judge could reject the offer.

The Glyers are hoping they get a trial, regardless of how they get there.