Fire in upper NW?

[Anonymous]

If alarm working why did smoke alarm not go off...that stays on whether alarm set or not and should dial fire department . I am Sta parent and a pp poster as I said before I have been in the house and the art work...not major artworks...some nice paintings ,some less so...not why they were there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If alarm working why did smoke alarm not go off...that stays on whether alarm set or not and should dial fire department . I am Sta parent and a pp poster as I said before I have been in the house and the art work...not major artworks...some nice paintings ,some less so...not why they were there.

Maybe power intentionally cut to the system? But I think those systems usually have battery backup and/or can send alerts if the system has been tampered with or goes down.

Or did the smoke alarm go off and that's what called the fire department? Would it be possible for the fire to get that bad (with accelerants) by the time DCFD got there? Just speculating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As some other posters have expressed, I can't stop thinking about this horrific crime. It is so unsettling. I think that the family knew the killer(s) and for this reason let them in. I also think the perpetrators were connected to the father's workplace, because the car was left not far from there. Seems like too much of a coincidence. I think the motive was robbery, but that there might have been a personal animosity as well, because of the brutality of it. Perhaps a disgruntled employee or contract worker. One thing I have been thinking about is that the perps may have forced the father to make a wire transfer -- this might explain their having to wait around all night in what sounds like a hostage situation - until the transfer went through and could be withdrawn or transferred in some untraceable way by an associate somewhere else.
In any case, it is tragic and my heart goes out to the victims and their families.

So many things don't add up. But what seems to be the most likely scenario is that it was revenge/animosity. That would explain the brutality of the killings as well as how long the murderer(s) seemed to be in the house. People who knew the family have weighed in and said how nice and generous they were and I don't doubt that. But as a businessman maybe Savopoulos made some enemies or wasn't perceived to be fair to contractors and employees. I obviously have no idea if this is accurate but in the link below a commenter weighs in about Savopolous being "the worst client ever" in "30+ years of experience working with high end clients"

http://dcist.com/2015/05/police_searching_for_person_of_inte_1.php

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is too long to read in its entirety, but one article I read was that there was unusual activity in the neighborhood all week..reports of a prowler, aggressive vacuum salesperson(do people still actually do this?) etc. It sounds like canvassing a neighborhood with two scenarios:

1) random criminals lurking around to see who was home when, and what they may have to offer in terms of burglary.

Or

2) a professional hit with a crew scoping out the neighborhood in advance of the crime to determine best time to attack.

The only thing from keeping me from believing 100% in option one is that this is a block or two from the VP's house. Why pick a house so close to the secret service (unless the thugs didn't even know the proximity to the VP, which is possible).

The only thing keeping me from believing 100% in option two is with a hit, I would assume that they would be in and out, not hiding in the house for more than 12 hours. That doesn't makes sense to me.
It is actually quite a bit further than a block or 2 from the naval observatory. It's not even the same neighborhood or side of mass.

I guess I will, in the end, assume option 1...a burglary gone very, tragically, horribly wrong.

[Anonymous]

No one is 100% safe anywhere. Period.

My family's home was robbed on Christmas Eve my junior year of college. Upscale neighborhood similar to Great Falls or Potomac (not in this region though) but closer to town than either of those communities.

All the homes sat on 5 acres of land. We left the house at 6pm for Christmas Eve dinner at my grandmother's, and returned to a house that had been ransacked, everything but the furniture was taken. They stole my dad's SUV to help carry everything away. They beat up our dog and used a gun to blast a window out in order to get in. Our window's didn't have sensors on them.

None of our neighbors heard or saw a thing.

Fast forward to living on Capitol Hill a few years later. It was August recess and most of us in the neighborhood were gone. My neighbors who lived in a brownstone and within the Capitol Hill police jurisdiction, had the entire contents of their home stolen while they were on vacation. A moving van pulled up and the thieves took everything, silverware -- everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one is 100% safe anywhere. Period.

My family's home was robbed on Christmas Eve my junior year of college. Upscale neighborhood similar to Great Falls or Potomac (not in this region though) but closer to town than either of those communities.

All the homes sat on 5 acres of land. We left the house at 6pm for Christmas Eve dinner at my grandmother's, and returned to a house that had been ransacked, everything but the furniture was taken. They stole my dad's SUV to help carry everything away. They beat up our dog and used a gun to blast a window out in order to get in. Our window's didn't have sensors on them.

None of our neighbors heard or saw a thing.

Fast forward to living on Capitol Hill a few years later. It was August recess and most of us in the neighborhood were gone. My neighbors who lived in a brownstone and within the Capitol Hill police jurisdiction, had the entire contents of their home stolen while they were on vacation. A moving van pulled up and the thieves took everything, silverware -- everything.

At least the people were not in the homes at the time (although, poor dog!). Home invasion while people are inside is so frightening.

[Anonymous]

I also wonder about a vengeful employee(s) - look at the andrew kissel case in CT years ago. andrew was apparently a dick to his employee carlos trujillo and the guy flipped out, tied kissel up and stabbed him to death.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did someone say upthread that there was a Christmas tour of the house where these master works were on display? If so, what is the basis of your knowledge of that?

The St Albans house tour at Christmas is an annual event. Anyone can attend: http://www.stalbansschool.org/CHT

1)While I think it's wonderful for families to open their homes for these types of events for a school fundraiser, I am also perplexed as to why they would want random people wandering through their homes. I've never been on a fundraising homes tour, but I would think it would be an excellent opportunity for professional thieves to case your home for a future burglarly.
2) I know the EU embassies had their open houses the weekend prior to the murders. The Belgian Embassy is around the corner. Maybe perps took opportunity to case neighborhoods during high foot traffic time when random visitors to the area wouldn't be thought of as strange?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one is 100% safe anywhere. Period.

My family's home was robbed on Christmas Eve my junior year of college. Upscale neighborhood similar to Great Falls or Potomac (not in this region though) but closer to town than either of those communities.

All the homes sat on 5 acres of land. We left the house at 6pm for Christmas Eve dinner at my grandmother's, and returned to a house that had been ransacked, everything but the furniture was taken. They stole my dad's SUV to help carry everything away. They beat up our dog and used a gun to blast a window out in order to get in. Our window's didn't have sensors on them.

None of our neighbors heard or saw a thing.

Fast forward to living on Capitol Hill a few years later. It was August recess and most of us in the neighborhood were gone. My neighbors who lived in a brownstone and within the Capitol Hill police jurisdiction, had the entire contents of their home stolen while they were on vacation. A moving van pulled up and the thieves took everything, silverware -- everything.

At least the people were not in the homes at the time (although, poor dog!). Home invasion while people are inside is so frightening.

Yes, and let's please not all chime in with stories of home thefts that do not involve murders. We all have a few stories.

[Anonymous]

That family was specifically targeted. There are so many wealthy households in that area. Why them ? The person that did this knew the family.

I'm curious about the package brought to the house. Was the package expected ? And if it was, did the person dropping it off find it strange no one came to the door to collect it or was the person told to just leave it ? I wonder what was in the package.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did someone say upthread that there was a Christmas tour of the house where these master works were on display? If so, what is the basis of your knowledge of that?

The St Albans house tour at Christmas is an annual event. Anyone can attend: http://www.stalbansschool.org/CHT

1)While I think it's wonderful for families to open their homes for these types of events for a school fundraiser, I am also perplexed as to why they would want random people wandering through their homes. I've never been on a fundraising homes tour, but I would think it would be an excellent opportunity for professional thieves to case your home for a future burglarly.
2) I know the EU embassies had their open houses the weekend prior to the murders. The Belgian Embassy is around the corner. Maybe perps took opportunity to case neighborhoods during high foot traffic time when random visitors to the area wouldn't be thought of as strange?

1) Showing your wealth off.

There's no other reason.

[Anonymous]

I've read somewhere (WaPo?) that the street/neighborhood had a private security guard. Is that true? Can anyone comment on what that means -- a private guard walking up/down street or at street entrance? 24/7 coverage? If so, wouldn't that person see Porsche driving away with someone strange at wheel?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If alarm working why did smoke alarm not go off...that stays on whether alarm set or not and should dial fire department . I am Sta parent and a pp poster as I said before I have been in the house and the art work...not major artworks...some nice paintings ,some less so...not why they were there.

Have you been in the house since the house tour? They probably sensed the condescension from you and your ilk about their art and decor and went out and acquired some masterworks. So yes, it could have been the art.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've read somewhere (WaPo?) that the street/neighborhood had a private security guard. Is that true? Can anyone comment on what that means -- a private guard walking up/down street or at street entrance? 24/7 coverage? If so, wouldn't that person see Porsche driving away with someone strange at wheel?

The immediate neighborhood has a private security company that patrols that street and some of the adjacent ones and cul-de-sacs. A few other houses have their own private security officers (discreet, unmarked cars) from time to time-- not necessarily 24/7.
Because the neighborhood security vehicle drives around, it's possible the porsche drove off while the security car was at the other end of the street. Or it's possible they did see something that police aren't disclosing yet.

[Anonymous]

I live in Woodley adjacent to that neighborhood and walk my dog on Woodland. The private security is someone in a black "urban alarm" SUV. I dont know what they do other than drive up and down that street. I also have never seen the SUV go as far up Woodland as the Savopoulos home. I see it on the southern end of Woodland and on McGill Terrace. I assumed it was affiliated with the Argentina ambassador residence since that is the area in which the van consistently is patrolling.