WASHINGTON, D.C. – Hundreds of mourners, led by the two surviving daughters of the murdered family of business executive Savvas Savopoulos, filled the St. Sophia’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral on June 1 to say their final farewells.
White-flower covered caskets containing the remains of Savopoulos, 46, the American Iron Works CEO; his wife Amy, 47; and their 10-year-old son, Philip, were carried in for the somber ceremony.
The family, and a housekeeper, were killed allegedly for ransom money and tortured before being slain, police said.
A former employee of Savopoulos’ company, Daron Wint,34, was arrested in the quadruple murder a week after their bodies were discovered. Police said he may have had accomplices and their investigation is ongoing.
Abigail Savopoulos, 19; and her sister Katerina, 17; were away at boarding schools when their parents and younger brother were taken hostage inside of their multi-million-dollar mansion and murdered on May 14.
The two teenagers were seen solemnly escorted up the cathedral’s steps behind the white-gloved pallbearers, the Daily News reported. The sister stayed by each others’ sides.
The family and housekeeper Veralicia Figueroa, were stabbed and beaten to death before the home in an affluent area near Vice President Joe Biden’s residence was set ablaze.
Vince Liberto, whose uncle lives next door to the Savopouloses, stopped briefly outside the church and spoke to the Washington Post before heading inside.
“They were just warm and giving people,” Liberto told the newspaper.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser also attended the service at the Cathedral, which used an overflow room to accommodate all the mourners.
“This tragedy caused an explosion of love, of sympathy,” Archbishop Demetrios, who heads the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, said at the service, NBC News reported.
“What can we say? We are at the funeral of three people who suffered abruptly and unexpectedly… There are no tears enough.”
The funeral was closed to the media, but mourners said it was a traditional Greek Orthodox service conducted in Greek and English.
“It was really about their spirit, their personalities,” Jane Karas, who worked with Amy Savopoulos on the Washington National Opera’s women’s committee told the Post. “How giving, how thoughtful they were.”
Rocco Belmonte, who had business dealings with Savopoulos, said Archbishop Demetrios remembered him as a “humble, fair and compassionate” man who gave back to the community. Belmonte said Demetrios described Amy Savopoulos as unselfish and giving.
“He said Philip’s dreams were stolen, so we could not know the person he would have become,” Belmonte said of Demetrios.
The 90-minute service ended with a boys and girls choir singing a song in honor of Philip.
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