Crimehub: A True Crime Podcast · Crimehub Studios

The Haves and the Have Nots: Inside the Washington D.C. Mansion Murders

·33 min·2 clips

DC Fire and EMS found a bloodbath inside a Woodley Park mansion after flames poured from second-story windows.

1. Crimehub: A True Crime Podcast covers the Washington, D.C. mansion murders at the Savopolis home in Woodley Park. 2. Bernardo Alfaro, Vera's husband, appears as the man who first notices she never came home, while Savas Savopolis, Amy Savopolis, and DC Fire and EMS drive the case forward. 3. The episode asks how a wealthy family in a $3 million mansion ended up dead after a fire, a kidnapping sequence, and a DNA match. 4. Bernardo drops Vera at the bus station, then finds the Woodland Drive house dark, the porch light on, and Savas' blue Porsche on the street. 5. Savas calls Bernardo and says Vera stayed overnight to care for Amy, who is not feeling well, and promises to call when they get home. 6. Around 1:30 p.m., DC Fire and EMS respond to flames pouring from the second-story windows and uncover the bodies of Savas, Amy, Vera, and 10-year-old Philip. 7. Investigators describe bludgeoning, stabbing, gasoline, and signs that Philip may have been tied to the bed when the fire started in his bedroom. 8. The police narrative later places Vera and Philip inside the house first, then Amy returning home at about 5:30 p.m., and Savas arriving after that. 9. The episode says the intruder cut the phone lines, used Savas' phone to call for $40,000 in cash, and arranged a Domino's delivery of two pizzas and a 20-ounce Sprite. 10. Jordan Wallace drops off the money, texts 'package delivered,' and drives away while Savas is still typing a reply that never comes. 11. A visit from Bernardo at 9:30 a.m. on May 14, plus Amy's text to Nellie saying 'I am making sure you do not come today,' shows the household was still being managed by phone. 12. The blue Porsche is found burning later at St. Christopher's Episcopal Church in Maryland, and firefighters recover a green construction vest from the car. 13. The episode emphasizes 19 hours of physical and psychological torture, including baseball bats, a samurai sword from Savas' martial arts collection, duct tape, zip ties, and plastic bags. 14. A single leftover pizza crust survives the fire, and saliva DNA from that crust becomes the lab evidence that points investigators toward Darren Wendt. 15. Wendt's background includes welding for American Iron Works from 2003 to 2005, a Marine Corps discharge for medical reasons, and an upbringing in Guyana before moving to the United States in 2000. 16. The show details prior assaults in Oswego, New York, plus later Maryland cases involving girlfriends, knives, a BB gun, and a machete outside American Iron Works headquarters. 17. The trial section shifts into a legal format, with the state presenting Google searches about iCloud, lie detector tests, extradition law, and the Woodley Park fire. 18. Wendt testifies that Daryl and Stefan set him up, that he took one bite of the pizza crust, and that he left before the killings and fire. 19. The episode plays like a chronological investigative narrative with police, fire, forensic, and trial testimony layered over reenactment-style narration. 20. Listeners who like forensic true crime with courtroom detail will get the most from it, while listeners who want a short, low-detail mystery may skip it.

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