What happened in the Washington DC townhouse? | Forensic Files

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[Music] nestled within the historic dupont circle neighborhood in washington dc's
old city is swan street northwest an exclusive residential strip lined with victorian style row houses
with the white house only a mile north swan street is a highly desirable location for wealthy city dwellers who
seek leafier surroundings one address a four-bedroom three-story abode with city views is what's called a
hot cellar the kind of house that doesn't stay on the market long since the incident in 2006
the intruder has not returned to the address ensuring residents within can now sleep
easy nbc emergency number one operator 6752 do you need police fire or ambulance
immediately or maybe an ambulance what's wrong with this we had someone name us in our
house evidently and they stabbed somebody okay somebody's inside the house now i don't know we heard are they bleeding
we see someone bleeding someone is bleeding in our health okay where are they bleeding from
uh i think he's i think in the stomach mr maybe cautious calm down for me i'm gonna send some
help okay female or male it's a male he's a friend of ours who is spending the night with
us okay and who was the person that stabbed him do you know is he is he cautious
when his name goes ma'am this is how he's not confident he's not conscious at all no when he's going right now is he
breathing listen to me calm down i'm going to help you okay she's breathing i'm upstairs and she's downstairs i
don't know hey who's out there foot challenge my partner is downstairs with him right now
she told me to go upstairs and call the place immediately okay who's the person okay i'm sending
the pyramid in the police okay who's the person that stabbed him i don't know we think of somebody with
an intruder in the house we've heard the chimes the door ma'am calm down swan street and also at the microwave
the person that says i'm just in the home i don't know the person had one of our
eyes the person that stabbed him ran down the door with a knife i think okay anybody any type of description of
the person that came in home no idea we have no description we heard we heard the chime and
and we heard the scream from our friends okay and so we came running downstairs we ran in so you both
was upstairs and your friend was downstairs you heard the door open and then you heard the scream we didn't
i didn't hear the door open until after the screen and then we ran down the stairs and we heard we
are we have an alarm and so the chime went off okay is the end of this we really need
the influence okay man wrong man go to the door they should be putting up any moment okay
i'm afraid to get them okay the person who's downstairs was the person that was on it no we're in the
we're on the second floor okay so somebody need to go that says open the door for the pair of minutes you're not
sure if that person is still in the home and i have no idea okay we have paramedics involved okay what plan is it
what time is it at the moment the 2354 is 11 64 man i was before yes i mean i was getting the line with you i will
stay on the line until somebody gets here okay i won't hang up we need them right now i'm not hanging out but we
need help now okay damn right man they are in route let me know when you hear the paramedics
can you look out the window and see if you have them coming i'm looking out the window and i see nothing i see nobody
okay same right forever but they aren't out man they're coming here they are here they are they're
there i'm going downstairs okay i'll stand in line with you too you open window for paramedics okay
help us reinforce that on our second floor [Laughter] no it's really an emergency i mean he's
naming he's hurry man this won't be okay [Music] [Music] it was just before midnight on tuesday
august 2 2006 when the ambulance pulled up outside a grey brick row house on swan street northwest
a resident victor zaborski met the paramedics out front still on the phone to 9-1-1
panic into distress made his voice sound higher than usual leading the operator to mistake him for a woman
between sobs victor informed the paramedics that someone had been stabbed on the second floor
they rushed past him into the house and ascended the steep wooden staircase just
inside the front door about halfway up they spotted another male on the landing above
dylan ward when the paramedics asked dylan what was going on he silently raised a hand and
pointed down a short hallway he was gesturing towards a nearby room following his direction the two
paramedics entered the small space against one wall was a sofa bed that had been unfolded and prepped with linen
a man sat perched on one side he was joseph price the third and final resident of the house
next to him lying face up on the sofa bed was a fourth man his pupils were fixed and dilated
skin pale and cold two weeks earlier robert juan checked his inbox and noticed an email from an
old friend joseph price joseph was replying to a request robert had recently sent him
robert had only just landed a role as general counsel for radio free asia an accurate and uncensored news source for
asian countries with poor media practices was the perfect job for the 32 year old
as a fourth generation chinese-american robert was passionate about racial equality
on tuesday august 2 2006 robert's work day was set to be longer than usual he had to stay after hours to attend a
legal education course which wouldn't end until after 9 00 pm the late finish wasn't ideal as robert
lived 20 miles from the radio free asia office in washington dc and would have to commute to work again early the next
day so in the weeks leading up to the event the extremely organized robert contacted
some dc based friends to see if they could host him for the night including joseph price
the pair had met 15 years earlier in college although they had repeatedly tried to
catch up for dinner it had been a while since they'd seen each other consequently joseph emailed robert back
saying he was happy for him to crash at his house on august 2. that morning robert stood on bustling
connecticut avenue where he kissed his wife kathy goodbye it was 8 45 and the couple had caught
the metro train together into dc to go to their respective jobs later that night kathy received a call
from robert he had just finished up at his course and was on his way to visit the night
shift at radio free asia afterwards he would take a cab to joseph price's house one and a half miles away
as they said their goodbyes kathy told her husband have a good night i love you as joseph price waited for his guest to
arrive his partner viktor zaborski returned home from an interstate business trip
joseph informed victor that robert juan would be staying over but victor was too tired to wait up and
greet the visitor he decided to retire for the night and catch up with robert in the morning
victor went up to the main bedroom on the third floor climbed into bed and turned on the television to unwind
robert arrived at around 10 30 pm and was greeted by joseph as well as dylan ward a third man who also lived at the
house dylan knew robert too and was friends with him but not to the extent of the
others the trio gathered around the kitchen table and made small talk over glasses
of water like robert joseph price victor zaborski and dylan ward were all corporate
professionals in their mid to late 30s joseph was a partner at an internationally renowned law firm
and the director slash general counsel for a non-profit that supported the lgbt community
his partner victor was the director of marketing for the milk processors education program famous for their got
milk advertising campaign dylan ward held an associate of culinary arts degree and had also earned a
masters in children's literature which he used to write edit and publish children's books
he also worked alongside joseph as development director for the lgbt non-profit the conversation at the kitchen table
revolved around family work the hot weather and house repairs but the chat was short-lived
as 11 pm drew near robert was tired and wanted to get a good night's sleep he told joseph they would catch up
further over breakfast dylan and joseph led robert up to the second floor after turning right at the top of the
stairs the trio headed down a short hallway passing a bathroom and sitting area before reaching the home office
the room was toward the front of the house and had three long narrow windows overlooking the street outside
inside a sofa bed had been prepared for robert his hosts also pointed out the bathroom
down the hall so robert could take a shower the three men then went their separate
ways joseph continued upstairs to the third floor bedroom he shared with victor he switched off the television and went
to sleep dylan took a sleeping pill and went to his own room on the same floor as the
home office as dylan waited for the medication to take effect he read a magazine
from his room he could hear the shower running it stopped after a few minutes then he heard a click as the door to the
home office closed the sleeping pill taking effect dylan soon drifted off into a deep sleep
earlier that night joseph had been downstairs when he noticed something out of place
a large windowed door in the kitchen led to a patio this small fenced-in area at the rear of
the house had a table chairs and a barbecue grill joseph's attention was drawn to
something on one of the patio's exterior lights he went outside to investigate only to discover it was just the spider
joseph headed back into the kitchen closing the door behind him he didn't realize and no one bothered to
check before bed that the door's deadlock was in the vertical position joseph had forgotten to lock it
shortly before midnight joseph and victor were awoken by the sound of their doorbell chime alerting them that an
exterior door had been opened going through either the front or rear doors of their house would activate this
chime neither man thought much of it they had a tenant who lived in the separate
basement suite and her comings and goings sometimes caused the chime to go off but then they heard a strange noise
it was a breathy quiet sound like a muffled grunt or scream dylan ward heard the same noise
but he was drowsy from his sleeping pill and this prevented him from fully acknowledging it
he fell back asleep [Music] unlike dylan joseph and victor were unsettled they decided to investigate the strange
sound just as they got out of bed they heard it again this time they were certain it was a low
scream they raced down to the second floor and upon entering the home office they saw
robert juan unresponsive on the fold-out sofa joseph rushed to check robert's pulse
and realised blood was seeping from his chest he yelled at victor who was screaming in
panic to call 9-1-1 joseph then grabbed a towel and pressed it to robert's wounds
the commotion woke dylan who left his room to find a frantic victor on the phone and to joseph in the office
holding a towel against robert's chest dylan still groggy from the sleeping pill was confused by the situation
before him six minutes later an ambulance arrived robert's pajama top was slashed in three
places underneath were three stab wounds to his chest robert had only been at the address for
90 minutes before he was rushed to hospital he was pronounced dead shortly after
midnight there had been a recent spate of break-ins at homes within the dupont circle
in some instances intruders had been brazen enough to enter properties while the residents were inside
the police had only recently issued a security statement to locals advising them to keep their doors locked at all
times joseph price failed to heed this warning on august 2. when detectives arrived at his swan
street address that night it was brought to their attention that the patio door was not only left unlocked
but was slightly ajar the patio backed onto an alleyway that ran parallel to swan street northwest
bordering the backs of all the row houses this presented a likely scenario an intruder had scaled the patio fence
from the alley and gained access to the house of via the unlocked door the swan street row house was an
appealing target for any burglar worth well over a million dollars the property contained flat-screen
televisions and laptop computers among other high-priced goods upon entering the house through the rear
patio door there was a kitchen counter to the left sitting on top of this counter was a
knife block filled with black-handled knives it appeared as though the intruder had
grabbed a knife before proceeding further inside at some point they entered the home
office and encountered robert juan a kitchen knife from the knife block was found on a nightstand next to the sofa
bed its blade caked in robert's blood chest hairs and some fatty tissue the lack of foreign fingerprints on the
knife or anywhere else throughout the property suggested that the intruder had worn gloves
robert's final moments were pieced together from evidence at the scene and statements from the other occupants of
the house robert had prepared for bed in his usual tidy way he removed his work clothes and folded
them neatly on a desk with his other belongings after showering he put on his pajamas a
t-shirt underwear and a gym shorts the last thing robert did before going to sleep was insert his mouth guard
which prevented him from grinding his teeth he was wearing the mouthpiece when first
responders arrived robert's killer stabbed him three times in the chest and abdomen
what provoked the attack was uncertain it didn't seem likely that robert was targeted specifically
his colleagues hadn't noticed anything different about him lately and his kind demeanor meant it was unlikely he was
the target of a murderous vendetta a case of mistaken identity didn't add up either
there was nothing in joseph victor or dylan's lifestyles that indicated any of them could have been the intended victim
none had a criminal history and all were well regarded for their career success and philanthropy
the three men spoke willingly to police and provided their fingerprints hair samples and dna
they were open and candid when answering questions and when spoken to separately
their stories aligned yet there was one aspect of the men's lives that investigators honed in on
their sexuality and the nature of their relationships with one another the men openly discussed their roles in
each other's lives which amounted to them being in a three-way polyamorous relationship
it started with the joseph and victor registered domestic partners who had been together for six years
dylan entered the picture as the couple's roommate before engaging in his own intimate relationship with the
joseph there was a malleable aspect to the group's arrangement which was developing
over time all three men accepted and consented to their circumstances describing
themselves as a family yet their lifestyle was of interest to investigators who questioned where
robert juan fit in to their unconventional relationship the police interviews with the joseph
victor and dylan were later criticized by some for being quote homophobic brow beating
without a clear motive or suspect interviewing officers set out to prove that robert juan was gay to establish
some or all of the swan straight residents as potential suspects yet all three men denied having a sexual
relationship with robert he was by all accounts exclusively heterosexual and happily married
during dylan ward's interview he was asked robert's perfectly straight and he's going to leave his wife for the night
and come over to you all's house dylan attempted to defend himself against the inflammatory remark
retorting yeah because but was immediately cut off by the officer who said then he's not perfectly straight that's
not something a straight guy would do in joseph price's interview he insisted that robert was not gay never had been
or ever thought about it he described robert as the most straight a no-nonsense guy he had ever met
he didn't take drugs or drink alcohol to excess others felt this line of inquiry was not
bigoted just aggressive they believed a possible romantic link between robert and any one of the others
was a reasonable lead worth investigating after robert juan's murder the swan street northwest row house was left
ravaged of its former glory through their process of collecting forensic evidence police had caused
thousands of dollars worth of damage to the property joseph victor and dylan no longer wanted
to live there but were forced to stay while repairs were undertaken so that the house could be sold
and their worries had only just begun barely two months after robert was murdered joseph victor and dylan
returned to their home to find it in disarray seven thousand dollars worth of items
had been stolen including a flat screen television and other electronics an arrest swiftly followed
to the shock of many one of the two people accused of the burglary was michael price
joseph's brother michael had a substance abuse problem and had stolen from the three men
before this raised the question did michael break in on august 2 and perhaps not expecting to come across
a stranger in the home office kill robert juan michael was a student and had missed his
classes on the night of robert's murder he also had a key to his brother's house
nothing was uncovered that directly linked michael to robert but he would remain a person of interest
in the homicide investigation as for the burglary months later the charges against michael and his
co-accused were ultimately dropped during a pre-trial hearing then came another unexpected turn of
events joseph price victor zaborski and dylan ward all hired distinguished legal
representation and ceased speaking with authorities about the robert juan case there was a good reason for their change
of heart the two paramedics who responded to viktor zaborski's 9-1-1 call on the
night of robert's murder were very proficient with 25 years experience between them
both had been to their share of violent scenes including stabbings however as they entered the
swan street northwest row house they were greeted with a sight neither had seen before
one of the paramedics later said that the actions of joseph victor and dylan were enough to make the hairs on the
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you support case file after the paramedics received reports of a stabbing at the swan street northwest
row house it took them six minutes to reach the property viktor zaborski met them on the front
steps in a white bathrobe he was crying into a cell phone which was still connected to emergency
services what's going on one of the paramedics asked him so which victor explained that
the stabbing victim was on the second floor they entered the house carrying a stretcher and immediately made their way
upstairs where they came across dylan ward he too was dressed in a white bathrobe
they asked dylan the same question he pointed down the hall without saying a word
then he silently retreated into his bedroom and closed the door dylan's complete lack of emotion
confused the paramedics they had never seen such cool indifference from someone at an active
crime scene come to think of it the paramedics noticed an uncharacteristic and eerie
quietness throughout the entire residence that didn't add up to the urgency or brutality of what had
happened there inside the home office was joseph price sitting on the fold-out sofa with his
back to the door and with one leg tucked beneath him he was naked aside from a pair of
underwear he wasn't touching robert juan or making any effort to render aid or assistance
when asked what was going on joseph simply replied i heard a scream then he stood and moved out of the
paramedics way the lead medic rushed to robert while the other edged around the sofa to get a
better look at joseph his ill-fitting behavior made them uneasy and they wanted to keep him in
their line of sight they even eyed his hands in case he was carrying a weapon while the resident's version of events
as detailed at the beginning of this episode indicated the attack happened quickly and recently
robert appeared to have been deceased for some time he was unresponsive pale had no pulse
and was cold to the touch his eyes were fixed and dilated there was no blood seeping from the
three wounds in his chest even though they were big enough to quote fit your finger into
according to joseph when he lifted robert's shirt upon finding the man unconscious he saw blood everywhere
he claimed to have attempted to staunch the bleeding using a towel explaining that there was a lot of blood on the bed
the knife had pierced robert's heart chest wall right lung small intestine and pancreas
the resulting injuries should have caused the catastrophic amount of bleeding as joseph had described
however there were no copious blood stains or spatter on or around robert aside from
two unusually small spots on the sheet beneath him it was believed these were caused when
the paramedics rolled his body onto the stretcher either way the amount of blood in the
room was entirely inconsistent with a violent stabbing having taken place there robert's blood was also discovered in
minimal amounts on a black handled kitchen knife found on the nightstand and a large white cotton towel on the
floor while the towel hinted at someone endeavouring to staunch robert's bleeding
paramedics noticed something that suggested a completely different act had taken place
a light film across robert's torso featured the type of markings that would be visible if someone had attempted to
clean the area with a towel not stabilize it as for the bloody towel on the floor the
staining was more consistent with someone having used it to wipe the sharp edge of a knife clean
more than 10 white fibers consistent with the towel were found in the blood on the knife
but there were no fibers from or consistent with robert's torn shirt the knife was absent of blood along the
cutting edge but blood ran the entire length of its blade which measured five and a half inches
robert's wounds were only four to five inches deep while the knife contained no foreign dna
or fingerprints joseph price informed police that his might be found he explained that when he first came
across robert the knife was lying on his stomach so he moved it aside to render first aid
when speaking about the incident to a friend later joseph would say that he had physically
pulled the weapon out of robert's chest before placing it on the nightstand joseph volunteered that the police might
not find the real killer's dna on the knife because they might have been quote wearing a glove
yet it was determined that the knife at the crime scene was highly unlikely to have produced wounds the size and shape
of roberts as for the guest room itself there was no sign of a struggle having taken place
there while this implied robert was attacked amid sleep such a scenario didn't correlate with
the condition of the sofa bed robert's head rested on a fluffed clean pillow with only one indentation
meaning his head hadn't moved at all since falling asleep his wounds were uniform in shape and
size which is unusual in stabbing cases as victims tends to thrash around creating varying
injuries the fatal wound effectively shut down robert's heart but none of his wounds would have killed
or rendered him unconscious immediately he would have been alive for between 60 seconds to 10 minutes before succumbing
to the type of injuries he had endured it was odd that his body had remained in one position that entire time
he hadn't tried to defend himself or reacted in any other way he just lay there unmoving
even when someone was thrusting a knife into his chest a medical examiner noted the wounds and internal bleeding would
have produced such extreme pain that it would have been virtually impossible for
mr juan to have refrained from moving his body while in the bed or attempting to get out of the bed to seek help
the lack of any movement from robert was even more suspicious considering the dc
area was experiencing a heat wave according to kathy wan robert was particularly self-conscious about
sweating in his sleep he would toss and turn and kick blankets away for relief but the sofa didn't appear to have been
slept in at all the top sheets and covers were neatly folded down at a 45 degree angle under
robert's body which was how his hosts had described preparing the sofa for him robert wasn't known to sleep this way
even if he did the bedding shared the same level of preservation as the pillow as if robert didn't move in the
slightest at all after settling onto the bed there were no defensive wounds whatsoever on robert's body
a medical examiner concluded robert would have reacted instinctively to protect himself and or physically
fend off his attacker unless he was quote otherwise incapacitated while there were no markings to suggest
that robert had been manually strangled hemorrhaging in his left eye meant some type of asphyxiation had occurred
it was theorised that robert had been smothered unconscious with a pillow prior to being stabbed
yet small needle punctures were visible on the left side of robert's neck there were three more on his chest two
on his right foot and one on the back of his left hand there was no record of paramedics
or hospital staff injecting robert with anything this meant that the puncture wounds were
made before robert was treated while he was still alive tests for various alcohols amphetamines
opiates barbiturates and benzodiazepine drugs including commonly known date rapid drugs came back in negative
remnants of ecstasy and cannabis were found in the row house but did not show up in robert's blood screen
by the time police arrived at the swan street address robert was being stretchered into the waiting ambulance
officers entered the house and immediately encountered all three male residents victor and dylan were still in their
white robes and joseph was still in his underwear joseph did all the talking he said that they had been burglarized
and pointed towards the patio door at the rear of the kitchen remarking see the door is still open
officer diane durham went to investigate she noted that the door was all but a quarter of an inch closed it was just
touching the frame according to officer durham joseph heard somebody scream and ran down to the
ground floor in contrast to the story of robert being discovered injured in bed in this
instance joseph claimed that robert was actually outside the patio door bleeding
the others let him in and took him upstairs to lie on the sofa bed officer durham advised to joseph to
dress himself as other units would be coming to investigate joseph then covered himself with a white
robe as more police arrived the three residents were asked to remain in the living room where they were observed
whispering among themselves it was noted that they all appeared to have showered recently
when asked again what had happened dylan ward began to speak joseph immediately shot him a forbidding
stare causing dylan to fall silent joseph once again rehashed the events of the night
he reiterated that they had been woken by the door chime joseph theorised that an unknown
intruder had scaled the patio fence then entered and exited the house via the door he had accidentally left unlocked
curiously the residents had only heard the chime once suggesting someone entered but didn't
leave furthermore the tenant who lived separately in the row house's basement had spoken to
joseph earlier that night she was going to spend the night at a friend's house shortly before she left at 6 00 pm she
called joseph and told him that she had set the security alarm one that would have made a loud
commotion if someone broke into the house this meant it had been deactivated during the night
in their statements to police in the immediate aftermath of the murder the row houses occupants would state that
the security alarm was not engaged that night joseph then led the police on a tour of his home
as officers ascended the stairs to the second and third floors they noticed how loud their steps were on the wooden
floorboards none of the residents recalled hearing the intruders footsteps not even dylan whose bedroom was at the
top of the stairs and needed to be passed in order to reach the home office joseph told officers that dylan
might have slept through the attack because the air conditioner was on and the compressor on the roof above dylan's
bedroom was very loud when officers tested this theory they could barely hear the compressor
calling the noise imperceptible despite the resident's claims the situation didn't seem like a burglary
gone wrong the interior of the row house was neat and orderly expensive electronics were
in their usual spots nothing was missing even robert's wallet watch and blackberry phone was still in the home
office on the desk with his work clothes joseph and victor told police that their
swan street residence had never been burglarized before or even entered by an intruder
they as well as dylan ultimately acknowledged that the intruder theory was implausible and made absolutely no
sense but all three steadfastly maintained it their recollections of the night mostly
aligned and their statements were also suspiciously specific for investigators this indicated they
had coached each other on what to say beforehand curiously they glossed over some key
details such as their friendship with robert they minimized it to the point where it
seemed like they were distant friends at most and old acquaintances at least this didn't align with the fact that the
trio had hosted robert's 30th birthday party years earlier joseph and victor had attended his
wedding and robert would catch up with them periodically sometimes multiple times a year
despite their inability to remember something as significant as their long-term friendship with robert the
trio recalled unremarkable details with a suspicious amount of detail such as how joseph had gone outside to
investigate the spider on the patio light which led to him leaving the door unlocked
[Music] once interviewing officers sensed things weren't adding up they started to record
the three men at any given time in their recollections there were moments in which one or
several of the men were unable to account for the others yet no matter the line of questioning
all three were unwavering in their innocence and staunchly defended one another joseph told officers
i know victor and dylan better than i know my mom there is no chance on the face of the
earth that anybody did anything to robert they couldn't even spank a child that was being bad
at one point during his interview joseph demanded i want to see them both referring to victor and dylan he seemed
most concerned with dylan in particular when told he was free to go joseph replied
what's the story with dylan i mean i'm going to get his attorney to come down here
by now police had well-formed opinions of the trio they described joseph price as arrogant
unconcerned flippant aggressive and self-centered his partner victor zaborski was passive
disinterested and unconcerned about solving the attack as was dylan ward who was calm and
distant [Music] following robert juan's murder detectives meticulously canvassed the
swan street row house for evidence on one occasion they watched as a cadaver dog trained to locate human
blood and remains was led through the house the dog ran through the open living space downstairs nose to the ground
before being let out the back door to the patio when he reached a drain cover at its
center he stopped and indicated to the handler that he could smell blood the handler approached the drain
the cover was slightly ajar and an uncoiled garden hose lay nearby given the rest of the house was
presented so immaculately the displaced hose was uncharacteristically sloppy it looked as though it had been recently
used the cadaver dog also alerted at a clothes dryer on the second floor near dylan's bedroom
it was empty but police were developing a theory the killer had hosed down their bloody
clothes over the drain outside before placing them in the dryer detectives also tested for blood in the
home office that might not have been visible to the naked eye they sprayed a substance that revealed
trace amounts of blood on the walls floor sofa bed and door frame it indicated that a large-scale cleanup
had taken place after robert's murder but before authorities were called to the scene
the entire home was very clean with the captain of the violent crime unit later saying
a lot of evidence that we should have seen at the house we didn't see a search of dylan ward's room uncovered
a three-piece cutlery box set designed to hold a carving knife a large fork and a smaller knife
the smaller knife was missing detectives contacted the manufacturer who sent out a duplicate
when compared to the wounds inflicted on robert juan this knife was capable of causing very
similar results dylan's room also contained a trove of items used for dominant and submissive
sex acts including shackles chains with locks metal collars wrist and ankle restraints
clamps hooks and mouth gags he also had a collection of manuals on sato masochistic practices and books
dedicated to the subject of inflicting pain or enslaving others for sexual gratification
many of these texts contained passages highlighted by the reader when these items were first discovered
dylan was upfront with detectives he and joseph engaged in bdsm that was an acceptable explanation
but in the context of robert juan's murder police did wonder whether the items were
used to restrain or smother robert traces of semen were found on and around robert's genitals
when tested it produced a puzzling result the semen belonged to robert but there was nothing to suggest he
willingly participated in any sex acts the night of his murder among dylan ward's belongings was an
electrical shock wave generator this device controlled by a second party released electrical impulses capable of
causing the target individual to ejaculate even when sedated or under anesthetic
a search of joseph price's computer indicated that he and dylan were familiar with this machine
on a fetish site that he belonged to joseph listed electro torture as an activity that he and dylan enjoyed
robert seaman was also found inside his own rectum with authorities pointing out
that quote there were many items and devices recovered from dylan ward's bedroom
designed to be inserted into one's anal cavity a medical examiner concluded taking all the evidence and
circumstances into consideration this finding is suggestive of mr juan having been sexually assaulted
no foreign dna was found on robert unsurprising given one of his trading paramedics was of the opinion that
robert had been stabbed showered redressed and placed in bed during his interview with police
following the murder dylan mentioned reading before he went to sleep in his room detectives found a new
yorker magazine open on the floor to an article titled late works writers confronting the end
it was accompanied by an illustration of renowned english playwright poet and actor william shakespeare lying on his
deathbed his body was positioned in the same way that robert juan had been when he was
found the first line of the article read last words recorded and treasured in the
days when the deathbed was in the home have fallen from fashion perhaps because most people spend their
final hours in the hospital too drugged to make any sense it was months before police publicly
named joseph price victor zaborski and dylan ward as suspects in the murder of robert juan
their efforts were later criticized as sluggish and flawed due to the abundance of circumstantial evidence implicating
the three men from the get-go even the interrogation of the three suspects was considered sloppy
far too much focus was placed on trying to establish a sexual relationship between one or all of the parties with
robert despite this lead being completely unfounded anything compelling that should have
been pressed harder such as joseph's two tales of where he apparently found the injured robert the patio or the guest
room fell by the wayside by the time police zeroed in on joseph victor and dylan the men had a lawyered
up and were no longer cooperating detectives now believed that either two or all of the men committed the murder
or knew who did and were covering for them all they needed was a motive yet things continued to move at a slow
pace a year passed without any concrete leads that could result in an arrest or better
still a conviction the case was passed between three different prosecutors and evidence from
the row house was still being processed at twenty five thousand 000 reward was offered by police for information and
led to plenty of tips but the money was never handed out kathy wan had so far grieved for her
husband in private and kept away from the media but she was compelled to step forward
in a statement printed in the washington post kathy said anything short of full and complete
cooperation is very troubling and essentially is equivalent of helping robert's killer or killers get away with
this terrible crime [Music] she also described how she had coped with her husband's murder
quote during this year of intense sadness i learned that being still and letting
grief interrupt whenever it wished was often times the best thing i could do for myself
when grief barges in and demands a visit it's best to let her have your undivided
attention [Music] frustrated by the lack of progress kathy held a press conference around the one
year anniversary of robert's murder her lawyer fielded questions from reporters about the investigation and
the alleged involvement of joseph price victor zaborski and dylan ward kathy had a message for robert's killer
her choice of words seemed personal as though she had her own suspicions as to who was responsible
having a murder on your conscience is no small moment to carry as you try to live i imagine
as normal a life is possible confessing will be the hardest thing that you'll ever do in your life
our remarks will impose severe consequences but it will also be the most frightening
theme that you can do for yourself a secret like the one you are hiding from the world
will only grow heavier with time as the two-year anniversary of robert juan's murder neared in june 2008
joseph price sold his swan street northwest row house for just under one and a half million dollars
he and evictor zaborski moved to a rental nearby and planned to buy a house in florida
dylan ward who had already moved to florida and obtained work as a massage therapist was set to move in with the
two men once they arrived but their plans were disrupted just four months later when dylan was arrested and
charged with obstruction of justice although there wasn't enough evidence to charge him with murder elements of the
crime scene had been tampered with suggesting a cover-up an affidavit released days later stated
the evidence demonstrates that robert juan was restrained incapacitated sexually assaulted and murdered
given that joseph and victor were in a long-term domestic partnership police zeroed in on dylan ward
they saw him as the weak link dylan didn't share the same longevity and loyalty to the others leading
detectives to suspect he'd be more likely to crack under pressure they were wrong
dylan continued to maintain that they were all innocent he was ultimately jailed after failing
to make bail prosecutors warned joseph and victor that their silence would result in a
similar fate and when their arrest warrants were issued a month later the pair self-reported to authorities
all three men now faced charges for conspiracy obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence
the prosecution alleged that there was overwhelming evidence far in excess of probable cause that they obstructed
justice by altering and orchestrating the crime scene planting evidence delaying the reporting of the murder to
authorities and lying to the police about the true circumstances of the murder they all pleaded not guilty and were
released to a white trial but subject to electronic monitoring and curfews joseph price of viktor zaborski and
dylan ward faced trial in june 2010 they opted for a non-jury trial and invoked their fifth amendment right
meaning they would not have to testify if found guilty they faced prison sentences of up to 38 years
the group had hired a total of six defense attorneys including a famous cnn commentator a former dc attorney general
and two former top dc prosecutors they argued that their clients were unfairly targeted because
they were gay and highlighted the sloppy police investigation quote the government has cobbled together its
case with tidbits of information that it interprets through innuendo and speculation and then calls evidence
the defense's entire argument relied on the intruder prosecutors were unconvinced
such a claim relied on an intruder deciding to break into the swan street row house on the exact night that joseph
happened to have left the patio door unlocked upon entering the intruder made no
attempt to steal anything of value including a laptop and television in view of the patio door
instead they grabbed a knife walked through several areas to the front of the house and immediately headed
upstairs from there dylan ward's bedroom was at the very top of the stairs yet the intruder opted to turn 180
degrees and proceed down the hallway directly to the home office the room furthest from the staircase
they entered stabbed robert then cleaned the room of blood batter so quietly that
none of the other men in the house heard a thing the intruder then fled without even
bothering to take robert's small valuables such as his watch cell phone or wallet they exited through the patio
door scaled the fence and escaped via the alleyway all this happening within a 42-minute
time frame the defenses 42-minute time frame existed because of a series of emails
sent from robert's blackberry on the night of august 2. when investigators initially examined
the device it appeared as though robert emailed his wife at 1105 pm informing her that he had just showered and was
about to go to sleep two minutes later he sent a second email to a friend regarding some lunch plans
the following day this meant he was confronted within the 42-minute window between sending this
email and when viktor zaborski phoned to 9-1-1 at 11 49 but the emails were never sent
they were in a drafts folder investigators suspected that robert didn't author the emails at all
instead a perpetrator had crafted them to manipulate the supposed timeline of events
robert's ordeal could have started much earlier assuming the emails were forged the time
frame for the assault and murder was 79 minutes not 42 this allowed far more time for
everything to take place before viktor zaborski placed the in 911 call to 9-1-1 he continually used
the pronoun we as in we heard an intruder in the house he was clearly speaking on behalf of
others suggesting a conversation had taken place between them before he placed the call
it wouldn't be the only time the trio had delayed calling authorities following a crime at their residence
when michael price burglarized the address in the months after robert's murder joseph convinced the others to
wait a day before alerting the police there was further evidence that supported the larger window of time
theory and it involved another witness for the sake of clarity we will refer to this witness as sam
sam lived next door to joseph price's row house their property shared an internal wall with the home office where
robert had slept on august 2 sam was watching the 11 pm news when they heard what they described as a
single desperate scream as robert was incapacitated authorities believed this scream came
from viktor zaborski the only one of the three men to have shown any level of distress when first
responders arrived victor had previously told police that he had screened upon seeing robert's
body if sam's recollections were correct then this left a 19 to 49 minute window
between victor's alleged scream and him calling 9-1-1 from the prosecution's perspective this
gave the defendants enough time to clean up the crime scene shower and concoct a
story to tell authorities when joseph ordered victor to make the call he told him to do so from upstairs
meaning the third floor even though there was a phone right there in the home office
the proceedings felt like a murder trial even though none of the accused had been
charged with any such offense thirty witnesses were called on behalf of the prosecution compared to the
defense's eight the prosecution found the intruder scenario preposterous they believed that at least one row
house resident was responsible for robert's assault and murder and a second or third had participated or was an
accomplice in the cover-up joseph price was painted as the lead conspirator who manipulated victor and
dylan through the use of money influence and power the trio's intimate relationship ensured
that they protected one another based on the type of sexual relationship joseph and dylan shared and their
collection of adult toys it appeared that either one or both had assaulted robert the fact that joseph was near
naked when first responders arrived hinted at his participation though joseph insisted he always slept
in only his underwear as viktor was the sole person to have had any emotional response to robert's
murder some theorise he wasn't involved in the crime itself but was an accomplice in
covering it up the prosecution's case was not a slam dunk there were lots of aspects that were
uncertain inconsistent circumstantial or could be explained away one example was the needle puncture
marks found on robert's body hinting that he had been injected with a sedative this was a major part of the
prosecution's interpretation of the crime scene yet a paramedic testified that she'd
attempted to insert an iv into robert's body in several spots she was unsuccessful and her actions
were not documented despite this the judge found that some of the puncture marks did not align with
those caused by medical intervention and was therefore confident that they had been caused during an assault
the investigation was plagued with a litany of other issues although crucial in determining the
timeline of events robert's blackberry phone had been completely lost the device had apparently been given to
the secret service who were going to copy its contents but they denied ever receiving it
the blood exposing product applied to the home office to reveal the cleanup effort was not applied as per the
manufacturer's instructions consequently this evidence was deemed unreliable robert's blood wasn't tested for all
types of paralytic drugs it is not known if the shockwave device among dylan ward's adult toys was tested
forensically the lint trap from the dryer believed to have been used to dry the killer's
clothes was not taken for analysis the murder weapon was another contentious subject
the prosecution presented evidence that the kitchen knife on the nightstand was not used to kill robert
they believed robert was stabbed with the missing knife from the cutlery set in dylan ward's room
but after a blood spatter expert for the defense described finding several of robert's cut chest hairs on the kitchen
knife the judge was of the opinion that it was indeed the murder weapon after nearly two weeks of defense
testimony the judge delivered a 35-page verdict in the hour it took her to read it she
explained that she did not believe an intruder broke into the house calling the circumstances suspicious and
even damning during a break in his initial police interview joseph had phoned his brother
michael and was overheard saying did dylan come out this led to the suspicion that michael
price might have been involved in the crime the trial judge admitted michael's failure to attend class on the night of
the murder was quote certainly worth pausing over in the circumstances of this case
but she was unconvinced that an outsider including michael was responsible the judge said that the charges came
with what she called a math problem that one or two of the defendants probably knew more than they were
letting on but it was also possible that at least one might have been genuinely innocent
of knowledge or involvement but without the defendant's cooperation determining who was the odd man out was
nearly impossible she went on to say the prosecution failed to prove that the three
defendants covered up a murder quote my verdicts represent my effort to fairly and impartially follow the rule
of law my focus on the difference between moral certainty and evidentiary certainty in
this case is probably cold comfort to those who loved robert juan and wish for some measure of peace and justice and i
am extremely sorry for this i believe however that the reasonable doubt standard is essential to
maintaining our criminal justice system i cite the wisdom of english jurist to william blackstone
that it is better that 10 guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer joseph price viktor zaborski and dylan
ward were acquitted of all charges victor cried while joseph and dylan stared straight ahead expressionless
the assistant u.s attorney general respected the judge's decision and accepted her verdict saying
everybody knew this was a challenging investigation and prosecution kathy wan who had attended the trial
daily with members of her husband's family was led sobbing from the courtroom for her the case was particularly
perplexing despite the acquitted having downplayed their friendship with her husband
joseph price had been a pallbearer at robert's funeral a position reserved for those closest to
him in the aftermath of the trial kathy filed a wrongful death civil suit against joseph victor and dylan
in it she alleged that the three men failed to rescue robert after he was injured destroyed evidence of the murder
and obstructed the police investigation the suit was settled privately for an undisclosed amount
in a statement issued through her attorney kathy wan said although the defendants repeatedly chose
to hide behind the fifth amendment to me their silence speaks volumes kathy told the washington post that she
agonised over the decision to settle out of court to avoid a lengthy civil trial
she thought about robert and what he would want her to do quote nothing gave him more happiness than
knowing i was at peace focusing on love and optimism this sentiment was echoed by kathy's
attorney he believed that if the civil case had gone to trial it would have been a
spectacle to no purpose as the respondents weren't going to come forward and provide any information
quote this case was never going to put anybody in jail or bring robert back to life
the settlement funds were divided between the one estate and a law clinic at the university of pennsylvania law
school which provides legal aid to winner city residents the world lost a good man when robert
juan was killed during his time at university robert ran the 13 club whose members went around
campus performing random acts of kindness it was fitting that at his graduation robert received an award presented to
students who excelled in characteristics of heart mind and helpfulness to others
[Music] in the years after his murder many organizations have dedicated scholarships and memorials in his honor
joseph victor and dylan reunited in florida as they had planned where they bought a home and settled in as a family
once more as of mid-2021 nobody has been charged with the murder of robert juan case file acknowledges joseph price
victor zaborski and dylan ward's presumption of innocence in the eyes of the law all three men
have not been found guilty of any of the crimes committed against or associated with robert juan
the case continues to intrigue amateur and professional sleuths alike some believe that one of the residents
of swan street northwest had ordered another to kill robert as the ultimate act of dominance
others suggest that sexual assault was intended but the murder itself was an accident
the general consensus is that one or all of the acquitted men at the center of the controversy know exactly who
committed the slaying a website dedicated to the case who murdered roberton.com sums it up succinctly
price zaborsky and ward were not guilty but they are not innocent due to the trio's continuing silence
robert juan's murder is often described as a case that will never be solved cathy juan has a message for joseph
price victor zaborski and dylan ward quote i am moving on i want to spend the next 40 years of my
life focusing on good they can rot from the inside out from all the secrets they chose to keep
that's their choice i chose to move on [Music] in june of 2015 a woman disappeared
while camping with her family in the cherokawa mountains of arizona she vanished without leaving a trace in the
course of one to two minutes this is the strangest search i've ever been on she just disappeared right off the face of
the earth i said you're telling me you got sign right here i said well then we're right on the road here basically
so she got another car somebody abducted her we were desperate we didn't know what
else to do you already start to know you know the canine hasn't found her something really bad is going on were we
a target of something what if somebody's got a vendetta against us the two-year quest for
answers in this case led me to find out more than i had originally anticipated i'll challenge you to something do a
homework on missing persons from national parks it's going to astound you what you're going to find out
there's no way my brother would have thought of suicide he also had just purchased furniture he was very excited
about fixing up his living room so you don't buy furniture and start fixing up your living room you're planning on
dying this case has more twists and turns than the blue ridge parkway and i have to say
occam's razor is normally the principal i operate from the simplest explanation is normally the most likely certainly
what i do know is that in fear and under pressure people make some very bad choices i'm ortavia mchenry and this is
the labyrinth a true crime podcast brought to you by case file presents i think there's something there that we're
just not seeing and that others aren't seeing neither because everybody now to this point in this case is just grasping
so welcome to our world with this case and if you can give us any help i can't even
we can't even begin to tell you how much we'd appreciate that how is it that these people disappear
like that without a tree i'm a firm believer those things are real and there's something out there that we
don't understand we don't the labyrinth available exclusively on spotify

Case 188: Robert Wone

On August 2 2006, 32-year-old lawyer Robert Wone knocked off after a long day at his office in Washington DC. To save making the journey home so late at night, he arranged to stay at a friend’s house...

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Jessica Forsayeth Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn

SOCIAL LINKS

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-188-robert-wone

Brief Summary

Jeanette Castreon vanished in 2015; Robert Juan was murdered in 2006, revealing complex investigations and emotional aftermaths.

Key points

Emergency Call. A frantic 911 call reveals a stabbing in a home, escalating the tension.
Robert Juan's Arrival. Robert Juan arrives at Joseph Price's house, setting the stage for a tragic night.
The Burglary Shock. Joseph's brother Michael is accused of burglary, shocking the community.
Paramedics' Disturbing Discovery. Paramedics encounter a chilling scene upon arrival at the crime scene.
Suspicious Behavior. Joseph's behavior raises eyebrows during the paramedics' response.
Inconsistent Evidence. The evidence at the crime scene contradicts the residents' accounts.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I love you.

12:16WatchSep 13, 2021

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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