[Breaking news update at 9:17 a.m.]
A pizza crust with the DNA of Daron Wint is what led investigators to issue a warrant for his arrest in connection with last week’s quadruple homicide and arson at a Washington mansion, a source with knowledge of the investigation said Thursday.
Two pizzas were delivered to the home while the victims were being held hostage last week, and an envelope with cash had been left outside on the porch for the pizza, the source said.
Wint’s DNA was found on a pizza crust that an ATF forensics team recovered from the scene, the source said. A Domino’s franchise near the home confirmed to CNN that it delivered a pizza to the home on the evening of May 13, and police have been in contact with the franchise.
A warrant for Wint’s arrest was announced Wednesday night.
[Previous story published at 8:05 a.m.]
Police name suspect in D.C. arson, quadruple homicide
Washington police have named a 34-year-old man as a suspect in last week’s quadruple homicide and arson fire at a mansion in one of the capital’s poshest neighborhoods.
Daron Dylon Wint is wanted on charges of first-degree murder while armed, the Metropolitan Police Department said Wednesday night.
Police believe more than one suspect was involved, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
The source also said the suspects erased video from the home’s security cameras.
Wint is no stranger to the criminal justice system. According to court records, he has faced multiple charges over the years, including theft, assault and a sexual offense.
The motive
Detectives have not released an official motive for the killing, but investigators believe money was a prime factor.
“Whoever was in the house was looking for money,” a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN Wednesday. A separate law enforcement source disclosed that the assailant — or assailants — who set the mansion on fire and killed residents Savvas Savopoulos, his wife Amy, their 10-year-old son Philip and the family’s housekeeper, Veralicia Figueroa, got away with $40,000.
The Washington Post and a local NBC station reported Wednesday that one of Savopoulos’ employees came to the mansion while the incident was ongoing and dropped off a package with $40,000 inside. A source said the money was earmarked for a martial arts studio Savopoulos was involved in.
The crime scene
The victims were found to have suffered from blunt force trauma, and, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation, authorities believe the four victims were killed prior to the house being set ablaze. The source said the victims were bound with duct tape and held captive by the perpetrators. There were signs that Philip had been stabbed and tortured before he was set on fire.
Investigators are looking at whether he was being used to get something out of the parents.
The developments offer some clarity to an incident that’s puzzled observers since firefighters were called to tackle a fire on the second floor of the Savopoulos’ home. At that time, police flagged a blue Porsche that went missing from the home and was found May 14, abandoned and ablaze.
Domino’s delivered pizza to the house on Wednesday according to an employee at the nearby franchise.
Savvas Savopoulos was the CEO and president of American Iron Works, a building materials manufacturer based in Hyattsville, Maryland. He has two other children, both daughters, who were away at boarding school at the time of the incident.
The family’s home drew notice in part because of its location in a tony, embassy-dotted neighborhood in northwest D.C., just a few minutes from Vice President Joe Biden’s residence.
The early clues
A few details offering hints at the run-up to the incident have emerged in the days following the fire.
Bernardo Alfaro, the husband of the slain housekeeper, added another piece to the puzzle in an exclusive interview with CNN affiliate WJLA Wednesday. He said he received a phone call from Savvas Savopoulos when he went to check in on his wife on Thursday, telling him she hadn’t come home the night before because she was at the hospital with a sick Amy Savopoulos.
“I’m sorry because I didn’t call you,” Alfaro said Savopoulos told him. “(Veralicia) is at the hospital … she has to stay with my wife because she was feeling bad and asked Vera to go with her.”
Alfaro said he thought that explanation was curious.
“I started thinking, ‘Why? She doesn’t drive. She doesn’t speak very good English,'” he said.
Alfaro saw his wife for the last time after 10 years of marriage on Wednesday, when he took her to the bus to go to work. His last words to her were, “I love you, God bless you.”
When he tried to call his wife that afternoon, Alfaro said, the phone went straight to voicemail. She didn’t come home that night, and when Alfaro went to the house the next day to investigate, he saw something was amiss.
“I saw the two cars … the Porsche was on the street … I kept knocking on the door,” he said.
Before he could investigate further, he received the call from Savopoulos offering the explanation for her absence.
The text message
A second housekeeper, Nelitza Gutierrez, also received a suspicious text message from Amy Savopoulos just hours before the fire began telling her to stay home.
The day before, Gutierrez had received a voicemail from Savvas Savopoulos telling her not to come the following day because his wife was sick.
“Sometimes you never understand why something happens, but I’m lucky I’m still here,” Gutierrez told CNN’s Joe Johns.
