Pizza Crust Possible Key in Solving DC Murders

Savvas and his wife, Amy
 Photo Source: WashingtonPost
Savvas Savopoulos, his wife, Amy, his son, Phillip, and the housekeeper, Veralicia Figueroa, were tortured and murdered in their home on May 13 and 14. Investigations have shown that the son burned to death, while the other three were stabbed, or suffered blunt force trauma, and covered with gasoline, then the house was set on fire. The Savopoulos' Porsche was found burning in a church parking lot not too long afterward the house was found.

There were several questionable happenings around the time of the murder. Savvas' assistant was giving direction to drop of $40,000 on the doorstep of the house, which is looking like the main reason for these deaths, but the police are not exactly sure yet. The second housekeeper got a voice mail telling her that she had the day off and got a text the following day to remind her not to go to the house.

The scene was discovered when Veralicia's husband came to check on her after he received a suspicious phone call from Savvas saying that Veralicia was going to spend the night at the house to help out with Amy because she was sick.

Figueroa and her kids
Photo Source: WashingtonPost
DNA evidence has given police enough information to find a suspect in the murder of the Savopoulos family. They were able to pull the suspect's DNA from a pizza crust on the property. Daron Wint was identified on Wednesday. He was a former employee of Savopoulos' company, American Iron Works, but the police haven't don't know if he ever had direct contact with Savvas.

Four other people have been detained in relation to this case, but it is unsure how/if they contributed to the murders. Authorities believe that Wint had help holding the family captive; however, Wint is the only suspect charged with first degree murder so far.

The Savopoulos family had two teenage daughters away at boarding school during the attack. Figueroa had a husband here and two children in El Salvador.

We send our love and support to the Savopoulos and Figuera families and friends.

Comments from Allen:


There is a lot more to these murders than a $40,000 extortion or ransom payment.  I would say the chief reason for the murders is personal hatred of Savvas Savopoulos by a very sick-minded former employee.  If this case were about money, the victims would not have been tortured.
So often in cases like this the perpetrator make some error in judgment that leads the police back to him.  In this case it was the arrogance of the defendant in celebrating this crime with a pizza party.
I am sure the jury in this case is going to be very interested to know how Wint's pizza just happened to be at the scene of a brutal murder.  We'll all be listening.

Allen Browning is an attorney in Idaho Falls, Idaho who handles personal injury and criminal defense. He has over 30 years of experience and handled thousands of cases. Allen work with cases from all over Idaho. Call (208) 542-2700 to set up a free consultation if you are facing legal trouble or you have been involved in an accident.
Also, check out browninglaw.net for more information about Allen and Browning Law.


Allen Browning can help with all personal injury claims including motor vehicle accidents, serious and disabling accidents, and wrongful death claims. Allen Browning can also help with DUI, Felony, Misdemeanor, Domestic Violence, Drug Crimes, Theft, Juvenile Crimes, Violent Crimes, and Probation/Parole Violations. He is one of the most experienced and successful criminal defense attorneys in Idaho.

Sources for more information: 

 http://abcnews.go.com/US/mansion-fire-dna-pizza-crust-led-authorities-dc/story?id=31199895

http://www.buzzfeed.com/stephaniemcneal/suspect-in-dc-mansion-murders-is-likely-in-brooklyn-area-pol#.blN52Xj7o

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/21/us/dc-house-fire-money-motive/index.html

http://www.courtchatter.com/#!DC-Mansion-Murders-Document-Arrest-warrant-and-affidavit/c1oiw/5560c2f60cf23d0164b7821b

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/21/dc-murder-suspect-pizza_n_7355284.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/lanier-says-evidence-collection-at-home-of-slain-family-could-take-week/2015/05/19/98408e1c-fe33-11e4-805c-c3f407e5a9e9_story.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/police-investigating-package-filled-with-cash-dropped-off-at-door-of-slain-family/2015/05/20/a100af9e-ff07-11e4-8b6c-0dcce21e223d_story.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/slain-housekeeper-planned-to-join-kids-in-el-salvador-after-years-of-support/2015/05/18/bc205826-fd84-11e4-8b6c-0dcce21e223d_story.html

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

7 Things Lawyers Can't Tell Jurors

Image
 It is a trial lawyer's job to educate jurors, and tell them what they need to know in order to decide cases. Despite this, there are many things, true things, that lawyers are not allowed to tell jurors directly in statements to the jury or indirectly through testimony of their witnesses. Lawyers know these things, though, and I thought you might like to know some of things. #1. A lawyer can't tell the jurors anything that happened during settlement negotiations. He cannot let the jurors know, when asking them to make the defendant pay his client $100,000 that the defendant agreed to pay him $80,000 prior to the trial. The reason for this is that you want settlement negotiations to be very open. You don't want to damage a negotiation session because someone is afraid that what they say will get repeated to a jury if you don't strike a deal. #2 In Idaho, a lawyer can't tell the jurors that the defendant has insurance. In many other states, he can. Bec
Read more

OBAMA APPOINTEE DENIES GIULIANI ABILITY TO DEFEND HIMSELF, RESULTS IN $148 MILLION JUDGMENT

Image
In the aftermath of the January 6, 2021 protests, Rudy Giuliani has been ordered to pay over $148 million in damages to two Georgia election workers named by the former New York mayor.  What has not been explained to the general public is that there was never any trial concerning whether Mr. Giuliani had actually slandered or libeled these two persons.   In the case of Giuliani, the two Georgia election workers listed as plaintiffs in the suit against Giuliani sued him for saying they engaged in what amounted to election fraud.  They are allowed to ask the defendant ex-mayor for documents relevant to their suit and to his defense. These women brought their case against Giuliani in a jurisdiction that is heavily populated with Democrats.  They could have sued in their home state, Georgia, but did not. They wanted a jury pool of anti-Trump democrats, so they sued in Washington, D.C. They managed to get an incredibly biased Barack Obama-appointed, anti-Trump judge.  She is a far-left-lean
Read more

Man Framed by Prosecutor Released After 29 Years in Prison Seeking Lawsuit

Image
19 year old, Charise Kamps, was found raped and strangled to death in her apartment in June 1980. Ralph Armstrong told the police that both of them were at the apartment alone doing cocaine before leaving to go see friends around 9:30 pm. Police said that they learned that Armstrong owed Kamp's boyfriend $400 and witnesses saw Armstrong handing Kamps money that night. However, the money was not found in the apartment, and Armstrong deposited $315 in his bank the next day.The defense argued that he got the money from his brother. One of the neighbors saw a lean, muscular man about 5 feet 5 inches tall with long, dark hair drive up to the apartment. Before the identification process, the police had the witness hypnotized. He was shown a photograph of Armstrong, and After being hypnotized, the witness changed the height of the man he saw. Later at a lineup to have the witness select the man he saw, he chose Armstrong. The other people in the lineup were police officers in wigs
Read more