Robert Eric Wone was murdered in Washington, D.C., in August 2006 in the home of a college friend, Joe Price. Wone, who was 32 years old at the time, was a lawyer living in suburban Oakton, Virginia, but had been working as general counsel at Radio Free Asia in downtown Washington, D.C. He had stayed the night at the home of friends located about one mile from his office. According to police affidavits, Wone was believed to have been "restrained, incapacitated, and sexually assaulted" before his death. The residents of the home – Joe Price, Victor Zaborsky, and Dylan Ward – contended that the murder was committed by an intruder unknown to them; the trial judge found this unbelievable.
Within days of the murder, D.C. police alleged that the crime scene had been tampered with, but no charges were filed for over two years. In late 2008, police charged Price, Zaborsky, and Ward with obstruction of justice and conspiracy related to alleged tampering with the crime scene. The men were acquitted of the charges in June 2010. No one has been charged with Wone's killing. In November 2008, Wone's widow, Katherine Wone, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Price, Zaborsky, and Ward; the suit was settled on August 3, 2011, for an undisclosed sum and agreement.
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Crime
Late on August 2, 2006, Robert Eric Wone was fatally stabbed while staying overnight at a Swann Street, NW rowhouse in the Logan Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C., owned by Joseph Price (aka Joseph Anderson) and his domestic partner Victor Zaborsky, where they lived with Dylan Ward (aka Dylan Thomas) in a polyamourous relationship as a family. Wone had gone to Price's residence at approximately 10:30 PM after working late, as had been arranged days before. Neighbors reported hearing a scream, later identified as Zaborsky's, during the 11:00 PM newscast (i.e., before 11:35 PM). Zaborsky made a 9-1-1 call at 11:49 PM, and paramedics arrived five minutes later, followed by the police. Price phoned Wone's wife, and Wone was pronounced dead at George Washington University Hospital at 12:24 AM on August 3.
Price, Zaborsky, and Ward all initially spoke with the police without attorneys, and video recordings of those interviews were shown at the subsequent conspiracy trial. They denied any involvement in the death and speculated that an intruder had killed Wone. The three also denied any sexual relationship with Wone, and Wone's family has described him as both "straight and happily married". All three men attended Wone's funeral, where Price served as a pallbearer. Eric Holder, who at that time worked at Covington & Burling, called Wone "a kind and gentle man" who was "killed in the most horrible of ways".
Investigation
Paramedics responding to the emergency call "found the three residents' calm behavior unusual; none was screaming or even helping direct the paramedics". According to Ward's attorney, detectives who interrogated the three housemates on the night of the murder informed them that they were the main suspects in the case, and asked many sexually charged, accusatory questions. Three days after the murder, the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit of the D.C. police were called in, but unit head Sgt. Brett Parson declined to discuss the unit's involvement. Within two weeks of the murder, police publicly alleged that the crime scene had been tampered with. Investigators spent more than three weeks examining the townhouse in detail, "removing flooring, pieces of walls, a chunk of staircase, the washing machine, even sink traps". Allegations that the area around Wone's body had been cleaned were revealed in an affidavit in support of a search warrant for homeowner Joseph Price's offices at the D.C. law firm of Arent Fox.
