Peacock recently debuted a documentary series called Who Killed Robert Wone. I’ve watched a lot of true crime programming and this particular offering is unlike anything I’ve seen before. The case is puzzling for a number of reasons and as one of the journalists being profiled mentions, Robert Wone’s murder is like the movie Clue come to life. There are numerous factors that make this case stand out. For one: Wone’s spouse is not a suspect in his murder and never was. Additionally, the authorities have no clear motive for the killing. And instead of one prime suspect, there are three. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The anomalous circumstances only get more unusual from there.
Who Killed Robert Wone? follows the 2006 murder of Washington D.C. attorney Robert Wone and attempts to piece together the puzzling circumstances surrounding his death on August 2, 2006. The night he was killed, Wone was visiting friends at their townhome in the Dupont Circle neighborhood. He had plans to spend the night there. Shortly after his arrival, one of his hosts called 9-1-1 saying that Wone had been murdered by an intruder.
This case proved to be peculiar before the police even arrived on the scene. When EMTs showed up, they noted that it appeared as though the victim had been stabbed, showered, and placed back in the bed where he was possibly posed. The stab wounds were described as ‘surgical’; the incisions were calculated and precise, rather than fitful and chaotic. That piece is particularly surprising because it suggests that neither the victim nor his killer was struggling during the attack.
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When lead detective Bryan Waid walked into the townhome where the crime occurred, he noted that all three of the gentlemen that lived onsite were dressed in white robes, as if they had just showered. Some of them still had wet hair, which further supports that assessment.
The residents of the townhome where the murder transpired are Joe Price, Dylan Ward, and Victor Zaborsky. The story that Dylan, Victor, and Joe told the authorities is that after everyone had gone to bed, they heard some noises and went to investigate, only to find their friend deceased in their guest room. The men told the police that there must have been an intruder that broke into their residence and killed Robert. The men theorized that the burglar gained entry through the back door, which they maintain was unlocked at the time of the murder.
Viewers of the docu-series eventually learn that the trio that lived on the premises were in a three-way romantic relationship. Robert, the victim, was not known to be a gay man and was married to a woman. So, when the authorities discovered that Robert had traces of his own semen in his anal cavity, they weren’t entirely sure how to interpret that. For that matter, there are still plenty of questions surrounding that piece of the puzzle.
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There are a handful of theories. The most plausible of which may be that Robert was sexually assaulted by one or more of his hosts. The homeowners had a variety of sex toys on hand. And when I say a variety, I mean they had nearly everything under the sun, including a device designed to induce involuntary male ejaculation. Also on hand was a massive amount of bondage gear including floggers, chastity devices, urethral sounds, probes, scrotal harnesses, and so much more.
Additionally perplexing is the way that Robert had no defensive wounds. That seems to suggest that he was either tied up or incapacitated by some kind of paralytic, like succinylcholine. Robert’s autopsy tested negative for drugs. But succinylcholine breaks down quickly enough that it’s not typically detected on a toxicology report and usually requires a separate test for its presence to be detected.
The lack of defensive wounds and strange circumstances regarding Robert’s death poses a series of questions: Why was he incapacitated? What went wrong? How did this happen? And how did this go from a friendly visit to murder over the course of fewer than 90 minutes? Joe and Robert had been friends for more than a decade. It simply does not make sense that years of friendship would turn to murder after a friendly visit.
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As it turns out, the docu-series leaves off with more questions than answers. The central trio offered their version of events to authorities and presented the theory that an intruder committed the crime. And that’s about all they had to say. It seems very much like the three men rehearsed their statements and stuck to the script they agreed upon. But what’s really surprising is that none of them cracked under pressure during interrogation. As such, even after the two-part series concludes, many unknowns remain.
Over time, the authorities built a case against Joe Price, Dylan Ward, and Victor Zaborsky. That ultimately led to a trial, the outcome of which is chronicled in the series. But I will stop there and allow you to see where the cards fall. I can safely say that I was flabbergasted by what I saw and I will be thinking about this case for years to come. There are so many pieces of the puzzle that don’t fit together and so much of what went on inside that Dupont Circle townhome remains unknown more than 15 years later.
If you’re keen to check out Who Killed Robert Wone? for yourself, the docu-series is streaming on Peacock Premium as of the publication of this post.
