A judge sentenced Daron Wint to four life sentences without the possibility of parole for brutally murdering three members of a Northwest D.C. family and their housekeeper.
Savvas Savopoulos, 46; his wife, Amy Savopoulos, 47; their 10-year old son, Philip; and housekeeper Veralicia "Vera" Figueroa, 57, were found dead after their multimillion-dollar home on Woodland Drive NW was set on fire May 14, 2015.
“To do what he did to four people, including a 10-year-old boy, I think is just beyond words,” lead prosecutor Laura Bach said. “I can’t imagine what those parents were going through.”
Prosecutors said Wint had been kicked out of his family’s home, so he held the victims hostage in their home on May 13, 2015, to get a $40,000 ransom from Savvas Savopoulos, who was his former boss.
The defense argued Wint’s brothers committed the crime and set him up.
Investigators believe Savvas Savopoulos’ wife, son and housekeeper were already being held hostage when his wife called him to come home about 5:30 p.m. May 13, 2015. About three hours later, he called his personal assistant with instructions for getting the cash, which was left in a sports car in the Savopoulos garage about 10:30 a.m. the next day.
Another three hours later, firefighters arrived at the home to find smoke and fire coming out of the roof. The three adults had been stabbed and beaten to death, while Philip was found stabbed, beaten and burned in his bedroom.
Police identified Wint as a suspect based on DNA found on a piece of pizza delivered to the mansion the night of May 13 and arrested him during a traffic stop May 21.
With her fiancé by her side, Abigail Savopoulos spoke for the first time about the loss of her parents and brother.
“On July 24, the man of my dreams proposed to me,” she told the court. “At that moment, I realized my parents wouldn’t be there. My family will never meet my fiancé.”
A letter from Abigail’s younger sister, Katarina, was read in court.
“Thinking about my brother being eternally 10 hurts like hell,” she wrote. In the days after the murder, she wrote, “With my sister, we planned a funeral in two weeks. We toured funeral homes instead of colleges. We looked at caskets instead of prom dresses.”
Wint, who showed no emotion in court Friday, is expected to appeal, but legal experts say there is little likelihood it will succeed.
