Although Dylan Ward, Victor Zaborsky, and Joseph Price have been acquitted on charges that that they covered up the 2006 murder of DC lawyer Robert Wone, their legal troubles are far from over. They now must deal with a $20 million Washington DC wrongful death lawsuit accusing them of negligence, conspiracy, and spoliation of evidence.
Wone, a 32-year-old attorney for Radio Free Asia, was stabbed three times in the chest on August 2, 2006 at the DuPont Circle house shared by Ward, Price, and Zaborsky, who are in a polyamorous relationship with each other. The three defendants have always said that an unknown intruder murdered Wone. However, no evidence of a break-in has ever been found and no one was ever charged with murdering Wone.
Zaborsky, Ward, and Price were acquitted of the charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and evidence tampering. However, that doesn’t mean that Wone’s widow, Katherine, doesn’t have a good chance of collecting Washington DC wrongful death recovery from them.
Even the judge that presided over the criminal case said that she believed that the thee men know more about what happened than what they are telling the cops. Katherine Wone is not waiving her right to a jury trial.
In her Washington DC wrongful death complaint, filed in November 2008, Katherine is accusing all three men of reckless, negligent, and intentional acts that contributed to her husband’s death. She also contends that they did not do enough to save her husband after he was stabbed. Investigators have said that the roommates waited some 19 to 49 minutes before contacting 911.
Civil Fight Looms for Defendants in Case of Murdered D.C. Lawyer, Law.com, July 7, 2010
3 men found not guilty in Wone murder mystery, Wtop, June 30, 2010
Wone’s Widow Files $20M Wrongful Death Civil Suit, News8Net, November 26, 2008
Related Web Resources:
Summary of State Wrongful Death and Intestacy Statutes, Justice.gov (Pdf)
Wrongful Death, Nolo