Melanie Alnwick FOX 5 DC
September 13 at 3:15 PM ·
The #MansionMurders Trial Day 3, Sept 13 2015
Nellie Gutierrez, the
#Savopolous family’s second housekeeper, was the star witness of the morning.
She owns her own cleaning business, and you can tell she’s the boss by her style. Nellie is wearing black patent sling back heels, a matching black Tori Burch handbag, and a wide black belt cinching her white lace mini-dress with a cut-out V neckline. Her hair is pinned back – and she steadies herself on the stand as she tells the jury how she met her friend Vera Figueroa, and how the Savopolous family always treated her well.
She talked about the last time she saw Savvas. It was early evening, sometime before 5:30 pm, Wednesday, May 13. Savvas had just received a call from his wife, Amy. Nellie said when Savvas hung up the phone he asked her for a big favor - to close up the business for him. She said he told her “I have to leave because Amy made plans to go out and I have to stay with Philip.”
The next morning, Nellie picked up a voicemail that Savvas had left on her cellphone the night before. Prosecutors played the message:
“Hey Nellie, it’s Savvas. Amy is sick in bed tonight and she was … (there is an odd metallic sound, like thick bracelets clicking against each other) .. this afternoon,
and Vera offered to stay and help her out because we’re going through some stuff with Philip, so she’s going to stay the night here.” He explained that Vera was unreachable because her phone was dead, she didn’t have a charger and he didn’t have one that fit her phone, so could Nellie please “tell anyone who’s worried about her” that she was staying with the family that night. After a brief pause, Savvas continued.. “Oh, and could you please send me a text when you get the message? Thanks, Nellie. Goodnight”
As the voice of Savvas echoed across the courtroom, Nellie Gutierrez broke down. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” she sobbed. The judge called for the morning break. As Nellie left the courtroom, she paused at the bench where Savvas’ father, Philip sat. She leaned over onto him, still crying and apologizing - then exited the courtroom to compose herself.
After the break, Gutierrez testified that she worked at the Woodland Drive house on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while Vera worked there Monday through Friday. But, during the week of May 11-15, she was scheduled to help Savvas at his martial arts studio. They were getting ready for a grand opening on Friday May 15 and were way behind.
Amy Savopolous had instructed Nellie to take Vera to the studio with her on Wednesday May 13 – and that was the plan - until Vera changed her mind. Vera texted with Nellie on Tuesday night, May 12 at 9:56 pm, and told her she’d rather go to Washington to work at the house on Wednesday. Vera was concerned she’d have to work too late if she went to Chantilly with Nellie, and said she wanted to leave. She texted: “Y a mi hora me voy” - translated to “I will leave at my time”, which Nellie said was usually 3pm, but often Amy asked Vera to stay 20-30 minutes late if she had to run errands.
Lawyers squabbled quite a bit over this point. Defense attorney Jeffrey Stein tried to get Nellie to say Vera was clear she wanted to leave at 3.:00pm. When he cited her early testimony to the grand jury, Prosecutor Laura Bach said he needed to give her the page and line he was quoting from. Stein complied, then Bach went back to Nellie with her quote from a different page from the transcript. Stein shot back at her “page & line?” After a brief bench conference with Judge Juliet McKenna, the attorneys went back to their tables. Nellie stuck to her assertions that Vera left between 3 and 3:30, depending on the day.
Nellie also verified a text from Amy on Thursday, May 14 at 9:56 am: “ I am making sure you do not come today. if you could come from or Monday that would be great.”
There was back and forth over two other details as well: the dogs and who was at the Martial Arts studio Tuesday. Remember, the defense in its opening statements floated the idea the Savvas’ assistant Jordan Wallace may have had inside information that would help the alleged “other” perpetrators, Darrell & Stefon Wint, get into the house.
Nellie testified that on Tuesday May 12, she and her cleaning crew were at the studio, along with Savvas, construction workers, and Jordan Wallace. Stein pressed her - that on that particular day - the day before the murders - everyone understood that the plan was for Vera to go to Chantilly for work, not the home. The defense is leading into the idea that perhaps Jordan Wallace was aware the home would be unoccupied on Wednesday, May 13. Countering that suggestion, Laura Bach asked Nellie if she ever discussed who was scheduled to clean the studio with Jordan Wallace or if he was listening to her conversations. She said no to both. Nellie also asserted that on Wednesday, May 13 - the day of the break in - Jordan Wallace left the Chantilly studio between 3 and 3:30 pm.
As for the dogs, Ginger and Bear - Nellie testified that Ginger, the older female, was very protective and aggressive with strangers - but that Ginger was compliant when reprimanded and not hard to put in her crate. Bear, the puppy, was friendly. The defense tried to pick at that assertion, asking if Ginger had ever tried to attack people before. Yes, said Nellie, one of her employees - but added that the dog didn’t bite anyone, just tried to jump on them.
Other witnesses during the morning session included the president of a security company who was working with Savvas to get the home’s new system up and running. He testified that there were cameras outside the home, and “glass break” sensors in the kitchen, which he did not recommend because they often alert for normal household sounds that are not glass breaking.
The system was still in test / learning mode, and was never designed to be monitored live by anyone. It records on motion detection, sending recorded images to a hard drive stored on a Dell computer in a utility closet on the 3rd floor. The evening of Wednesday, May 13 - Savvas called him and wanted to know how to access the recorded video and whether it was stored in the cloud. Savvas was told no, it was brief conversation. There was a text message asking again how the cameras record, and on Thursday, May 14 - Savvas called again, wanting to confirm where the video is recorded.
At 1:07 pm, there was a system alarm for a glass break in the upstairs hallway.
at 1:22, an alert for gas trouble, then carbon monoxide, and at 1:35, fire.
Two other transactions during the hostage situation came into focus as well. The pizza delivery and the money pickup.
The man who drove out to 3201 Woodland Drive on the night of May 13 - was Ahmadou Diatta. He’s got a thick island accent, wide eyes and a small patch of hair on his chin. He smiled on the witness stand at first, then seemed to get nervous. Diatta testified that he delivered 2 pizzas to the home, that his manager told him the order and tip had already been charged to a credit card, and he was instructed to just leave the boxes on the doorstep. He recalled that the house was dark, except for the porch light - and admitted that was an unusual delivery, though he didn’t really care. A few days later he was visited by DC homicide detectives, and agreed to let them take a cheek swab sample from him. He said he did not know Daron Wint, Darrell Wint, or Stefan Wint.
Finally, the $40k cash. Elena Shepperd is a business banking specialist with Bank of America. American Iron Works was one of her top 5 clients. Shepperd has brown straight hair that falls just past her shoulders, and she tucks one side behind her right ear when she settles into the witness chair. She tells the jury that her main contact for American Iron Works, the company owned by Savvas Savopoulous, is Ted Chase, the Chief Financial Officer. But she also spoke many times over the phone with Savvas - enough to recognize his voice when he called the morning of May 14. Shepperd said it was early, between 8-9 am, and that Savvas’ request was unusual. He said he needed $40,000 to buy equipment and wanted a cash withdrawal that day. But, he was a good client and she wanted to keep him happy.
Shepperd told him she’d have to call around to find a branch that had enough cash on hand to fulfill his request. She said Savvas seemed rushed on the phone. She spoke to Savvas a short time later and explained what arrangements had been made. Savvas said Ted Chase would go pick up the money, using a stamp with Savvas’ signature as he was the only one authorized on that account.
Shepperd verified the arrangements with the local branch, then called the branch later to confirm that indeed, Ted Chase had been there to collect the $40k cash.
My colleague
Paul Wagner FOX 5 DC is covering the afternoon sessions. You can look for his reports on
Fox 5 DC , on our app and in our evening broadcasts.
Melanie Alnwick FOX 5 DC
Admin ·
September 13 at 5:58 PM
DAY 3 - AFTERNOON SESSION UPDATE FROM Paul Wagner FOX 5 DC:
The afternoon testimony in the Mansion murders trial featured several people who either had contact by phone with Savas and Amy in the hours they were being held hostage or had actually gone to the house on Woodland Drive.
The last witness of the day, Claudia Alfaro, became emotional as soon as she took the stand when the prosecutor asked her who she was.
Through tears she replied--"I am Vera's step daughter".
Vera Figueroa was one of two house keepers employed by the Savopoulos family who was murdered along with Savas, Amy and Philip.
Alfaro told the court on the morning of the 14th--the day of the murders-- her father told her Vera had not come home from work the night before and he was very worried about her. He asked Alfaro to go with him to the house on Woodland Drive.
She says they arrived sometime after nine and while she stayed in the car her father went up to the house. While he was away Alfaro began texting with her boy friend--describing the neighborhood they were in and sharing a picture of Amy's Porsche parked outside.
Prosecutors showed the jury a portion of those text messages which included the picture of the Porsche. The timestamp said 9:34 AM
Alfaro says after about 20 minutes her father came back and said there was no answer at the house.
Then, her fathers phone rang and Alfaro says she overheard the conversation. It was Savas calling to say "I'm really sorry--I'm really sorry I meant to call you last night. Amy became ill and Vera went with her to the hospital".
Savas promised to call back later with an update from the hospital. Alfaro told the court her dad was very uneasy but they decided to leave. She drove him home and then went to work.
When prosecutor Christopher Bruckmann asked her if she ever went back. Alfaro burst into tears and said yes. When asked why she replied "It is the graveyard".
Two other people testified about going to the house on the 14th or speaking with Amy over the phone.
Jose Villatoro told the court he worked for a sprinkler company and had gone to the house the morning of the 14th on a regular call. He says it was about 9 or 9:30 in the morning but when he went to the front door and rang the bell there was no answer. Villatoro says he noticed nothing out of the ordinary.
Villatoro's boss testified--hours later--he spoke with Amy on her cell phone. She wanted to cancel the appointment but sounded "very nervous".
She said her son had been injured and had to leave the house.
The jury also heard from Ted Chase. He was the CFO of American Iron Works in May of 2015.
Over the course of about 20 minutes of questioning Chase explained all the steps he went through in order to get 40 thousand dollars in cash to the house.
On the morning of the 14th Chase testified he got a call from Savas's sister in Florida who told him to call Savas.
Chase says he dialed his cell phone and Savas told him he wanted 40 grand delivered to the house. He says Savas's voice was "perfectly normal--northing out of the ordinary at all" But "I was concerned" Chase said, "mainly due to logistical concerns".
"I drafted a letter which I sent to Savas as an attachment...he signed it electronically and sent it back". Chase says he then got Jordon Wallace and they went to the Bank of America in Hyattsville where they were given the cash. He asked Wallace to come inside with him because he wanted "eyes" on the transaction.
Chase says the bank didn't have an envelope big enough -- so he put the money in his pants pockets and walked outside. He then handed the cash to Jordon Wallace who put it into an empty back pack and drove off.
Chase told the court he knew Wallace--who had been working as a go-for since 2013 and had no reason not to trust him. He says there was nothing suspicious about Wallace or his demeanor.
He says later that day reporters started calling the company asking about Savas. A co-worker then went on line and found a story about the house on fire.
The jury will not sit on Friday.
They will back in court Monday morning.
