07-20-2015, 05:03 PM
New details revealed during today's preliminary hearing...
Savvas Savopoulos and his family’s housekeeper, Veralicia Figueroa, were beaten and strangled on the early morning of May 13, a D.C. homicide detective testified Monday during a D.C. Superior Court hearing.
The new details about the slayings were revealed during the preliminary hearing for Daron Wint, the 34-year-old man charged with first-degree murder in the case. Wint is the only person charged so far, but police have said they believe others may have been involved.
Wint, wearing an orange jail jumpsuit and with his wrists and ankles shackled, sat next to his public defenders Monday as D.C. Jeffrey Owens, lead homicide detective on the case, testified about some of the evidence.
Authorities have said they identified Wint as a suspect after his DNA was found on pizza crust at the home. Owens testified that the defendant’s DNA also was found on a construction vest that was inside a blue Porsche owned by the Savopoulos family. The car was found burned in New Carrollton, Md.
Police have said they believe Wint drove the car to Maryland and then torched it before fleeing. Owens testified that Wint’s DNA wasn’t the only evidence found on the vest. Savvas Savopoulos’s DNA along with a third unknown person’s DNA were also found on the vest, the detective said.
During Monday’s hearing, Abigail Savopoulos, 19, one of Amy and Savvas Savopoulos’s daughters, sat in the front row of the courtroom, often writing notes. She and her sister were away at school when the killings took place.
Under cross examination by Wint’s public defender Arthur Ago, Owens testified that a witness told police about seeing a man with a close haircut, speeding down New York Avenue Northeast, weaving in and out of traffic in a blue Porsche around 1:30 p.m. May 14. Wint has shoulder-length dreadlocks.
Ago then spent much of the hearing questioning the detective about Jordan Wallace, 28, Savvas Savopoulos’s assistant. The morning of the killings, Wallace accompanied another Savopoulos employees to a bank to retrieve the $40,000, then delivered the cash to the house.
D.C. police have searched Wallace’s car, according to court papers, for any “forensic and physical evidence” linking him to the killings. Wallace has not been charged with a crime, and court papers do not name him as a suspect.
Ago questioned Owens regarding a text message that Wallace sent his girlfriend at 9 a.m. on May 14. In that text message, Wallace took a picture of the cash inside a red-lined bookbag. But according to a bank video, Wallace did not obtain the cash until around 9:45 a.m. leaving Ago to question how it was possible for Wallace to send a picture of the money if he did not receive it until 45 minutes later. “I don’t know,”Owens said.
Ago also asked Owens about items found in a search of Wallace’s car. Owens confirmed that authorities found a book bag that contained Wallace’s passport, his checkbook, and the registration to the Savopoulos's luxury red Mosler sports car that was parked in the garage. Owens did not say why Wallace possessed the registration to the Savopoulos's vehicle.
Ago also focused on the inconsistent statements Wallace made to police. According to court documents, Wallace initially told police that Savvas Savopoulos called him the morning of May 14 and told him to get the money, according to court documents. He said he watched Savopoulos’s accountant get the money from a bank in Hyattsville and saw him put it in a manila envelope, which Wallace took to the house. He put it on the seat of a locked red car inside the garage, the documents say.
Detective Jeffrey Owens also testified that a receipt for an immigration lawyer was found at Wint's father's house. It was dated two days after the slayings and indicates that Wint paid an $1,100 retainer in cash.
Sources:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crim...story.html
http://www.wjla.com/articles/2015/07/dar...15702.html
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Wint's attorney is pointing the finger at Wallace, no doubt.
I wonder if there's any indication that Wint and Wallace knew each other or had any contact prior to the crimes.
Savvas Savopoulos and his family’s housekeeper, Veralicia Figueroa, were beaten and strangled on the early morning of May 13, a D.C. homicide detective testified Monday during a D.C. Superior Court hearing.
The new details about the slayings were revealed during the preliminary hearing for Daron Wint, the 34-year-old man charged with first-degree murder in the case. Wint is the only person charged so far, but police have said they believe others may have been involved.
Wint, wearing an orange jail jumpsuit and with his wrists and ankles shackled, sat next to his public defenders Monday as D.C. Jeffrey Owens, lead homicide detective on the case, testified about some of the evidence.
Authorities have said they identified Wint as a suspect after his DNA was found on pizza crust at the home. Owens testified that the defendant’s DNA also was found on a construction vest that was inside a blue Porsche owned by the Savopoulos family. The car was found burned in New Carrollton, Md.
Police have said they believe Wint drove the car to Maryland and then torched it before fleeing. Owens testified that Wint’s DNA wasn’t the only evidence found on the vest. Savvas Savopoulos’s DNA along with a third unknown person’s DNA were also found on the vest, the detective said.
During Monday’s hearing, Abigail Savopoulos, 19, one of Amy and Savvas Savopoulos’s daughters, sat in the front row of the courtroom, often writing notes. She and her sister were away at school when the killings took place.
Under cross examination by Wint’s public defender Arthur Ago, Owens testified that a witness told police about seeing a man with a close haircut, speeding down New York Avenue Northeast, weaving in and out of traffic in a blue Porsche around 1:30 p.m. May 14. Wint has shoulder-length dreadlocks.
Ago then spent much of the hearing questioning the detective about Jordan Wallace, 28, Savvas Savopoulos’s assistant. The morning of the killings, Wallace accompanied another Savopoulos employees to a bank to retrieve the $40,000, then delivered the cash to the house.
D.C. police have searched Wallace’s car, according to court papers, for any “forensic and physical evidence” linking him to the killings. Wallace has not been charged with a crime, and court papers do not name him as a suspect.
Ago questioned Owens regarding a text message that Wallace sent his girlfriend at 9 a.m. on May 14. In that text message, Wallace took a picture of the cash inside a red-lined bookbag. But according to a bank video, Wallace did not obtain the cash until around 9:45 a.m. leaving Ago to question how it was possible for Wallace to send a picture of the money if he did not receive it until 45 minutes later. “I don’t know,”Owens said.
Ago also asked Owens about items found in a search of Wallace’s car. Owens confirmed that authorities found a book bag that contained Wallace’s passport, his checkbook, and the registration to the Savopoulos's luxury red Mosler sports car that was parked in the garage. Owens did not say why Wallace possessed the registration to the Savopoulos's vehicle.
Ago also focused on the inconsistent statements Wallace made to police. According to court documents, Wallace initially told police that Savvas Savopoulos called him the morning of May 14 and told him to get the money, according to court documents. He said he watched Savopoulos’s accountant get the money from a bank in Hyattsville and saw him put it in a manila envelope, which Wallace took to the house. He put it on the seat of a locked red car inside the garage, the documents say.
Detective Jeffrey Owens also testified that a receipt for an immigration lawyer was found at Wint's father's house. It was dated two days after the slayings and indicates that Wint paid an $1,100 retainer in cash.
Sources:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crim...story.html
http://www.wjla.com/articles/2015/07/dar...15702.html
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Wint's attorney is pointing the finger at Wallace, no doubt.
I wonder if there's any indication that Wint and Wallace knew each other or had any contact prior to the crimes.