Daron Dylon Wint, an ex-convict suspected in the horrific killings of a wealthy Washington family and their housekeeper, was arrested in the District of Columbia on Thursday night after police just missed catching him in New York City.
Members of a fugitive task force arrested Wint, 34, around 11 p.m., about a week after authorities said the family was killed and their mansion set on fire. Wint has been charged with first-degree murder while armed, The Associated Press reported D.C. police and the U.S. Marshals Service as saying..
Investigators tracked Wint to New York City, where they barely missed him Wednesday night, Robert Fernandez, commander of the U.S. Marshal Service's Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, told multiple news outlets.
Wint was then tracked to the Howard Johnson Express Inn in College Park, Maryland, on Thursday, and when officers approached, they discovered Wint in a Chevrolet Cruze in the parking lot, Fernandez said. They tailed the car, which was following a box truck, to northeast Washington, where Wint and several others were taken into custody during a traffic stop, he said.
Police have not detailed why Wint would want to kill 46-year-old Savvas Savopoulos; his 47-year-old wife, Amy; their son, Philip; and housekeeper Veralicia Figueroa. Three of the four victims had been stabbed or bludgeoned before the fire.
Police said Thursday that Wint, a certified welder, worked for Savopoulos' company, American Iron Works, in the past. Savopoulos was the CEO of American Iron Works, a construction-materials supplier based in Hyattsville, Maryland, that has been involved in major projects in downtown Washington.
Police said Thursday that they haven't ruled out the possibility that other people were involved in the slayings, but no other suspects have been identified.
Wint was born and raised in Guyana and moved to the United States in 2000, when he was almost 20 years old, according to court records filed in Maryland. He joined the Marine Corps that same year and was discharged for medical reasons, the records show. Wint was at Parris Island for boot camp from July 24, 2001 to Sept 28, 2001, but never graduated from recruit training, Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Eric Flanagan said. Following his discharge, he worked as a certified welder, court records show.
The Savopouloses lived in a $4.5 million home in Woodley Park, a neighborhood where mansions are protected by fences and elaborate security systems and local and federal law enforcement officers are a constant presence, in part because Vice President Joe Biden's official residence is nearby.
Text messages and voicemails from the Savopouloses to their confused and frightened household staff suggest something was amiss in the house many hours before the bodies were found. Their blue Porsche turned up in suburban Maryland hours after the slayings. It too had been set on fire.
DNA analysis at a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms lab linked Wint to the crime, a law enforcement official involved in the investigation told the AP on condition of anonymity for lack of authorization to discuss the investigation publicly.
During the family's final hours, someone called Domino's from their house and ordered pizza. The Washington Post reported that the DNA was found on a pizza crust. At a Domino's about 2 miles away, a worker told the AP that a pizza was delivered from there to the mansion that day.