DC Mansion Murders: More Than One Person 'Required' to Commit Crime, Affidavit Says
— -- A newly unsealed arrest affidavit released today concludes that the quadruple murder inside a DC mansion "required the presence and assistance of more than one person," authorities said.
Only one suspect in the murder and ensuing fire has been named publicly. That suspect, Daron Wint, 34, was arrested Thursday at 11 p.m. on Rhode Island Avenue in Northeast Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police said.
Wint is charged with first degree felony murder while armed. Members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force made the arrest. He made his first court appearance this afternoon, alongside public defenders, and is being held without bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for June 23.
"Our work is not done. ... We will continue to investigate this case," U.S. Attorney Vincent Cohen said in a brief statement after Wint's court appearance this afternoon.
Wint was named by Metropolitan Police as the suspect in the murders after his DNA was found on the crust of a Domino's pizza that had been delivered to the house, authorities said.
The court documents, meanwhile, describe the charred scene that firefighters responded to on the afternoon of May 14. Firefighters found three unconscious adults in one of the second floor bedrooms, but they found a fourth victim in an adjacent bedroom where the blaze was largely contained, according to the affidavit.
That fourth body was that of 10-year-old Phillip Savopoulos. The medical examiner later determined that the child's cause of death was thermal and sharp force injuries.
The affidavit states that Phillip Savopoulos "was located on the charred remains/mattress spring of a queen sized bed."
There were signs at the scene that the fire was set purposefully and the suspects had planned for it to spread further than it had.
Firefighters found "the presence of an ignitable liquid on the stairs and in the room in which the three adults were located. Several matches and a matchbox were found at the top of the stairs," the affidavit states.
His parents, Savvas and Amy Savopoulos, were both pronounced dead on the scene. Their housekeeper Veralicia Figueroa, who was found in the same bedroom as the couple, was transported to Georgetown University Hospital though "lifesaving efforts failed and Mrs. Figueroa was pronounced dead," the report states.
Investigators found two Dominos pizza boxes inside the bedroom where the Savopoulos' and Figueroa were found. One cheese pizza was untouched and the other box had the remnants of a partially eaten pepperoni pizza.
There was part of an unfinished crust inside the pepperoni box that proved to be an important break in the case as investigators were able to get trace DNA from that unfinished bite, and match that to Wint and a sample of his that had been stored in criminal database.
The affidavit also details how the pizza was ordered to the house the night before the victims were believed to have been killed, while investigators believe they were being held against their will by Wint and at least one other suspect.
A woman, believed to be Amy Savopoulos, placed an order with Dominos by phone and paid using one of her family's credit cards and gave specific delivery instructions, according to the affidavit.
"Mrs. Savopoulos provided she was nursing her sick child and she would not come to the door," the report states. "She further instructed the delivery person was to place the two pizzas on the front porch, ring the door bell, and leave."
The affidavit also details how Savopoulos' assistant and another witness, neither of whom are identified in the affidavit, were involved in delivering $40,000 to the family's home after receiving a call from Savvas Savopoulos early Thursday morning.
In the affidavit, prosecutors said they believe "all four decedents were held captive by Mr. Wint and others until the $40,000 was delivered to the Savopoulos's residence by [the witness]. After the money was delivered the four decedents were killed," the report states.
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