A D.C. grand jury has returned a three-count superseding indictment charging conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and evidence tampering against the three men who were previously facing a single charge stemming from the August 2006 murder of Robert Wone.
The defendants—Arent Fox partner Joseph Price, his domestic partner Victor Zaborsky, and their friend Dylan Ward—had earlier pleaded not guilty to obstruction. None of the men are charged with murder. A status hearing is scheduled for Friday before D.C. Superior Court Judge Frederick Weisberg.
Price (pictured at left), Zaborsky, and Ward deny any involvement in the death of Wone, who police say was restrained, sexually assaulted, and stabbed in Price and Zaborsky’s row house near Dupont Circle. A copy of a D.C. police affidavit is here.
The defendants, according to charging documents, conspired to conceal from the authorities the “true circumstances” of Wone’s death. The indictment lists 17 “overt acts” that Price, Zaborsky, and Ward are accused of committing to carry out the conspiracy.
The men, individually or in combination, cleaned the crime scene as well as Wone’s body, according to the indictment. Police noted in reports a lack of blood on the bed where Wone’s body was found. Prosecutors contend the men placed Wone’s body on the bed after his death.
Prosecutors also allege the defendants, individually or in combination—the phrase appears throughout the indictment—wiped blood onto a knife and “carefully” placed it on a nightstand next to Wone. It was not the knife used to kill him, prosecutors say.
Price, Zaborsky, and Ward waited a “considerable” amount of time after Wone was killed to call 911, according to court records. “The defendants constructed and coordinated the fabricated story they would tell the law enforcement authorities about an intruder killing Robert Wone,” according to the indictment.
Defense lawyers David Schertler, Bernie Grimm, and Thomas Connolly have repeatedly criticized the government’s evidence against their clients. The lawyers say the charges stem from innuendo and speculation and that their clients told police everything they know about the night Wone was killed.
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