A former Marine and ex-convict accused in the slayings of a wealthy Washington family and their housekeeper was arrested Thursday, a week after authorities said the family was killed in their mansion and it was set on fire.
Daron Dylon Wint, 34, was arrested in northeast Washington shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday, said David Neumann, a U.S. Marshals Service spokesman. D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier also confirmed that Wint was in custody.
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 them 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.
Wint was convicted of second-degree assault in Maryland in 2009 and sentenced to 30 days in jail, court records showed. He also pleaded guilty in 2010 to malicious destruction of property, and a burglary charge in that case was dropped.
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 received an honorable discharge for medical reasons, the records show. Following his discharge, he worked as a certified welder, the records show. Savopoulos moonlighted as a martial arts instructor and had planned to open a martial arts studio in northern Virginia. The Savopouloses lived in a $4.5 million home in Woodley Park, 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. It too had been set on fire.
Associated Press Recommended
