Local

Wone’s widow takes the stand

Trial begins with wife’s testimony, chilling 911 tape

Published

16 years ago

May 19, 2010

Katherine Wone, wife of slain attorney Robert Wone, testified this week about her husband’s relationship with the three gay men charged in connection with his murder. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The wife of slain attorney Robert Wone testified this week about her husband’s friendship with three gay men charged with obstructing a police investigation into his murder.

Katherine Wone, who became the government’s first witness Monday in a complex and long-awaited trial, said the couple gave money to a Virginia gay group that Joseph Price, one of the defendants, once chaired.

Price, 39, his domestic partner, Victor Zaborsky, 44, and the couple’s housemate, Dylan Ward, 39, are charged with obstruction of justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice and evidence tampering in connection with Wone’s August 2006 stabbing death in their Dupont Circle area townhouse. No one has been charged with the murder.

If convicted on all three counts, the defendants face a possible maximum sentence of 38 years in prison.

In testimony divided across two days, Katherine Wone said her husband, who became friends with Price during their days as students together at Virginia’s College of William & Mary, arranged to spend the night at the men’s house on Aug. 2, 2006.

She said he planned to work late at his job in D.C. as general counsel for Radio Free Asia and decided not to drive home that night to the couple’s house in Oakton, Va.

“Do you remember Robert saying he and Joe were good friends?” defense attorney Bernard Grimm asked Katherine Wone during cross-examination.

“Yes,” she said.

“Did you ever see a crossed word between Joe and Robert?” Grimm asked.

“No,” she replied.

In response to questions from Grimm, Katherine Wone said her husband was aware that Price was involved with Equality Virginia, a statewide gay civil rights group, and that he supported the cause of equal rights for “all people.”

She told of how she and Robert Wone accepted an invitation from Price to attend an Equality Virginia fundraising dinner in Richmond one year before the murder. And she confirmed that a photo of the Wones and Price that Grimm showed her on the witness stand was taken at the dinner.

The three defendants have said through their lawyers that an intruder killed Robert Wone after entering their house from a rear door while the men slept in their bedrooms. Each of their attorneys stressed during opening arguments that their clients’ friendship with Wone demonstrated they had no motive to harm him and that the government had failed to find a motive for the murder.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenn Kirschner, the lead prosecutor, noted in his opening argument that the men tampered with the crime scene and repeatedly misled police and homicide detectives investigating the murder. He said the defendants know — but refuse to disclose — the identity of the person or people who fatally stabbed Wone in the chest.

Among other things, Kirschner noted that paramedics and crime scene investigators found almost no blood on Wone’s body or the bed where he was found with three large stab wounds. There were no signs of a struggle, no defensive wounds on his arms, no signs of forced entry into the house, and nothing was disturbed or taken from the house, Kirschner said.

All of this, he said, was evidence of crime scene tampering and completely dispelled the defendants’ claim that an intruder killed Wone.

Defense attorneys representing the three gay men countered that the evidence doesn’t support any of the government’s allegations, including an assertion that more blood should have been found on the scene.

They planned to call an expert witness, a cardiac surgeon, who is expected to testify that the single stab wound piercing Wone’s heart would have killed him within five seconds, shutting down the heart’s ability to pump blood. A stopped heart, rather than a sinister plot postulated by the government, was the reason little or no blood was seen, defense attorneys said.

From the moment homicide detectives arrived at the house to investigate the murder, they became “marred and infatuated in a theory based on ignorance,” prompting them to suspect the men were involved in the murder, said Grimm, who is Price’s attorney.

“Why is a straight man coming to the house of a gay man,” Grimm quoted a detective as saying while interviewing the defendants.

Grimm and David Schertler, Ward’s attorney, said in their opening arguments that the three defendants’ sexual orientation and their three-way relationship played a role in shaping police and prosecutor assumptions that they, rather than an intruder, were involved in the murder.

Kirschner challenged that assertion, however, saying investigators have linked the men to a conspiracy to obstruct the investigation based on a vast array of crime scene findings.

“This case is not about sexual orientation,” he told D.C. Superior Court Judge Lynn Leibovitz, who is poised to decide the men’s fate after the defendants opted to forego a jury trial.

“This case is not about the personal relationship of these three. There is nothing negative that can be inferred due to the sexual orientation or lifestyle choices of these men,” he said.

But he noted that Price, Zaborsky and Ward “had powerful bonds among them,” which amounted to a “tight knit family” that is protecting its members from the harm that would come to them “if the truth came out.”

911 tape stirs courtroom

Katherine Wone’s calm testimony was offset Tuesday afternoon when prosecutors played a dramatic audio tape of Zaborsky’s 911 call reporting that Wone had been stabbed in his house.

On the recording, which lasts about 12 minutes, a near hysterical Zaborsky is heard making a desperate plea for help. He tells the 911 operator that a male friend visiting the house “is not conscious” after being stabbed.

When the operator asked him who stabbed the person, Zaborsky replied, “I don’t know who stabbed him. We don’t know how they got in. The person has one of our knives. … I’m afraid to go downstairs.”

The operator then urged Zaborsky to use a towel to stop the bleeding by pressing it firmly on the stab wound. He replied that his housemate, meaning Price, was already doing that in the guest bedroom where the stabbing victim was staying.

In a development that prosecutors have called highly significant, Zaborsky is heard on the tape asking the operator, “What time is it?” The operator, sounding surprised, repeated the question before responding, “11:54.”

One day earlier, in his opening argument, prosecutor Kirschner said that Zaborsky’s question about the time was among the indicators that he participated in a conspiracy to conceal from investigators what really happened during Wone’s brief stay at the men’s house.

Investigators believe Wone arrived at the house shortly after 10:30 p.m. Kirschner followed up on the chronology of the incident when he next called as witnesses William and Claudia Thomas, a married couple who live in the townhouse adjoining the defendants’ house at 1509 Swann St., N.W.

William Thomas testified that he heard a scream coming from the defendants’ house through a wall shared by the two houses on the night of the murder. He said he did not check the time when he heard the scream, but said he remembered hearing his wife watching the 11 p.m. news on Channel 7. His wife backed up that account during her own testimony.

Based on that account, police and prosecutors have said between 12 and 49 minutes elapsed from the time of the scream and the time Zaborsky called 911 at 11:49 p.m.

Investigators have said the scream could have marked the time Wone was stabbed. A delay of even 12 minutes in making the 911 call could have been used to clean the crime scene and hide or discard other evidence linked to the murder.

The Thomas’ testimony was followed by testimony from Jeff Baker, one of the first of the paramedics to arrive at the house in response to the 911 call.

Baker said the first of several highly unusual murder scene observations he made came during his encounter with Ward, who was standing at the top of the second floor staircase when Baker approach the room where Wone’s body was found. He noted that when he asked  Ward what happened, Ward ignored him and retreated into his bedroom.

Upon entering the room where Wone was lying lifeless on a pull-out sofa bed, Baker said, he was startled at what he saw. Wone was lying “flat on his back” with three stab wounds to his chest with almost no blood on his body or on the bed, he said.

This was highly unusual for a stabbing, Baker said, based on his experience in responding to hundreds of stabbings during his 14 years as a paramedic.

He said Price was sitting on the bed next to Wone’s lifeless body. There was no towel on Wone’s wounds and Price’s hands had no signs of blood, which would be expected if he had been holding the towel on Wone’s chest.

Baker said he later observed a light streak of blood on Wone’s abdomen that appeared as if it had been “wiped.”

Kirschner said in his opening argument that investigators found the towel in the room, but it had only a small amount of blood on it. He noted that Price told police he found one of the knives from the men’s kitchen in the room where Wone was stabbed.

Authorities later reported that cotton fibers found on the knife indicated that blood had been taken from Wone’s wounds and wiped onto the knife with a towel to make it look like the murder weapon. Although fibers found on the knife matched that of a towel, no fibers were found that matched the shirt Wone wore and which had been pierced by the knife used to kill him, Kirschner said in his opening argument.

Police evidence experts and findings from an autopsy on Wone also showed the blood on the knife covered the entire blade, even though the depth of the wounds on Wone’s chest indicated that blood would not have covered the full length of the blade, Kirschner said.

Kirschner has said this was further evidence that the men tampered with the crime scene to mislead police. He noted that a cutlery set found in Ward’s bedroom had one knife missing. When investigators obtained a duplicate knife from the manufacturer, they found it matched the size and depth of Wone’s wounds better than the bloody knife found at the scene, further suggesting that someone other than an intruder and someone known to the defendants was responsible for the murder.

Defense attorneys disputed these assertions in their opening arguments, saying their own expert witnesses would testify that the cotton fibers on the knife could not be accurately linked to either the towel or Wone’s shirt. Instead, they said the fibers are found in the ambient air and on all objects and were meaningless as evidence in a stabbing.

What really happened, Schertler said in his opening argument, is that the defendants are telling the truth in saying they were not involved in the murder and that an intruder killed Robert Wone.

D.C. attorney Dale Edwin Sanders, who practices criminal law and is not associated with the case, said the part of the government’s case that appears the strongest is its assertion that no evidence exists to show an intruder entered the house to kill Wone. He noted that in cases based on circumstantial evidence, sometimes “missing” evidence becomes the key to the case.

“It’s largely a circumstantial case,” he said. “There’s no smoking gun, but the government has presented a neatly interwoven mosaic of 100 pieces of evidence that all fit together.”

Other observers at the trial said the defense was ready to discredit or downplay the government’s evidence with the aim of establishing enough doubt that Leibovitz would have to find the men not guilty.

Attorneys on both sides have predicted the trial would last about five weeks.

Up Next

ENDA supporters demand action now

Don't Miss

Graham, Thomas win Stein Club endorsements

FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM

District of Columbia

HIV Vaccine Awareness Day set for May 18

Whitman-Walker joins nationwide recognition of efforts to develop vaccine

Published

1 day ago

May 15, 2026

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

(Image courtesy of the NIH)

Whitman-Walker Health, the D.C.-based community healthcare center that specializes in HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ-related health services, will join health care advocates from across the country to support efforts to develop an HIV vaccine on HIV Vaccine Awareness Day on May 18.

“HIV Awareness Day, observed annually on May 18, was established to recognize and thank the volunteers, scientists, health professionals, and community members working toward a safe and effective prevention HIV vaccine,” Whitman-Walker said in a statement.

“Led by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the day is also an opportunity to educate communities about the critical importance of preventive HIV vaccine research,” the statement says.

It adds, “The reality is that any new vaccine discovery must be built community by community, institution by institution, and then it must reach everyone – especially the communities who have carried the heaviest burden of this epidemic.”

On its own website, the National Institutes of Health says HIV Vaccine Awareness Day also highlights its longstanding efforts, coordinated by its Office of AIDS Research, to support researchers’ efforts to develop an HIV vaccine.

“Researchers are making promising headway in efforts to develop a safe, effective HIV vaccine,” it says in a statement on its website.

A Whitman-Walker spokesperson said Whitman-Walker was not holding a specific event to observe HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, but it will recognize the day as a way of encouragement for its ongoing work to address the AIDS epidemic and support for vaccine research.

“Today, no one has to die from HIV,” said Whitman-Walker’s Health System division’s CEO, Dr. Heather Aaron in the Whitman-Walker statement. “We have the treatments, the technology, and the research to change outcomes, and yet people in our community are still dying from HIV//AIDS,” she said in the statement.

“That is unacceptable, and it is exactly why our work continues,” she added. “Here in D.C. with more focus on Southeast D.C., the Whitman-Walker Health System remains committed to making a difference through cutting-edge research, policy advocacy, and philanthropy, because fair access to life-saving treatment is not a privilege. It is a right.”

District of Columbia

Capital Stonewall Democrats endorses Janeese Lewis George for D.C. mayor

Group also backed D.C. Council, Congressional delegate, AG candidates

Published

2 days ago

May 14, 2026

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

Janeese Lewis George (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The Capital Stonewall Democrats, D.C.’s largest local LGBTQ political organization, announced on May 14 that it has endorsed D.C. Councilmember Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4) for mayor in the city’s June 16 Democratic primary.

Lewis George along with former D.C. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie (D-At-Large) are considered by political observers to be the two leading candidates among the seven candidates competing in the Democratic primary election for mayor.

Both have strong, long-standing records of support on LGBTQ issues, indicating Capital Stonewall Democrats members, like LGBTQ voters across the city, are likely choosing a candidate based on non-LGBTQ related issues.

In a May 14 statement, the group announced its endorsements in seven other Democratic primary races, including D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson, who is running unopposed in the primary. Also endorsed is D.C. Councilmember Robert White (D-At-Large), who is one of five Democratic candidates competing for the position of D.C. delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.

D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) is among the four candidates competing with White for that post, and who like White has a strong record of support on LGBTQ issues.

In the At-Large D.C. Council race for which incumbent Anita Bonds is not running for re-election, Capital Stonewall Democrats has endorsed community activist and LGBTQ ally Oye Owolewa in a nine candidate race.

For the Ward 1 D.C. Council election, in which five LGBTQ supportive candidates are competing, the group did not make an endorsement because none of the candidate received a required 60 percent of the endorsement vote cast by Capital Stonewall Democrats members, according to the group’s former president, Howard Garrett.

The statement announcing its endorsements shows that it decided to list its “Preferred Ranking” of each of the Ward 1 Democratic candidates as part of the city’s newly implemented ranked choice voting system. It lists gay candidate Miguel Trindade Deramo as first, bisexual candidate Aparna Raj second, Jackie Reyes Yanes third, Rashida Brown fourth, and Terry Lynch fifth.

In the remaining ward Council races, Capital Stonewall Democrats endorsed Councilmember Matt Fruman (D-Ward 3), who is running unopposed for re-election; Councilmember Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), the Council’s only gay member who is being challenged by two opponents; and Councilmember Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), who is running unopposed for re-election.

The group also chose not to make an endorsement in the special election for another At-Large D.C. Council seat that became vacant when then-Independent Councilmember McDuffie resigned to enable him to run for mayor as a Democrat. Under the city’s Home Rule Charter adopted by Congress, that at large sweat is restricted to a “non-majority party” candidate, meaning a non-Democrat.

The three candidates running for the seat, all Independents, include incumbent Doni Crawford, who was appointed to the seat earlier this year; former D.C. Councilmember Elissa Silverman; and Jacque Patterson. All three have expressed support on LGBTQ related issues.

“The organization’s endorsement process included candidate questionnaires, public forums, and direct voting by active CSD members,” the statement announcing its endorsements says. “Each endorsement reflects the collective voice of 173 LGBTQ+ Democrats who voted in the process and are committed to building lasting political power in the District,” according to the statement. “Candidates that reached 60 percent support received the endorsement.”

Garrett, the group’s former president, acknowledged that with nearly all candidates running in D.C. elections expressing strong support for the LGBTQ community, many if not most of the group’s members most likely chose a candidate based on issues other than LGBTQ related issues.

He said he believes Lewis George, who he is supporting and is viewed as a progressive candidate who self-identifies as a Democratic Socialist, compared to McDuffie, who is viewed as a moderate Democrat, captured the group’s endorsement based on the view that she is the best person to lead the city going forward.

“I believe that Capital Stonewall members voted for Janeese Lewis George because we’re tired of the status quo and we need a new, bold leader to not only move our city forward but also to stand up to Donald Trump and his administration,” Garrett told the Washington Blade.

McDuffie’s LGBTQ supporters, including former Capital Stonewall Democrats presidents David Meadows and Kurt Vorndran, have argued that McDuffie’s positions on a wide range of issues, including LGBTQ issues, show him to be the best candidates to lead the city at this time and In future years.

The group’s endorsement of Lewis George comes one week after GLAA DC, a nonpartisan LGBTQ advocacy group, awarded her its highest candidate rating of +10.

Rehoboth Beach

What’s new in Rehoboth Beach for summer 2026

Moon changes ownership, Market 59 debuts, and much more

Published

3 days ago

May 14, 2026

Peter Rosenstein

The beach beckons in Rehoboth. (Blade file photo by Daniel Truitt)

Another year and Rehoboth Beach, Del., is ready for the new summer season. The crowds will come for sun, sand, surf, and the boardwalk. It will cost a little more to get to the beach this year, as gas prices are way up. But once you are in Rehoboth, you know it’s worth it.

One aesthetic change you’ll notice at the boardwalk is the installation of a security gate and bollards near the bandstand, intended to enhance security during large events. The town plans an expanded fireworks show for July 4 to honor the nation’s 250th birthday.

Most of the commercial establishments in Rehoboth are along and between three blocks: Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Avenue, and Wilmington Avenue. This column will seem like I am walking back and forth because I am, and you will too. One thing to remember: Parking in Rehoboth is difficult and expensive and free parking is over as of May 15. There are parking permits available for either a day or longer at the non-metered spots.

During more than 40 years that I have been going to Rehoboth, including more than 30 owning a place in Sussex County, I have witnessed the town transform from a summer vacation spot to a vibrant, year-round community. This was hastened by the COVID pandemic, when lots of people moved to the beach when they could work virtually. Others, reaching retirement age, decided the beach was the place to be. This influx of residents has given many businesses a reason to stay open year round.

Over the years, Rehoboth has become a real foodie town, with many more restaurants, many of them high-end, opening. There are local gay-led restaurant groups like the award-winning Second Block Hospitality Group, which operates The Pines, Bodhi Kitchen, and Drift. Another group, JAM Holdings, owns Eden, which relocated to Route 1 in January after 20 years on Baltimore Avenue; and Jam, which is expected to reopen on Rehoboth Avenue later this year after leaving its Wilmington Avenue location that was demolished over the winter. That building was home to several beloved restaurants over the decades, including Chez la Mer and Azzurro.

Among the new businesses this year, be sure to stop at the gay-owned Bay Laurel Home and Garden, located at the old Farmer Girl site on Route 1 for your gardening needs. The Waypoint Hotel opened in December on Rehoboth Avenue, site of the former gay-owned Shore Inn.

Another of the newbies is the upscale Market 59 on Baltimore Avenue. The owners plan to add a restaurant and bar before July 4 called Fifty-Nine. The market offers grab-and-go options for the beach plus homemade breads and pastries, produce, and seafood. Then there is the renamed Frankie and Louie’s across the street, now called Pazzo Italiano. Still the same great takeout and now hooked up with The Pines leading to some new menu items. Then I hear there will also be a new Champagne Bar opening soon on Baltimore Avenue.

Then there are the established and stellar standbys, including the Back Porch, on Rehoboth Avenue; Megan Kee’s restaurants La Fable, Houston White, and Dalmata; and the restaurants on Wilmington Avenue, including Mariachi, Salt Air, and Henlopen Oyster House, where you can sample the Rehoboth Rose oysters from the gay-owned Nancy James Oysters. Then on 1st Street there is Goolee’s Grill for a comforting breakfast and Bloody. Walk up the second block of Rehoboth Avenue and you reach the Purple Parrot and its ever-popular Biergarten.

The iconic Blue Moon restaurant and bar was recently sold to new owners who have pledged to keep it an LGBTQ-affirming space, according to longtime owner Tim Ragan. Ragan and his partner Randy Haney sold the Blue Moon to Dale Lomas and Mike Subrick, owners of Atlantic Liquors on Route 1. “They don’t want to change a thing,” Ragan told the Blade. Happy hour continues all summer long from 4-6 p.m.

For morning coffee nothing beats The Coffee Mill, in the mews between Rehoboth and Baltimore Avenue, where I can be found every morning I am at the beach. The owners, Mel and Bob, also own the Mill Creamery ice cream shop, and another Coffee Mill in Dewey Beach. Mel is proud of his clothing store BRASHhh on 1st Street. On the Rehoboth Avenue side of the mews is the beloved Browseabout Books where you can find a beach read, grab a coffee, and shop for everything from toys to home decor. A few doors away on Rehoboth Avenue is the fun Gidget’s Gadgets.

My favorite place for happy hour is Aqua Bar & Grill for good drinks, food, and service. Say hi to Katie Lyell behind the bar at Aqua, winner of the Blade’s Best Of Award for Best Rehoboth Bartender. Aqua, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, hosts Taco Tuesdays and half-price burgers on Thursdays, all on the spacious outdoor deck. While you are on Baltimore Avenue make sure to stop by CAMP Rehoboth, the LGBTQ community center. Pick up your copy of Letters and take a peek at the art exhibit in their offices. Maybe even say hello to the new executive director, Robin Brennan, Ph.D. I had the chance to stop in and meet her and my congratulations to the board. I think they made a great choice for executive director and the organization is clearly in good hands. Then stop in the CAMP Courtyard, and get something to eat at Lori’s Oy Vey café, celebrating her 30^th season, and still the best chicken salad at the beach. Visit the newly relocated Gallery 50 on Baltimore Avenue, which moved from Wilmington Avenue. Then stop in at Elegant Slumming, also on Baltimore Avenue, say hi to Philip, and shop his exquisite jewelry, and some great artwork. If you have a pet and want to treat them to something nice, stop by Critter Beach on Rehoboth Avenue.

After a day in the sand, and a good dinner, there is the nightlife. Diego’s on Rehoboth Avenue Extended hosts regular entertainment, including drag shows and internationally renowned DJs. A new partially enclosed patio offers an expanded space to hang out. Don’t miss their Sundays with local icon Pamala Stanley, now in her 21st season at the beach; in addition to her Sunday dance party, she performs her “Piano Pam” show on Monday evenings. Then there is always fun at Freddie’s Beach Bar, on 1^st Street with its video bar and regular entertainment. Clear Space Theatre on the first block of Baltimore Avenue has a busy summer of shows including “The Cher Show”(June 23-Aug. 27), “Mean Girls” (June 26-Aug. 29), and “Pretty Woman” (July 1-Aug. 25). Clear Space always hosts talented casts including many college students who are getting their first chance to shine. Some come back when they are a little more established. This year that includes Caetano de Sá who first performed at the beach in “Jersey Boys” when he was a student at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where he earned his BFA in musical theater. He will be back as of May 25 for the summer rep to play Sonny in the production of “The Cher Show,” Martin/Coach Carr in “Mean Girls,” and Mr. Hollister in “Pretty Woman,” along with some cabarets. The incredibly talented Ashley Williams is also back in town and will host a cabaret show on Aug. 2. Tickets for all the shows are available online and they sell out fast.

So, make your plans now to head to the beach. Stay a day, or a week, or more, in a hotel, or a rental house. But make those plans quickly, as things sell out fast in Rehoboth. Look forward to seeing you at the beach!