The Mysterious Murder of Robert Wone

The paramedics found Robert Wone lying on a guest bed, his T-shirt perfectly smoothed, the sheets barely disturbed, and his three housemates standing nearby—calm, composed, not a single one of them attempting CPR.

Robert Eric Wone was born on June 1, 1974, in New York City and grew up as a fourth-generation Chinese American. He graduated from the College of William & Mary, where he forged several close friendships that would later shape the trajectory of his adult life. Later, he attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School, setting himself up for a promising legal career. By the time he was 32, Robert Wone was general counsel for Radio Free Asia in Washington, D.C., respected in his field, and newly married to Katherine Wone. The couple lived in Oakton, Virginia, but Robert often worked late and maintained ties with the friends he’d made during his college years.

One of those friends was Joseph Price, an attorney who lived with his domestic partner Victor Zaborsky and their housemate Dylan Ward. The three men shared a large townhome at 1509 Swann Street NW, in a quiet, tree-lined area of Washington, D.C. Their household was unconventional. Price and Zaborsky were partners, but all three were involved in a polyamorous relationship, a detail largely private but later crucial to the public’s fascination with the case.

The night of August 2, 2006, began like any other. Robert Wone worked late and attended a law seminar downtown. Rather than face a long commute to Oakton, he arranged to spend the night at Price’s house. He arrived at 1509 Swann Street at roughly 10:30 PM, greeting his friends and settling in for what was meant to be an ordinary overnight visit.

Less than ninety minutes later, at 11:49 PM, Victor Zaborsky dialed 9-1-1. On the call, his voice was measured as he told dispatchers that a guest had been stabbed in the house by an alleged intruder. Emergency personnel arrived minutes later and found Robert Wone on a pull-out bed in the guest room. Three precise stab wounds marked his torso—each one cleanly delivered, targeting the heart, pancreas, and right lung. There was almost no blood on the bed, the floor, or even on Wone’s clothing. The knife found at the scene, left next to Wone’s body, did not match the dimensions of his wounds. Paramedics noted that no one at the scene seemed panicked or was performing first aid. Robert Wone was pronounced dead at 12:24 AM on August 3.

The investigation began immediately. Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department took statements from all three residents. Joseph Price, Victor Zaborsky, and Dylan Ward each insisted that an unknown intruder had entered the home, stabbed Wone while they were upstairs, and somehow exited without being seen or heard. The men said they heard a “chime” on their security system, found Robert wounded, and called for help.

But the details did not add up. The house showed no signs of forced entry. There were no muddy footprints, no evidence of a struggle, and the only indication anything was amiss was the guest lying stabbed on the bed. The wounds themselves drew immediate attention. The medical examiner described them as “perfectly even,” almost surgical, and noted something even more peculiar: Robert Wone had no defensive injuries. He had not raised his hands to protect himself. There were no cuts, no bruises, nothing to indicate resistance.

The autopsy revealed further disturbing details. Traces of Robert’s semen were found on his genitals and in his rectum. The examiner also discovered six needle marks on his body, but toxicology tests found no common drugs or toxins. Petechial hemorrhages—tiny broken blood vessels—were visible on Robert’s eyelids, a sign of possible suffocation or oxygen deprivation. These findings suggested that Robert had been incapacitated, possibly restrained, and sexually assaulted before his death.

Physical evidence in the room raised even more questions. There was very little blood, a detail the medical examiner considered highly unusual, given the depth and location of the wounds. Blood should have pooled under the body, soaked into the mattress, or at the very least, stained the sheets. Instead, the scene was nearly pristine. The knife placed near Wone was clean, and its blade did not match the wounds. Investigators soon found that a knife was missing from a cutlery set in Dylan Ward’s room. They believed that missing knife was the true murder weapon, disposed of before authorities arrived.

As the crime scene was processed, the behavior of the three residents continued to trouble investigators. Paramedics and police noted their composure, their lack of visible shock, and the absence of any attempt to help the dying man. The house was orderly, no one appeared to have searched for an intruder, and the only evidence of distress was the 9-1-1 call itself.

The police affidavit would later allege that Robert Wone was “restrained, incapacitated, sexually assaulted, and murdered inside 1509 Swann Street,” and that the three residents obstructed justice by altering the crime scene and lying to authorities. Investigators stated their belief that the scene had been cleaned, blood removed or hidden, and evidence staged to fit the story of a mysterious, vanishing attacker.

Over the following months, detectives interviewed friends, colleagues, the victim’s widow Katherine, and neighbors. The investigation focused intensely on the relationships between the three residents, their activities, and the timeline of events the night of Robert’s death. Officers scrutinized computer records, cell phone logs, and security system data, searching for any anomaly or missing piece. Still, no evidence could be found of a break-in, and nothing was reported stolen. Police and prosecutors struggled with the lack of a clear motive or suspect.

For two years, the case dragged on without an arrest. In October 2008, Dylan Ward was arrested and charged with obstruction of justice. A month later, Joseph Price and Victor Zaborsky were also arrested and charged with obstruction. By December 2008, all three were facing additional conspiracy charges. The prosecution theory was that the men had coordinated to mislead police, tampered with evidence, and possibly participated in the killing itself.

In preparation for trial, both sides gathered evidence and prepared arguments. The prosecution focused on inconsistencies in the men’s statements, the physical impossibility of an unknown intruder entering and leaving unnoticed, and the signs of cleanup. They highlighted the missing knife from Ward’s room, the odd placement of the knife at the scene, and the almost total absence of blood. The defense, meanwhile, attacked the lack of direct physical evidence tying any of the men to the murder, and the absence of eyewitnesses or confessions.

The trial opened in June 2010. Judge Lynn Leibovitz presided over the proceedings, hearing testimony from forensic experts, police officers, medical professionals, and friends of both the victim and the accused. The prosecution presented their theory: Robert Wone had been subdued, possibly with a paralytic substance injected via needle, sexually assaulted, and murdered by one or more residents, who then collaborated to remove evidence, invent the story of an intruder, and call for help only when it was too late.

The defense countered that forensic evidence was circumstantial, that the prosecution had no motive, and that every person in the house had a plausible explanation for their behavior. In the end, the prosecution’s case relied heavily on the idea that the men’s actions after the murder demonstrated consciousness of guilt.

On June 2010, Judge Leibovitz issued her verdict. She acquitted all three men of obstruction and conspiracy charges. In her ruling, she stated that she personally believed the men knew who killed Wone but she was not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that they had committed the acts with which they were charged. The criminal justice system had no answer for who killed Robert Wone, or how.

A year later, on August 3, 2011, Katherine Wone reached a settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit against the three residents. The sum was undisclosed, and the settlement included no admission of guilt.

Several troubling questions remain. The motive for the murder has never been established. Despite evidence of sexual assault and restraint, police could not determine why Robert Wone was targeted, or by whom. The presence of needle marks and semen points to the use of paralytic drugs and possible sexual assault, yet no drugs were detected in Robert’s body. The lack of defensive wounds, the precise nature of the stabbings, and the almost total absence of blood all suggest the crime scene was meticulously cleaned. The knife found at the scene was not the murder weapon; the real weapon was never recovered. Investigators and the public have speculated about everything from sadomasochistic rituals to personal vendettas, but nothing definitive has emerged.

The case exposed gaps in forensic science and the limits of the legal system in prosecuting crimes where evidence is ambiguous or deliberately manipulated. The law requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and without a confession or direct evidence, the state could not secure convictions. The three residents walked free, their reputations shattered but their liberty intact.

The crime scene at 1509 Swann Street has become a point of fascination for true crime followers and investigators alike. The perfect, almost clinical murder; the missing murder weapon; the apparent staging and removal of evidence; the absence of a clear suspect. Each element of the case highlights the potential for crimes to go unsolved even when the likely culprits stand in plain sight.

Judge Lynn Leibovitz, in her verdict, expressed the frustration of many: she believed the men knew the truth, but the evidence was simply not enough for a conviction. The words she delivered—acknowledging belief without legal certainty—became one of the most memorable aspects of the case, signaling the gulf between suspicion and the rigorous demands of criminal law.

The housemates’ calm demeanor throughout the ordeal served as another chilling aspect. Paramedics reported that none of the three attempted to help Robert Wone as he lay dying, nor did they display the fright or confusion expected of people discovering a friend grievously wounded in their own home. Their statements to police remained consistent, and each maintained innocence through the years of investigation and trial.

Despite hundreds of pages of court documents, multiple arrests, and years of speculation, the murder of Robert Wone remains unsolved. The unanswered questions about motive, means, and opportunity have fueled continued public debate and investigation. The Swann Street house, once an ordinary residence, is now a lasting symbol of one of Washington, D.C.’s most disturbing mysteries.

The autopsy’s revelation of six needle marks on Robert Wone’s body, with no common drugs detected and no explanation for the physical evidence, remains among the most confounding details ever recorded in a modern homicide case.