A man accused in the murder of a wealthy Washington family and their housekeeper has been arrested a week after authorities said the family was killed and their mansion was set on fire.

Daron Dylon Wint, 34, was arrested in north-east Washington around 11pm on Thursday by members of a fugitive task force and charged with first-degree murder while armed, DC police and US marshals said. Investigators had previously been seeking him in New York City.

Police have not detailed why Wint might have wanted to kill 46-year-old Savvas Savopoulos; his 47-year-old wife, Amy; their son, Philip; and housekeeper Veralicia Figueroa. Three of the four victims had been stabbed or bludgeoned before the fire.

Police said Thursday that Wint, a certified welder, had worked for Savopoulos’s company, American Iron Works, in the past. Savopoulos was the CEO of American Iron Works, a construction materials supplier based in Hyattsville, Maryland, that has been involved in major projects in downtown Washington.



Police said on Thursday that they had not ruled out the possibility that other people were involved in the slayings but no other suspects have been identified.

Wint was born and raised in Guyana and moved to the United States in 2000, when he was almost 20 years old, according to court records filed in Maryland. He joined the Marine Corps that same year and was discharged for medical reasons, the records show. Following his discharge he worked as a certified welder, the records show.

The Savopouloses lived in a $4.5m home in Woodley Park, a neighborhood where mansions are protected by fences and elaborate security systems and local and federal law enforcement officers are a constant presence, in part because the official residence of Joe Biden, the vice-president, is nearby.

The Savopouloses had two teenage daughters who were away at boarding school at the time of the slayings. Relatives of the victims have made few public statements and have not returned calls from the AP. Representatives of American Iron Works have repeatedly declined to comment.