Local
Counseling work for troubled children may have lead to couple’s death in D.C.
By: Bill Myers
Examiner Staff Writer
November 24, 2008
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The bodies of Michael Spevak and his wife, Ginny, were found in their home in upper Northwest late Saturday, police said. Their car was discovered burning on a side street across town a few hours later.
Investigators are working from the theory the couple was killed by one of the youngsters Michael Spevak frequently counseled, an official with intimate knowledge of the unfolding case told The Examiner. Police were trying to keep a lid on the investigation, refusing to say how the Spevaks were killed or describe the state of the scene.
There was no evidence of forced entry however, according to the source, and the pair was found on the ground floor of their home. The source asked not to be named because they were not officially authorized to speak for the police department.
The slayings were discovered in the middle of another round of the “All Hands on Deck” anti-crime program, a treasured initiative of Chief Cathy Lanier that floods the city's streets with police in the hopes of deterring criminals.
But it wasn’t officers who discovered the bodies: A neighbor, worried about the Spevaks after not hearing from them, looked in the window Saturday evening and called 911, spokeswoman Traci Hughes told The Examiner.
Hughes said it was unfair to draw any conclusions about All Hands on Deck based on the case.
“Police can't be everywhere at all times,” she said. “I don’t know that the two are related.”
The pair was last heard from Thursday night, Hughes said.
The Spevaks were well known around their upper Northwest neighborhood. Michael Spevak, 68, led a petition drive in the 1980s that helped extend Metro's Red Line to Friendship Heights. He also lectured frequently on the treatment of mentally ill prisoners.
He and Ginny, 67 gave often to local charities and were committed environmentalists: In 2005, they converted their Belt Road home to solar power and put themselves on the National Solar Tour to spread the word.
The two also were signatories on a petition protesting schools’ Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s secretive budget deliberations. The chancellor eventually yielded to public pressure and promised to open her budget to closer scrutiny.
No one had been arrested in the case as of Sunday afternoon, Hughes said.
