After an ongoing manhunt search for the murderer of the Savopoulos family and their housekeeper, U.S. marshals and police arrested ex-convict Daron Dylon Wint and gathered five of his companions into custody.
Wint was traced to Brooklyn and back before police came face to face with the ex-con in the Howard Johnson Express Inn parking lot in Maryland. Police tailed a truck and car and swarmed the group instantaneously. Without much room for a fight, they surrendered.
"We had overwhelming numbers and force," Robert Fernandez, commander of the U.S. Marshal Service's Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force said, notes Yahoo News. "They completely submitted immediately."
Wint once worked for Savvas Savopoulos' American Iron Works company and it is unkown as to what motive he would have to murder his employer, his wife Amy, their 10-year-old son Philip and housekeeper Veralicia Figueroa--each stabbed or battered before the eventual arson of their $4.5 million Woodley Park mansion on May 14.
At around 11 p.m., 34-year-old Wint was arrested and charged with first-degree murder while armed. The rest of the group, consisting of two men and three women, will make a court appearance on Friday. "I don't think they knew we were tailing them until the moment we swarmed in on them," said Fernandez said of the chase. Money was found in the truck but speculation is surrounding whether or not the cash is connected to the Savopoulos family members who are survived by their two teenage daughters who were at boarding school at the time of the killing.
Wint has a record of violence and has been arrested twice for assault and vandalism. In 2010, Wint carried a BB gun and 2-foot-long machete around the American Iron Works headquarters and weaseled his way out of charges after pleasing guilty to an open container of alcohol. Police haven't ruled out the possibility of other suspects involved in the case but no other information has been brought forward. Attorney Robin Ficker disagrees with the chargers brought on Wint and said he didn't exemplify violent behavior when he defended him in multiple cases. "He's a very nice person," Ficker said.
Nelitza Gutierrez, previous housekeeper for the Savopoulos family for 20 years, has reason to believe the family and Figueroa were held hostage previous to the slayings. She received an eerie text the day prior to the murders that said "I am making sure you are not coming today." Guitierrez sent back a text response and made a phone call but didn't obtain any responses, notes NBC News.
