Washington D.C. police have arrested Daron Dylon Wint, the 34-year-old suspect in the gruesome killings of Greek-American businessman Savvas Savopoulos, his wife Amy, their 10-year-old son Philip and their housekeeper Veralicia Figueroa. D.C. police chief Cathy L. Lanier said: “Just got him,” in her official statement around 11:30 pm, on Thursday, May 21.
Federal officers had been tracking Wint on Thursday night from College Park as he traveled in a white Chevrolet Cruze with two women, one of whom was driving.
However, according to the police, more than one person was involved in the killings and arson that took place on Thursday, May 14.
Wint had a criminal record, as he has faced multiple charges over the years, for theft, assault and sexual offense.
When police investigated the crime scene, they found out that the perpetrators had erased any security footage that might have helped determine what exactly happened while the victims were being held hostage. “Whoever was in the house, was looking for money,” a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN on Wednesday. The assailants were able to get away with 40,000 USD after Savopoulos asked his personal assistant to drop the amount off at his house.
Furthermore, according to police reports, the victims had suffered from blunt force trauma and may have been killed before the house was set on fire. The adults were bound to chairs and soaked in gasoline and the child was found burnt on his bed, while an inspection of his body revealed that he had been stabbed and possibly tortured. Investigators believe that he was being used by the assailants in order to get something from his parents.
Savvas and Amy Savopoulos also had two daughters who were away at boarding school at the time of the crime.
Finally, police were also able to speak with Bernardo Alfaro, Veralicia Figueroa’s husband, who was one of the last people to talk to Savvas Savopoulos. According to the man, he received a phone call from the Greek-American businessman who told him that his wife had been at the hospital with Amy Savopoulos all night.
When Figueroa did not return home on Wednesday night, Alfaro went to Savopoulos’ home to look for her. That’s when he received the phone call from his wife’s employer. “I’m sorry because I didn’t call you,” Alfaro said Savopoulos told him. “Veralicia is at the hospital … she has to stay with my wife because she was feeling bad and asked Vera to go with her.”
However, he was perplexed. He couldn’t understand why his wife was needed at the hospital. “I started thinking, ‘Why? She doesn’t drive. She doesn’t speak very good English,’” he said.
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