Yesterday, one of our very smart commenters put together a definition of Culuket that seems to hold water for its intended definition. Yet, as another very bright commenter noted that it doesn’t tell us anything new about Joe Price. We know from the affidavit for Dylan Ward’s arrest, that Joe Price was a sexually active person, who describes himself on Culuket’s page on Alt.com (a BDSM hook-up web site) as a “BDSM enthusiast.” We know that drugs were found at the house, and dogs detected drugs having once been in Joe Price and Victor Zaborsky’s bedroom. Furthermore, US Attorney Glen Kirschner has alleged that Joe Price “dealt methamphetamine and cocaine.” However, Bernie Grimm, Joe Price’s defense attorney said the allegations were “untrue.”
Yes, the Culuket name shows Joe Price’s interest in sex and drugs, but even more than that, the way he used it reveals even more. I am not surprised that he would use the name for his private sexually oriented communication, but because it was so difficult to determine, people would not notice its meaning in a broader e-mail setting.
The fact that he used the Culuket name as his above board, public, regular e-mail address to chat about such mundane things as street repairs seems to show he wanted to bring his private life into his public life in a very clever, yet hidden way — as if he might be saying to himself, “If so-so only knew the real meaning of this word, they would be shocked.” Was he was trying to pull the wool over people’s eyes? Did this allow himself a private laugh?
If that is the case, then would such a character also be willing to pull the wool over people’s eyes about other things, especially things that would harm one’s reputation, relationships and career. The difference between just using a clever screename and what happened on the evening of August 2, 2006 is, though, no laughing matter.
And now this is a question the people have been asked to answer when Joe Price, along with the two other defendants, go to trial for obstruction of justice, tampering of evidence and conspiracy surrounding the murder of Robert Wone.
– Posted by David
Not that I was ever close friends with Joe and Vicot, but knew them through common social circles.
Joe was always very self-assured and confident… had a fairly strong social presence.. Thus, I found it sort of interesting that Joe was the submissive one in the sex with Ward. Perhaps, this is just further evidence that he was one thing to the public and one thing behind closed doors.
I remember when Joe was dating a very nice professor from Virginia Tech I believe… the guy was actually a rocket scientist!! He was cute and well-mannered… a catch!!
My understanding is that Joe either cheated on him or tried to get him to engage in more “adventurous” play with other persons/couples and scared away the rocket scientist.
For what it’s worth…
I think your comment “things that would harm one’s reputation, relationships and career” holds a lot of weight. Many people do drugs. Many people participate in extreme sexual behavior. But not many people find themselves in situations like the night of Robert Wone’s death. Somehow I don’t see these 3 defendants as murderers. I see them as people who found themselves in a very bad situation and perhaps tried to cover it up by staging a murder…to save reputations, careers…and face.
do the court documents indicate that he died from stab wounds or were those post-mortem? The answer to that question would seem to either support ot otherwise refute your suggestion (which seems very astute).
Responding to Commenter #2:
One of those three, at least, purposefully stabbed Robert Wone three times while he was incapacitated and still alive. Blood was found in his intestines indicating that he was still alive and digested his own blood after being stabbed. So I doubt it was a case where they thought he had died and then tried to cover it up by stabbing. Also, the odd positioning of Wone's body makes you wonder if someone (I suspect Ward) did in fact plan out the murder, getting ideas from the New Yorker article and his out of control drugs & S&M lifestyle.
Commenter #3. He died of the stab wounds. They were NOT inflicted after he had died already.
Maybe they thought he was dead and stabbed him to make it look like a violent death when in fact he was incapacitated, etc…
Maybe this post also speaks to Joe’s “reckless” online behavior with his work computer where authorities discovered a treasure trove of porn on there.
Maybe he wanted to give the police a show.
This is a sad case and these guys are definitely covering something up. That said, there’s a huge level of misunderstanding and spun-up bullshit based on someone having a profile on alt.com, or having a lot of sex toys. Lots of people are into consensual BDSM and would never ever intentionally harm someone else. Lots of people use recreational drugs periodically, and ecstasy is a common going-out-dancing drug. It doesn’t imply that someone is capable of murder. And the analysis of what “culuket” means is just ridiculous. Shame on whoever thinks they were smart for making up such nonsense.
We agree, it is a sad case. If you would like to offer a better definition of “culuket” we would be more than happy to post it. We completely agree that having an alt.com profile, having a lot of sex toys, consensual BDSM activitiy and recreational drug does not implicate someone of murder. However, when a dead body is found with puncture marks indicating some sort injection, and apparent sexual assault, these things, at a minimum, need to be looked into. If they were not looked into, then the authorities would not be doing their job. And yes, there could also be a lot of spun information from one side in this case. We are interested in having people who have a deeper and more nuanced understanding of BDSM pyschology offer their insights into the case.