Who Killed Robert Wone? Murder Trial Heats Up
The most heated topic at D.C. cocktail parties this summer is the long-awaited trial of three male house mates accused of covering up the murder of Robert Wone. The salacious case involves three prominent, professional men—Joseph Price, Dylan Ward andVictor Zaborsky—who live together in Dupont Circle as a “family” in a “poly-amorous” relationship. Price and Zaborsky share a bedroom and a romantic relationship, while Price and Ward have a dominant-submissive sexual relationship.
In 2006, Price’s college friend Wone, who was married, intended to spend the night in the guest room after working late. Within 75 minutes of arriving at the house, Wone was dead on the pull-out couch with several stab wounds. Zaborsky called 911 and said an intruder had stabbed his friend.
At the scene, the EMTs and police immediately suspected the three men of involvement in the crime because of their calm demeanor and the oddly clean crime scene. The search warrant affidavit reads like an X-rated version of the game of Clue: sex toys, torture devices, sado-masochistic (S&M) devices, a bloody knife, a missing knife and a mouth guard.
As of yet, no one has been charged with the murder. Price, Ward and Zaborsky are on trial for conspiracy, obstruction of justice and crime scene tampering. The courtroom has been jammed with spectators, including four bloggers who track every detail of the case on the website Who Killed Robert Wone, which is a real-time account of the trial.
The cocktail party circuit buzzes with each new salacious detail of this unsolved murder. Many believe strongly that the three men are innocent and are being railroaded by D.C. police and prosecutors because of homophobia and judgment of their sexual behavior.
Yet, others believe that the men have committed the perfect murder by cleaning up the crime scene, blaming an intruder as the “real killer” and by holding together in their story, getting away with murder.
While the prosecution continued to presents its case on June 1, Wone’s family and friends remembered that it’s also his birthday. If Wone had not been murdered, he would have turned 36 on Tuesday.
