Who Murdered Robert Wone: Conspiracy Trial Begins May 10, 2010

In a series of articles begun on May 31, 2009, the Washington Post extensively covered the story of the 2006 murder of attorney Robert Wone in Washington's tony Dupont Circle neighborhood. In August of 2006, Wone told his young wife he was visiting a friend in D.C. and never returned.

Wone was the 32 year old general counsel of Radio Free Asia, a job he'd newly acquired. He'd met Joe Price for the first time while touring the College of William and Mary with his parents. Later, the two men became friends, and they'd kept in touch as alumni.

The three gay men who occupied the residence reported to police they'd found Robert Wone murdered. When police arrived, they found Wone dead of stab wounds in the townhouse the men shared. An intruder had entered the townhouse, the men testified, had then gone upstairs and killed Wone.

The police didn't believe the story the three men told. It was odd that all three claimed to be present in the house when the murder was committed. The connection between the men was obviously strange and was described as "polyamorous." Joe Price and Victor Zaborsky were married, and the third man, Dylan Ward, was a love interest of Zaborsky.

When police forensic scientists searched, they discovered a plethora of bizarre sex toys and machines. A website called gawker.com provides a toy and tool list which, at first reading, recalls an electrical shop which also sells medical equipment. The forensics team later discovered signs of sexual activity upon Robert Wone's body. The police theorized that Robert Wone was drugged and then sexually abused by means including electro-ejaculation.

The men provided alibis for each other and then were silent, under the advice of their attorneys. The police have never arrested anyone for the murder and they didn't believe it was committed by an intruder, as the men testified in depositions. However, two years after the murder, prosecutors filed charges of obstruction of justice, conspiracy, and tampering with police evidence.

The housemates were all intelligent, professional men and well-educated. Zaborsky was something of an advertising genius and had come up with the "Got Milk" campaign. Price was a prominent attorney and gay activist and founder of a gay rights group in Virginia. Ward had graduated from Georgetown University. If they were not, in their personal life, pillars of the community, at least none of the men had criminal records or background crimes. The men stuck to their stories, and couldn't be persuaded to turn against each other.

As the trial approaches, there will be intense media interest in the case. The "Who Murdered Robert Wone" blog has a string of comments that would be the envy of any blogger, and is looked in upon by major media outlets around the country. It is among the cleverest and best sources of what has essentially evolved into a crime cult.

Gays have alternately condemned and defended the trio in blogs across the internet but the general tone is one of consternation mixed with horror. The Wall Street Journal law blog reports that Joe Price, Victor Zaborsky, and Dylan Ward will go on trial on the conspiracy, obstruction and related charges on May 10, 2010.