DC Mansion Murders: More DNA Ties Suspect to Deaths, Say Prosecutors

UPDATED at 3:50 p.m. WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Prince George’s County man accused in the brutal murders of a wealthy Northwest Washington, D.C., family and their housekeeper is linked to the scene by more DNA samples than previously listed, prosecutors said in court Friday during a status hearing as the case proceeds on 20 felony charges ranging from murder to arson.

Savvas Savopoulos, 46, and his wife, Amy, son Philip, 10, and housekeeper Vera Figueroa, were all found murdered in their Northwest DC mansion May 14, 2015. Firefighters found the victims while putting out a blaze at the home.

Daron Dylon Wint, 35, of Lanham, Maryland, was arrested in May 2015 in D.C. on charges of first-degree felony murder in the grisly case. Police say the victims were tied up and tortured, possibly beaten with a baseball bat, and attacked with Samurai swords and other sharp objects. Philip was stabbed and burned.

D.C. Superior Court Judge José López said the case would not go to trial until sometime in 2018 because of the vast amounts of evidence and forensic testing being done.

On Feb. 17, a grand jury indicted Wint on 12 counts of first-degree murder while armed, all with aggravating circumstances. Those factors include murder while armed during a kidnapping and a burglary. The other charges include kidnapping, burglary, extortion, arson and theft.

Prosecutors said the grand jury found the murders were especially heinous, atrocious or cruel. Wint faces possible life imprisonment if he is convicted on the charges.

Previously, authorities said that DNA left on a crust of leftover pizza at the mansion led police to Wint, amd a construction vest in a family car. On Friday, prosecutors said that Wint’s DNA was found on five objects, but they did not specify what they were, reports The Washington Post.

The motive for the killings was reportedly money. Police say $40,000 was delivered to the home the day of the murders by an assistant to Savopoulos. Wint, a welder, had worked for American Iron Works at one time; Savvas Savopoulos was the CEO of the company that helped rebuild the Pentagon after the 9/11 terror attacks.

SEE ALSO:

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Wint was first tied to the killings by DNA from a Domino’s Pizza that was delivered the night before the murders to the DC mansion while the family was reportedly being held captive, according to police.
In July, investigators said they found a second sample of Wint’s DNA on a vest inside Amy Savopoulos’ burned Porsche, which was left in New Carrollton, reports WTOP.

The medical examiner ruled Savvas Savopoulos and Figueroa were both strangled to death and also died of blunt force trauma. Court records indicate Philip was burned to death and also suffered sharp force trauma, while his mother died of sharp force and blunt force wounds.

Wint moved to the United States from Guyana in 2000 and joined the U.S. Marines in 2001; Wint received a medical discharge from the Marines a few months later, the New York Times reported.

Authorities have said they believe Wint didn’t act alone, but have not charged anyone else in the murders. CNN reported in June that the Lanham man charged in the DC mansion murders has a cousin who was fired from the company run by Savvas Savopoulos.

The network reported that Wint’s cousin was fired from American Iron Works of Hyattsville and threatened to burn the place down. Company officials obtained a restraining order barring the man from the premises, the sources told CNN.

»PHOTOS of Daron Wint of Lanham, MD, courtesy of DC Police