Thank you for reading D.C. Witness.
Help us continue our mission into 2025 by donating to our end of year campaign.
By
D.C. Witness Staff
- October 11, 2018
Court
|
Daily Stories
|
Homicides
|
Suspects
|
Daron Wint, a man charged with committing a quadruple murder, took the stand Oct. 10 to share his side of the story. According to Wint, his brothers were the true culprits and set him up.
Wint is charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder while armed, kidnapping and arson for his alleged involvement in the deaths of Amy Savopoulos, 47; Philip Savopoulos,10; Savvas Savopoulos, 46; and their housekeeper Veralicia Figueroa, 57, in the Savopoulos’ mansion on the 3200 block Woodland Drive, NW in 2015.
According to a previous D.C. Witness report, police say Wint, 36, held the Savopoulos family and their housekeeper hostage and tortured them while awaiting a $40,000 ransom. Apparently, Wint also allegedly set their house on fire before fleeing the scene.
No other arrests have been made in connection to the murders; however, during opening arguments the defense implied that there was more than one man involved in restraining, torturing and murdering the four decedents.
Throughout the Metropolitan Police Department investigation, according to court documents, officers located pizza crust, a construction hat, a reflective vest and knife that contained Wint’s DNA.
According to a Fox 5 news report, the defendant testified that, on the day of the murder, his brother asked to use his minivan in exchange for a fee. After giving his brother the van, Wint testified that his brother dropped him off at a friend’s house, where he spent the night drinking.
Apparently, the following day the brother picked Wint up in the Savopoulos’ blue Porsche and brought him to the Savopoulos’ mansion to work on a paint and drywall job.
According to the Washington Post, when they arrived the brother had a key to the house and the duo entered. Wint testified that his brother offered him pizza and that he took a bite and threw the crust in the box.
Subsequently, the duo went into the garage, where, according to Wint, his brother told him that he planned to steal from the house and instructed Wint to put on a reflective vest and hard hat so he wouldn’t stick out. Wint said he didn’t know his brother planned to rob the house and argued with him, though he ultimately left the hard hat and vest with the brother, according to NBC coverage.
With regard to Wint’s DNA being on a knife used to wedge a window open, Wint testified that he didn’t know why his DNA was on the knife, according to the Washington Post.
During cross-examination, on Oct. 11, Wint told the prosecution that his friend, whose house he was dropped off at the day of the murder and who is the only person that can corroborate his whereabouts, is dead, according to ABC.
According to tweets from news outlets, as of Oct. 15, two witnesses have provided descriptions of a person, who was not Wint, in the neighborhood before the kidnappings. Also, Wint waived his attorney/client privilege to allow former counsel to testify about his intentions to turn himself and the money over to authorities.