UPDATED – Run For Daylight
First Down: NFL East. Welcome legal eagles who’ve migrated from (a thread on Arent Fox DC layoffs at) Above the Law. It would be ideal to field a deep squad of law jocks to give us a firmer grip on the strategies and tactics we’re likely to see from both sides on game days. Does multiple counts with multiple defendants mean a lot of scrambling, flags, and turnovers? Free agents welcome.
Second Down: Deep Throat. We talk with the occasional investigative reporter following the case and, just as often, they’re as confused as we are. It’s a difficult story to cover on both print and broadcast sides and they struggle with the same questions we do: timeline, motives, evidence, biography, the works.
One would think that after 2+ years, anyone who could’ve come forward would’ve come forward. The $25,000 reward looks even better in this economy. What to do? Something of help to the trial – for either defense or prosecution – or information that may responsibly shape the press coverage. We’re just bloggers after all, but for those with information to share, we’re happy to connect you with those who are reporting it.
Third Down: Daybook. More from the New Yorker, more on ketamine in humans from our sister the vet, more on the physical layout of 1509. Maybe something from cousin Morty, a retired criminal court judge who presided over a circus of a hearing involving a celebrity and large amounts of drugs. But Morty doesn’t really do email, so he’s going to take time.
Fourth and goal: Go deep for The Robert E. Wone Memorial Trust
c/o Holtzman Vogel PLLC
98 Alexandria Pike, Suite 53
Warrenton, VA 20186
Sudden Death: Zebras. In response to an early morning comment from another thread, and as a reiteration of our earlier pleas, we welcome guest posts from either the ‘home or visiting teams’ (to continue the metaphor). Let’s move into the red zone and put some points on the board. We still mostly consider ourselves as referees and will strive to be as impartial as possible. Please use the contact email to reach out to us for a submission and let us know how you’d like to be identified.
In the interest of fairness to all parties, readers can contribute to the Price, Zaborsky and Ward legal defense fund here:
Carol McGee, Esq., Trustee
Alston & Byrd
The Atlantic Building
950 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004
-posted by Craig
hail to the redskins. go team
I’m surprised no guys who have had sex with one or more of the three men have posted anything on this blog. If they are afraid that their IP address could be traced – they could post from an internet cafe.
It would be interesting to hear from anyone out there who has had sexual experiences with them – especially with Dylan Ward.
I find it hard to believe that Ward went to Thailand after the murder. I can only imagine what he was doing while there.
Tracing IP addresses isn’t in the cards at all. I can’t even find the spell checker on this contraption.
The four of us had dinner a few weeks back with two friends, a couple. They’re avid local party boys who said they had a drugged up play-date with Dylan at the Crew Club some years back.
Maybe more than one. Neither were very forthcoming and we didn’t want to press them, but one said he readily recognized Dylan’s picture after it started surfacing in the media coverage.
Interesting.
The nature of such encounters may preclude many from coming forth.
Craig, I’m sorry that I’m about to insult your friends, but…. your friends have a moral obligation to be forthcoming, not to you but to the lawyers handling this case. I assume if they had spoken with the lawyers / investigators they would have mentioned this to you.
I hope you revisit this topic with your friends and tell them in no uncertain terms that if they are not sharing everything they know about Ward with the appropriate people, then they should never, ever think of the themselves as ‘good people’ again. Good people don’t withhold information about rapists-murderers when there’s a chance they will remain free, and will almost certainly rape and murder again.
And if pressing this on your friends chills the friendship, so be it. Who would want to be friends with people like that anyway.
Anyone who has information about Ward’s and Price’s prior activities and hasn’t come forward is no better than the people who listened to Kitty Genovese get stabbed to death without lifting a finger to help. The blood of the next young man these people rape and murder will be on your hands too.
Roger that N.M. We seriously doubt whether our dinner companions could be material witnesses in the trials, but it’s probably worth taking another shot at them. My take was that whatever happened between them and Dylan was from long ago PNP days, of which they didn’t seem particularly proud of. Don’t think we didn’t want a post from them. We tried.
I’d characterize them as a couple of youngsters who are more in line with Dylan’s age than mine. And I’m probably closer to your demographic since I know who Kitty Genovese was.
It was not until I read this string that something occurred to me for the first time (funny, because I have been reading this and other Wone centered blog postings since 31 October). Is there a “don’t snitch” culture in our gay world, or the BDSM world? We have categorized “don’t snitch” as and urban African American phenomena. As an ardent opponent to this practice, I pray this has not transcended and effected the case.
Hold on: seriously? These friends of Craig’s are relevant material witnesses because they’ve had sex with the defendants? No one’s disputing he fact that the defendants were into BDSM, or even, I think, that they used drugs. So could you clarify for me what you think could Craig’s friends contribute to the case? When you refer to “everything they know about Ward” and to the defendants’ “prior activities”, what information do you think they could possibly have?
Hold on: Robert Wone is drugged, sexually assaulted, and murdered and the past sex and drug activities of the defendants is not relevant? Yeah right.
L.,
We don’t know for a fact that Robert was drugged. The affidavit for Dylan Ward’s arrest says that Robert tested negative for the drugs that they did test for. This leaves many open questions like 1) could he have tested positive for a drug that was not tested for? 2) If he was drugged with a paralytic drug, there is a very good chance it would have come up negative. So right now with the evidence that is currently available — the jury is out on whether Robert was drugged, either voluntarily or involuntarily.
Davd (editor here at wmrw.com)
David,
Correct. However, the evidence suggests that there was a good chance that Robert was drugged. I am basing this on the evidence re: needle marks and the fact that many drugs were not tested for and the fact that some drugs might not have shown up on a result – such as some paralytics.
That combined with his own semen in his anus and the proximity of Dylan Ward to the deceased at the time of the murder and all the sex toys found in Ward’s room would suggest that Ward’s past sexual habits are very relevant to the murder investigation. Robert was also suffocated at some point that night. Suffocation often plays a part in extreme sexual behavior.
ms. ward is very easy on the eyes. must be nice to have a prominent cardiologist father to finance your legal defense. has ms. ward ever been in a long-term relationship(excluding the lawyer)? former boyfriends? or just a series of drug-induced romps? keep sleuthing girls, we will get to the bottom of this. how long will the alliance last?
To this newbie Victor still appears to be the weakest link in the chain. Maybe because he remains mostly a mystery or of his lesser position in the triad?
Is it really that outrageous to ponder what Dylan Ward learned from his father re: drugs – particularly paralytic or surgery related drugs?
Did Dylan take an interest in same while growing up?
It seems to me that this line of inquiry is potentially relevant when considering the evidence.
“Robert,”
I agree with you. If Ward had taken a particular interest or even taken/stolen paralytic medications from his father, I would hope that his parents would be truthful and let the investigators know. Ward’s father seems very intelligent and successful. This bio notes that the Wards had five children; “four have graduated from college. He and his family enjoy outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, and kayaking. Dr. Ward also enjoys reading historical biographies.”
Re “Third Down”, ketamine in humans……you can see for yourselves the effects of ketamine (various dosages) on humans by looking up “ketamine” on youtube. Yes, our fellow humans actually film themselves or others while drugged and post it on the internet.
$25K such a popular round number. Common with insurance policies, rewards, payments to surviving families of suicide bombers, legal settlements by the Center for American Islamic Relations (CAIR). $25K ain’t much these days. Personally, I like $250K better. Or perhaps 15% of the liquidated assets of some
Have any of the three men contributed to any reward money to find the “intruder”?
Has Ward or Ward’s family – or Price?
I highly doubt it. None of them even showed up to the press conference held in Aug. 2007 to draw attention to Robert Wone’s murder.
Not a good move on their part.
[…] Murdered Robert Wone offers a scouting report on who murdered Robert Wone. The bloggers open with a plea: “It would be ideal to field a […]
Testing
Robert Wone & Joseph Price were college rmates.
Price and Victory Zaborsky were Gay partners.
Dylan Ward was in BDSM relationship w/Price.
Irrespective of Wone’s sexuality: 1) did Price have unrequited love for Wone; 2) if 1, was Zaborsky jealous of Wone; 3) if 1 or 2, did Ward’s Asian fetish relate to either Price or Zaborsky?
Kathy and Robert Wone lived in Oakton Virginia.
Robert was general counsel to Radio Free Asia.
Why could Robert could not return home?
Intruder theory was admittedly implausible to Price, Zaborsky and Ward. How did intruder go through kitchen & upstairs without being heard?
What professional assassin would employ knife instead of gun with silencer or clean up blood in mistaken belief that CSI would be unable to trace?
Gay activist b4 Stonewall, I have been concerned
that community would be resistant to possibility of guilt vis-a-vis activists Price and Zaborsky.
Civil rights activist b4 March on Washington, trained ethnologist, immigration lawyer & EEO ofcr, I have no reluctance in talking about race.
For example: most Blacks — including Gay Blacks
— have known who was Bayard Rustin, the Gay Black Quaker who was mentor to MLK Jr.
Moreover, I have special relationship with Asian cmty in general and Gay Asian cmty in particular. Most Asians — including Gay Asians — have known who was Vincent Chin.
The only way assassin theory makes sense would be if the Communist Chinese wanted to kill the counsel for Radio Free Asia in such a sloppy way that nobody would believe the murder was carried out by secret government agents for opposition.
The only way intruder theory makes sense would be if murderer believed the stereotype of Asians
as quite, passive, submissive and obsequious who would not cry out in pain and/or would not want to lose face even when faced with own demise.
The only way intruder theory makes sense would be if murderer believed the stereotype of Asians
as quite, passive, submissive and obsequious who would not cry out in pain and/or would not want to lose face even when faced with own demise.
There was no robbery by anybody including drug
abusing/dealing brother of Price given nothing was stolen including electronic equipment throughout house as well as Robert’s
wristwatch, Blackberry or laptop.
Intruder was lucky that: 1) gate was open & alarm was off; 2) nobody heard when he crossed kitchen floor and walked up 2 flights of stairs; 3) Robert
did not hear him as he went to far side of bed.
In this day age, neither assassins nor intruders kill people others with noisy knives when available are guns in general and silencers in particular.
When knife is employed in assault, attempted murder or murder and such — we are generally looking at a crime of passion or the (dis)like.
After casing the Swann Stree townhouse: 1) what robber would risk entering unarmed; 2) what assassin would rely on weapon turning up?
Suppose Price had unrequited love or was believed to have same for college classmate, Wone: what effect might that have on his romantic partner, Zaborsky, or his BDSM master Ward?
Supposing one of these men “came on” to Robert
and he rebuffed the advance — for any reason or no reason at all — that would place any one of them in an awkward position with others.
Correction: most Blacks — including Gay Blacks –have NOT known who was Bayard Rustin and most Asians — including Gay Asians — have NOT known who was Vincent Chin.
Cleaned of blood was knife occupants presented as murder weapon. Meanwhile, coroner determined
murder weapon was identical to knife missing from set owned by Ward. What coincidence?
Price, Zaborsky and Ward had recently showered and were dressed in white bathrobes upon arrival of EMT who were surprised by calm of three.
Wone was dressed in clean clothes and his body was positioned in ritual pose matching that of victim in magazine owned by Ward. Coink?
Evidence that blood may have been washed down backyard drain with garden hose conveniently located for employment by intruder.
Given that Wone & Price were college classmates, Price & Zaborsky were “marital” partners, Price &
Ward were in BDSM relationship: all of them had vested interest in covering up murder committed by any one of them much to pleasure of others.
Former city prosecutor & current defense counsel, a/w/a civil libertarian, I believe in “presumption of innocence” — even outside the courtroom.
However: neither family of victim, community in identity or society at large is required to believe in same — presumption applies to judges and jurors.
Highly unusual for authorities to make public an affidavit itemizing alleged offenses by persons who have yet to be charged with any crimes.
If I were to speculate, my guess would be this to be a gambit by authorities (who have no more evidence than they had two years before) for purpose of breaking down one or more.
It is not unheard for a BDSM former sex slave to become BDSM master later in time. Not unlike other slaves, former may rise up in anger toward object of hatred or displace anger toward another.
Thus: 1) Ward could have incapacitated Wone for unrequited submissive Price; 2) Ward could have incapactated Wone for jealous Zaborsky; 3) Ward could have incapacitated Wone for Asian fetish.
Thus: 1) Price could have incapacitated Wone to requite the love; 2) Price could have incapacitated
Wone to alleviate jealousy of Zaborsky; 3) Price
could have incapacitated Wone at Ward direction.
Thus: 1) Zaborsky could have incapacitated Wone to please Price; 2) Zab could have incapacitated Wone out of jealousy regarding Wone or Price;
3) Zaborsky could have incapacitated Wone in concert with Ward direction to partner Price.
One may ejaculate: 1) when one is currently incapacitated such as by drugs; 2) when one is approaching death such as by asphyxiation; 3) through involuntary spasms even after death.
Thus, fact that semen was found in Wone’s rectum is just as likely — or more likely — to have come (sorry): from other’s fingers, gloves or toys.
In other words: sexual orientation of Robert may not be determied by the fact that Robert may have ejaculated or that semen was found in his rectum.
NTWST absence of DC forensics lab and reliance on FBI, highly unusual for team to obtain evidence
— such as that might be gleaned from stairwell wall
removed so long after crime — for evidence may be determined by court as tainted and inadmissable.
Presuming innocence of Price, Zaborsky & Ward,
they set up legal defense fund for contributions by the public. When was the last time individuals did same in the absence of independent organization?
Your thoughts are interesting, but could you please write in complete sentences with proper grammar? It’s kind of hard to decipher your meaning with that kind of rambling, off the cuff style.
Actually I like Spiegel’s comments exactly as they are.
In fact, Spiegel’s commentary is rare quality content on this site, which too often veers off into some tragic tabloid mashup between QueerEye and CSI. The most recent featured item leads off with “Michael” telling us how most party guests were like him: relevance, anyone?
Spiegel’s on to something. I hope he’s also reading the more serious blog on this case:
Perhaps you should try connecting some dots. The relevance of my comment is that the party attended on Saturday night was neither a BDSM nor sex party (and neither are foreign to me). Given the apparent double public image put forth by Price and Zaborsky (upwardly mobile, DC gay A-listers) and the less public involvement in BDSM and other fetishes with Ward, it was uncertain what the party guests’ interests and outward appearances would be.
…oops, meant Legal Times’ blog, if you search Wone, good lineup of coverage there.
My career includes history as an academic, training
as a lawyer and career as an information officer (among other things).
I am published in several areas of law (including criminal), public policy, economics, sociology and history.
I apologize for my grammar; thought I was posting a blog not writing a doctoral dissertation.
Should anyone need help with reading my writing, I recommend Strunk and White’s “Elements of Style” and Turabian’s “Manual for Writers.”
However significant you think may be many of the above facts, most of them would be considered inadmissable for any number of reasons. For example: lacking in relevance or violative of hearsay rule.
Had a witness spoken with either the prosecutor or defense counsel, he would be advised not to disclose said conversations until after trial.
Both incriminating and exculpatory witnesses have been known to come forward years after a crime has been committed or offense undertaken.
“Coming forward” should not be confused with
“cumming forEward” which tends to take less time.
Unfortunately, not only do so-called “good people” do bad things, but “really” good people have been known to do really bad things. Think this personal trait is sometimes referred to as a human being’s being “imperfect.”
I am glad to hear that at least two other persons remember who was Kitty Genovese. About the same number of WMRW site bloggers remember who was Vincent Chin and half the number of bloggers remember who was Bayard Rustin.
Coroner has layed out the following chronology:
1) drugs; 2) paralysis; 3) sexual assault; 4) murder.
This is aside from restraints and does not preclude sexual assault occurring at points along the way.
Given that Dylan is a financial Ward of his father, that the Price is never right for Michael and that poor Zaborsky seems never to be the Victor — the bankrupt “gang of three” had to establish a legal defense fund.
Above being case, where would they possibly find money for contribution to reward fund that might lead to indictment or conviction of one or more?
Unless they “socked” it away somewhere like under a pillow!