DC - Savvas Savopoulos, family & Veralicia Figueroa murdered; Daron Wint Arrested #7

[Inthedetails]

I just thought of a reason for W1 (I know his initials are JW, but I think of him as W1) to state that SS first contacted him Thursday via phone rather than Wednesday via text.

When W1 was questioned, he obviously knew about the fire and murders, but he might not have known that the hostage ordeal started on Wednesday. He might have assumed the Wednesday text was a business-as-usual request from his boss (he was new on the job and didn't know what was normal vs what was strange) so he didn't think to tell LE about it.

In his mind, perhaps he was telling what happened what he thought was the only day of the crime - Thursday.

Just a thought...I might be way wrong and he really did lie about the Wednesday text. IDK.

 

[jjenny]

dr petit ran when he had the chance. when he had enough of his senses recovered from the baseball bat beating he took.

i dont know where the girls had a chance to escape as they were tied up and being used as collateral to make mom cooperate.....and were set on fire before they could 'run'

and really, in this case, we dont know if ANYONE had a chance to run. mr s could have been ambushed the minute he walked in the door for all we know. not that we will know for sure since the scum that did it will never tell us anything.

Older daughter actually managed to untie herself. But she was overcome with smoke inhalation and didn't get out of the house.

 

[jjenny]

Well... given that his legs were still bound, and he'd been in and out of consciousness the whole night, I'm not sure what good it would have done for him to hop up the stairs into the house and... head butt Hayes and Komisarjevsky? He escaped out the basement doors and sought help at the very last minute after the killers had set the fire. He was greeted with by the police in his neighbor's driveway as he came out of the house screaming. His wife was already dead, and his girls were two stories up from where he was with a raging fire. I don't think it's fair to blame him. I blame the police who were taking their time setting up "a perimeter".

He lost a lot of blood. If he didn't get out of the house he would have been dead with the rest of the family. He was trying to get help. If police weren't setting perimeter outside the house, and firefighters got into the house quickly, the girls at least could have been saved because they died from smoke inhalation and burns.

 

[TexMex]

I'm new to this site and want to toss my theories in to the ring

A few posters have mentioned this was a lot of work for DW to get very little. It would have been easier just to steal one or two of the cars. I don't think he intended to be part of an overnight home invasion. Maybe JW heard SS talk finances during one of many of the daily trips; SS worked in the car while JW drove. Did JW misunderstand something and thought he heard something to indicate a lot of cash would be in the house. My guess is JW was desperate for money to fund his upcoming expensive racing trips (CA in June and Italy in July) and came up with a plan with DW.

Maybe DW was just supposed to get in and get the cash and get out. It is too risky to do what he (DW) did which involved contact with too many people outside of his control. Perhaps there was a plan to take a car or two or not. If DW is an average criminal he knows he needs to get in and out fast. There is so much risk in trying to keep several adults and a 10 year old under control over night. Even ordering pizza presented an opportunity to be caught. I think from inside info he thought there was a quick payoff and instead he ended up with so little it required a change in plans.

This may be why JW lied about when SS called him regarding the pickup of the money. JW lied and said SS called him Thursday am to pick up the money. Maybe he lied because it was DW who called or texted him Wednesday night and JW isn't a criminal and isn't quick on his feet. Perhaps DW called him to let him know plans had changed and they would be scrounging for money Thursday morning. DW could have been using SS phone. JW lied about how he got the money because he wanted it to appear that he didn't have a clue that money was in the bag. The phone calls from SS to JW that JW didn't answer while he was in the Lowes or Home Depot in Chantilly could have been from DW. It could also have been from SS if JW took money from the $40k. I will be interested to hear who got the box truck and when. Was it stolen or rented and at what time? The fact that JW texted a pic of the money means he is either innocent or the most stupid criminal on the planet.

I also agree with several posters about SS trying to escape. I don't know a dad who would leave his child with DW knowing what DW had already done to PS. Most of us don't have training in the best strategies for dealing with a situation like this and knowing that DW had already hurt his child might make it impossible for SS to act.

He was handed the money by an associate SS sent to meet with the bank manager. That man took the money from his pockets and gave it to W1 to take to SS. IMO there's no way W1 shorted the money.

 

[SpanishInquisition]

I just thought of a reason for W1 (I know his initials are JW, but I think of him as W1) to state that SS first contacted him Thursday via phone rather than Wednesday via text.

When W1 was questioned, he obviously knew about the fire and murders, but he might not have known that the hostage ordeal started on Wednesday. He might have assumed the Wednesday text was a business-as-usual request from his boss (he was new on the job and didn't know what was normal vs what was strange) so he didn't think to tell LE about it.

In his mind, perhaps he was telling what happened what he thought was the only day of the crime - Thursday.

Just a thought...I might be way wrong and he really did lie about the Wednesday text. IDK.

The thing is that in the charging doc it's explicit that not only did he lie but he confessed to lying...and he lied about multiple things. These are all the things he changed his story on: "As detectives continued to question W-1, IT changed IT's account of the events regarding how IT received the package, where IT left the package and when IT was told to get the package" - it was a trifecta.

 

[jd dickinson]

I just thought of a reason for W1 ... to state that SS first contacted him Thursday via phone rather than Wednesday via text.

When W1 was questioned, he obviously knew about the fire and murders, but he might not have known that the hostage ordeal started on Wednesday. He might have assumed the Wednesday text was a business-as-usual request from his boss (he was new on the job and didn't know what was normal vs what was strange) so he didn't think to tell LE about it.

In his mind, perhaps he was telling what happened what he thought was the only day of the crime - Thursday.

Excellent post!

You've outlined a very plausible reason for that "lie." As for the lie about handling the cash, we already have two plausible reasons - namely, his embarrassment about having texted pictures of the cash to his gf, and also wanting to distance himself from a transaction that unwittingly put him right in the middle of the extortion scene. The bit about the car being locked is probably the least significant discrepancy.

If I were LE, I would start from the presumption that W-1 is innocent and try to gain his trust. He may very well be able to unlock the origin of the crime, if he can think through how he might have set it in motion inadvertently through his sharing and conversations.

 

[popsicle]

I just thought of a reason for W1 (I know his initials are JW, but I think of him as W1) to state that SS first contacted him Thursday via phone rather than Wednesday via text.

When W1 was questioned, he obviously knew about the fire and murders, but he might not have known that the hostage ordeal started on Wednesday. He might have assumed the Wednesday text was a business-as-usual request from his boss (he was new on the job and didn't know what was normal vs what was strange) so he didn't think to tell LE about it.

In his mind, perhaps he was telling what happened what he thought was the only day of the crime - Thursday.

Just a thought...I might be way wrong and he really did lie about the Wednesday text. IDK.

The charging docs say he made a mistake about when he was first told to get the package. The other things are called lies. hmm

 

[Skigirl]

This touches on something I'm sure LE knows more about now (hopefully!) which is who rented that truck and when. It had NC plates IIRC, but that doesn't mean it wasn't rented in the DC area. But I wonder if the who/when/where of that rental transaction will end up providing useful information.

The area might have a lot of lawn care, remodeling, etc., but it's definitely not a business district. For how much is going on in this area, the whole feel is pretty "sleepy" and residential. Some of the busier streets by their neighborhood don't have any parking or have limited parking, and the more residential streets have 2 hour parking limits during the day. Of course, that's not to say a truck couldn't stick around for hour-long stretches without being noticed. A lot of people there might be in and out all day and just not notice things like that, and even if there are parking limits or security patrols, it might be easy to slip through the cracks.

TL;DR: You make good points about the truck and ask good questions about if it could actually camp out there to observe, and I think LE might know more about when this truck actually came in to the picture for DW than we do at this point. Hopefully that info is helpful to LE!

My neighborhood was built in the same era -- and one thing I have noticed since I started watching this case is that there are a LOT of workpeople in and out of here. Last year, I had contractors here for months, every single day. As I write, there are two houses on my block alone that are undergoing renovations of one sort or another. These houses are older and lots of things go wrong, and plus, people are always wanting to update one thing or another. And that's only the periodic events. Most of my neighbors have lawn services and cleaning services. We all also have lots of random trucks come to our houses -- the bat removal guy, for example, the mulch delivery truck, and so on. It's more ordinary than not to have various pick-up and box trucks up and down the street, and that's not to mention the ones that drive through here on the way to other blocks. Our neighborhood feels "sleepy" but it's actually a beehive of activity on most days. It would be super-easy to get in a big pickup truck with a ladder attached to a rack on the bed of the truck and cruise around constantly, watching everything that is going on, and it would be invisible. A truck couldn't sit obviously occupied for hours and go unnoticed... but if it were unoccupied, everyone would assume it was a contractor. I wonder if their neighborhood also had so many people coming and going and so many vehicles that looked like they belonged that it might actually be quite easy to watch the house.

 

[i.b.nora]

http://www.aspentimes.com/news/1655...egedly-murders-vail-colorado-connected-family

Murdered D.C. family has ties to Eagle County ranch west of Vail
The Aspen Times
By Randy Wyrick
May 28, 2015

"EAGLE COUNTY — The tentacles of a gruesome Washington, D.C. quadruple murder case reach into Eagle County.

Savvas Savopoulos, 46; Amy Savopoulos, 47; their 10-year-old son, Philip; and housekeeper Veralicia Figueroa, 57, were held captive through a night May 13 in their multimillion-dollar Northwest Washington home, then killed before the house was set afire the following day.

Savvas Savopoulos owns part of the Diamond Star Ranch, between Eagle and Wolcott. Savopoulos’ ownership is listed under an LLC, through a corporation based in Hyattsville, Md.

On social media postings, Amy Savopoulos said she was looking forward to visiting."​

That's the main thing we didn't know previously. Otherwise its a well written article and a good overall telling of the tale for anyone just joining up who doesn't want to read a zillion articles or posts.

 

[Paulas88]

I just thought of a reason for W1 (I know his initials are JW, but I think of him as W1) to state that SS first contacted him Thursday via phone rather than Wednesday via text.

When W1 was questioned, he obviously knew about the fire and murders, but he might not have known that the hostage ordeal started on Wednesday. He might have assumed the Wednesday text was a business-as-usual request from his boss (he was new on the job and didn't know what was normal vs what was strange) so he didn't think to tell LE about it.

In his mind, perhaps he was telling what happened what he thought was the only day of the crime - Thursday.

Just a thought...I might be way wrong and he really did lie about the Wednesday text. IDK.

W1 admitted that he LIED! Not that he was confused or unsure!

 

[jd dickinson]

BBM

The above holds true for the common criminal, imo. But most whacked out psychopaths don't think rationally. JMO

About a week ago, someone posted a theory here as to why Philip was burned alive instead of being killed like the adults. Countering the prevailing sentiment that Wint hated Philip, this person had the idea that Wint couldn't stomach taking Philip's life with his own hands. Instead, he did the cowardly thing: he doused Philip with gasoline and tossed a match from outside the room. It was a more horrible way to die, but less physical and intimate for Wint.

This felt correct to me. I think Wint couldn't quite dehumanize the boy like he could the adults, especially SS and AS. I think the torture he put Philip through was always about coercion and control of the adults.

This is why I put the odds of him killing Philip with his own hands as 50/50 at worst in my scenario when SS comes home and then immediately flees, calling 911. Once SS is out the door, yelling that he's calling 911, Wint knows that it's game over. The cops will be at the house in 5 - 10 minutes.

In the same way that it was rational (if savage and inhuman) for Wint to kill all four of those people, to eliminate eyewitnesses, it would be rational to let Philip and the women live, once SS had fled and called 911. Both decisions are entirely motivated by self-interest and self-preservation. Kill in order not to be identified and caught. Don't kill in order to speed escape and minimize punishment if caught.

Wint is savage, but I don't think he's crazy or a psychopath. He's a narcissistic sociopath who is concerned only for himself. In this crime, people live or die mainly for how their life or death makes Wint's life harder or easier.

He wore gloves and no mask. Think about that. That type of criminal intends to leave everyone dead and no evidence of his identity. His fear is exposure. Therefore that is his weak point. Don't try to overpower him or hope to bribe him: expose him.

How do you expose him? Call 911. If you know his name, tell 911. And tell him that the cops are coming, and they know his name.

 

[SpanishInquisition]

Excellent post!

You've outlined a very plausible reason for that "lie." As for the lie about handling the cash, we already have two plausible reasons - namely, his embarrassment about having texted pictures of the cash to his gf, and also wanting to distance himself from a transaction that unwittingly put him right in the middle of the extortion scene. The bit about the car being locked is probably the least significant discrepancy.

If I were LE, I would start from the presumption that W-1 is innocent and try to gain his trust. He may very well be able to unlock the origin of the crime, if he can think through how he might have set it in motion inadvertently through his sharing and conversations.

I think if JW did nothing legally wrong, he'd be the one to want to earn LE's trust. Even though he has no legal obligation to LE or the media as a practical matter his most recent boss got murdered where he's on record as having lied about something associated with it and he got fired from his next most recent job, so he can be in a situation where he's both unemployed and unemployable in the type of jobs he's had before unless he can rehabilitate his image and exonerate himself from any hints of illegal conduct on the job. Depending on how LE feels about JW, they can do a lot to help or hurt JW's future employment prospects.

 

[franker]

It is hard to believe not a single person in the neighborhood saw anything that went on. Or that no security cameras from neighbors picked anything up. Let's hope we just don't know what evidence they have against whom. There HAS to be more.

I agree.

It seems more likely that there would be a Gladys Kravitz.

 

[PeaceForTheWronged]

I want to know more about what was going on with the family's two dogs from Wednesday afternoon onward. AS walked them herself regularly. One was an older dog, and one was a puppy (not tiny, more like a teenager age for a dog). She mentioned to a mutual friend that she had spent lots of time trying to train the older one to behave better, to get along with new people, to be housebroken, etc. How on earth did these two dogs stay quiet and un-noticeable to neighbors for a 24-hour period during which they usually would have spent some time indoors with the family? They really didn't bark at all, in the middle of the night, begging to be let inside? They never got hungry enough to bark up a storm and attract the attention of neighbors (or the security patrols that drive through routinely)? And if DDW (et al?) tried to feed them to keep them quiet, I would expect for especially the older dog, who had a more willful personality, to bite DDW's hand off - dogs are smart, and they usually know evil when they smell it!

 

[TexMex]

http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2015/05...-news-videos/#


Police looking at one of Wint's cousins

AIW did not have/use green vests

Construction (paving) for a few weeks around the home. Police believe suspect(s) watched the home and used green vest to gain entry to SS home

 

[bostonstrong]

Older daughter actually managed to untie herself. But she was overcome with smoke inhalation and didn't get out of the house.

yeah i know i meant before the scum set the fire they didnt have a chance.

 

[franker]

Maybe I am misunderstanding this but is the prevailing opinion that Wint drove the Porsche away from the scene and then torched it and then took a $1K cab ride to Brooklyn instead of driving the Porsche that he just torched to Brooklyn and then somehow got a fleet maintenance box truck and headed back to the scene of the crime or at least the general vicinity while all of the expensive cars were under police protection?

I have to me missing something.

:thinking:

 

[jd dickinson]

W1 admitted that he LIED! Not that he was confused or unsure!

No. The charging document states that "W-1 admitted the text was accurate and [W-1] made a mistake about when [W-1] was first told to get the package."

The "lie" was about handling the money:

"W-1 admitted that [W-1] had lied when [W-1] stated the money was in a manila envelope when [W-1] received the money from the other employee."

Then there was a second lie:

"Furthermore W-1 admitted that [W-1] lied when [W-1] stated the vehicle was locked."

So, per the affidavit, W-1 was shown the Wednesday text from SS and then admitted making a mistake about when he was first told about getting the package. The two lies were both about the handling of the cash.

I think this is a credible revisiting of W-1's state of mind.

 

[SpanishInquisition]

He wore gloves and no mask.

We don't know what all he was wearing while in the house or if any sort of disguise was used. I don't think if he had a mask that he'd be wearing it out in public where he could freak out the neighbors and any passersby where they call the cops in a panic as that would be a great way to have things end before they start. If he hid his identity, he wouldn't have to kill anyone, so he would have created his own problem that he could have easily solved and I don't think someone revealing their identity so they must kill everyone is sane and rational.

 

[popsicle]

W1 admitted that he LIED! Not that he was confused or unsure!

No, he said he made a mistake.