GUILTY DC - Savvas Savopoulos, family & Veralicia Figueroa murdered; Daron Wint Arrested #23

[taylorss]

Did SW finish testifying yesterday, or is he back on the stand this morning?

Any thoughts on the evidence against SW so far?

- DW’s van was parked in the area SW was working on 5/14 (day of murders)
- someone burned the van near the home of DW & SW’s sister - person doesn’t look like DW, could possibly match description of SW
- SW claims he & DW were estranged at the time of the murders but his cell phone shows a bunch of calls between them in the days before the crime
> SW says he was calling to offer DW work on the paint job he was supervising; phone records suggest that many, possibly all, of those calls were short enough that they likely weren’t answered; all the calls but one IIRC were a day or so before the crime started
- SW’s alibi timesheets for 5/13 & 14 are handwritten with apparently no verification; on 5/14 he claims to have worked a back-breaking shift of 6 am-midnight
- anything else I’m missing?

 

[oceanblueeyes]

As more evidence comes in the claim his brothers did it is sinking faster than a concrete block thrown in water.

The prosecutor seems fully prepared to refute such ridiculous claims.

Why the defense thought the jurors would fall for this has me puzzled. Jurors want to see evidence of such claims instead of weak inuindos.

The defense has been unable to place the brothers at any crime scene and they wont because neither one was involved in the murders or burning vehicles that are only linked to the defendant.

Jmo

 

[Inthedetails]

Did SW finish testifying yesterday, or is he back on the stand this morning?

Any thoughts on the evidence against SW so far?

- DW’s van was parked in the area SW was working on 5/14 (day of murders)
- someone burned the van near the home of DW & SW’s sister - person doesn’t look like DW, could possibly match description of SW
- SW claims he & DW were estranged at the time of the murders but his cell phone shows a bunch of calls between them in the days before the crime
> SW says he was calling to offer DW work on the paint job he was supervising; phone records suggest that many, possibly all, of those calls were short enough that they likely weren’t answered; all the calls but one IIRC were a day or so before the crime started
- SW’s alibi timesheets for 5/13 & 14 are handwritten with apparently no verification; on 5/14 he claims to have worked a back-breaking shift of 6 am-midnight
- anything else I’m missing?

Great synopsis, thank you.

Point #1 is my question from yesterday, so thanks for confirming that the van was parked by SW's workplace. I'm curious about the hours before the crime started.

How does SW get to work? Was that part of the testimony yesterday?

A shift that lasts from 6am to midnight is odd. That is excessively long, though not entirely impossible. I'd like that shift time confirmed with something more than a paper log. Did he work on 5/15 after that long shift??

jmo

 

[SeesSeas]

Melanie Alnwick‏Verified account @fox5melanie 1h1 hour ago
Q this morning in #MansionMurders trial: why did Savvas Savopoulos’ cell phone ping a tower near Dupont Circle 11:54am on 5/14, the day of the murders? Fire at mansion reported 1:20pm @fox5dc

 

[Inthedetails]

Melanie Alnwick‏Verified account @fox5melanie 1h1 hour ago
Q this morning in #MansionMurders trial: why did Savvas Savopoulos’ cell phone ping a tower near Dupont Circle 11:54am on 5/14, the day of the murders? Fire at mansion reported 1:20pm @fox5dc

What? That's new info!

What is the significance of Dupont Circle? Sounds familiar, but I've lost track of many details on this case.

jmo

 

[Canaille]

There is a B&B in that area that is owned or was once owned by a partner of PS in AIW. Could it be related somehow?

 

[taylorss]

Melanie Alnwick‏Verified account @fox5melanie 1h1 hour ago
Q this morning in #MansionMurders trial: why did Savvas Savopoulos’ cell phone ping a tower near Dupont Circle 11:54am on 5/14, the day of the murders? Fire at mansion reported 1:20pm @fox5dc

I’ve heard that busy cell towers will divert pings to other nearby towers (IIRC this info came from “Serial” so take with huge grain of salt haha). Dupont Circle is only like a mile & a half from the S house...

Plus S home was near lots of embassies & VP residence- maybe officials at those locations, with their secure lines, get some sort of preference in cell tower access?

 

[Inthedetails]

There is a B&B in that area that is owned or was once owned by a partner of PS in AIW. Could it be related somehow?

Do you mean Dupont Circle?

 

[Inthedetails]

I’ve heard that busy cell towers will divert pings to other nearby towers (IIRC this info came from “Serial” so take with huge grain of salt haha). Dupont Circle is only like a mile & a half from the S house...

Plus S home was near lots of embassies & VP residence- maybe officials at those locations, with their secure lines, get some sort of preference in cell tower access?

Yes, good points.

But can we still assume that SS's cellphone was in a different location at 11:54am than it was previously? IDK.

jmo

 

[Canaille]

Do you mean Dupont Circle?

Yes.

 

[taylorss]

Great synopsis, thank you.

Point #1 is my question from yesterday, so thanks for confirming that the van was parked by SW's workplace. I'm curious about the hours before the crime started.

How does SW get to work? Was that part of the testimony yesterday?

A shift that lasts from 6am to midnight is odd. That is excessively long, though not entirely impossible. I'd like that shift time confirmed with something more than a paper log. Did he work on 5/15 after that long shift??

jmo

Great question about work on 5/15! I wonder if that came up. SW also worked on 5/13, tho not as many hours.

A 6 am - midnight shift sounds a bit ridiculous, but SW is a supervisor so maybe it involved varied work like managing supplies / visiting multiple sites, not just an absurd 18 hours of painting at a single location JMO. Of course if he did pad his hours, lots of people do that without meaning to cover up a role in a murder IMO.

SW said he drives a GPS-tracked white pickup truck on the job, & his timesheet hours are checked against the GPS. Implication was that these timesheets were verified in some way, but I also read they didn’t show any sign of other-party verification. Not sure what to make of that. He also said he has his own car in addition to the work truck.

IMO if SW’s testimony is true, he doesn’t sound like a likely home-invading quadruple murderer! A hard-working & successful guy shouldn’t have much motive to get involved in this horror scene. One reason could be to try to help keep a troubled brother out of jail ..... but SW & DW were estranged - SW had played a role in kicking DW out of their mother’s house & had theatening voicemails from DW to prove it. And also SW gave testimony to the grand jury.

I hope he’s back on the stand today.

 

[taylorss]

Looks like SW is done testifying, wish we could read those transcripts! Hopefully I won’t get banned for posting too much, but here is cell records info:

Steffon Wint told the jury that he and Darrell Wint were estranged and rarely spoke. But defense attorney Judith Pipe, of the District’s Public Defender Service, showed a chart with 23 phone calls between the men from May 12 through May 15 in 2015.

The chart also showed that while there were 11 calls on May 12, there were only two calls on the early morning of May 13 and no more calls between the two until 4:22 p.m. a day later.
Man named as alternate suspect in D.C. quadruple killing denies involvement

Several of the calls were very short in duration, many lasting no more than about 30 seconds. Some of the calls were as short as 2 seconds long. The call logs only show the duration of the call, not whether the phone was actually picked up. An FBI agent who analyzes cellphone records, told jurors that the duration of calls in cellphone records, usually includes the time that the phone is ringing and that it typically takes about 30-40 seconds before a phone goes to voicemail.
Savopoulos family killings: Daron Wint on trial

 

[SeesSeas]

Melanie Alnwick‏Verified account @fox5melanie 1h1 hour ago
Q this morning in #MansionMurders trial: why did Savvas Savopoulos’ cell phone ping a tower near Dupont Circle 11:54am on 5/14, the day of the murders? Fire at mansion reported 1:20pm @fox5dc

There is a B&B in that area that is owned or was once owned by a partner of PS in AIW. Could it be related somehow?

*IF* Savvas' cell phone was in possession of someone "near Dupont Circle 11:54am on 5/14", the day of the murders", was it someone other than Daron Wint? Or, did DW walk to Dupont Circle vicinity to deliver SS's cell phone to someone; then he walked back to SS house. ??

Specifically, "testimony from two workers at the residence of the Australian ambassador" . . ."workers both said they saw a man matching the description of Daron Wint approaching one of the doors of the two-car garage and then slipping inside. The sighting happened shortly after noon on May 14"

May 14: 11:54 AM - Cell Phone Ping
May 14: shortly after noon - DW at SS garage (?)

Savopoulos family killings: Daron Wint on trial
by WTOP September 18 at 4:51 PM
Day 5: 'Unusual' sighting the day of the fire
On Tuesday, we heard testimony from two workers at the residence of the Australian ambassador, which is across the street from where the Savopoulos house was located. (The actual house was torn down in April 2017). The workers both said they saw a man matching the description of Daron Wint approaching one of the doors of the two-car garage and then slipping inside. The sighting happened shortly after noon on May 14 -- just an hour and a half before firefighters raced to the house for the report of a fire.

 

[JayMac]

In any other trial, Pipe would be strenuously arguing that the cell phone pinging off a tower that close to the crime scene tells you virtually nothing about the whereabouts of the cell phone itself. That is especially true in a busy city environment. And PDS would have a million experts to back them up. That Pipe is arguing the opposite now is amusing.

I also suspect that DW knew that his brother was working at GW those days and might have deliberately parked his van in that vicinity. Maybe thinking that factor would be useful to him if he got caught.

Did the employees at the Australian residence testify where DW was when he was first seen. He could have just been coming from one of the family cars parked on the street or some other nearby location. Maybe scouting parked cars to steal. Or even from the backyard.

 

[OTPTarheel2018]

Who wanted that cell phone?
I am assuming that was the last ping ever?

JMO

 

[Inthedetails]

Who wanted that cell phone?
I am assuming that was the last ping ever?

JMO

Are you thinking SS's cell phone was given to someone? I'm not. I think someone (likely DW) was in possession of the cell phone and went somewhere with it outside the home and then returned to the home with the cell phone, ducking under the garage door to get back inside.

Maybe DW left the home with SS's cell phone and used it to text someone with it, so the person would think it was SS texting? Or to receive a text they were expecting, with info about another drop off? Or...perhaps most likely, to keep SS from having access to the phone while DW left the residence.

Total speculation, brainstorming: maybe there was another drop-off of something, like money? Or maybe DW left to give the package of money to someone else? IDK.

Spectulation, brainstorming, jmo.

 

[OTPTarheel2018]

Are you thinking SS's cell phone was given to someone? I'm not. I think someone (likely DW) was in possession of the cell phone and went somewhere with it outside the home and then returned to the home with the cell phone, ducking under the garage door to get back inside.

Maybe DW left the home with SS's cell phone and used it to text someone with it, so the person would think it was SS texting? Or to receive a text they were expecting, with info about another drop off? Or...perhaps most likely, to keep SS from having access to the phone while DW left the residence.

Total speculation, brainstorming: maybe there was another drop-off of something, like money? Or maybe DW left to give the package of money to someone else? IDK.

Spectulation, brainstorming, jmo.

Wondering if the info on that cell phone was wanted by someone??

JMO

 

[Inthedetails]

Looks like SW is done testifying, wish we could read those transcripts!

Snipped by me.

I know!! It's frustrating following such a complicated case like this with bits and pieces of tweets and recaps. The reporters do a good job (actually the best I've seen since watching cases on WS - perhaps because it's a major market with experienced reporters?), but we WSers want the primary source of info and all the details.

Still, we know so much more than we did three years ago, that's for sure. (And it's still confusing!)

jmo

 

[Inthedetails]

Wondering if the info on that cell phone was wanted by someone??

JMO

I honestly don't think the answer is going to be complicated. The more I think about it, the more I expect DW took the cellphone so SS couldn't use it while we was gone.

But why did DW leave the house??

jmo

 

[Inthedetails]

An FBI agent who analyzes cellphone records, told jurors that the duration of calls in cellphone records, usually includes the time that the phone is ringing and that it typically takes about 30-40 seconds before a phone goes to voicemail.

Snipped by me.

That's good info to know - might be useful in other cases WSers follow. I'm adding that to the random bit of knowledge I learn from WS...such an odd assortment.

jmo