Crime
scene
evidence
inside
the
Dupont
Circle
home
of
a
gay
rights
lawyer
and
his
domestic
partner
had
been
“tampered
with”
in
the
bedroom
where
a
prominent
Asian-American
attorney
was
stabbed
to
death
on
Aug.
2,
according
to
a
D.C.
police
affidavit
for
a
search
warrant.
The
affidavit,
filed
in
D.C.
Superior
Court,
says
police
evidence
technicians
discovered
that
someone
had
cleaned
up
a
blood-stained
bedroom
before
police
arrived
at
1509
Swann
St.,
NW,
where
attorney
Robert
Wone,
32,
was
found
suffering
from
three
stab
wounds
to
the
chest.
Wone
was
pronounced
dead
12:24
a.m.
on
Aug.
3
at
George
Washington
University
Hospital,
police
said.
No
one
has
been
arrested
in
the
case,
and
the
D.C.
Police
Gay
&
Lesbian
Liaison
Unit
and
the
FBI
are
assisting
in
the
investigation.
Police
filed
the
affidavit
to
obtain
a
warrant
to
search
the
Connecticut
Avenue,
NW,
law
firm
office
of
Arent
Fox,
where
gay
rights
attorney
Joseph
Price
works.
Price
and
his
domestic
partner,
Victor
Zaborsky,
are
the
owners
and
residents
of
the
Swann
Street
house
with
roommate
Dylan
Ward,
police
and
friends
of
the
couple
said.
“While
processing
the
crime
scene
inside
1509
Swann
St.,
NW,
technicians
were
able
to
determine
that
the
crime
scene
had
been
tampered
with,
including
that
the
area
where
the
victim’s
body
was
located
had
been
cleaned,”
the
affidavit
says.
A
criminal
defense
attorney
hired
by
Price
and
Zaborsky
told
the
Legal
Times
newspaper
that
an
unknown
intruder
killed
Wone
after
entering
the
house
from
a
back
door.
The
attorney,
Kathleen
Voelker,
and
an
attorney
representing
Ward,
said
the
three
men
were
cooperating
fully
with
police
in
the
investigation,
Legal
Times
reported.
But
Capt.
C.V.
Morris,
commander
of
the
police
homicide
squad,
told
reporters
at
an
Aug.
11
news
briefing
that
some
of
the
things
residents
of
the
house
told
detectives
don’t
add
up.
“Some
of
the
information
we
were
told,
I
just
don’t
believe,”
Morris
said
at
the
briefing.
Wone,
who
lived
with
his
wife
in
Oakton,
Va.,
was
a
friend
of
Price’s
from
the
time
the
two
attended
the
College
of
William
&
Mary
in
Virginia,
friends
said.
Wone
had
been
spending
the
night
in
Price
and
Zaborsky’s
townhouse
on
Swann
Street
on
the
night
of
the
killing
after
having
worked
late
at
his
D.C.
office
at
Radio
Free
Asia,
where
he
served
as
general
counsel,
co-workers
and
police
said.
The
warrant
and
affidavit
state
that
police
seized
Price’s
law
office
computer
after
a
preliminary
investigation
revealed
that
Price
and
Wone
had
exchanged
e-mails
and
phone
calls
on
the
day
of
the
killing.
Price
has
figured
prominently
in
local
gay
activism
through
his
role
as
general
counsel
and
board
member
for
Equality
Virginia,
a
statewide
gay
rights
group.
Ward
served
from
2003
to
earlier
this
year
as
Equality
Virginia’s
development
director.
No
forced
entry
In
the
first
days
following
the
killing,
police
declined
to
provide
details
about
who
was
present
in
the
house
at
the
time
of
the
stabbing
and
what,
if
anything,
Price,
Zaborsky
and
Ward
knew
about
the
circumstances
surrounding
the
incident.
Morris’
expressed
skepticism
to
reporters
Aug.
11
about
being
skeptical
about
a
statement
from
at
least
one
resident
of
the
house
that
an
intruder
killed
Wone
after
entering
the
house
from
the
back
door
created
a
stir
in
the
neighborhood
and
among
gay
activists
who
know
Price
and
Zaborsky.
“There
were
no
signs
of
any
forced
entry
to
the
house,
either
through
the
back
door
or
any
other
location,”
says
the
affidavit,
which
was
written
by
homicide
detective
William
Xanten
III.
“The
knife
that
was
used
in
this
attack,
and
located
on
the
table
next
to
the
victim,
was
from
a
set
of
matching
knives
located
in
the
kitchen
of
the
house,”
the
affidavit
says.
“There
was
nothing
that
appeared
out
of
place,
nothing
disturbed,
nothing
ransacked
and
nothing
was
taken,”
it
says.
Zaborsky
works
as
director
of
marketing
and
communications
for
the
milk
industry
trade
group,
MilkPEP,
which
is
responsible
for
crating
the
popular
“Got
Milk”
ad
campaign.
Reached
at
his
office,
Zaborsky
said
neither
he
nor
Price
would
comment.
Co-workers
said
Wone
worked
for
the
past
six
years
as
an
associate
with
the
prominent
Washington,
D.C.,
law
firm
Covington
&
Burling
before
starting
work
about
one
month
ago
as
general
counsel
for
Radio
Free
Asia.
Radio
Free
Asia
is
a
non-profit
organization
that
broadcasts
news
to
Asian
countries
that
ban
independent
news
organizations.
Police
told
worried
residents
of
the
quiet
street
where
the
incident
occurred
that
evidence
they
have
obtained
so
far
indicates
the
killing
was
not
part
of
a
random
burglary
or
home
invasion.
Instead,
Sgt.
Brett
Parson,
commander
of
the
police
Gay
&
Lesbian
Liaison
Unit,
which
is
assisting
in
the
investigation,
said
the
incident
appears
to
involve
someone
who
entered
the
house
through
a
means
other
than
a
forcible
break-in.
Police
sealed
the
house
as
part
of
a
crime
scene
investigation,
displacing
Price,
Zaborsky,
and
Ward — and
a
tenant
in
the
house’s
basement
apartment — for
an
unknown
period
of
time.
Dark,
charcoal
powder
that
police
use
to
detect
fingerprints
could
be
seen
on
the
doorframe
and
windowsills
at
the
front
of
the
house.
Debbie
Weierman,
a
spokesperson
for
the
FBI’s
Washington,
D.C.
Field
Office,
said
the
FBI
...
