CNN is reporting that the man allegedly responsible for the quadruple homicide at a Washington mansion last month has a cousin who was fired from American Iron Works, the company owned by slain patriarch Savvas Savopoulos. Daron Wint, the homicide suspect, worked there from 2003 to 2005. Wint’s cousin worked there as well until being fired in 2005, and according to CNN the cousin then threatened to burn the place down. The company obtained a restraining order barring the cousin from the premises, the sources say. Law enforcement officials have also now confirmed Wint’s DNA was found on other parts of the crime scene as well. Police believe Wint killed Savvas, Amy and their son, 10-year-old Philip Savopoulos and their housekeeper Veralicia Figueroa inside the family’s $4.5 million mansion not far from Vice President Joe Biden’s home and several embassies. Wint is being charged with first-degree murder.
With Obama’s Immigration Executive Actions being put on hold, more media attention is surrounding issues relating to the Department of Homeland Security’s broken structure. This high profile murder case is a glaring example of how the many branches and divisions within DHS are not working towards the same goals, as they often have different agendas. Aside from the organizational and structural inefficiencies within DHS, this DC Muder case also shows that DHS agencies often have very Ad Hoc and inconsistent processes in dealing with both Federal and State and Local Law Enforcement. When a person is arrested and detained by a local police department, if they are not a us citizen, they are automatically flagged for Immigration to review. At that point, ICE has a process (which obviously failed in this murder case) to determine if someone is removable from the US or not, and if a detainer should be issued so that they go into immigration custody upon release. Wint, who was born in Guyana, was in danger of losing his green card because of prior arrests, according to CNN. Wint’s fingerprints were ran in March in the FBI database, which was supposed to automatically flag ICE, but the immigration officials claim to be never notified.
