Guyanese man indicted in US on 20 charges for murder of CEO, family

Feb 19, 2016 News

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Washington: The 35-year-old man accused of brutally slaying a wealthy CEO, his wife, their son and

their housekeeper inside their DC mansion has been indicted on 20 felonies.
Darron Wint, of Lanham, Maryland, is facing 555 years in prison after he was charged with murdering 46-year-old Savvas Savopoulos, his wife Amy, 47, their 10-year-old son Philip and housekeeper Veralicia Figueroa, 57, before setting their house on fire on May 13, 2015.
The list of indictments has revealed that he beat his victims with a baseball and then stabbed them with what is believed to have been a samurai sword at the property near the home of Vice President Joe Biden.
The document also states that the father-of-one burned 10-year-old Philip alive after knifing him.
Guyanese-born Wint entered their home, kidnapped the family and extorted $40,000 from them as ransom before killing them, prosecutors say.
A samurai sword from Mr Savopoulos’ martial arts collection and a baseball bat were also taken from the house and may have been used in the horrifying crime.
Wint went on the run for a week and was eventually caught in Brooklyn, New York, after investigators matched his DNA to a pizza crust he had left at the scene.
Wint had previously only faced one murder count for the death of Mr Savopoulos, his former boss at American Iron Works, a major industrial company. He has now been charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder for allegedly killing the three other family members.
Wint was indicted by a grand jury on Wednesday on 20 felony charges, including first-degree murder while armed, burglary, kidnapping, extortion, arson and theft.
The grand jury in the DC Superior Court found the murders were ‘especially heinous, atrocious or cruel,’ the US Attorney’s Office in Washington D.C. said in a statement..
The seventh charge on the indictment reads: ‘While armed with a bat and other blunt force object and a sharp object (believed to be a samurai sword), in perpetrating and attempting to perpetrate the crime of kidnapping, as set forth in the second count of this indictment, killed Savvas Savopoulos by, among other things beating him with a bat and other blunt force object and stabbing him with a sharp object.’
Attorneys for Wint could not be immediately reached for comment, but his attorney, Natalie Lawson, said during his arraignment that the government’s case was ‘based on speculation and guesswork.’
He remains the only suspect in the murders. No one else was named on the indictment.
Darron Wint allegedly entered the Northeast Washington DC home on May 13 and held the family and their housekeeper hostage for 18 hours while they arranged for $40,000 in cash to be dropped off at the home for their captor.
After Mr Savopoulos’ assistant delivered the money the following morning, the victims were murdered and their bodies were found after the killer set the mansion on fire and fled.
It emerged that the adults had all suffered fatal blunt force trauma before the blaze, while Philip Savopoulos died from sharp injuries and then burned to death.
According to a search warrant that was released in June, police officers who responded to the Savopoulos’ $ 3million mansion discovered a bloody baseball bat, which the killer allegedly used to bash the businessman in the head.
His wife was found ‘with lacerations to her throat and head,’ according to the warrant, and the couples’ young son was discovered burned beyond recognition,
The following week, Wint was named as a suspect after his DNA was allegedly found on the crust of a partially-eaten slice of pepperoni pizza in a pizza box in the bedroom near where the three adults were found. The pie was one of two ordered by Amy Savopoulos the night of May 13 while the group was ‘being held against their will,’ the documents said.
He was arrested as he left a hotel in Maryland almost a week after the murders. Three men and two women who were with him were also arrested but ultimately released without being charged.
Wint, a failed US Marine-turned-welder, has previous convictions for assault, as well as arrests for burglary.
Records show he had had 39 brushes with the law in the past.
A statement from the Justice Department’s DC office reads: ‘Wint entered the Savopoulos home, seized and kidnapped the four victims, stole $40,000 through means of extortion, murdered the victims, and set fire to the house. After responding to reports of the fire, authorities discovered the bodies of Savvas Savopoulos, 46, Amy Savopoulos, 47, Philip Savopoulos, 10, and Veralicia Figueroa, 57.
‘Wint was indicted on a total of 12 counts of first-degree murder while armed, all with aggravating circumstances.
‘The charges include four counts of first-degree murder while armed (felony murder) in the course of a kidnapping; four counts of first-degree murder while armed (felony murder) in the course of a burglary, and four counts of first-degree premeditated murder while armed.
‘In addition, the grand jury indicted Wint on four counts of kidnapping and one count each of first-degree burglary, extortion, arson, and first-degree theft.
‘In addition to the various substantive crimes specified in the indictment, the indictment charges Wint with specified ‘aggravating circumstances,’ including one finding that the murders were especially heinous, atrocious or cruel.
‘If these are found by a jury at trial, Wint could face a maximum of life imprisonment without the possibility of release on each of the 12 murder charges.
‘Each of the murder charges carries a mandatory minimum prison term of 30 years.
‘Additionally, each of the kidnapping counts involving the three adult victims carries a maximum sentence of 30 years; the kidnapping count involving Philip Savopoulos carries up to 45 years.
‘First-degree burglary also carries a 30-year maximum prison sentence, and arson, extortion, and first-degree theft have maximum prison terms of 10 years each.’
He is set to appear in court today to be formally arraigned on the charges. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk)

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