Search warrants related to a quadruple homicide that were unsealed Wednesday indicate that D.C. police were trying to track the whereabouts of three of the victims’ cellphones in an effort to locate perpetrators.
The cellphones of Savvas and Amy Savopoulos and their housekeeper, Vera Figueroa, were missing from the family’s Northwest D.C. home.
Firefighters discovered their bodies while extinguishing a fire on May 14. The couple’s 10-year-old son, Philip, also was slain.
Police said the victims were held hostage until $40,000 in cash was delivered to the home and then suffered blunt force trauma and stab wounds.
The fire was set intentionally at the multimillion-dollar residence shortly after an employee of Mr. Savopoulos made the cash delivery, police said.
The search warrant affidavits indicate that less than a week after the four were killed, police sought the call and text histories of the victims’ phones, as well as location data from the phones’ GPS systems that could help pinpoint their locations.
A separate search warrant affidavit sought similar information from the employee who made the cash delivery. Court documents indicate that the employee gave differing statements to police about his handling of the cash and where he dropped it off in the family’s garage after receiving the request from Mr. Savopoulos.
Officers have arrested one man, Daron Dylon Wint, and charged him with first-degree murder in connection with the slayings, but court documents indicate that detectives suspect others were involved.
Investigators developed Mr. Wint as a suspect after his DNA was discovered on a partially eaten pizza crust inside the Savopouloses’ home. He was arrested May 21 while traveling through the District. Four others traveling in two vehicles with Mr. Wint also were arrested that night, but no charges were filed against them.
In a search warrant affidavit for the two vehicles, a rented box truck and a Chevrolet Cruze, police sought any evidence linked to the crime scene. Detectives were looking for photos or evidence of surveillance of the Savopoulos home, weapons, gloves, duct tape and items belonging to the victims.
The documents also indicate that a single window pane on a set of exterior French doors was broken, an indication that suspects forced entry into the home, and police were seeking to match a footprint outside the door.
The return of the search warrant documenting what was taken from the vehicles was not made public Wednesday.
• Andrea Noble can be reached at anoble@washingtontimes.com.
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