Casefile True Crime - Case 188: Robert Wone

Episode Date: September 10, 2021

On August 2 2006, 32-year-old lawyer Robert Wone knocked off after a long day at his office in Washington DC. To save making the journey home so late at night, he arranged to stay at a friend’s house... --- Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Jessica Forsayeth Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-188-robert-wone

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Nestled within the historic DuPont Circle neighborhood in Washington D.C.'s old city, is Swan Street Northwest, an exclusive residential strip lined with Victorian-style row houses. With the White House only a mile north, Swan Street is a highly desirable location for wealthy city dwellers who seek leafier surroundings. One address, a four-bedroom, three-story abode with city views, is what's called a hotseller, the kind of house that doesn't stay on the market long. Since the incident in 2006, the intruder has not returned to the address, ensuring residents within can now sleep easy. In D.C. emergency number one, operator 6752, do you need police, fire, or ambulance?

I'm D.C. community, remaining ambulance. What's wrong, ma'am? We had someone named us in our house, evidently, and they stabbed somebody. Okay, somebody's inside the house now? I don't know, we heard. Are they bleeding? You see someone bleeding? Someone is bleeding in our house. Okay, where's they bleeding from?

I think in the stomach. In the stomach, is he conscious? Calm down for me, I'm going to send some help, okay? Female or male? It's a male, he's a friend of ours, you're spending the night with us. Okay, and who was the person that stabbed him, do you know? Is he conscious? We need names going through.

Ma'am, this is somebody. No, he's not conscious. He's not conscious at all? No, we need someone right now. Is he breathing? Listen to me, calm down, I'm going to help you, okay? Is he breathing? I'm upstairs, and he's downstairs.

I don't know. Okay, who's downstairs with him? My partner is downstairs with him right now. He told me to go upstairs and call the police immediately. I just went upstairs and... Okay, who's the person? Okay, I'm sending parents and the police. Okay, who's the person that stabbed him?

I don't know. We think it's somebody with an intruder in the house. We heard. It's time to go. Ma'am, calm down. It's one street north west, am I correct? Yes, it is. Is the person that stabbed him, is he still in the home?

I don't know. The person had one of our knives. The person that stabbed him ran out the door with a knife? I think so. Okay, anybody get any type of description of the person that came in the home? I have no idea. We have no description. We heard the chime and we heard the screams from our friends.

Okay. And so we came running downstairs. We ran and... So you both was upstairs and your friend was downstairs? Yes. You heard the door open and then you heard the screams? We didn't... I didn't hear the door open until after the screams and then we ran down the stairs and we heard...

We have an alarm and so the chime went off. Okay. Is the ambulance... We really need the ambulance. Okay, they're around there, ma'am. Go to the door. They should be putting up any moment, okay? I'm afraid to go down the stairs.

The person who downstairs was the person that was assaulted? No, we're on the second floor. Okay, so somebody need to go to the door for the pyramid. You're not sure if that person's still in the home or not? I have no idea. Okay, we have pyramids around, okay? What time is it? What time is it at the moment?

Yes. 2354, is it 1154, ma'am? Yes. I'll stand in line with you. I will stand in line until somebody gets here, okay? I won't hang up. We need them right now. I'm not hanging up.

But we need help now. Okay, they're in row, ma'am. They are in row. Let me know when you hear the pyramid. Can you look out the window and see if you hear them coming? I'm looking out the window and I see nothing. I see nobody. Okay, same like for Apple, but they are in row, ma'am.

They're coming. I see them. Here they are. Here they are. They're there? You're going downstairs. Okay. I'll stand in line with you till you open the door for a pyramid, okay?

Help us. We inform a staff on our second floor. What is this? Ma'am. I know it's really an emergency. I know he's maybe... He's hurrying. Ma'am, this won't be okay.

Ma'am, this won't be okay. Ma'am, this won't be okay. This won't be okay. This won't be okay. It was just before midnight on Tuesday, August 2, 2006, when the ambulance pulled up outside a grey brick row house on Swan Street, Northwest. A resident, Victor Zaborski, met the paramedics out front, still on the phone to 911. Panic and distress made his voice sound higher than usual,

leading the operator to mistake him for a woman. Between sobs, Victor informed the paramedics that someone had been stabbed on the second floor. They rushed past him into the house and ascended the steep wooden staircase just inside the front door. About halfway up, they spotted another male on the landing above, Dylan Ward. When the paramedics asked Dylan what was going on, he silently raised a hand and pointed down a short hallway. He was gesturing towards a nearby room. Following his direction, the two paramedics entered the small space. Against one wall was a sofa bed that had been unfolded and prepped with linen. A man sat perched on one side. He was Joseph Price, the third and final resident of the house.

Next to him, lying face up on the sofa bed, was a fourth man. His pupils were fixed and dilated, skin pale and cold. Two weeks earlier, Robert Juan checked his inbox and noticed an email from an old friend, Joseph Price. Joseph was replying to a request Robert had recently sent him. Robert had only just landed a role as general counsel for Radio Free Asia, an accurate and uncensored news source for Asian countries with poor media practices. It was the perfect job for the 32-year-old. As a fourth generation Chinese-American, Robert was passionate about racial equality. On Tuesday, August 2, 2006,

Robert's workday was set to be longer than usual. He had to stay after hours to attend a legal education course, which wouldn't end until after 9pm. The late finish was an ideal, as Robert lived 20 miles from the Radio Free Asia office in Washington DC and would have to commute to work again early the next day. So, in the weeks leading up to the event, the extremely organized Robert contacted some DC-based friends to see if they could host him for the night, including Joseph Price. The pair had met 15 years earlier in college. Although they had repeatedly tried to catch up for dinner, it had been a while since they'd seen each other. Consequently,

Joseph emailed Robert back, saying he was happy for him to crash at his house on August 2. That morning, Robert stood on bustling Connecticut Avenue, where he kissed his wife Kathy Goodbye. It was 8.45pm, and the couple had caught the Metro train together into DC to go to their respective jobs. Later that night, Kathy received a call from Robert. He had just finished up at his course and was on his way to visit the night shift at Radio Free Asia. Afterwards, he would take a cab to Joseph Price's house, one and a half miles away. As they said their goodbyes, Kathy told her husband, Have a good night. I love you.

As Joseph Price waited for his guest to arrive, his partner Victor Zaborski returned home from an interstate business trip. Joseph informed Victor that Robert won would be staying over, but Victor was too tired to wait up and greet the visitor. He decided to retire for the night and catch up with Robert in the morning. Victor went up to the main bedroom on the third floor, climbed into bed, and turned on the television to unwind. Robert arrived at around 10.30pm and was greeted by Joseph, as well as Dylan Ward. Dylan knew Robert too and was friends with him, but not to the extent of the others. The trio gathered around the kitchen table and made small talk over glasses of water.

Like Robert, Joseph Price, Victor Zaborski, and Dylan Ward were all corporate professionals in their mid to late 30s. Joseph was a partner at an internationally renowned law firm and the director slash general counsel for a non-profit that supported the LGBT community. His partner, Victor, was the director of marketing for the Milk Processes Education Program, famous for their Got Milk advertising campaign. Dylan Ward held an associate of culinary arts degree and had also earned a master's in children's literature, which he used to write, edit, and publish children's books. He also worked alongside Joseph as development director for the LGBT non-profit.

The conversation at the kitchen table revolved around family, work, the hot weather, and house repairs. But the chat was short-lived. As 11pm drew near, Robert was tired and wanted to get a good night's sleep. He told Joseph they would catch up further over breakfast. Dylan and Joseph led Robert up to the second floor. After turning right at the top of the stairs, the trio headed down a short hallway, passing a bathroom and sitting area before reaching the home office. The room was toward the front of their house and had three long, narrow windows overlooking the street outside. Inside, a sofa bed had been prepared for Robert. His hosts also pointed out the bathroom down the hall so Robert could take a shower.

The three men then went their separate ways. Joseph continued upstairs to the third floor bedroom he shared with Victor. He switched off the television and went to sleep. Dylan took a sleeping pill and went to his own room on the same floor as the home office. As Dylan waited for the medication to take effect, he read a magazine. From his room he could hear the shower running. It stopped after a few minutes. Then he heard a click as the door to the home office closed. The sleeping pill taking effect, Dylan soon drifted off into a deep sleep.

Earlier that night, Joseph had been downstairs when he noticed something out of place. A large windowed door in the kitchen led to a patio. This small, fenced-in area at the rear of the house had a table, chairs, and barbecue grill. Joseph's attention was drawn to something on one of the patio's exterior lights. He went outside to investigate, only to discover it was just a spider. Joseph headed back into the kitchen, closing the door behind him. He didn't realize, and no one bothered to check before bed, that the door's deadlock was in the vertical position. Joseph had forgotten to lock it.

Shortly before midnight, Joseph and Victor were awoken by the sound of their doorbell chime, alerting them that an exterior door had been opened. Going through either the front or rear doors of the house would activate this chime. Neither man thought much of it. They had a tenant who lived in the separate basement suite, and her comings and goings sometimes caused the chime to go off. But then, they heard a strange noise. It was a breathy, quiet sound, like a muffled grunt or scream. Dylan Ward heard the same noise, but he was drowsy from his sleeping pill, and this prevented him from fully acknowledging it. He fell back asleep.

Unlike Dylan, Joseph and Victor were unsettled. They decided to investigate the strange sound. Just as they got out of bed, they heard it again. This time, they were certain it was a low scream. They raced down to the second floor, and upon entering the home office, they saw Robert Wahn unresponsive on the fold-out sofa. Joseph rushed to check Robert's pulse, and realized blood was seeping from his chest. He yelled at Victor, who was screaming in panic, to call 911. Joseph then grabbed a towel and pressed it to Robert's wounds. The commotion woke Dylan, who left his room to find a frantic Victor on the phone,

and Joseph in the office, holding a towel against Robert's chest. Dylan, still groggy from the sleeping pill, was confused by the situation before him. Six minutes later, an ambulance arrived. Robert's pajama top was slashed in three places. Underneath were three stab wounds to his chest. Robert had only been at the address for 90 minutes before he was rushed to hospital. He was pronounced to dead, shortly after midnight. There had been a recent spade of break-ins at homes within the DuPont Circle. In some instances, intruders had been brazen enough to enter properties while the residents were inside.

The police had only recently issued a security statement to locals, advising them to keep their doors locked at all times. Joseph Price failed to heed this warning on August 2. When detectives arrived at his Swan Street address that night, it was brought to their attention that the patio door was not only left unlocked, but was slightly ajar. The patio backed on to an alleyway that ran parallel to Swan Street Northwest, bordering the backs of all the row houses. This presented a likely scenario. An intruder had scaled the patio fence from the alley and gained access to the house via the unlocked door.

The Swan Street Row House was an appealing target for any burglar. Worth well over a million dollars, the property contained flat screen televisions and laptop computers, among other high-priced goods. Upon entering the house through the rear patio door, there was a kitchen counter to the left. Sitting on top of this counter was a knife block, filled with black-handled knives. It appeared as though the intruder had grabbed a knife before proceeding further inside. At some point, they entered the home office and encountered Robert Juan. A kitchen knife from the knife block was found on a nightstand next to the sofa bed. It's blade caked in Robert's blood, chest hairs, and some fatty tissue.

The lack of foreign fingerprints on the knife or anywhere else throughout the property suggested that the intruder had worn gloves. Robert's final moments were pieced together from evidence at the scene and statements from the other occupants of the house. Robert had prepared for bed in his usual tidy way. He removed his work clothes and folded them neatly on a desk with his other belongings. After sharing, he put on his pajamas, a t-shirt, underwear, and gym shorts. The last thing Robert did before going to sleep was insert his mouth guard, which prevented him from grinding his teeth. He was wearing the mouthpiece when first responders

arrived. Robert's killer stabbed him three times in the chest and abdomen. What provoked the attack was uncertain. It didn't seem likely that Robert was targeted specifically. His colleagues hadn't noticed anything different about him lately, and his kind demeanour meant it was unlikely he was the target of a murderous vendetta. A case of mistaken identity didn't add up either. There was nothing in Joseph, Victor, or Dylan's lifestyles that indicated any of them could have been the intended victim. None had a criminal history, and all were well regarded for their career success and philanthropy. The three men spoke willingly to police and provided their fingerprints,

hair samples, and DNA. They were open and candid when answering questions, and when spoken to separately, their stories aligned. Yet, there was one aspect of the men's lives that investigators honed in on, their sexuality and the nature of their relationships with one another. The men openly discussed their roles in each other's lives, which amounted to them being in a three-way polyamorous relationship. It started with Joseph and Victor, registered domestic partners who had been together for six years. Dylan entered the picture as the couple's roommate before engaging in his own intimate relationship with Joseph. There was a malleable aspect to the group's arrangement, which was

developing over time. All three men accepted and consented to their circumstances, describing themselves as a family. Yet, their lifestyle was of interest to investigators who questioned where Robert Juan fit in to their unconventional relationship. The police interviews with Joseph, Victor, and Dylan were later criticized by some for being, quote, homophobic, brow-beating. Without a clear motive or suspect, interviewing officers set out to prove that Robert Juan was gay to establish some or all of the Swan Street residents as potential suspects. Yet, all three men denied having a sexual relationship with Robert. He was, by all accounts, exclusively heterosexual and happily married.

During Dylan Ward's interview, he was asked, Robert's perfectly straight and he's going to leave his wife for the night and come over to you all's house. Dylan attempted to defend himself against the inflammatory remark, retorting, yeah, because, but was immediately cut off by the officer who said, then he's not perfectly straight. That's not something a straight guy would do. In Joseph Price's interview, he insisted that Robert was not gay, never had been, or ever thought about it. He described Robert as the most straight A no-nonsense guy he had ever met. He didn't take drugs or drink alcohol to excess. Others felt this line of inquiry was not

bigoted, just aggressive. They believed a possible romantic link between Robert and any one of the others was a reasonable lead worth investigating. After Robert Warn's murder, the Swan Street Northwest row house was left ravaged of its former glory. Through their process of collecting forensic evidence, police had caused thousands of dollars worth of damage to the property. Joseph, Victor, and Dylan no longer wanted to live there, but were forced to stay while repairs were undertaken so that the house could be sold. And their worries had only just begun. Barely two months after Robert was murdered, Joseph, Victor, and Dylan returned to their home to find it in disarray. Seven thousand dollars worth of items had been stolen,

including a flat screen television and other electronics. An arrest swiftly followed. To the shock of many, one of the two people accused of the burglary was Michael Price, Joseph's brother. Michael had a substance abuse problem and had stolen from the three men before. This raised the question, did Michael break in on August 2 and perhaps not expecting to come across a stranger in the home office, kill Robert Warn? Michael was a student and had missed his classes on the night of Robert's murder. He also had a key to his brother's house. Nothing was uncovered that directly linked Michael to Robert, but he would remain a person of interest in the homicide investigation. As for the burglary months later, the charges against

Michael and his co-accused were ultimately dropped during a pretrial hearing. Then came another unexpected turn of events. Joseph Price, Victor Zaborsky, and Dylan Ward all hired distinguished legal representation and ceased speaking with authorities about the Robert Warn case. There was a good reason for their change of heart. The two paramedics who responded to Victor Zaborsky's 911 call on the night of Robert's murder were very proficient, with 25 years' experience between them. Both had been to their share of violent scenes, including stabbings. However, as they entered the Swan Street northwest row house, they were greeted with a sight neither had seen before. One of the paramedics later said that

the actions of Joseph, Victor, and Dylan were enough to make the hairs on the back of their neck stand up. After the paramedics received reports of a stabbing at the Swan Street northwest row house, it took them six minutes to reach the property. Victor Zaborsky met them on the front steps in a white bathrobe. He was crying into a cell phone which was still connected to emergency services. What's going on, one of the paramedics asked him, so which Victor explained that the stabbing victim was on the second floor. They entered the house carrying a stretcher and immediately made their way upstairs, where they came across Dylan Ward. He too was dressed in a white bathrobe.

They asked Dylan the same question. He pointed down the hall without saying a word. Then he silently retreated into his bedroom and closed the door. Dylan's complete lack of emotion confused the paramedics. They had never seen such cool indifference from someone at an active crime scene. Come to think of it, the paramedics noticed an uncharacteristic and eerie quietness throughout the entire residence that didn't add up to the urgency or brutality of what had happened there. Inside the home office was Joseph Price, sitting on the fold-out sofa with his back to the door and with one leg tucked beneath him. He was naked aside from a pair of underwear. He wasn't touching Robert Wahn or making any effort to render aid

or assistance. When asked what was going on, Joseph simply replied, I heard a scream. Then he stood and moved out of the paramedics' way. The lead medic rushed to Robert while the other edged around the sofa to get a better look at Joseph. His ill-fitting behavior made them uneasy and they wanted to keep him in their line of sight. They even eyed his hands in case he was carrying a weapon. While the resident's version of events as detailed at the beginning of this episode indicated the attack happened quickly and recently, Robert appeared to have been deceased for some time. He was unresponsive, pale, had no pulse, and was cold to the touch. His eyes were fixed and

dilated. There was no blood seeping from the three wounds in his chest, even though they were big enough to, quote, fit your finger into. According to Joseph, when he lifted Robert's shirt upon finding the man unconscious, he saw blood everywhere. He claimed to have attempted to staunch the bleeding using a towel, explaining that there was a lot of blood on the bed. The knife had pierced Robert's heart, chest wall, right lung, small intestine, and pancreas. The resulting injuries should have caused a catastrophic amount of bleeding, as Joseph had described. However, there were no copious bloodstains or spatter on or around Robert, aside from two unusually small spots on the sheet beneath him.

It was believed these were caused when the paramedics rolled his body onto the stretcher. Either way, the amount of blood in the room was entirely inconsistent with a violent stabbing having taken place there. Robert's blood was also discovered in minimal amounts on a black-handled kitchen knife found on the nightstand and a large white cotton towel on the floor. While the towel hinted at someone endeavoring to staunch Robert's bleeding, paramedics noticed something that suggested a completely different act had taken place. A light film across Robert's torso featured the type of markings that would be visible if someone had attempted to clean the area with the towel, not stabilize it. As for the bloody towel on the floor,

the staining was more consistent with someone having used it to wipe the sharp edge of a knife clean. More than 10 white fibers consistent with the towel were found in the blood on the knife, but there were no fibers from or consistent with Robert's torn shirt. The knife was absent of blood along the cutting edge, but blood ran the entire length of its blade, which measured five and a half inches. Robert's wounds were only four to five inches deep. While the knife contained no foreign DNA or fingerprints, Joseph Price informed police that his might be found. He explained that when he first came across Robert, the knife was lying on his stomach, so he moved it aside to render first aid. When speaking about the incident to a friend

later, Joseph would say that he had physically pulled the weapon out of Robert's chest before placing it on the nightstand. Joseph volunteered that the police might not find the real killer's DNA on the knife because they might have been, quote, wearing a glove. Yet, it was determined that the knife at the crime scene was highly unlikely to have produced wounds the size and shape of Robert's. As for the guest room itself, there was no sign of a struggle having taken place there. While this implied Robert was attacked mid-sleep, such a scenario didn't correlate with the condition of the sofa bed. Robert's head rested on a fluffed, clean pillow with only one indentation, meaning his head hadn't moved at all since falling asleep.

His wounds were uniform in shape and size, which is unusual in stubbing cases, as victims tend to thrash around, creating varying injuries. The fatal wound effectively shut down Robert's heart, but none of his wounds would have killed or rendered him unconscious immediately. He would have been alive for between 60 seconds to 10 minutes before succumbing to the type of injuries he had endured. It was odd that his body had remained in one position that entire time. He hadn't tried to defend himself or reacted in any other way. He just lay there, unmoving, even when someone was thrusting a knife into his chest. A medical examiner noted,

The wounds and internal bleeding would have produced such extreme pain that it would have been virtually impossible for Mr. Wan to have refrained from moving his body while in the bed or attempting to get out of the bed to seek help. The lack of any movement from Robert was even more suspicious, considering the DC area was experiencing a heat wave. According to Kathy Wan, Robert was particularly self-conscious about sweating in his sleep. He would toss and turn and kick blankets away for relief, but the sofa didn't appear to have been slept in at all. The top sheets and covers were neatly folded down at a 45 degree angle under Robert's body,

which was how his hosts had described preparing the sofa for him. Robert wasn't known to sleep this way. Even if he did, the bedding shared the same level of preservation as the pillow, as if Robert didn't move in the slightest at all after settling onto the bed. There were no defensive wounds whatsoever on Robert's body. A medical examiner concluded, Robert would have reacted instinctively to protect himself and or physically fend off his attacker, unless he was, quote, otherwise incapacitated. While there were no markings to suggest that Robert had been manually strangled, hemorrhaging in his left eye meant some type of asphyxiation had occurred.

It was theorized that Robert had been smothered unconscious with a pillow prior to being stabbed. Yet, small needle punctures were visible on the left side of Robert's neck. There were three more on his chest, two on his right foot, and one on the back of his left hand. There was no record of paramedics or hospital staff injecting Robert with anything. This meant that the puncture wounds were made before Robert was treated, while he was still alive. Tests for various alcohols, amphetamines, opiates, barbiturates, and benzodiazepine drugs, including commonly known date-rape drugs, came back negative. Remnants of ecstasy and cannabis were found in the row house, but did not show up in Robert's blood screen.

By the time police arrived at the Swan Street address, Robert was being stretched into the waiting ambulance. Officers entered the house and immediately encountered all three male residents. Victor and Dylan were still in their white robes, and Joseph was still in his underwear. Joseph did all the talking. He said that they had been burglarized and pointed towards the patio door at the rear of the kitchen, remarking, See, the door is still open. Officer Diane Durham went to investigate. She noted that the door was all but a quarter of an inch closed. It was just touching the frame. According to Officer Durham, Joseph heard somebody scream and ran down to the ground floor.

In contrast to the story of Robert being discovered injured in bed, in this instance, Joseph claimed that Robert was actually outside the patio door bleeding. The others led him in and took him upstairs to lie on the sofa bed. Officer Durham advised Joseph to dress himself, as other units would be coming to investigate. Joseph then covered himself with a white robe. As more police arrived, the three residents were asked to remain in the living room, where they were observed whispering among themselves. It was noted that they all appeared to have showered recently. When asked again what had happened, Dylan Ward began to speak.

Joseph immediately shot him a forbidding stare, causing Dylan to fall silent. Joseph once again rehashed the events of the night. He reiterated that they had been woken by the door chime. Joseph theorized that an unknown intruder had scaled the patio fence, then entered and exited the house via the door he had accidentally left unlocked. Curiously, the residents had only heard the chime once, suggesting someone entered, but didn't leave. Furthermore, the tenant who lived separately in the Roe Houses basement had spoken to Joseph earlier that night. She was going to spend the night at a friend's house.

Shortly before she left at 6pm, she called Joseph and told him that she had set the security alarm, one that would have made a loud commotion if someone broke into the house. This meant it had been deactivated during the night. In their statements to police in the immediate aftermath of the murder, the Roe Houses occupants would state that the security alarm was not engaged that night. Joseph then led the police on a tour of his home. As officers ascended the stairs to the second and third floors, they noticed how loud their steps were on the wooden floorboards.

None of the residents recalled hearing the intruder's footsteps. Not even Dylan, whose bedroom was at the top of the stairs and needed to be passed in order to reach the home office. Joseph told officers that Dylan might have slept through the attack because the air conditioner was on and the compressor on the roof above Dylan's bedroom was very loud. When officers tested this theory, they could barely hear the compressor, calling the noise imperceptible. Despite the residents' claims, the situation didn't seem like a burglary gone wrong. The interior of the Roe House was neat and orderly. Expensive electronics were in their usual spots. Nothing was missing. Even Robert's wallet,

watch and blackberry phone were still in the home office, on the desk with his work clothes. Joseph and Victor told police that their Swan Street residents had never been burglarized before, or even entered by an intruder. They as well as Dylan ultimately acknowledged that the intruder theory was implausible and made absolutely no sense. But all three steadfastly maintained it. Their recollections of the night mostly aligned, and their statements were also suspiciously specific. For investigators, this indicated they had coached each other on what to say beforehand. Curiously, they glossed over some key details, such as their friendship with Robert. They minimized it to the point where it seemed like they were distant friends at most,

and old acquaintances at least. This didn't align with the fact that the trio had hosted Robert's 30th birthday party years earlier. Joseph and Victor had attended his wedding, and Robert would catch up with them periodically, sometimes multiple times a year. Despite their inability to remember something as significant as their long-term friendship with Robert, the trio recalled unremarkable details with a suspicious amount of detail, such as how Joseph had gone outside to investigate the spider on the patio light, which led to him leaving the door unlocked. Once interviewing officers sensed things weren't adding up, they started to record the three men. At any given time in their recollections,

there were moments in which one or several of the men were unable to account for the others. Yet, no matter the line of questioning, all three were unwavering in their innocence, and staunchly defended one another. Joseph told officers, I know Victor and Dylan better than I know my mum. There is no chance on the face of the earth that anybody did anything to Robert. They couldn't even spank a child that was being bad. At one point during his interview, Joseph demanded, I want to see them both, referring to Victor and Dylan. He seemed most concerned with Dylan in particular. When told he was free to go, Joseph replied, What's the story with Dylan? I mean, I'm going to get his attorney to come down here.

By now, police had well formed opinions of the trio. They described Joseph Price as arrogant, unconcerned, flippant, aggressive, and self-centered. His partner, Victor Zaborski, was passive, disinterested, and unconcerned about solving the attack, as was Dylan Ward, who was calm and distant. Following Robert Warn's murder, detectives meticulously canvassed the Swan Street row house for evidence. On one occasion, they watched as a cadaver dog trained to locate human blood and remains was led through the house. The dog ran through the open living space downstairs, nose to the ground, before being let out the back door to the patio. When he reached a drain cover at its center,

he stopped and indicated to the handler that he could smell blood. The handler approached the drain. The cover was slightly ajar and an uncoiled garden hose lay nearby. Given the rest of the house was presented so immaculately, the displaced hose was uncharacteristically sloppy. It looked as though it had been recently used. The cadaver dog also alerted at a clothes dryer on the second floor near Dylan's bedroom. It was empty, but police were developing a theory. The killer had hosed down their bloody clothes over the drain outside, before placing them in the dryer. Detectives also tested for blood in the home office that might not have been visible to the

naked eye. They sprayed a substance that revealed trace amounts of blood on the walls, floor, sofa bed and door frame. It indicated that a large-scale cleanup had taken place after Robert's murder, but before authorities were called to the scene. The entire home was very clean, with the captain of the violent crime unit later saying, A lot of evidence that we should have seen at the house. We didn't see. A search of Dylan Ward's room uncovered a three-piece cutlery box set designed to hold a carving knife, a large fork and a smaller knife. The smaller knife was missing. Detectives contacted the manufacturer, who sent out a duplicate. When compared to the wounds

inflicted on Robert Warn, this knife was capable of causing very similar results. Dylan's room also contained a trove of items used for dominant and submissive sex acts, including shackles, chains with locks, metal collars, wrist and ankle restraints, clamps, hooks and mouth gags. He also had a collection of manuals on sato masochistic practices and books dedicated to the subject of inflicting pain or enslaving others for sexual gratification. Many of these texts contained passages highlighted by the reader. When these items were first discovered, Dylan was up front with detectives. He and Joseph engaged in BDSM. That was an acceptable explanation, but in the context of Robert Warn's murder,

police did wonder whether the items were used to restrain or smother Robert. Traces of semen were found on and around Robert's genitals. When tested, it produced a puzzling result. The semen belonged to Robert, but there was nothing to suggest he willingly participated in any sex acts the night of his murder. Among Dylan Ward's belongings was an electrical shockwave generator. This device, controlled by a second party, released electrical impulses capable of causing the target individual to ejaculate, even when sedated or under anesthetic. A search of Joseph Price's computer indicated that he and Dylan were familiar with this machine. On a fetish site that he belonged to, Joseph listed electro-torture as an activity that he and

Dylan enjoyed. Robert's semen was also found inside his own rectum, with authorities pointing out that, quote, there were many items and devices recovered from Dylan Ward's bedroom designed to be inserted into one's anal cavity. A medical examiner concluded, Taking all the evidence and circumstances into consideration, this finding is suggestive of Mr. Warn having been sexually assaulted. No foreign DNA was found on Robert. Unsurprising, given one of his treating paramedics was of the opinion that Robert had been stabbed, showered, redressed, and placed in bed. During his interview with police following the murder, Dylan mentioned reading before he went

to sleep. In his room, detectives found a New Yorker magazine open on the floor to an article titled, Late Works, Writers Confronting the End. It was accompanied by an illustration of renowned English playwright, poet, and actor, William Shakespeare, lying on his deathbed. His body was positioned in the same way that Robert Warn had been when he was found. The first line of the article read, 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. It was months before police publicly named Joseph Price, Victor Zaborsky, and Dylan Ward as suspects

in the murder of Robert Warn. Their efforts were later criticized as sluggish and flawed, due to the abundance of circumstantial evidence implicating the three men from the get-go. Even the interrogation of the three suspects was considered sloppy. Far too much focus was placed on trying to establish a sexual relationship between one or all of the parties with Robert, despite this lead being completely unfounded. Anything compelling that should have been pressed harder, such as Joseph's two tales of where he apparently found the injured Robert, the patio, or the guest room, fell by the wayside. By the time police zeroed in on Joseph, Victor, and Dylan, the men had alloyed up and were no longer cooperating.

Detectives now believed that either two or all of the men committed the murder, or knew who did, and were covering for them. All they needed was a motive. Yet things continued to move at a slow pace. A year passed without any concrete leads that could result in an arrest, or better still, a conviction. The case was passed between three different prosecutors, and evidence from the row house was still being processed. A $25,000 reward was offered by police for information and led to plenty of tips, but the money was never handed out. Kathy Warn had so far grieved for her husband in private and kept away from the media. But she was compelled to step forward. In a statement printed in the Washington Post,

Kathy said, anything short of full and complete cooperation is very troubling, and essentially is equivalent of helping Robert's killer or killers get away with this terrible crime. She also described how she had coped with her husband's murder. During this year of intense sadness, I learned that being still and letting grief interrupt whenever it wished was oftentimes the best thing I could do for myself. When grief barges in and demands a visit, it's best to let her have your undivided attention. Frustrated by the lack of progress, Kathy held a press conference around the one-year anniversary of Robert's murder.

Her lawyer fielded questions from reporters about the investigation and the alleged involvement of Joseph Price, Victor Zaborski, and Dylan Ward. Kathy had a message for Robert's killer. Her choice of words seemed personal, as though she had her own suspicions as to who was responsible. Having a murder under conscience is no smaller thing to carry as you try to live, I imagine, as normal a life is possible. Confessing will be the hardest thing that you'll ever do in your life. Our laws will impose severe consequences,

but it will also be the most frightening thing that you can do for yourself. A secret like the one you are hiding from the world will only grow heavier at this time. As the two-year anniversary of Robert Warn's murder neared in June 2008, Joseph Price sold his Swan Street northwest row house for just under $1.5 million. He and Victor Zaborski moved to a rental nearby and planned to buy a house in Florida. Dylan Ward, who had already moved to Florida and obtained work as a massage therapist, was set to move in with the two men once they arrived. But their plans were disrupted just four months later when Dylan was arrested and charged with

obstruction of justice. Although there wasn't enough evidence to charge him with murder, elements of the crime scene had been tampered with, suggesting a cover-up. An affidavit released days later stated, The evidence demonstrates that Robert Warn was restrained, incapacitated, sexually assaulted, and murdered. Given that Joseph and Victor were in a long-term domestic partnership, police zeroed in on Dylan Ward. They saw him as the weak link. Dylan didn't share the same longevity and loyalty to the others,

leading detectives to suspect he'd be more likely to crack under pressure. They were wrong. Dylan continued to maintain that they were all innocent. He was ultimately jailed after failing to make bail. Prosecutors warned Joseph and Victor that their silence would result in a similar fate, and when their arrest warrants were issued a month later, the pair self-reported to authorities. All three men now faced charges for conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and tampering with evidence. The prosecution alleged that there was overwhelming evidence far in excess of probable cause, that they obstructed justice by altering and orchestrating the crime scene,

planting evidence, delaying the reporting of the murder to authorities, and lying to the police about the true circumstances of the murder. They all pleaded not guilty and were released to await trial, but subject to electronic monitoring and curfews. Joseph Price, Victor Zborski, and Dylan Ward faced trial in June 2010. They opted for a non-dury trial and invoked their Fifth Amendment right, meaning they would not have to testify. If found guilty, they faced prison sentences of up to 38 years. The group had hired a total of six defense attorneys, including a famous CNN commentator,

a former DC attorney general, and two former top DC prosecutors. They argued that their clients were unfairly targeted because they were gay and highlighted the sloppy police investigation. Quote, The government has cobbled together its case with tidbits of information that it interprets through innuendo and speculation, and then calls evidence. The defense's entire argument relied on the intruder theory. Prosecutors were unconvinced. Such a claim relied on an intruder deciding to break into the Swan Street row house on the exact night that Joseph happened to have left the patio door unlocked. Upon entering, the intruder

made no attempt to steal anything of value, including a laptop and television in view of the patio door. Instead, they grabbed a knife, walked through several areas to the front of the house, and immediately headed upstairs from there. Dylan Ward's bedroom was at the very top of the stairs, yet the intruder opted to turn 180 degrees and proceed down the hallway directly to the home office, the room furthest from the staircase. They entered, stabbed Robert, then cleaned the room of Bloodspatter so quietly that none of the other men in the house heard a thing. The intruder then fled, without even bothering to take Robert's small valuables such as his watch, cell phone, or wallet. They exited through the patio door,

scaled the fence, and escaped via the alleyway. All this happening within a 42-minute time frame. The Defences 42-minute time frame existed because of a series of emails sent from Robert's Blackberry on the night of August 2. When investigators initially examined the device, it appeared as though Robert emailed his wife at 11.05pm, informing her that he had just showered and was about to go to sleep. Two minutes later, he sent a second email to a friend regarding some lunch plans the following day. This meant he was confronted within the 42-minute window between sending this email and when Victor Zaborski phoned 911 at 11.49. But the emails were never sent. They were in a drafts folder. Investigators suspected that Robert didn't author the emails at all. Instead,

a perpetrator had crafted them to manipulate the supposed timeline of events. Robert's ordeal could have started much earlier. Assuming the emails were forged, the time frame for the assault and murder was 79 minutes, not 42. This allowed far more time for everything to take place before Victor Zaborski placed the 911 call. In Victor's call to 911, he continually used the pronoun we as in, we heard an intruder in the house. He was clearly speaking on behalf of others, suggesting a conversation had taken place between them before he placed the call. It wouldn't be the only time the trio had delayed calling authorities following a crime at their residence. When Michael Price burglarized the

address in the months after Robert's murder, Joseph convinced the others to wait a day before alerting the police. There was further evidence that supported the larger window of time theory, and it involved another witness. For the sake of clarity, we will refer to this witness as Sam. Sam lived next door to Joseph Price's row house. Their property shared an internal war with the home office where Robert had slept. On August 2, Sam was watching the 11pm news when they heard what they described as a single desperate scream. As Robert was incapacitated, authorities believed this scream came from Victor Zaborski, the only one of the three men to have shown any level of distress when first responders arrived. Victor had previously told police that he had screamed

upon seeing Robert's body. If Sam's recollections were correct, then this left a 19-49 minute window between Victor's alleged scream and him calling 911. From the prosecution's perspective, this gave the defendants enough time to clean up the crime scene, shower, and concoct a story to tell authorities. When Joseph ordered Victor to make the call, he told him to do so from upstairs, meaning the third floor, even though there was a phone right there in the home office. The proceedings felt like a murder trial, even though none of the accused had been charged with any such offense. Thirty witnesses were called on behalf of the prosecution compared to the defense's aide. The prosecution found the intruder scenario preposterous. They believed

that at least one row house resident was responsible for Robert's assault and murder, and a second or third had participated or was an accomplice in the cover-up. Joseph Price was painted as the lead conspirator who manipulated Victor and Dylan through the use of money, influence, and power. The trio's intimate relationship ensured that they protected one another. Based on the type of sexual relationship Joseph and Dylan shared and their collection of adult toys, it appeared that either one or both had assaulted Robert. The fact that Joseph was near naked when first responders arrived hinted at his participation, though Joseph insisted he always slept in only his underwear. As Victor was the sole person to have had any emotional

response to Robert's murder, some theorize he wasn't involved in the crime itself, but was an accomplice in covering it up. The prosecution's case was not a slam dunk. There were lots of aspects that were uncertain, inconsistent, circumstantial, or could be explained away. One example was the needle puncture marks found on Robert's body, hinting that he had been injected with a sedative. This was a major part of the prosecution's interpretation of the crime scene, yet a paramedic testified that she'd attempted to insert an IV into Robert's body in several spots. She was unsuccessful and her actions were not documented. Despite this, the judge found that some of the puncture marks did not align with those

caused by medical intervention and was therefore confident that they had been caused during an assault. The investigation was plagued with a litany of other issues. Although crucial in determining the timeline of events, Robert's Blackberry phone had been completely lost. The device had apparently been given to the Secret Service who were going to copy its contents, but they denied ever receiving it. The blood-exposing product applied to the Home Office to reveal the cleanup effort was not applied as per the manufacturer's instructions. Consequently, this evidence was deemed unreliable. Robert's blood wasn't tested for all types of paralytic drugs. It is not known if the shockwave device among Dylan Ward's adult toys was tested

forensically. The lint trap from the dryer believed to have been used to dry the killer's clothes was not taken for analysis. The murder weapon was another contentious subject. The prosecution The prosecution presented evidence that the kitchen knife on the nightstand was not used to kill Robert. They believed Robert was stabbed with the missing knife from the cutlery set in Dylan Ward's room. But after a blood spatter expert for the defense described finding several of Robert's cut chest hairs on the kitchen knife, the judge was of the opinion that it was indeed the murder weapon. After nearly two weeks of defense testimony, the judge delivered a 35-page verdict. In the hour it took her to read it, she explained that she

did not believe an intruder broke into the house, calling the circumstances suspicious and even damning. During a break in his initial police interview, Joseph had phoned his brother Michael and was overheard saying, Did Dylan come out? This led to the suspicion that Michael Price might have been involved in the crime. The trial judge admitted Michael's failure to attend class on the night of the murder was, quote, certainly worth pausing over in the circumstances of this case. But she was unconvinced that an outsider, including Michael, was responsible. The judge said that the charges came with what she called a math problem. That one or two of the defendants probably knew more than they were letting on. But it was also possible that at least

one might have been genuinely innocent of knowledge or involvement. But without the defendant's cooperation, determining who was the odd man out was nearly impossible. She went on to say the prosecution failed to prove that the three defendants covered up a murder, quote. My verdicts represent my effort to fairly and impartially follow the rule of law. My focus on the difference between moral certainty and evidentiary certainty in this case is probably cold comfort to those who loved Robert Wahn and wish for some measure of peace and justice, and I am extremely sorry for this. I believe, however, that the reasonable doubt standard is essential to maintaining our criminal justice system. I cite the wisdom of

English jurist William Blackstone, that it is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer. Joseph Price, Victor Zaborsky and Dylan Ward were acquitted of all charges. Victor cried while Joseph and Dylan stared straight ahead, expressionless. The assistant US Attorney General respected the judge's decision and accepted her verdict, saying, everybody knew this was a challenging investigation and prosecution. Kathy Wahn, who had attended the trial daily with members of her husband's family, was led sobbing from the courtroom. For her, the case was particularly perplexing. Despite the acquitted having downplayed their friendship with her husband,

Joseph Price had been a pallbearer at Robert's funeral, a position reserved for those closest to him. In the aftermath of the trial, Kathy filed a wrongful death civil suit against Joseph, Victor and Dylan. In it, she alleged that the three men failed to rescue Robert after he was injured, destroyed evidence of the murder and obstructed the police investigation. The suit was settled privately for an undisclosed amount. In a statement issued through her attorney, Kathy Wahn said, although the defendants repeatedly chose to hide behind the Fifth Amendment, to me, their silence speaks volumes. Kathy told The Washington Post that she agonized over the decision to settle out of court to avoid

a lengthy civil trial. She thought about Robert and what he would want her to do. Quote, Nothing gave him more happiness than knowing I was at peace, focusing on love and optimism. This sentiment was echoed by Kathy's attorney. He believed that if the civil case had gone to trial, it would have been a spectacle to no purpose, as the respondents weren't going to come forward and provide any information. Quote, This case was never going to put anybody in jail or bring Robert back to life. The settlement funds were divided between the Wahn estate and a law clinic at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, which provides legal aid to inner city residents.

The world lost a good man when Robert Wahn was killed. During his time at university, Robert ran the 13 Club, whose members went around campus performing random acts of kindness. It was fitting that at his graduation, Robert received an award presented to students who excelled in characteristics of heart, mind, and helpfulness to others. In the years after his murder, many organizations have dedicated scholarships and memorials in his honor. Joseph, Victor, and Dylan reunited in Florida as they had planned, where they bought a home and settled in as a family once more. As of mid-2021, nobody has been charged with the murder of Robert Wahn. Case file acknowledges Joseph Price, Victor Zaborski, and Dylan Ward's

presumption of innocence. In the eyes of the law, all three men have not been found guilty of any of the crimes committed against or associated with Robert Wahn. The case continues to intrigue amateur and professional sleuths alike. Some believe that one of the residents of Swan Street Northwest had ordered another to kill Robert as the ultimate act of dominance. Others suggest that sexual assault was intended, but the murder itself was an accident. The general consensus is that one or all of the acquitted men at the center of the controversy know exactly who committed the slaying. A website dedicated to the case who murdered RobertWahn.com sums it up succinctly. Price, Zaborski, and Ward were not guilty, but they are not innocent.

Due to the trio's continuing silence, Robert Wahn's murder is often described as a case that will never be solved. Kathy Wahn has a message for Joseph Price, Victor Zaborski, and Dylan Ward. Quote, I am moving on. I want to spend the next 40 years of my life focusing on good. They can rot from the inside out from all the secrets they chose to keep. That's their choice. I chose to move on. you