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The Savopoulos Family was from an upper-class, suburban neighborhood in Washington D.C. known as Woodley Park. There was Savas or “Sav”, Amy, Abigail, Katerina, and Phillip Savopoulos. Sav was the President and CEO of the widely successful company that led the construction of the Verizon Center, American Iron Works. Amy was a devoted wife and mother to three children: Abigail, Katerina, and Phillip. The Savopoulos family also had two long time housekeepers, Vera Figueroa and Nelitza “Nelly” Guiterrez.
Sometime on May 13th, 2015 an intruder entered the Savopoulos family mansion in Woodley Park and held Sav, Amy, Phillip, and the family housekeeper Vera, hostage for nearly 22 hours.
Photo Source: WJLA.com
During these terrifying 22-hours, Sav and Amy made a number of phone calls from inside the mansion. One of these phone calls was to a local Domino’s pizza restaurant. Amy ordered 2 pizzas and made an unusual request – she didn’t want the pizza driver to knock on the family’s front door. Instead, she wanted the pizzas just left on the front door step of the residence.
On May 14, 2015, a construction worker in the neighborhood observed thick, black smoke clouds coming from one of the mansions. After calling the Washington Fire Department, it became known that the house that was on fire belonged to the Savopoulos family.
Photo Source: ABC News (website)
Once firefighters began their initial investigation, they quickly realized this wasn’t a typical fire investigation. It was a crime scene. A total of four bodies were found inside the mansion: 46-year old Sav Savopoulos, 47-year old Amy Savopoulos, 10-year old Phillip Savopoulos, and 57-year old Vera Figueroa.
As police and crime scene investigators began their initial investigation into the arson and murders, they noticed that Amy’s blue 2008 porsche was missing from the family’s garage. Police sent out a ‘BOLO’ for the car, believing that it was somehow involved in the crimes. A few hours later, the blue porsche was found in New Carrollton, Marland, completely torched by flames. But luckily for police, surveillance video was captured of a man walking away from the vehicle.
Investigators also found other valuable evidence inside the mansion, including a discarded piece of pizza crust. Remember Amy’s phone call to that local Domino’s pizza restaurant? Well, it turns out the intruder doesn’t like the crust.
Photo Source: WTOP.com
Crime scene investigators swabbed the pizza crust in hopes it contained DNA evidence left behind by the intruder. And there WAS! A complete DNA profile of the killer was swabbed from the discarded pizza crust. Police were able to match the DNA profile on the crust to their suspect, 34-year old Daron Dylon Wint.
Photo Source: WUSA
On May 21, 2015, Daron Wint was arrested and booked on 20 counts of kidnapping, extortion, and murder. His criminal trial began on September 4, 2018. To everyone’s surprise, Wint took the stand in his own defense. Even when prosecutors confronted him about his DNA on the slice of pizza, Wint blamed his brother for the entire incident. Ultimately, the jury didn’t believe Wint’s story, and on October 25, 2018 he was found guilty on all counts. The DNA evidence found on the pizza crust was just too overwhelming for the jury to ignore.
Daron Wint is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Sav, Amy, and Phillip are survived by sisters Abigail and Katerina. Vera Figeroa is survived by her husband.
Episode Sources:
2015 Washington, D.C., quadruple murder incident Wikpedia
22 Hours: An American Nightmare, Podcast
ABC News: DC mansion murders: A look at the evidence that helped convict the killer
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