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

[JerseyGirl]

Mansion Murders Trial: Former fiance, brother-in-law of suspect Daron Wint speak before the jury

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Are they having court today?

Are there any new updates?

Tia

 

[OTPTarheel2018]

Are they having court today?

Are there any new updates?

Tia

I read on the Mansion Murders Facebook page that DarrW was going to testify and SW’s supervisor would testify. Not sure that is correct...

JMO

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I read on the Mansion Murders Facebook page that DarrW was going to testify and SW’s supervisor would testify. Not sure that is correct...

JMO

Thank you so much OTPT. You are a gem.

I had suspected all along he would be called and would most likely be at the end of the state's case.

Wow that should be interesting testimony. Surely we will have updates soon.

I have asked this before and if answered I missed it.

Do you know if the medical examiner has testified? The reason I ask is in a lot of cases they are the last witness called by the state before they rest.

Do they have rebuttals in this jurisdiction in case the defense puts on a CIC..?

Thank you in advance for any answers you can give me.

Imo

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Does anyone think the defense is going to put on a case or do they think cross examining witnesses was enough?

 

[Canaille]

So, DW needed his brother-in-law to help him torch his van? If that's the case, then that leaves more questions in my mind about the Porsche. As in, did he need help to torch the Porsche if he drove it (but I don't think it was him driving the Porsche).

 

[OTPTarheel2018]

Thank you so much OTPT. You are a gem.

I had suspected all along he would be called and would most likely be at the end of the state's case.

Wow that should be interesting testimony. Surely we will have updates soon.

I have asked this before and if answered I missed it.

Do you know if the medical examiner has testified? The reason I ask is in a lot of cases they are the last witness called by the state before they rest.

Do they have rebuttals in this jurisdiction in case the defense puts on a CIC..?

Thank you in advance for any answers you can give me.

Imo

I have not read any reports about ME testifying.

JMO

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I have not read any reports about ME testifying.

JMO

Thank you. Maybe it will be soon if they haven't done so already.

 

[OTPTarheel2018]

From Keith Alexander’s Twitter -he writes for the Washington Post - posted 1 hr ago.

“Attys for Daron Wint in trial in quadruple murders catch a break when Steffon Wint’s supervisor testifies there is no way of proving where Steffon was during the kidnapping/killings. Attys say Steffon, not Daron, killed the 4 vics. Steffon denied involvement. #MansionMurders”

 

[taylorss]

From Keith Alexander’s Twitter -he writes for the Washington Post - posted 1 hr ago.

“Attys for Daron Wint in trial in quadruple murders catch a break when Steffon Wint’s supervisor testifies there is no way of proving where Steffon was during the kidnapping/killings. Attys say Steffon, not Daron, killed the 4 vics. Steffon denied involvement. #MansionMurders”

? He is prosecution witnesses, he must’ve had more to say IMO like he knows where SW was altho just can’t “prove it”

 

[JayMac]

So, DW needed his brother-in-law to help him torch his van? If that's the case, then that leaves more questions in my mind about the Porsche. As in, did he need help to torch the Porsche if he drove it (but I don't think it was him driving the Porsche).

I think what DW needed from his brother is law was a ride from that location. IIRC that torching wasn't practically next door to where he lived.

 

[JayMac]

From Keith Alexander’s Twitter -he writes for the Washington Post - posted 1 hr ago.

“Attys for Daron Wint in trial in quadruple murders catch a break when Steffon Wint’s supervisor testifies there is no way of proving where Steffon was during the kidnapping/killings. Attys say Steffon, not Daron, killed the 4 vics. Steffon denied involvement. #MansionMurders”

Too bad there IS proof where DW was during the kidnapping/killings. The jury will not care about Steffon. In fact they probably feel sorry that he got dragged into this by his crazy brother.

 

[Seattle1]

Keith L. Alexander‏Verified account @keithlalexander
Attys for Daron Wint in trial in quadruple murders catch a break when Steffon Wint’s supervisor testifies there is no way of proving where Steffon was during the kidnapping/killings. Attys say Steffon, not Daron, killed the 4 vics. Steffon denied involvement. #MansionMurders

10:00 AM - 3 Oct 2018

Keith L. Alexander‏Verified account @keithlalexander
Keith L. Alexander Retweeted nemy

Still prosecution case. No trial tomorrow. Prosecutors indicate they could rest next week. #MansionMurders

10:01 AM - 3 Oct 2018

Keith L. Alexander‏Verified account @keithlalexander
Keith L. Alexander Retweeted Amber

Tues. or Wed, as of now.
[response by WP reporter KLA as to when ME expected to testify].

10:21 AM - 3 Oct 2018

 

[Seattle1]

Melanie Alnwick FOX 5 DC

33 mins ·
#MansionMurders Trial Update Day 12: “the worst night of my life”

~~~

Felicia Ruffin told the jury that getting caught up in this was the worst night of her life.

Ruffin is stylish and slender, wearing a cropped plaid top and houndstooth pants. Her hair is pulled back in a puffy bun, and her earrings are gigantic brass wires in the shape of hexagons. She smiles broadly, but can get sassy quick.

In 2015, she was 20 years old, working & studying. Two girlfriends picked her up after work on May 21 - she thought they were going to get weed from a guy Ruffin said she only knew as “Goo”.

“Goo” is Derrell Wint, Daron Wint’s half brother. With her friend Chelsea Nunez at the wheel, the girls drove to Goo’s house. They were told to follow him to a hotel in College Park. Goo, she said, was a passenger in a box truck, and she didn’t know who was driving that. Felicia said the girls were talking, laughing & playing music, so she wasn’t really paying attention to her surroundings. At the hotel, the girls stayed in the car, then she said an older man got in the passenger seat next to her. She couldn’t recall his name, just that Goo told her it started with a D, and the man said his name was Jason or something. “I didn’t know where we were going,” she testified. “We were just following the truck.”

Felicia was chatty & nervous on the stand, at times her voice trembling. She pointed out Daron Wint as the man in the car next to her that night. She said she tried to make conversation with him, but he “just shut me down – he was not an approachable person at all”. Felicia went on to describe his manner as “aggressive and rude” toward her. When asked if he had a cellphone - she said “yeah, the phone was like one you’d use years ago.” Members of the jury chuckled at that.

During questioning by Assistant US Attorney Laura Bach, Ruffin recalled that Daron Wint had a bag with him. Calls would come in on a phone in that bag, then he’d reach down, get the number, and call back from the old style phone.
She also testified that Daron Wint reeked of a distinctive odor that stuck with her. “It was like, ON him, in his hair, his clothes. The scent was on him.” Felicia recalled that the scent reminded her of her grandfather, who used to work in a coal factory. She also said it smelled like gasoline.

That night, Felicia said, without warning - she thought they’d been in an accident. She told the jury that at first, she laughed, because her friend Chelsea had a reputation as a bad driver. Then, three more cars struck their car. “I freaked out. Realized it was not an accident” she recalled. It was very dark, she said, “and I saw like a billion lights, I didn’t know what was going on… all I saw was lights and I was like, what the heck?!” “I’m freaking out, screaming… “ Bach asked if the defendant said anything to her. “They’re here for me, don’t trip”, is what Felicia remembered him telling her. Felicia says Wint handed her something and told her to give it to his brother. She said it was a stack of some kind of papers, maybe receipts. She said she threw it back at him and said “I don’t want to be a part of this, I’m done!”

Cross examination was rough. Not just for Ms. Ruffin, but for defense attorney Jeffrey Stein as well. He challenged whether Felicia actually described Wint’s smell as gasoline - and proceeded to pepper her with questions about her police interview on the night of the 21st. Was she angry at the police station? Did police ask her questions about Daron WInt? Why didn’t she mention the distinctive odor that night? “Slow down,” she said to Stein. “They didn’t ask me names, just descriptions of who I was with,” Felicia replied. Stein: “Did detectives take a break then come back?” Ruffin: “I don’t recall” Stein: “Did they say if you think of anything else, let me know when I come back?” Ruffin: “I don’t remember - but you can go ahead and remind me,” she shot back. Stein showed her the transcript of her police interview where a detective did indeed leave & come back. “At no point did you mention Mr. Wint smelling like a coal factory,” said Stein.

The two went back and forth for a long time… Stein questioning why she only recalled that smell after Ruffin learned what the case was about, what Daron Wint was arrested for. Stein tried to make a point that she encountered Wint one week after the fire – as if perhaps he wouldn’t smell of smoke that many days later.

Ruffin did admit that after police told her what Wint was arrested for, she did her own research on the case. Stein wants the jury to believe that research prejudiced her statement about the “coal factory” smell. “You read about it. You learned the case involved fire…” said Stein. “I can’t say that’s true”, replied Ruffin.

Several times, prosecutor Laura Bach objected. “Badgering the witness!” “Asked and answered!”. On each objection, the judge agreed.

Stein suggested that Felicia was angry and insulted by Wint – and she agreed on that point. She said he never directly swore at her, but “I do feel as though he was disrespectful and aggressive. Everything about him is insulting to me.” She said she was anxious and stressed during the police interview - saying several times that her main focus was just to get out of there. She also said she did not know, and still does not know Goo’s real name. She only knew him because her older brother went to Blair HS with him.

Members of the jury appeared to be uncomfortable during the cross-examination. They liked Ms. Ruffin - and did not react positively to Stein’s interrogation.

Ruffin relaxed a bit when Laura Bach picked up the re-direct. Bach asked her again why the coal scent stuck with her… she said because it reminds her of home. Bach asked Ruffin what kind of research she did on the case. Ruffin said her main concern was to see if her name was connected to the arrest, since it involved her friend Chelsea’s car. “I was ashamed of it, to be honest,” said Ruffin, her voice starting to crack. “My dad… (sniffles) my dad is a really religious person. He told me if I ever got in trouble he would not come get me, I thought I was going to be there a long time. I thought my dad would not come get me. This situation, it scarred me,” she testified. “I got pulled over and it was the worst experience of my life. I just wanted to be with people who would comfort me. I just wanted to go home.” With that, she was excused.

Earlier, items that were recovered from the Chevy Cruze and the box truck were introduced into evidence.

Among the items from the Cruze:
- 10 Western Union money orders for $1,000 each.
- MoneyGram receipts
- a Samsung phone
- and a black & pink drawstring bag, with clothing items. One piece looked like a grey long sleeved shirt.

From the box truck:
- $13,300 in money orders
- and $7381 in cash, most of it in $100 bills.

An investigator testified that prosecutors asked her to go back later and take a photograph of a note left inside the box truck on a yellow lined piece of paper.

Written on it, the word “Jail”, underlined 3 times. An address: “300 Indiana Ave. NW. The word “Detective”, and a phone number: 202-251-2115

That, we learned later, was the phone number for the lead investigator on the case.

Fox 5 DC

 

[TFNYBRKS]

One the three women in the car with Wint on the night he was arrested testifies that Wint actually had two phones - one he would receive calls on and another that he would use to return calls on.

I wonder who he was talking to


Felicia went on to describe his manner as “aggressive and rude” toward her. When asked if he had a cellphone - she said “yeah, the phone was like one you’d use years ago.” Members of the jury chuckled at that.

During questioning by Assistant US Attorney Laura Bach, Ruffin recalled that Daron Wint had a bag with him. Calls would come in on a phone in that bag, then he’d reach down, get the number, and call back from the old style phone.

Melanie Alnwick FOX 5 DC

 

[Seattle1]

Melanie Alnwick‏Verified account @fox5melanie
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

5:29 AM - 2 Oct 2018

 

[Seattle1]

Melanie Alnwick‏Verified account @fox5melanie
Daron Wint told his brother-in-law that he had proposed to his girlfriend, but had no $ for a ring. At the gym on 5/15/15 - Wint showed him $1200 in $100 bills.

Claimed he won the lottery. DC, MD, NY lottery have no record of those winnings. @fox5dc #MansionMurders

9:03 AM - 2 Oct 2018

 

[TFNYBRKS]

Also interesting that DW had $10k in his possession (10 money orders for $1k each) while Darrel had over $20k ($13,300 money orders and $7,381 cash)

Melanie Alnwick FOX 5 DC

 

[Seattle1]

Paul Wagner‏Verified account @Fox5Wagner
More testimony in Mansion Murders today about the night Daron Wint was arrested. George Elias, a Cousin, told the court he helped Darrell Wint turn his brother in to police and was driving box truck. Says he was on the phone with detective when police closed in 5/21/15.

12:41 PM - 3 Oct 2018

ETA - hmm... explains why yellow paper note with LE contact details found in box truck.

 

[Seattle1]

Too bad there IS proof where DW was during the kidnapping/killings. The jury will not care about Steffon. In fact they probably feel sorry that he got dragged into this by his crazy brother.

IMO, prosecution is doing their best to protect SW, and uphold his testimony -- they believe he's victim of DW. There are also no photos of SW available from the trial, and that speaks volumes to me about his protection. JMO