DC Mansion Murder

He was a prime suspect because of a pizza crust, but he claimed innocence as he was lured by his brother.

On May 14th, 2015, a call was made to the Washington Fire Department reporting thick smoke coming out from a mansion in Woodland, an exclusive neighborhood for the wealthy like Joe Biden. Within minutes, the first group of firefighters arrived to control the fire and with the main focus of putting out the source of the fire, a bedroom.

Another rescue team went in to save any victims that were not able to find their way out. With poor vision with the thick, black smoke in the air, they struggled their way in, but soon, they found a body and then, another body and another and followed by a child-sized body.

But, they were not victims of the fire. They were the victims of a cold-hearted murder.

They had stabbed wounds on their body, cuts, and bruises on their wrists that indicated that they were restrained for a long time.

The victims were 46-year-old father, Savvas Savopoulos, 47-year-old mother, Amy Savapoulos, 10-year-old Philip Savopolous, and 57-year-old housekeeper, Veralicia “Vera” Figueroa. Friends and family of the Savopolous spoke highly of them and were genuinely fond of them. They were the perfect American dream. They had a successful business, American Iron Works, and a close-knit family that truly cherished each other. Even though they were very wealthy, they remained very down-to-earth and helpful to the community.

Only the two Savapoulos daughters luckily escaped as they were at school abroad. The last message Savvas shared with her daughter was a witty message about her prom night.

What happened to this loving family in this upscale neighborhood?

Timeline of the Murders

May 13th

4:38 PM On May 13th at 4:38 pm, Savvas Savopoulos received a call from his wife, asking him to return to care for their 10-year-old son as she had other plans. Savvas was working on a project, a dojo to teach martial arts with its grand opening just two days away. He was reluctant to leave because there were still too many things to be done with such a short frame of time left. But, being a family-oriented man, he put his family first and returned home. Nelly Gutierrez, his second housekeeper, stayed behind to wrap things up in the dojo.

The house telephone line was cut off. By this point, it was believed that Amy, Philip, and Vera were already taken hostage, and Amy was used to lure her husband back. 5:56 PM Savopoulos‘s sensitive security system recorded 3 records of glass breaking. It was a newly installed security system that had yet to be fully activated. While the alerts were recorded, they were not monitored. 6:25 PM Based on Savvas’s cellphone, Savvas was nearly home from the dojo. It remained unclear how things rolled out when he arrived home. Though, the police speculated he was likely ambushed when he reached home. Around 8 PM Savvas made a call to his sister to take out anywhere from 35k USD to 50k USD. While it may seem odd, Savvas often go to auctions. That amount of money made sense if he made a big purchase in an auction. The only thing out of the ordinary was that Savvas insisted that it had to be all hard cash and immediately. The banks were already closed, so it was not possible. 8:27 PM So, the father tried his assistant, Jordan Wallace. He asked the assistant to head over to their office in Maryland to wait for an eBay package and bring it over. 9:14 PM Amy ordered two pizzas from Domino Pizza with a request to leave the pizza on the front as she had her hands full tending to her son. Yes, this was the pizza crust the invader left behind, along with his DNA. 9:35 PM Savvas made another call again, this time to his second housekeeper, Nelly. He told her not to come in for work as Vera stayed behind to care for Philip as Amy was unwell. He also reminded her to tell Vera’s close ones not to worry as her phone was unreachable as it was out of charge.

It was odd.

First, the story about the phone out of charge. Why didn’t Vera just borrow Savvas’s phone and call her husband? Wouldn’t the 2 minutes phone call to her husband be more assuring? Second, Vera has never stayed the night in her 4 years of working with the Savvas. Thirdly, at the dojo, Amy was away because she had other plans, not because she was sick. Fourthly, he sounded tense.

Nelly realized how odd the voice message was. But, Nelly never opened the voice message until the next morning. The day of the fire. 10:08 PM Savvas made calls to the security company regarding his security system. Despite the odd hours, the company answered his questions by stating that the CCTV on the front porch would only start recording when it detects motion, and the recordings were saved on a hard drive in the computer in Savvas’s house. According to the prosecutor’s theory, it was likely the invader noticed the CCTV when he went out to collect the pizza. The timeline did match up.

May 14th

6:19 AM The next morning, multiple calls were made again to the security company, just to make sure none of the footage was stored in a cloud database. Around 8 AM Savvas made another call to his sister that he needed 40k. After that call, Savvas called up the Bank of America to request a 40k withdrawal in cash. He then called Ted Chase, the Financial Chief Officer of American Ironworks, to pick up the money. 8:30 AM Nelly tried calling Vera 3 times but, they were unanswered. Around 9 AM The Bank of America called back Savvas to confirm that one of their banks did indeed have the cash in hand. Jordan Wallace and Ted Chase would then pick up the cash. Around 9:30 AM Before Vera Gutierrez’s husband, Ronaldo left for his night shift work, he noticed Vera has yet to return home but, he figured that she was probably working late. It became a real concern when he returned home the next morning to find that his wife was still not home and unreachable. Ronaldo then headed over to Vera’s workplace, the Savopoulos’s mansion. He heard little noises like chairs being moved around but, no one was answering the door. About 20 minutes later, he received a call from Savvas saying that Vera stayed the night and just left to accompany his wife to the hospital. 9:51 AM Savvas called Jordan to call back when he is 10 minutes away from the house for more instruction on the money drop. 9:56 AM Amy texted Nelly, making sure that the housekeeper does not come in for work that day even though she was not on duty. Probably to avoid any unannounced visitors. 10:15 AM As asked, Jordan called Savvas when he was nearby. Savvas’s instruction was to leave the money in the car parked in the garage as he was in a conference call. When Jordan arrived, the garage door was already opened. After placing the money in the sports car, he sent a text to Savvas, informing him that the money was delivered. 10:38 AM Nelly finally replied to Amy’s text, confirming that she was not coming over that day. 1:07 PM The security system again recorded records of glass breaking. Soon, the carbon monoxide detector and the smoke alarm went off. 1:24 PM One of the passersby noticed black smoke coming out from the house and called the fire department. 1:45 PM Amy’s blue Porsche was caught on a traffic camera in Maryland where later it was torched.

The Investigation

Jordan Wallace

During the early investigation, the prime suspect was Jordan Wallace. When news spread, Jordan and the employees in the dojo were worried for their boss but, Jordan was especially fidgety. He was the only one who went into the house during the 22 hours. He also took a picture of himself with the 40k cash and sent it to his girlfriend but quickly after, deleted it.

During the police interview, his side of the story also had inconsistency as he initially said the car was locked and even reenacted the part where he got the key to it. Though, he went back and changed his story, stating that it was left unlocked.

In his defense, he was afraid and pressured by the police. In the interview recorded, it did seem like the police were coming rather strong on him. Early on in the investigation, the police had yet to obtain the evidence of phone records of Savvas requesting him to drop off the money. Once the police received those phone logs along with proofs that Jordan was nowhere near the mansion other than the drop-off, he was cleared.

Findings

Savvas’s, Amy’s, and Vera’s bodies had multiple bruises, brain fractures, and stab wounds. For Philip’s body, the medical examiner found two stab wounds on him. It remained unclear whether did he bled to death or burned to death.

Savvas’s and Amy’s cell phones were missing. They found a bat that had blood splattered on it that belonged to Vera. The computer hard drive containing the CCTV footage was also missing.

The key evidence in this investigation was the leftover pizza crust. The very pizza crust that they considered throwing away as usually, perishable items were not taken in because it was likely that any possible DNA could have been destroyed by the sugar in the pizza. Fortunately, they did turn it in. There was two DNA found on the pizza. From the bite end, they were unable to pull an identity out but, from the crust end, they identified that the DNA belonged to Daron Wint. His DNA was also found on a knife in the basement and a strand of his hair was found in one of the bedrooms and a construction helmet in the garage.

Daron Wint

Daron Wint was a 34-year-old ex-employee of American Ironworks, fired a decade ago, back in 2005. He had a history of violence, assault, and lying. Since 2015, he struggled to keep a permanent job and had to move in with his father and stepmother after being kicked out from his brother’s house after a bad argument with his little sister.

By May, Daron was no longer welcomed at his father’s house and was asked to move out in a month. He was also struggling with his green card as it was expiring and, he was still jobless.

He usually spent most of his days at home but, on May 13th, the day of the tragedy, Daron was not home, nor was he reachable. He only returned home the next evening to his worried and, at the same time, furious family for his sudden disappearance. Daron Wint’s frequently used Facebook account was finally active after a day.

He finally replied to his concerned New York girlfriend, who had been trying to reach him since yesterday. In between messages, he snapped a picture of two white iPhone6 identical to the missing phones of Amy and Savvas and asked his girlfriend were those phones traceable. To which she replied, yes. Later, the picture was deleted. His search history included ‘how to beat a lie detector’, countries without US extradition, and hideout cities for fugitives.

On May 15th, Daron asked for a favor from his brother-in-law, Godfrey Ayling, to torch his minivan. That odd favor at such late hours sent alarm bells to Ayling to which, he declined to help.

On the 16th of May, Daron went up to New York to meet up with his fiancée, Vanessa. All of the sudden, Daron was no longer struggling with money. He still was not employed, but somehow, he had a good chunk of money to get an attorney for his green card, bought Vanessa an iPhone and shoes, and even settled her rent. Supposedly, he got the money from winning a lottery, but there weren’t any records of him winning anything.

On the 20th of May, Daron Wint was now a wanted man with his face plastered on national TV. Vanessa jumped out of bed in shock but still ended leaving her apartment with Daron for a hotel that night. The next day, Daron returned to Maryland.

Daron Wint’s Testimony

How it began

3 years later, in 2018, Daron Wint’s testified that he was offered a painting job by his half-brother, Darrell Wint to which he accepted for some cash. On May 13th, Darrell said that plans changed and Daron’s assistance was no longer needed but, Darrell just needed his minivan for $300.

Daron Wint’s Disappearance Daron Wint was dropped off at a friend’s place, Ed, but upon arrival, Darrell unknowingly took off with Daron’s phone, and without his phone, Daron had no way to contact his brother. He expected his brother to return and pick him up later that evening but, he did not show up. During his time there, Ed offered Daron a drink. It made Daron sick, and he had to take a rest on the couch. He dozed off and woke up around 1 AM but quickly fell back asleep. The next time he woke up, it was already 10 AM, and his brother, Darrell, finally returned, but he was driving a blue Porsche.

Daron Wint’s DNA Accordingly, Darrell still had some work left to do so the both of them went to Savopoulos’s mansion in Woodland Drive. Daron waited in a sitting room and took up his brother’s offer of a cold Domino pizza to fill his empty stomach but left out the cold, hard crust. Nothing weird struck out to Daron except Darrell handed the pizza in his dirty construction gloves and, he was instructed to come back through the garage when Daron went out to get his phone from the Porsche. In the garage, Daron was told to put on a construction helmet and vest. When Darrell revealed that they were in fact, stealing from the house, Daron was enraged. He pulled off the helmet, strongly refused, and stormed out. It explained his strand of hair in the helmet.

The Porsche Location, The Missing iPhones, and The Tow Truck Ride His brother caught up with the blue Porsche and offered a ride to Daron to his minivan. They took a detour which would explain the Porsche location away from Woodland Drive. But, his brother did not fulfill his promise and simply left Daron in a familiar neighborhood with the promised $300 and two iPhones. He paid a tow truck driver for a ride to his minivan. During this time, he borrowed the driver’s phone to send a series of text messages.

The Torched Minivan When news broke on the very same mansion in Woodland Drive that he had been to, he was worried that he would be dragged into whatever trouble Darrell got himself into. Daron admitted to asking his brother-in-law for assistance to get rid of the minivan. However, he denied the fact that he was the one who torched the minivan and stated that the minivan simply disappeared that night and assumed that Darrell must have settled it.

It seemed like Daron had an explanation for everything that was against him.

Here begs the question, Why didn’t they just called Ed to take a stand for Daron Wint?

Ed

Ed, the witness that could testify Daron Wint’s location for the time of the quadruple murder, was dead. He passed away a year ago when Daron was in lockup.

During Daron’s stay there, there was a shooting nearby, leading a routine police check at the surrounding area including Ed’s house but, Daron stated that he did not hear anything. Not the gunshot nor the policeman.

The Wint Brothers

Steffon Wint

Steffon Wint took the stand before Daron Wint. Steffon was a supervisor in charge of a painting division and, he did offer both his brothers a painting job at a university. Not the Savopoulos’s mansion. Only Darrell got back to him.

On 13th to 14th, the GPS on his work truck, the work timesheet, and Steffon’s supervisor confirmed that Steffon Wint was working.

Darrell Wint

When Darrell Wint took the stand, he stated that he didn’t really remember much the day of the quadruple murders. It was just another typical day until the news broke about Daron, days later.

Do keep in mind that it had been 3 years. The brothers were never mentioned until now.

But, according to the cellphone’s location, he was nowhere near the house on the 13th and 14th. On the evening of 14th of May, Darrell did meet with Daron as he called him numerous times through an unknown number, likely from the tow truck driver’s phone, and his dad’s house phone. They dropped by a petrol station as accordingly, Daron’s minivan ran out of gas. Then, they went to Walmart where Darrell picked up some supplies for Steffon’s painting job. The Walmart CCTV captured both of them and, Daron was.. smiling.

An odd expression to share with someone who supposedly deceived him into attempted burglary and left him nowhere near his minivan.

With Daron navigating, Darrell assumed they were driving to his minivan but, he ended up in a familiar industrial park with the minivan nowhere in sight. Daron hopped off the car for a few minutes before popping back in. As they were leaving the area, Darrell noticed black smoke coming off from that area. That was the parking lot where the blue Porsche was torched.

But, he did not question his brother about the smoke nor his minivan. He noticed how fishy everything seemed and did not want to be involved in someone else business.

For the second time on that day, they dropped by Walmart again but, this time, Daron got a little something for himself and, during checkout, the CCTV captured a snippet of his wallet. A thick wallet with a stack of cash.

The next morning on the 15th of May, Daron was desperate to get a hold of his brother, Darrell but, all his calls went into voice mail. With how suspicious things went down yesterday, Darrell intentionally ignored over 20 calls from Daron.

Darrell admitted that he did meet up with Daron after Daron was officially a wanted man because he needed help to get a lawyer. Darrell didn’t want to straight-up hand his brother over as he did not trust the system. But, the lawyer wanted money orders, not cash. Darrell coordinated those money orders by asking favors from his friends, but soon, he felt that he was in too deep. With advice from his cousin, he came to an agreement with Daron that he should turn himself to the police, and later, Darrell would get a lawyer with the money orders.

However, in Daron’s testimony, he thought that they were on their way to his lawyer, not the police. It was during this ride that the US Marshall finally caught up with Daron’s location and arrested Daron.

Unexplainable Mysteries

Daron’s DNA

It was undeniable that it was indeed Daron’s DNA on the pizza crust. However, this DNA could have been easily transferred onto it. As proven in the evidence collection itself, a few of the investigator’s DNA was also found on the crime scene even though they are with proper training and gears such as gloves. Moreover, their DNA found was much stronger than Daron’s DNA.

Mismatch Physique

Based on the traffic camera, it seemed like Daron drove Amy’s Porsche away, torched it before hitchhiking it back. A witness took notice of Amy’s Porsche as it was driven in a great hurry despite the jam and bumpers but, he described the driver as a small-sized man in a construction vest with short, well-groomed hair. The description was a far cry from Daron Wint who, was muscular and had long dreadlock hair.

In the parking lot where the burnt Porsche was, a CCTV caught a petite figure in a hoodie dashed away from the direction of the Porsche, and again, it did not match Daron Wint’s build.

These were all highlighted by Daron’s lawyer. It seem like any situation that was seen as unfavorable in pinning Daron down was left unanswered.

1. The murderer(s) was smart enough not to leave any fingerprints behind and capable of entering the house without any signs of breaking in. Why did the murderer(s) leave such an obvious piece of evidence, a half-eaten pizza.

2. The DNA from the hair belonged to a Wint. But, was it Daron? Steffon? Or even, their parents?

3. All of those cell phone locations? It only determines someone’s location if that person actually keeps it with them.

4. Why would a guilty Daron Wint submit his fingerprints for a background check for his green card?

Are these questions valid for casting doubts or just a rabbit hole of speculations that would obscure the jurors from the truth? After all, there were numerous digital or physical pieces of evidence against Daron Wint.

The Verdict

In the end, Daron Wint was found guilty on all 20 counts including murder, kidnapping, extortions, and arson. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A huge shoutout to the podcast ‘22 Hours: An American Nightmare’ that stretched out for 11 episodes with great details on this crime.

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