Washington - A man accused of killing a Washington businessman, his wife, son and housekeeper faced arraignment on Friday after authorities tracked him down overnight in the US capital.
The suspect, Daron Wint, 34, of Lanham, Maryland, has been charged with first-degree murder while armed. He will be arraigned some time after 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) in District of Columbia Superior Court, a spokesman for the US Attorney's Office said.
Members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force had tracked Wint to a Howard Johnson hotel in College Park, Maryland, near Washington, late on Thursday, only to see him leave as they arrived. Officers and a helicopter pursued Wint, who was in a car, and a small moving truck that was traveling with him.
“We did a vehicle pin maneuver on both vehicles and we were able to arrest everyone,” Commander Robert Fernandez of the US Marshals Service told CNN.
Besides Wint, police arrested three men and two women in the vehicles, Fernandez said. The spokesman for the US Attorney's Office said no one else had been charged and the investigation was continuing.
Wint was wanted for the slayings of businessman Savvas Savopoulos, 46; his wife, Amy, 47; son Phillip, 10; and housekeeper Veralicia Figueroa, 57. Their bodies were found on May 14 inside the Savopoulos mansion in a neighborhood near Vice President Joe Biden's official residence.
Media reports said Savopoulos had an aide deliver $40,000 in cash to the home that day before it was set ablaze.
Fernandez told CNN that officers “barely missed” catching Wint late on Wednesday in New York.
The Washington Post quoted an official as saying that at least one of the men arrested with Wint was believed to be a relative. It said police found at least $10,000 in cash in the truck.
Police Chief Cathy Lanier told reporters on Thursday that Wint had worked for Savopoulos' construction materials company, American Iron Works.
The Washington Post reported on Thursday that authorities began searching for Wint after his DNA was recovered from the crust of a pizza that had been delivered to the house.
In a statement, the Savopoulos family thanked police for the arrest. “While it does not abate our pain, we hope that it begins to restore a sense of calm and security to our neighborhood and to our city,” it said.
Reuters