For nearly four years, three housemates who lived in Washington's Dupont Circle neighborhood have kept secret what they know about the stabbing death of attorney Robert Wone, misdirecting the police to protect someone known to the friends, a federal prosecutor argued today.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenn Kirschner gave the government's closing argument this morning in D.C. Superior Court, where the housemates, Joseph Price, Victor Zaborsky and Dylan Ward are charged with covering up the August 2006 stabbing death of Wone. None of the men is charged with murder.
"The fact is, courtesy of the cover up, we don't know who killed Mr. Wone," Kirschner said today in court. With the defendants "holding fast" with their concocted story about an intruder, Kirschner declared, they will all go down together. The prosecutor called it "mutual destruction."
Kirschner spoke for more than two hours in a crowded courtroom, where Wone's widow, Kathy, sat surrounded by friends and family. The bench trial began May 17 in front of Judge Lynn Leibovitz, who is hearing from the defense lawyers-Bernard Grimm, Thomas Connolly and David Schertler-this afternoon.
Kirschner opened up with what he said is a glaring sign of a conspiracy to hide the true circumstance of the murder. Ward was living on the same floor where Wone's body was found in a bedroom, Kirschner noted. And yet neither Price nor Zaborsky ever told police, during hours of interrogation, that they checked up on Ward after finding Wone stabbed to death.
In his closing argument, Kirschner examined alleged inconsistent statements that Price, Zaborsky and Ward made to the police and friends. Price, for instance, told two friends that he pulled the knife from Wone's chest. But Price told police he found the knife on Wone's chest and moved it to a nightstand in the bedroom. Kirschner argued today that the knife was a plant -- based on its size and blood pattern -- and that the real knife remains missing.
Price, a former Arent Fox litigation partner in Washington, was "dismissive, unattached and emotionless" when police questioned him, Kirschner said today. Price was self-centered, describing how the murder was the "worst day of my life," the prosecutor said. The prosecutor played several video clips of police interviews with Price, Zaborsky and Ward, who were questioned separately.
Kirschner had two extended dialogues with Leibovitz, During one exchange, Leibovitz explored whether she needs to find beyond a reasonable doubt that any of the defendants actually know the true circumstances of Wone's murder. Kirschner said no.
All that matters, he said, is that Price, Zaborsky and Ward lied and tried to impede the police investigation of the homicide.
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