Getting Away With Murder

This is the last installment of clues and information for the murder mystery of Robert Eric Wone. He was the attorney killed in 2006 in Washington, DC.  Documentation from the public record was presented, which included the 911 call, the observations of the two EMT’s and the crime scene as described by the Washington Metro Police. Links were provided to all public documents and pictures available to the public. We continue with the crime scene -

The Towel and the Bloody Knife: The Washington found police evidence technicians found a large white slightly bloody cotton towel on the floor near the bed. DNA confirmed that the few small stains and one slightly larger area of dried blood belonged to Robert Wone. The towel can be seen on the video. The blood spatter expert determined the towel was not use to apply pressure to any of Wone’s wounds. Victor Zaborsky told the 911 operator people were trying to stop the bleeding. The expert stated the patterns looked more like an individual held a bloody knife in one hand and the towel in the other. The blood on this knife was inconsistent with one that was used in a stabbing. Fibers from the towel were found on the knife, but no fibers from the victim’s shirt. This knife found on the bedside table and that came from the kitchen was not the murder weapon.

No Forced Entry/Nothing Stolen: Police investigation found no evidence of a break-in or anything stolen. There’s a seven foot security fence, locked security gate to the back yard and a security system.

Cadaver Dogs: Trained dogs used to detect human remains including blood searched the house. The dogs alerted handlers to blood in the lint trap of the dryer located just outside of Ward’s room. The second location was a drain within the secured courtyard at the back of the house. The drain was at the bottom of a set of stairs leading to the rear entrance of the basement. Near the drain was water holes used recently.

Ward’s bedroom is next to the guest room where the murder occurred. In a cabinet in Ward’s room the police found a three piece cutlery set box. The small knife was missing from the box.  A duplicate knife was obtained. It was found to be more consistent with the knife used to stab Wone than the one found near the body. The small knife to the Dylan’s set was never recovered.

A number of other items were found by police in Dylan’s room. The police recovered racks, shackles, metal and leather collars, wrist/ankle restraints, mouth gags, black spandex hoods, assorted clamps and clips, black clothes pins, , enema kit, metal penis rings, penis vices, assorted chains and locks, studded penis bindings, dildos, butt plugs, nipple suction devices, a electric current shock device, and a device used to force the wearer to drink another’s urine. The court sealed the list of the remaining items. Police also recovered books with highlighted pages on bondage, enslaving, inflicting pain for sexual gratification, sado-masochistic practices and more.

There was a New Yorker magazine found open to an article, “Late Works, Writers Confronting the End”, by John Updike. The court documents recorded the beginning of the article,” Last words, recorded and treasured in the days when the deathbed was in the home, have fallen from fashion, perhaps because most people spend their final hours in the hospital, too drugged to make any sense.” The article included a picture of William Shakespeare on his death bed. Wone’s body was position in a similar matter. Ward said he was reading in bed before the murder.

According to the Medical Examiner, the knife wounds on Mr. Wone’s torso seem to be “methodically” inflicted. The Medical Examiner concluded Mr. Wone was alive when stabbed. The knife did damage to major organs and blood vessels including the inferior vena cava. Such injuries should have resulted in major blood loss, much more than found in the guest room.  The conclusion was none of the knife wounds killed or rendered Mr. Wone immediately unconscious. There should have been defensive wounds on his hands. Blood was found in the intestines which mean Mr. Wone was alive for a considerable period after being stabbed. “He was digesting his own blood” as the digestive system continued to operate.

The Medical Examiner find several needle puncture marks  - on the left side of the neck, center of the chest, upper part of the right foot, and on the back of his left hand. These needle marks were not part of the emergency care Mr. Wone received in the house or at the hospital. However, the needle marks were caused while Wone was alive. There was no prior medical history noted for needle marks.  The petechial hemorrhage found in both eyes was consistent with suffocation like a pillow placed over someone’s face for the purpose of asphyxiation. There were no injuries due to manual strangulation.

A sex kit protocol was done. The semen found in the pubic-rectal areas, and thighs belonged to the victim according to DNA. Other finding suggested Wone was sexually assaulted. In summary, the Medical Examiner found evidence the Robert Wone was incapacitated during the stabbing. The wounds and internal bleed would have produce extreme pain, making it unlikely he just stayed still in bed, not seeking help. The EMT’s stated the bed was neat and undisturbed. The top sheet and comforter were folded down in a straight at a 45° to the bed itself. There was a neat indentation in the pillow.

The evidences demonstrated that Robert Wone was restrained, incapacitated, sexually assaulted and murdered inside 1509 Swann Street NW, Washington, DC on the evening of August 2, 2006. There was overwhelming evidence that Price, Zaborsky and Wade delayed calling for medical help – a 19-49 minutes delay. Mr. Wone was alive for quite awhile as shown by the digested blood in his intestines. The “scream” did not come from Wone because he was already incapacitated. Zaborsky admitted to police he screamed when he saw Mr. Wone’s body. The presence of semen and injections sites shows evidence of drugged by injection for a sexual assault. Mr. Wone was exclusively heterosexual. Neither Price, Zaborsky nor Ward had a sexual relationship with Wone.

Police were still at the Swann address after 5am on August 3, 2006. Drug dogs (trained to detect cocaine, marijuana and opiates) were searching the house and found Ecstasy pills. In Ward’s bedroom and in the bedroom shared by Price and Zaborsky, the indication the drugs were present at sometime.

When the detectives arrived at the Swann Street house, they noted Price, Zaborsky and Ward together in the living room, all wearing “crisp, white robes and appearing as if they’d showered.” Lawyer Price did the talking for all three residents. After the police separated them, the three were transported to the police station. In the meantime, a next neighbor in another house was interviewed. The room he occupied shares a common wall with the guest room in which Wone was murdered. He reported hearing a single scream during the broadcast of the 11pm news between 11-11:30pm. Wade was in the same house as Wone, in the next bedroom. He denied hearing anything. The first 911 call was placed at 11:49pm.

According to the statements Price, Zaborsky and Ward gave police, Wone arrived at 1509 Swann Street, NW at 10:30pm on August 2^nd. Mr. Wone, Price and Ward “shared a glass of water in the kitchen before retiring for the night.” Mr. Wone took a shower and went to sleep. A female tenant, who lived in a basement apartment, was out for the night. The 13-page affidavit surveys the lives of the three men living at the $1.2 million town house on Swann Street Northwest, their friendship, their romantic relationships -- and their alleged interfering in a four-year investigation into the slaying of Robert Wone. The affidavit pieces together circumstantial and forensic evidence that police say undermines the men's assertions that an intruder broke into their Dupont Circle home on the night of Aug. 2, 2006, climbed 16 wooden uncarpeted stairs to the second-floor guest room, and stabbed Wone three times with a kitchen knife.

Police say "there exists overwhelming evidence, far in excess of probable cause," that Price, Zaborsky and Ward obstructed justice by "altering and orchestrating the crime scene, planting evidence, delaying the reporting of the murder to the authorities, and lying to the police about the true circumstances of the murder." Prosecutors accused former Arent Fox partner Joseph Price and two of his housemates of cleaning up blood from the crime scene to cover up the murderer’s identity. All three of the defendants in the Robert Wone conspiracy trial were found not guilty by a D.C. Superior Court judge in June 2010. Judge Lynn Leibovitz acquitted the three housemates from the bench after explaining her verdict for about an hour.

The U.S. Attorney's Office made video from the D.C. Police interrogations of Joseph R. Price, 39, Victor J. Zaborsky, 44, and Dylan M. Ward, 39, after Wone's 2006 killing available. You can see and hear the men for yourself. Here are interrogations tapes.

In an article at Law.com,Cliff Keenan, deputy director of the Pretrial Services Agency and former head of the Superior Court division of the U.S. Attorney's Office, says the case recalls a lesson he gives to law students: "If a police officer hears a shot inside a room and goes in and sees a dead body on the floor and a smoking gun on the table and three persons pointing a finger at each other and not saying a word, the police officer would likely be able to articulate probable cause and arrest all three."

In court, though, without additional evidence, the case would founder, Keenan says: "In my hypothetical, you'd never be able to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. It's a case that may actually result in someone getting away with murder."