Do you know who murdered Robert Wone? On the night of August 2, 2006, Robert Eric Wone, a 32-year-old Asian American male, arrived at the Washington, D.C. townhouse of his college friend, Joseph Price. Wone, a lawyer working as the general counsel for Radio Free Asia, had arranged to stay the night to avoid a late drive back to his home in Oakton, Virginia. Less than two hours after his arrival, at 11:49 p.m., a 911 call was made from the residence by Victor Zaborsky, Price's domestic partner.
Paramedics arrived to a strangely calm scene. They found Wone lying on a pullout couch in a guest room with three stab wounds to his torso. He was pronounced dead at George Washington University Hospital shortly after midnight on August 3.
The circumstances of Wone's death were immediately suspicious to first responders and investigators. Despite the fatal stab wounds, there was very little blood at the scene, and no signs of a struggle or forced entry. Wone had no defensive wounds, leading police to believe he had been incapacitated before being killed. An autopsy later revealed puncture marks on his body, suggesting he may have been injected with a paralytic drug, though no toxins were found in his system. The autopsy also found evidence that Wone had been sexually assaulted. The state of the scene led paramedics to believe Wone might have been showered and redressed after being stabbed, and that the area had been cleaned.
The only other people in the house that night were Price, Zaborsky, and their roommate, Dylan Ward, who lived together in a polyamorous relationship. All three men claimed that an intruder had entered the house and killed Wone, a story the trial judge would later find unbelievable. Their calm demeanor on the night of the incident was noted as unusual by paramedics. Investigators quickly came to believe the crime scene had been tampered with and that the three residents were withholding information. A knife found near Wone's body was suspected to be a plant, while a missing knife from a set in Ward's room was considered more consistent with the wounds.
No one has ever been charged with the murder of Robert Wone. In late 2008, more than two years after the killing, Price, Zaborsky, and Ward were arrested and charged with obstruction of justice, conspiracy, and tampering with evidence. Prosecutors alleged they had altered the crime scene, planted evidence, and lied to the police about the true circumstances of the murder. Following a bench trial in 2010, all three men were acquitted of the charges. The judge, however, stated her belief that the men knew more than they were revealing.
In November 2008, Wone's widow, Katherine, filed a $20 million wrongful death lawsuit against the three men. The lawsuit alleged that they had negligently failed to help her husband, destroyed evidence, and conspired to obstruct the police investigation. The suit was settled in August 2011 for an undisclosed amount, with the three men agreeing to make payments to a memorial fund in Robert Wone's name. The murder of Robert Wone remains an unsolved and baffling case, marked by strange evidence and unanswered questions.
