Judge Rhonda Reid Winston made her determination Monday based on DNA and other evidence linking 34-year-old Daron Wint to the slayings of Savvas Savopoulos (SAH-vus suh-VOH-puh-lus); his wife, Amy; their 10-year-old son, Philip; and a housekeeper, Veralicia Figueroa.
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Washington homicide detective Jeffrey Owens, the lead investigator, provided new details on the case, saying that Savopoulos and Figueroa were beaten and strangled. He said that suspect Daron Wint’s DNA was lifted off the vest in one of Savopouloses’ cars, as well as the DNA of Savvas Savopoulos and an unidentified third person.
Police say Wint held the family captive for 18 hours inside their home until he received a $40,000 ransom. The auto was found burned in New Carrollton, in Washington’s Maryland suburbs.
A preliminary and detention hearing is scheduled for Darron Dylon Wint at 11 a.m. He is charged with killing three members of a prominent Washington family, along with their housekeeper. A receipt from the lawyer was found at Wint’s father’s home.
Wint, who wore an orange prison jumpsuit, only spoke to confirm his name to the judge.
Police say they recovered more than $30,000 (£19,300) from the vehicle and a box truck being driven alongside it.
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Savopoulos was the CEO of American Ironworks, a Hyattsville construction materials supply company, where Wint once worked.
