The wife of D.C. attorney Robert Wone, who was found stabbed to death on Aug. 2, 2006, in the Dupont Circle area home of three gay men, has filed a complaint in court accusing two of the men of failing to make the payments they promised to make to settle a $20 million wrongful death lawsuit the wife filed against them  in 2008.

The court filings in D.C. Superior Court in May of this year by Katherine Wone provide new details of the lawsuit settlement related to a 20-year-old murder case that observers have compared to a murder mystery novel involving three gay men and the fatal stabbing of their friend whose wife insists was straight.

Court records and D.C. police reports show that Robert Wone was said to  have arrived at the townhouse of his long-time college friend Joe Price after spending all day and part of the night working late at his downtown office at Radio Free Asia.

Price, a gay rights attorney at that time associated with the LGBTQ group Equality Virginia, and his partner Victor Zaborsky and their housemate Dylan Ward – who were also friends of Wone – said later that they invited Wone to spend the night in their guest bedroom so he wouldn’t have to drive home to Oakton, Va., where he and his wife lived, before having to return to work in D.C. the next morning.

Court records show that later that night D.C. police responded to a 911 emergency call made by Zaborsky to the gay men’s house at 1509 Swann Street, N.W. and found Wone stabbed to death on what appeared to be a neatly arranged bed.

The three men told police they were certain an intruder entered the house and stabbed Wone while they were asleep in their bedrooms. But homicide detectives reported that the crime scene appeared to have been cleaned up and possible evidence tampered with.

After the investigation dragged on for more than two years, prosecutors obtained an indictment against the three men on charges of obstruction of justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and evidence tampering in connection with the Wone murder. No murder-related charges were brought, prompting legal observers to conclude that authorities didn’t have sufficient evidence to charge the men with murder.

But a detailed arrest affidavit filed and released at the time the charges were brought against the three gay men startled those who knew them and created a sensation in the surrounding community, especially the LGBTQ community.

Among other things, it said autopsy findings and physical evidence indicated that Wone had been restrained or immobilized by a paralytic drug before being stabbed. It said three stab wounds on Wone’s chest and abdomen were surgical in nature, with no indication that Wone moved or tried to defend himself while being stabbed.

In addition, the affidavit said the autopsy found needle marks on Wone’s body that were not made by emergency medical technicians that arrived on the scene and examined Wone. 

At the advice of their attorneys, the three men chose to wave their right to a jury trial and requested that Superior Court Judge Lynn Leibovitz preside over the trial and render the verdict. Following testimony by expert witnesses on both sides, after the men chose not to testify, and dramatic closing arguments by prosecutors and the defense attorneys, the judge found the men not guilty on all three charges. 

In a lengthy written verdict, she read from the bench, Leibovitz said while she believed there was significant evidence implicating the defendants, there continued to be reasonable doubt on all charges against them. However, she said she did find that prosecutors established beyond probable cause that Wone was not murdered by an intruder who entered the house while the three men were asleep.

“Nevertheless, after lengthy analysis of the evidence, I conclude that the government has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the essential elements of obstruction of justice or evidence tampering,” Leibovitz said in delivering her verdict.  

While greatly relieved by the not guilty verdict, Price, Zaborsky, and Ward were still facing a $20 million wrongful death lawsuit that Katherine Wone filed against them prior to their criminal trial. As the two sides prepared for a civil trial the defense team announced the three gay men would invoke their Fifth Amendment constitutional right to refuse to testify at the civil trial on grounds that their testimony could lead to self-incrimination.

Possibly because of that or other reasons, Katherine Wone announced that she and the three men had reached an out of court monetary settlement of the lawsuit, the terms of which would not be publicly disclosed. 

In her recent court filings in May on behalf of the Estate of Robert Wone, which were filed against Price and Zaborsky but not against Ward, Katherine Wone charges the two men with failing to pay thousands of dollars as part of the settlement agreement. Separate complaints she filed against them disclose for the first time that Price had agreed to an $80,000 settlement amount in 2011 to be paid through monthly installments over the next 20 years.  

The non-payment complaint filed against Zaborsky by Wone states that he had agreed to a settlement in 2011 of $66,000 also to be paid over 20 years in 240 monthly payments. 

Although the initially filed $20 million lawsuit also named Dylan Ward as a defendant, court records do not show any complaint filing against Ward for nonpayment, leading some observers to speculate that Ward may have already paid the full sum of whatever amount Wone’s lawsuit sought from him. 

The Washington Post has reported that court filings show that as of May 29 of this year, Price owed $56,893.75 and Zaborsky owed $31,753.75 in missed payments and bounced checks plus fees and interest.

The two complaints filed by Wone against the two men also state that the settlement agreement they signed allows the Wone estate to call for the “immediate” payment of the entire amount they agreed to pay if they default on their monthly payments.  

Court records show that a “remote scheduling conference” before a debt collection judge was scheduled to take place in D.C. Superior Court on Sept. 22.           

Price, Zaborsky, and Ward have declined to respond to press inquiries including inquiries from the Washington Blade regarding the criminal trial and lawsuit. The non-payment complaints filed by  Katherine Wone show that Price’s current residence is in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. and Zaborsky now resides in Tamarac, Fla.

News of the latest complaints filed against Price and Zaborsky for nonpayment of the lawsuit settlement payments was first reported on Aug. 2 by the website called Who Murdered Robert Wone, which was created by four gay men shortly after Wone’s 2006 murder.

“We’re left to wonder if the threesome, or whoever remains of it now, will ever come clean on what they know and may have done,” Craig Brownstein, one of the men who created the website stated in the Aug. 2 posting. “The optimists will hope for a confession of some sort, an explanation, the pessimists are convinced they’ll take their secrets to the grave,” Brownstein wrote. “Time will tell.”

Whitman-Walker Health, D.C.’s LGBTQ supportive healthcare center and medical clinic, is calling on D.C. residents and supporters to take part in its 40th annual Walk & 5K Run to End HIV scheduled to take place Saturday, Sept. 19.

The event, in which participants choose to walk or run, begins at 8:45 a.m. at the Roller Skating Pavilion at Anacostia Park located at 1500 Anacostia Drive, S.E. 

The route, similar to recent years, will take participants from the Skating Pavilion site going west along Anacostia Drive to the Poplar Point parking lot, where there will be a turn around to return along Anacostia Drive to the finish line at the Roller Skating Pavilion, according to Whitman-Walker spokesperson Lisa Amore.  

“Held for the past 40 years, the Walk & 5K to End HIV is Whitman-Walker Health’s signature fundraiser that calls on thousands of Washington, D.C. area residents to lace up their shoes and walk or run to support WWH’s mission of providing dependable, high-quality, comprehensive and accessible health care to those living with or affected by HIV/AIDS,” a statement released by Whitman-Walker says.

The statement says that at the completion of the walk and run, a stage program with live entertainment and family activities, including free snacks and drinks, will take place at the Anacostia Park Skating Pavilion from 9:30-11 a.m.

It says a free shuttle bus will be available to take participants from and to the Anacostia Metro station before and after the event takes place.

Among the event’s goals are “mobilizing attendees to walk and donate to sustain independent policy research, as well as raise their voices by contacting elected officials to protect the national commitment to end HIV by 2030,” the statement says. It adds that all donations are fully tax deductible and supporter checks should be made payable to Whitman-Walker Foundation.

Further information and registration for the walk and run can be accessed at www.walktoendHIV.org.

With experience as an economist, legislative staffer, and nonprofit director, Michael Smith is looking to protect Delaware from the Trump administration and become Delaware’s first openly LGBTQ treasurer. 

With a master’s degree in economics from the University of Alabama, Smith has worked as an economist at Secretariat Economist and Cornerstone Research. He previously interned at the Progressive Policy Institute.

“I think my work in economic and financial analysis has given me a lot of experience and know-how about what the treasurer role can and should be,” said Smith. 

Smith also worked in the Delaware House Democratic Caucus in Dover, working with state representatives to improve the quality of life of Delawareans. 

“I got to see where the rubber meets the road and how we can have policies that positively affect everyday working Delawareans.” said Smith. 

In 2024, Smith narrowly lost a race to represent District 21 by 30 votes. He said that this loss gave him the itch to make a positive impact on the community. 

Smith also founded and directed Powering Our Future, a nonprofit that promoted clean energy infrastructure throughout New Castle County.

“We helped people across Delaware reduce their energy bills and specifically try to encourage energy efficiency and electrification,” said Smith. 

According to Smith, affordability is the biggest issue to voters, especially with the rising cost of utility bills. 

“Everyone is worried about the affordability crisis. The cost of living is just incredibly high.”

“I’ve been knocking on doors for months now, and every time I hear people say: ‘My utility bill has gone up 75 percent. My property taxes are going through the roof. I can’t afford health care. I can’t afford to save for my children’s college or my own retirement.’”

“The treasurer cannot solve all those problems. But what we can do is we can help people save for them and their family’s future,” said Smith. 

Smith talked about his goal to increase awareness around Delaware EARNS, a state sponsored Roth IRA geared toward people who don’t have access to a traditional employer-sponsored retirement plan. 

“There’s roughly 150,000 Delawareans who could take advantage of it,” said Smith. “These are people who are the backbone of Delaware’s economy, whether they are working for small businesses, certain nonprofits, or working the gig economy,” said Smith.

Smith said that many people working for companies such as Doordash and Lyft are not saving for the future but that they could be doing so in a tax-advantaged way through Delaware EARNS. 

“I think there’s some work that needs to be done to make a clear on-ramp for the self-employed and for those gig workers to get enrolled,” said Smith. 

“Right now, we just passed our 10,000th account, which is fantastic, but there’s a lot of room left to grow.”

Smith also spoke of his plans to build on the Aspire 529 College Savings Plan, a project that helps traditionally underserved students finance their college education in ways that traditional 529 plans don’t. 

Smith said that Delaware needs a treasurer who will work to protect the first state from the Trump administration, and he says is ready to step up to the plate. 

“I think we need someone who’s willing to speak out and try to work with state treasurers, comptrollers, and other elected officials across the country to push back over the next two years.”

“We have a president in Washington, D.C., who is working with his Republican cronies in Congress to attack blue states like ours and threaten our federal funding.”

“I think that the best form of resistance is resilience,” said Smith. 

Smith identifies as pansexual, having come out 10 years ago in college. He said that he is proud of the representation Delaware already has, from Rep. Sarah McBride to Travis McDermott, the mayor of Newark. 

“I would love to partner with our attorney general, our governor, and our General Assembly to defend our LGBTQ+ citizens and residents as much as possible,” said Smith.

“I’d be honored to be Delaware’s first openly LGBTQ+ treasurer,” said Smith. 

Mike Ramone, the Republican nominee for treasurer, has described Delaware as being in a ‘financial crisis.’The Blade asked Smith to respond to Ramone’s statement. 

“I would disagree with Mike Ramone. I think Delaware is in a very strong financial shape, with the caveat of our state employee health benefits, which needs to be more well funded.”

Michael Smith will face Ted Lauzen and Mike Miller on the ballot for the Sept. 15 primary. 

(Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story reported that Smith worked as an economist at the Progressive Policy Institute. He actually worked as an intern there while in college. The Blade regrets the error.)