DC DC - Robert Wone, 32, Washington DC, 2 Aug 2006

[jmcmnr]

I came to Websleuths specifically for this case. As someone experienced in BDSM, I have a theory. You see, the electrical stimulation toy is not for beginners. A lot of people want to put them anywhere on the body and if run across the chest, they can stop the heart. Due to some details like the lack of external bleeding from the stab wounds, I just have to wonder if they accidentally did this to Robert (regardless of his consent) and then panicked. The problem is, death by this matter leaves no trace, so I don't see how it could be proven.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

But from what I understand, they could tell that his heart was beating when he was stabbed...
I thought the same thing. That the stabbing was an afterthought of an accidental overdose or another type of accident.
But when they said he was alive when he was stabbed, that brings up a whole new group of scenarios.

 

[Pennywise 78]

They got away with it.

Totally!!! What really BLOWS my mind is that this "person" was a huge advocate for gay rights!! Are you kidding me?! This whole case is a cluster ! Disgusting, senseless, and sad!

 

[taylorss]

Recent podcasts on this case got me thinking about it again! Casefile & also an Audible podcast. It’s a perfect case for here, it just came along 10 years or so too early. The local website covering it, Who
Murdered Robert Wone, was like a mini version of this place with just a few posters picking it apart. It’s a great site w serious research, legal docs etc.

So there are 4 potential perps / involved parties - the three guys who lived in the house, Joe JP, Victor VZ & Dylan DW, plus JP’s ne’er-do-well bro Michael MP (tho any role for MP was speculative IIRC).

there are also separate considerations for the murder & the coverup. It seems that at least 3 of these guys, & probably all 4, were involved in the cover- & cleanup. (VZ’s panicked call to 911 seems clearly staged; MP’s only absence from a training class occurred that evening.)

But who killed Robert Wone?? And why?? There’s nothing to suggest anyone in that house wanted him dead, or that he had any enemies - all reporting suggests he was a beloved & widely admired guy. If this murder happened now there’d probably be more consideration of possible involvement by Chinese (PRC) agents…. but those were more naive times, and IDK if such theories got much of a look….

Anyone else still bothered by this case?? Any theories on what happened & how?… was it JP and DW, or just one of them? Was Robert a willing participant in some recreational naughtiness that got out of hand, leading to a panicked coverup? Or was he simply preyed upon by his old friend?

I’ve heard references to bits of evidence that I’d really like to know more about…. hoping this one will catch on again & get sleuthed out for real

 

[taylorss]

Hmm it looks like a few posts were deleted or didn’t make it thru the upgrade

 

[Betty P]

Hmm it looks like a few posts were deleted or didn’t make it thru the upgrade

Sorry to see that. I wrote a detailed post about why I thought the roommates at the townhouse were responsible. I used to follow the website for Robert back then and agreed with their scenario.

Robert was an innocent victim lured in to an unfortunate situation. He seemed to hVe been given some type of paralytic drug, then sexually abused. The roommates thought he died, panicked and staged a murder as if committed by an intruder.

Robert had no defensive wounds, there was no sign of a struggle and there was very little blood despite a fatal stab wound.

Also, there was no real evidence of an intruder, no sign of breaking in or climbing over the back fence.

The roommates were smart and lucky. They followed Joe's instructions, kept their cool and stuck to their story. The DC police made a couple of mistakes in questioning and evidence gathering. It worked in the killers favor.

 

[kemo]

It’s pretty obvious that one or more of the roommates did something illegal to Robert that resulted in his death and all three conspired to cover it up. Beyond that, I am baffled.

If he was given something in his drink to render him unconscious, there is the possibility of some sort of sex game or experiment involving the “toys” that Dylan had. The tox screen was clean however. Are there drugs that are not tested for or otherwise are not identified but the testing that was done?

 

[weedemout]

I used to be on the "who murdered .." site too. It was such a brilliant squad. My opinion always differed from the rest. 1st I thought RW was an undercover gay man, then I read that affidavit and thought they planned to rape him and something went wrong and they felt they had to kill him. After delving in deep with the group I came to the conclusion that it was a planned thrill kill/murder and when RW screamed (I don't think it was Victor) that changed what they were going to do with the body. They were too afraid to move it out of the house, so they had to come up with a plan of how he was killed in the house.

I have to hand it to Joe, he did the one thing that killers almost never do when they find themselves in that situation...You stop worrying about how you will look and get rid of the evidence. It doesn't matter how bad you look if there is no evidence. just my 2 cents.

 

[taylorss]

IMO looking back now, have to doubt MOO that Robert was deliberately killed - let alone in a pre-planned way. IMO the skeptical (to put it mildly) observations of the paramedics cast a shadow over how everything about this story got reported.

Removing the filter of my previous assumption that “there was something wrong in that house,” there’s lots of other info that belongs more front & center - the guys at the Swann St house were prominent local community leaders with no criminal history, one a new partner at a major law firm - they had everything to lose & nothing to gain from murdering someone.

If for some reason they felt the need to murder someone anyway, IMO hard to imagine they’d choose to do it:

A) in their own $1m+ home

B) picking a victim who was an old, close family-esque friend

C) who was known to be there at the time by his wife & per a paper trail via email he’d exchanged w Joe to set it up…..

On another topic, reported evidence does NOT seem IMO to suggest that Robert was sexually assaulted, despite all the reporting otherwise. Idk how graphic I can get here & don’t want to cross any line….. but Robert had no bruising, abrasions or other injuries/marks in the relevant areas. The only evidence of SA was the presence of semen… but that fact was reported far & wide before the impt followup that it was only his own semen.. IMO most people hearing of a adult male lying alone in bed at night with no bruising or trauma below the belt & only his own semen present would not conclude he’d been the victim of SA.

IMO this case was defined in 2006 by medics calling the CS ‘unlike any other CS they’d seen before’… but looking back, what they describe sounds now like the normal scene at an OD - present survivors dazed & avoiding the medics as potential arrest threat…

Of course it seems clear that the guys acted together to conceal the real circumstances of Robert’s death. Apparently including stabbing him postmortem to create a fake COD….

Looking beyond deliberate murder, MOO maybe they had illegal drugs in their house that killed Robert. They might have preferred to report a murder by stabbing than an OD with them as supplier MOO

 

[weedemout]

Yes, few believed my line of thinking, but that is what opinions are for. I think people really don't want to fathom just really what a thrill kill means. It's been a long time and I forget what led me to my conclusions, but I remember the conclusion I came to.

From Victor rushing home early to Michael missing his only class, to Victor not being able to face Wone, those are signs that SOMETHING preplanned was going down.

 

[taylorss]

Yes, few believed my line of thinking, but that is what opinions are for. I think people really don't want to fathom just really what a thrill kill means. It's been a long time and I forget what led me to my conclusions, but I remember the conclusion I came to.

From Victor rushing home early to Michael missing his only class, to Victor not being able to face Wone, those are signs that SOMETHING preplanned was going down.

Thank u for bringing up Michael P’s missed class! This is the one piece of info I really want to know more about!! Don’t suppose you remember any details of that class’s timing etc?

IIRC it was a phlebotomy class in which he had “perfect attendance” except for the night of Robert’s death (8/2/06). I would love to know the time of the class & also how many sessions it ran. If it met EG once a week for three weeks, IMO feels less impt that MP missed class 8/2 cuz he only made it to two others so not really an established pattern. But if it was EG two classes a week for eight weeks straight, that one missed class sticks out a lot more MOO…

but even more important is the time of that class! Robert got to Swann St around 10:30 & Victor called 911 at 11:49…… could the class have been that late at night?? If not, & if we think MP was involved in whatever went down, your point about pre-arrival activity is right on IMO.

But MOO that doesn’t change the near-impossibility of this being a planned attack… so I’m looking more at- was MP maybe at the Swann St house that night hanging out with the guys? Did he bring along his stash, & is that what killed Robert? (Altho we know MP struggled with years of drug addiction, IDK anything re his drug of choice…)

August 2006 was around when fentanyl was beginning to show up & ODs were starting to rise, but LE mostly wasn’t caught onto it yet. We all know now that this evil poison can kill in even trace amounts, including people who thought they were taking something else per a legit prescription (such as Prince IIRC) & people who accidentally let a few bits of it touch their skin.

I heard on a recent podcast that Robert’s body wasn’t tested for fentanyl. No fentanyl, other opiates, or other OD-associated drugs were found in the Swann St house. (IIRC all LE found was small amounts of “ecstasy” in both bedrooms.) So maybe MP was there hanging out in the evening, accidentally killed Robert with whatever poison he had on him, then took his poison & fled. And the Swann St guys, with their friend already beyond saving, decided a loony coverup was a better option than exposing themselves & MP to possible prosecution … all my own speculation of course JMO

Also …. the narrative the guys told about Robert’s arrival always had this weird detail front & center of how they ‘had a glass of water’ in the kitchen as they talked when he first got there. Who gathers around glasses of water?? As I see it, if my friend shows up & I offer him a drink & he says ‘just some water,’ that’s basically a no …. & in my later telling, I’d probably say ‘we just sat & talked,’ not ‘we all had a glass of water together.’ moo

There was even the also-weird detail of how Joe ‘saw a spider or something’ on the outside light & went to check it, possibly leaving the door open when he returned, ‘and then we re-filled Joe’s water glass & soon we went to bed etc’

this weird over-emphasis on the negligible act of drinking water together was always a head-scratcher…. Makes me wonder if whatever killed Robert was something consumed by mixing into water - maybe MP or another guy was planning to take it himself but it was accidentally served to Robert? Or maybe it’s less specific than that, like just that they knew Robert been poisoned & wanted to lay groundwork, if the poison was discovered, for asserting that its source was the externally controlled water supply & kitchen faucet, not their fridge. ??? More speculation MOO

Finally… as I said above, the CS described by medics sounds to me IMO exactly like the then-rare/now-common scene of an accidental & unforeseen OD - so en re an opiate OD, could that have created the broken blood vessel in one of Robert’s eyes that was thought to be the result of partial suffocation / strangulation insufficient to cause death?? AFAIK an opiate OD often involves suffocation as the respiratory system quits…. could this suffocation cause the blood-vessel mark in the victim’s eye?

apologies for this epic post length!! There’s just so much to say about this crazy story

 

[LetsSolvIt]

Reading all this a few months after the last post in October… horribly tragic story. Don’t remember it when it happened but this week listened to Missing Pieces podcast: “Mystery on Swann Street” | Fox 5 DC, Fall 2019

I agree there was an over emphasis on “sharing water together.” I believe that’s where it all started. They drugged him then with something like a “date-rape drug,” and then when he was really whoozie they administered paralyzing injections.

I’d say the ME goofed up big time, which isn’t surprising. MOO. Until very recently the DC medical examiner’s office has had a horrible reputation. MOO. She reports seeing all the injection marks but doesn’t take her tox screen testing beyond the routine. IMHO that was a major negligence.

Second red flag that went up for me was RW’s t-shirt. In the affidavit one of the Swann St boys reports lifting his shirt to see blood on RW’s chest. I am certain if he was still alive when stabbed (as he must have been if he was digesting his own blood) his shirt would have been blood soaked… unless, of corse, he was showered post mortem and redressed.

With luminal testing available and very little blood evidence found, I can’t believe the murder actually took place in that house on Swann St. But I can’t guess at where it did happen. Rinsing off with a hose in the back garden isn’t going to be sufficient. And they don’t mention in evidence that there was water splashed or puddles near that drain, and in my experience even in hot weather there should have been water on pavement and/or walls near the drain.

Blood is one of the worst stains to remove from clothing and sheets. I know the cadaver dog alerted at the drain and the dryer vent, but they really didn’t have enough time to run a load of laundry and dry it. What happened to the bloody clothes, sheets, etc.? What happened to the murder weapon? … unless they called someone to drive up and quickly take those items away… like a brother? Just my musings.

MOO. MOO.

I certainly wish LE would revisit this cold case!

 

[dotr]

''Feb 23, 2023 #Peacock #OfficialTrailer

Who Killed Robert Wone? is streaming March 7th on Peacock: https://pck.tv/3XzPVui Synopsis: On the night of August 2, 2006, Victor Zaborsky calls 911 to report an intruder stabbing a friend at the D.C. home he shares with Joe Price and Dylan Ward. First responders arrive to find attorney Robert Wone already dead in the guest room. With little blood at the scene and no signs of struggle or robbery, suspicions heighten after police interview the three housemates. Believing the men know more than they are revealing, the investigation soon uncovers more questions than answers. Unthinkable twists and turns surface, leaving friends questioning how well they knew the three men and police struggling to nail down answers. Ultimately, prosecutors bring an unusual set of charges against the three residents -- but not for murder. As Price, Zaborsky and Ward maintain their innocence and fight to clear their names, those close to Robert seek the truth and try to heal from unimaginable loss.''

Who Killed Robert Wone? (TV Mini Series 2023) ⭐ 7.1 | Documentary, Crime

| TV-MA

www.imdb.com

Mar 5, 2023

How was Robert Wone killed? Peacock docu reexamines most puzzling homicide in DC's history

In 2006, a Chinese-American named Robert Wone was brutally killed in Washington, DC and is still one of the most puzzling homicides cases in the history of the state

meaww.com

''During the 11 pm newscast, a family living quite close heard a scream coming out of the rowhouse. The police records show that Zaborsky made a 9-1-1 call at 11:49 pm, and the paramedics arrived five minutes later. A few moments later, the officers from the Metropolitan Police Department also reached there to investigate the crime scene. A call was made to his wife and she rushed to the George Washington University Hospital where Wone was pronounced dead at 12:24 am.

According to the Police affidavits, Wone was “sexually assaulted” before his murder and claimed that the crime scene had been tampered with. Also, the paramedics found the behavior of Price, Zaborsky, and Ward pretty “unusual” because they were calm and none of them were screaming or helping the paramedics. During the interrogation, all three men denied having any sexual relationship with Wone and said that they had nothing to do with Wone’s death. Meanwhile, Wone’s family vehemently denied all the allegations of him being gay or bi-sexual and stated that he was “straight and happily married.”

 

[Betty P]

''Feb 23, 2023 #Peacock #OfficialTrailer

Who Killed Robert Wone? is streaming March 7th on Peacock: https://pck.tv/3XzPVui Synopsis: On the night of August 2, 2006, Victor Zaborsky calls 911 to report an intruder stabbing a friend at the D.C. home he shares with Joe Price and Dylan Ward. First responders arrive to find attorney Robert Wone already dead in the guest room. With little blood at the scene and no signs of struggle or robbery, suspicions heighten after police interview the three housemates. Believing the men know more than they are revealing, the investigation soon uncovers more questions than answers. Unthinkable twists and turns surface, leaving friends questioning how well they knew the three men and police struggling to nail down answers. Ultimately, prosecutors bring an unusual set of charges against the three residents -- but not for murder. As Price, Zaborsky and Ward maintain their innocence and fight to clear their names, those close to Robert seek the truth and try to heal from unimaginable loss.''

Who Killed Robert Wone? (TV Mini Series 2023) ⭐ 7.1 | Documentary, Crime

| TV-MA

www.imdb.com

Mar 5, 2023

How was Robert Wone killed? Peacock docu reexamines most puzzling homicide in DC's history

In 2006, a Chinese-American named Robert Wone was brutally killed in Washington, DC and is still one of the most puzzling homicides cases in the history of the state

meaww.com

''During the 11 pm newscast, a family living quite close heard a scream coming out of the rowhouse. The police records show that Zaborsky made a 9-1-1 call at 11:49 pm, and the paramedics arrived five minutes later. A few moments later, the officers from the Metropolitan Police Department also reached there to investigate the crime scene. A call was made to his wife and she rushed to the George Washington University Hospital where Wone was pronounced dead at 12:24 am.

According to the Police affidavits, Wone was “sexually assaulted” before his murder and claimed that the crime scene had been tampered with. Also, the paramedics found the behavior of Price, Zaborsky, and Ward pretty “unusual” because they were calm and none of them were screaming or helping the paramedics. During the interrogation, all three men denied having any sexual relationship with Wone and said that they had nothing to do with Wone’s death. Meanwhile, Wone’s family vehemently denied all the allegations of him being gay or bi-sexual and stated that he was “straight and happily married.”
View attachment 408269

Thanks! I really want to see this. Such a senseless tragedy by some very evil people who pretended to be Robert's friends.

 

[IDK]

Thanks! I really want to see this. Such a senseless tragedy by some very evil people who pretended to be Robert's friends.

I want to see this too— how goes Peacock work? Do I need a subscription or is it possible to watch just one show?

 

[Betty P]

I want to see this too— how goes Peacock work? Do I need a subscription or is it possible to watch just one show've

Yes, you have to subscribe. The minimum fee is $4.99 a month. I've resisted subscribing, but there are a couple of shows I want to see there. Maybe just subscribe for 1 month and watch them all.

 

[IDK]

Yes, you have to subscribe. The minimum fee is $4.99 a month. I've resisted subscribing, but there are a couple of shows I want to see there. Maybe just subscribe for 1 month and watch them all.

Thank-you!

 

[LetsSolvIt]

''Feb 23, 2023 #Peacock #OfficialTrailer

Who Killed Robert Wone? is streaming March 7th on Peacock: https://pck.tv/3XzPVui Synopsis: On the night of August 2, 2006, Victor Zaborsky calls 911 to report an intruder stabbing a friend at the D.C. home he shares with Joe Price and Dylan Ward. First responders arrive to find attorney Robert Wone already dead in the guest room. With little blood at the scene and no signs of struggle or robbery, suspicions heighten after police interview the three housemates. Believing the men know more than they are revealing, the investigation soon uncovers more questions than answers. Unthinkable twists and turns surface, leaving friends questioning how well they knew the three men and police struggling to nail down answers. Ultimately, prosecutors bring an unusual set of charges against the three residents -- but not for murder. As Price, Zaborsky and Ward maintain their innocence and fight to clear their names, those close to Robert seek the truth and try to heal from unimaginable loss.''

Who Killed Robert Wone? (TV Mini Series 2023) ⭐ 7.1 | Documentary, Crime

| TV-MA

www.imdb.com

Mar 5, 2023

How was Robert Wone killed? Peacock docu reexamines most puzzling homicide in DC's history

In 2006, a Chinese-American named Robert Wone was brutally killed in Washington, DC and is still one of the most puzzling homicides cases in the history of the state

meaww.com

''During the 11 pm newscast, a family living quite close heard a scream coming out of the rowhouse. The police records show that Zaborsky made a 9-1-1 call at 11:49 pm, and the paramedics arrived five minutes later. A few moments later, the officers from the Metropolitan Police Department also reached there to investigate the crime scene. A call was made to his wife and she rushed to the George Washington University Hospital where Wone was pronounced dead at 12:24 am.

According to the Police affidavits, Wone was “sexually assaulted” before his murder and claimed that the crime scene had been tampered with. Also, the paramedics found the behavior of Price, Zaborsky, and Ward pretty “unusual” because they were calm and none of them were screaming or helping the paramedics. During the interrogation, all three men denied having any sexual relationship with Wone and said that they had nothing to do with Wone’s death. Meanwhile, Wone’s family vehemently denied all the allegations of him being gay or bi-sexual and stated that he was “straight and happily married.”
View attachment 408269

Thanks for posting this. The case really upset me, Wone seemed like a great person — it was so undeserved and the three house mates sounded so unscrupulous. I guess also this bothered me because when I worked in D.C. I realize now my bus went by the house. I know Swann St.

 

[Veronica Sawyer]

I wonder if poppers were involved and maybe Robert had an adverse side effect? It’s a fairly popular sexual enhancer among gay men that is typically inhaled. Toxicology wouldn’t have tested for it either.

 

[Betty P]

I wonder if poppers were involved and maybe Robert had an adverse side effect? It’s a fairly popular sexual enhancer among gay men that is typically inhaled. Toxicology wouldn’t have tested for it either.

Because of the needle marks found in Robert's neck and elsewhere on his body, plus the lack of defensive wounds, many assume he was given some type of drug that didn't show up on the drug tox tests done later by the ME. It would have been a type of drug that wasn't part of the routine drug tox panel the ME tested or it was one that dissipated quickly. One theory is that it was a drug like ketamine.

Toxicology Report in Wone Case Details Blood Tests Performed

Robert Wone Craig and Doug over at the excellent (and relentless) Who Murdered Robert Wone? site offered an update this morning on the now 3 1/2-year-old murder case. In their latest post, they've published the 10th and final page of the toxicology report prepared by the DC Office of the Chief...

dcist.com

Robert wasn't a drug user, so needle marks are very suspicious, as was the scream heard coming from the apartment about an hour before someone called 911. Then, the fact that he was fatally stabbed while still alive makes it more unusual.

I still agree with his friends and family that he was given a paralytic or similar drug by one of the roommates while he was sexually assaulted. After, they panicked that he was dead and staged a crime scene with actual stabbing. In reality, he was still alive.


Yikes, 17 years since Robert Wone was murdered. This was one of the first cases I began following that brought me to WS.

Who Murdered Robert Wone – Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied

 

[Veronica Sawyer]

Because of the needle marks found in Robert's neck and elsewhere on his body, plus the lack of defensive wounds, many assume he was given some type of drug that didn't show up on the drug tox tests done later by the ME. It would have been a type of drug that wasn't part of the routine drug tox panel the ME tested or it was one that dissipated quickly. One theory is that it was a drug like ketamine.

Toxicology Report in Wone Case Details Blood Tests Performed

Robert Wone Craig and Doug over at the excellent (and relentless) Who Murdered Robert Wone? site offered an update this morning on the now 3 1/2-year-old murder case. In their latest post, they've published the 10th and final page of the toxicology report prepared by the DC Office of the Chief...

dcist.com

Robert wasn't a drug user, so needle marks are very suspicious, as was the scream heard coming from the apartment about an hour before someone called 911. Then, the fact that he was fatally stabbed while still alive makes it more unusual.

I still agree with his friends and family that he was given a paralytic or similar drug by one of the roommates while he was sexually assaulted. After, they panicked that he was dead and staged a crime scene with actual stabbing. In reality, he was still alive.


Yikes, 17 years since Robert Wone was murdered. This was one of the first cases I began following that brought me to WS.

Who Murdered Robert Wone – Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied

Would ketamine take effect instantly though? Because if not, my only gripe with that theory is that I would imagine someone being injected with a needle as many times would’ve felt something and reacted, even subconsciously. Yet we know his body showed no signs of struggle and that every mark found on his body were just as clean.

With that said, if he was a deep sleeper he might not have felt the injections.

I’ve always leaned towards the ‘sex act gone wrong’ theory. I don’t know if needle play is a thing but seeing as the perpetrators were into BDSM and seemed to have a kink for torture it would not surprise me if they poked and prodded at Robert with a needle for sexual purposes.

I truly hate to insinuate anything about Robert’s sexual identity and I know the trio were adamant about Robert being straight, but when I think about how careful they were to not leave noticeable marks on Robert I can’t help but ask - was that to protect themselves? Or could it have been to protect Robert from his wife asking questions he himself was not prepared to answer once he eventually got home? And in that case, was the motivation for their coverup (their collective ‘stabbed by an intruder’ theory) to preserve an image? Their own (Price being a prominent attorney and Victor a well respected activist, responsible for the celeb heavy ‘Got Milk?’ campaign) and perhaps to a lesser extent, Robert’s. Because if by chance what happened that night had been a consensual sex act gone wrong then trying to frame it as a murder by intruder actually makes some sense to me. Had their coverup actually worked and been believed then the personal and professional images of all four of these men as well as their respective bedroom proclivities would have no doubt been preserved and protected. Keeping their sexual lifestyles under wraps and maintaining outward social status may have been the primary motivator for the coverup.

In the end it all blew up in their faces and everything they wanted to keep hidden was revealed. What they were into in private was put on blast. Price, the dominant hotshot attorney would be outed in court docs as a submissive and Ward would see his extensive collection of “toys” be photographed, catalogued and analyzed. Karma really took their shared humiliation kink to a new level…

In a way, justice may not have gotten them but I’d like to believe they were hit where it hurt them the most— ego, reputation, prominence, luxury, peace, privacy, etc.


/JMO