Government prosecutors are not talking plea deals—not now, at least—with the three men charged with obstructing the police investigation of the murder of Robert Wone.
Arent Fox lawyer Joseph Price, his domestic partner Victor Zaborsky, and their roommate Dylan Ward are accused of obstruction stemming from the murder of Wone, killed in August 2006 in the Swann Street home of Price and Zaborsky. D.C. police say Wone, general counsel for Radio Free Asia, was restrained, sexually assaulted, and fatally stabbed.
Price, Zaborsky, and Ward individually talked with D.C. police without counsel for more than 25 hours, according to court records. The men deny any involvement in the murder and have since hired lawyers. None of the men are charged with murder.
Defense lawyers Thomas Connolly, Bernie Grimm, and David Schertler say their clients have provided everything they know to police and have cooperated in the investigation. Prosecutors don’t buy it. More charges—including conspiracy and evidence tampering—could be added in a couple of weeks, prosecutors say.
“Until your respective clients participate in an open, frank, and truthful discussion of their full knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the murder with us, the government will not consider extending a plea offer in this case,” an assistant U.S. attorney, Glenn Kirschner, said in a memo this month that was provided to the defense lawyers.
Kirschner recently handed over discovery to Connolly, Grimm, and Schertler. The documents include search warrant affidavits for the Price and Zaborsky rowhouse on Swann Street; for an apartment in Silver Spring; and for a house in the 5100 block of Lee Street in N.E.
Police also searched a BMW, served a warrant on a Yahoo! e-mail account and for a BlackBerry, and inspected several personal computers, according to court records. Price’s office space also was targeted in a search warrant. The discovery documents include Ward's polygraph report.
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