By Clarence Williams and Aaron C. Davis
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
A 27-year-old Capitol Heights man was arrested yesterday and charged with felony murder in the killings of a couple, both social activists, who were found dead Saturday in their house in the Chevy Chase area of the District.
The suspect was identified by police last night as Peiro E. Fuentes Hernandez. Police said the motive was robbery, and they said the victims had apparently been targeted.
"This was not a random crime," D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said at a news conference. The deaths came in a part of the District where homicide is almost unheard of.
Police said the suspect was arrested about 4:15 p.m. yesterday, less than 72 hours after the discovery of the bodies of Michael Spevak, 68, a psychiatrist, and his wife, Virginia, 67, a former teacher.
Police released no information about the suspect at the news conference. However, a woman who said she is Hernandez's aunt and who lives in a Capitol Heights house searched by police yesterday said Hernandez came to this area last year and had been living in her house for several months.
Two police sources, who declined to be identified because the case is ongoing, said a key event in the investigation was the discovery Sunday morning of the Toyota Scion belonging to the Spevaks.
The car, which had been set on fire, was in the 500 block of Ingraham Street NW in a neighborhood about three or four miles east of where the Spevaks lived.
After finding the car, police searched the nearby area, taking custody of items that were described as evidence.
They also searched a house in the area and interviewed people living there.
Sources said that the investigation in the Ingraham Street area provided information that apparently led to the search of the premises in Capitol Heights.
The victims were found Saturday in their house, in the 5300 block of Belt Road NW, in a neighborhood where people speak highly of the couple and their long record of involvement in community and humanitarian activities.
It was not clear when they were killed. A daughter has said that she had not been able to reach them since Thursday. Nobody answered the door when neighbors went to the house Friday for a scheduled party.
When the Spevaks' bodies were discovered Saturday night, authorities were unable to make a firm determination of the cause of death. An autopsy indicated that they died of sharp and blunt force injuries. Authorities said they had found no sign of forced entry.
Other than asserting that the alleged robbery was not a random crime, authorities gave no public indication last night of any connection between the Spevaks and the suspect.
Lidya Fuentes, Hernandez's aunt, told a reporter last night that since March, he had been living in the basement of her house on Cypress Tree Place in Capitol Heights, a Prince George's County town near the D.C. border.
She said he apparently had a job with a company involved in contracting, whose truck showed up in the morning to pick him up. But she said she did not know exactly what his job was.
Fuentes said her nephew came to the area last year and had been living in her house and obeying its strict rules.
She said she understood that he had come from Texas and had immigrated to the United States at age 12 from El Salvador.
"I know he goes to work," she said. "I don't know what he does when he's not here.
"When he's home, he follows the rules," she added, which include no smoking or drinking and no company in his quarters.
Fuentes, who said she works as a babysitter, said police spent hours searching her home yesterday afternoon.
"I have no idea why they were here," she said.
She said a computer was taken from her nephew's room.
Fuentes said she had never heard her nephew say anything about the Spevaks.
She last saw her nephew yesterday morning when he was picked up by his apparent employer, she said.
A Prince George's police source, who declined to be identified, said he understood that Hernandez might have done work at some point at the Spevak home.
That information could not be confirmed last night.
At the news conference last night, officials singled out the work of two detectives, Anthony Greene and James Wilson. They have scarcely slept since the crime was discovered, officials said.
Officials declined last night to say whether other suspects were being sought in the killings.
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) attended the news conference at the 2nd Police District headquarters and praised the slain couple.
Michael Spevak saw patients in the family home, which was designed to be energy-efficient. He was a block captain. Virginia Spevak devoted time to helping youths in the District's foster care program. They were active in many other ways.
A friend of hers has said that Virginia Spevak "believed deeply that those who have had a more privileged life have a real responsibility to advocate for people whose lives are harder."
"I really think they represented the best of this city," the mayor said.
Staff writer Martin Weil contributed to this report.
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