In June, when a D.C. judge begrudgingly acquitted the three Dupont Circle men Katherine Wone believes responsible for the bloody slaying of her husband, Robert Wone, the widow bolted from her seat to leave the courtroom.

As she bulldozed her way through a throng of reporters and disappeared without making a statement or answering any questions, it was nevertheless understood that she'd be back. The small and determined woman had already filed a $20 million wrongful death suit against the now-former murder conspiracy suspects, Joseph Price, Dylan Ward, and Victor Zaborsky. Robert Wone, a D.C. attorney, was spending the night at the townhouse of the gay threesome in August 2006 when someone plunged a sharp kitchen knife into his torso three times for unknown reasons.

The housemates (all upper-class success stories) claim not to know anything. Their visitor came over to crash after a late night at work and was dead sometime later. It must have been an intruder, they told police.

Preparing for the the civil trial, Wone's lawyers apparently hope 800 e-mails will help prove that story false. They've submitted a motion to compel the release of e-mails sent or received by Price, who criminal prosecutors portrayed as being at the center of a creepy family unit willing to do anything to protect itself. Including cover-up a stabbing.

Price, once a lawyer at top law firm Arent Fox, used his work e-mail to communicate with Zabrosky and Ward around the time of the murder and after. For instance, according to recent filings, Price and Zaborsky shared 11 e-mails the month Wone ended up dead on a pull-out couch in their guest room.

Price's lawyers have claimed the correspondence is privileged. But Wone's attorney's are arguing, among other things, that "Arent Fox's usage policy warns data exchanged over the firms network belongs to the firm and is 'subject to subpoena and disclosure in a legal proceeding.'"

Doug Johnson, of the website WhoMurderedRobertWone.com, is predicting that even if the e-mails are turned over, there won't be a smoking gun in Price's communications. But, he says, the emails may point to "Who knew what or who suspected what."

The trial is scheduled to begin in October.

*Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Breaking news today for D.C. teachers: yesterday, the D.C. Council officially ended 2 ½ years of political jostling by approving a contract with the Washington Teachers’ Union that will significantly raise teachers’ salaries, according to WaPo’s Bill Turque. The contract is said to increase the average salaries of D.C. educators from $67,000 to an estimated $81,000, and creates a pay system based on performance in the classroom rather than seniority.  This comes as a huge victory for DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee, who has a somewhat tenuous relationship with the WTU and its parent organization, the American Federation of Teachers.

In case you missed it, the infamous Robert Wone trial has come to an uneasy close. The three housemates Joe Price, Dylan Ward and Victor Zaborsky, who were accused of covering up the stabbing of the D.C. attorney, have been exonerated from all charges. D.C. Superior Court Judge Lynn Leibovitz said that the prosecution was unable to provide enough evidence beyond a reasonable doubt for a conviction. The forensic teams never found the one-armed man after all. For a comprehensive history of the trial, check out Rend Smith’s coverage for City Paper.

If you saw police carrying excessively large automatic rifles in the Metro yesterday, you probably stumbled across an anti-terrorism drill. Metro Transit Police inspected trains and stations on the Red and Green lines for about four hours while staging the drill. Around 150 officers from local, state and federal levels participated. (Maybe next, Metro will work on anti-escalator outage drills.)

In other transportation news, the D.C. Council finally approved legislation to allow overhead wires for streetcars on H Street. The bill may give streetcar advocates some hope; a 120-year-old federal law banning overhead wires in the District has hindered the city's plan to provide more public transportation.

Photo by Iris Harris/U.S. Department of Commerce

Judge Lynn Leibovitz on Tuesday exonerated defendants Joseph Price, Victor Zaborsky and Dylan Ward in the sensational trial which captivated Washington for weeks. The three housemates were charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Price was also on trial for evidence tampering.

"It is very likely that Mr. Price pulled the murder weapon from Mr. Wone's chest," Leibovitz said. But, the judge added, she couldn't say beyond a reasonable doubt whether he did so with the intent to obstruct justice. Leibovitz further concluded that Price "very likely tampered with and altered the murder weapon," though she couldn't establish beyond a reasonable doubt what his motivations were. In short, the government simply failed to prove its case.

"We all understand and accept the judge's verdict," prosecuting U.S. Attorney Glenn Kirschner told reporters following the announcement. Kirschner said the investigation of Wone's murder "will remain open."

The victim's widow, Kathy Wone, bolted the courtroom immediately following the verdict. She plans on pursuing a $20 million wrongful death civil suit against the men.

Robert Wone was found stabbed to death in the home of the exonerated defendants at 1509 Swann Street NW on the night of Aug. 2, 2006. Authorities believed the three men who lived in the house were in some way connected to the slaying. The trio, all gay men involved in a "polyamorous" domestic relationship, had claimed they weren't culpable in the murder of their visitor or any subsequent cover-up. They said they were all sleeping when Wone, who was staying the night as a guest in their million-dollar townhouse following a late night at work, was murdered by some unseen intruder wielding one of their kitchen knives. The defendants theorized the intruder entered through an unlocked back door.

But there was circumstantial evidence that suggested otherwise. There were no signs that anything in the house had been disturbed, or rifled through, for instance. Authorities believe that, if there had truly been an intruder that night, he or she would have likely been a burglar–yet no items of value, including Wone's wallet and BlackBerry, went missing the night of his slaughter. Also, some of Wone's blood was unaccounted for: while there were two blood spots on a pull-out couch he was found atop, and a little blood on a towel Price claimed to have used to apply pressure to the victim's wounds, Wone likely bled a lot more as he was stabbed three times: twice in the chest and once in the abdomen. That implies the housemates cleaned up some of his blood. Another thing that casts suspicion on the trio was Wone's perfect wounds. They showed no sign that he had moved as a kitchen knife plunged into him over and over.

Throughout the case, the prosecution has come up with various scenarios regarding what happened to Wone the night he died, everything from the defendants sexually assaulting Wone to the defendants paralyzing Wone with a toxin to Price's sometimes drug-addled brother allegedly killing Wone. But the proesecution wasn't able to back up the narratives with enough evidence to convict. Though the prosecution aptly conveyed that something mysterious happened to Wone on a muggy August evening in Dupont Circle, Leibovitz was only interested in what could be proved.

"A trier of fact must be convinced," the judge said.

UPDATE, 1:30 p.m.: An excerpt from the judge's final order explains exactly why she didn't find the defendants guilty of a cover up:

"Despite the many suspicious and even damning circumstances, despite the implausibility of the intruder story, and despite the discordant and inappropriate demeanor and conduct of the defendants, I am constrained to conclude that the government has not eliminated, beyond a reasonable doubt, the real possibility created by what I have termed the “math problem” in this case. It is very probable that the government’s theory is correct, that even if the defendants did not participate in the murder some or all of them knew enough about the circumstances of it to provide helpful information to law enforcement and have chosen to withhold that information for reasons of their own. 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 as to Mr. Price, Mr. Zaborsky or Mr. Ward. I further find that, for the same reasons,that the government has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt as to each defendant that he joined a conspiracy to obstruct justice. I find also, for all of the reasons I have stated, that the government has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Price committed the offense of tampering with evidence.

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 Wone and wish for some measure of peace or justice, and I am extremely sorry for this. I believe, however, that the reasonable doubt standard is essential to maintaining our criminal justice system as the fair and just system we wish it to be."

UPDATE, 4:05 p.m: The defense team for Ward–David Schertler, Robert Spagnoletti and Veronica Jennigns–have issued the following statement regarding the verdict.

 

"On behalf of Dylan Ward we are extremely gratified by judge Leibovitz's verdicts of not guilty on all counts as to all three defendants. As we have said since the murder of Mr. Wone, Mr. Ward is completely innocent of any wrongdoing in this matter. Mr. Ward also continues to express his deepest sympathies to the family of Robert Wone for their tragic loss and hopes that the person who committed this crime will some day be brought to justice."

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Just six weeks before the grisly murder of D.C. lawyer Robert Wone in their guest room, the housemates at 1509 Swann Street NW may have been struggling to keep their romantic threesome intact.

Documents recently filed by prosecutors suggest that defendant Dylan Ward may have been losing interest in lover Joseph Price. Both Ward and co-defendant Victor Zaborsky were domestic partners with Price. All three lived together in the house on Swann Street. Now, all three face more than 30 years in prison if convicted of conspiring to cover up Wone's murder. Judge Lynn Leibovitz is expected to announce verdicts Tuesday.

The dynamics of the Swann Street trio's three-way relationship has played a pivotal role in the prosecution's case. (WhoMurderedRobertWone.com offers a thoughtful breakdown here.)

The prosecution offers that in an email, dated June 20, 2006, "Price expressed to Ward that he was 'scared and upset' by Ward's apparent disinterest in him, noting that 'it is nevertheless nerve racking and [he had] spent the past couple of days obsessing about why this happened and how, hunting for some clue or understanding but finding none...Guess we wait and see what happens and hope for the best.'"

But Price soon scrapped the wait-and-see approach for the up-the-ante method, according to court papers:

"Seemingly in an effort to draw Ward back into the relationship, a few weeks later Price suggested that he and Ward invite a third — not Zaborsky — for a sexual encounter: 'Hey love-of-my-life, I’m happy to give a third a try but only if you would like to try it.' Ward replied: 'yes, intimidating, but we can try, can't know what it's like without trying.'"

Zaborsky wasn't to participate in the adventure. "If  'scary’ means you are interested but that it is a little intimidating (I think it is),"  Price allegedly emails, "then we can give it a try, and I would think that while Vic is gone, maybe next Thursday evening?"

Adding another layer to the proposed tryst, an Alt.com profile, which prosecutors earlier claimed was connected to Price, suggests the men weren't hoping for any old third, but one who might be open to sadomasochistic sex play.

The prosecution, which presented its closing arguments Thursday, says the proposed second threesome is evidence that Price was the "fulcrum of the family" and that all three men were willing to make sacrifices (Zaborsky by being tolerant of the new activities) to keep that family together. Prosecutors say this illustrates the defendants' motive to facilitate a murder cover-up when someone within (or close to) that family brutally knifed Wone.

On August 2, 2006, Wone was stabbed to death while spending the night at the million-dollar Dupont Circle home of the defendants. The defendants say they had nothing to do with it, that an unidentified intruder entered the house and slaughtered their visitor. Prosecutors believe the three men know who killed Wone and are covering up to protect him.

William Thomas

Thomas seems a linchpin to the prosecution's case, as defendants Joseph Price, Dylan Ward and Victor Zaborsky didn't place a 911 call about the overnight guest who'd been stabbed at their house at 1509 Swann Street NW until about 11:49 p.m., leaving plenty of time between the scream to the 911 call to concoct the alleged coverup plot they're accused of.

Entering an episode of the ABC program Nightline as evidence this week, Thomas Connolly, a lawyer for the defense, claims "dear old Mr. Thomas" is mistaken. He didn't hear Bunyan that night, Connolly said, he heard Nightline presenter Vicki Mabrey, who was on the same channel a bit later.

Starting at 11:45 p.m., on August 2, 2006, the night of Wone's slaying, the female journalist was broadcasting a segment about record summer temperatures.  Thomas' wife admits she left the TV on past 11:30 p.m.

Connolly wanted to play segments of Bunyan's voice and Mabrey's voice in court to see if Thomas could tell the difference. But Judge Lynn Leibovitz called the proposal a "stunt" and didn't permit it.

Herewith, video of both Mabrey and Bunyan. Close your eyes and see if you can tell the difference:

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

The gay threesome maintain that an unknown intruder broke into their home at 1509 Swann Street NW and killed Wone. Prosecutors believe the men know the killer and are covering up to protect him.

Grimm, whose client is Price, protested that the prosecution had "not one single piece of evidence" pointing to the guilt of his client. Grimm then attempted to dismantle the government's case piece by piece. For instance, Grimm pointed out that although prosecutors are suspicious of the two small spots of blood left on the bed where Wone was knifed, those blood spots weren't smeared, as they undoubtedly would have been if the defendants had moved the body to the bed from somewhere else.

Grimm also reiterated an assertion the defense had previously made through expert testimony. "He would have been unconscious almost immediately," Grimm said of a stabbed Wone. The defense believes instant unconsciousness kept Wone from moving during the killing. Prosecutors have said that, according to the evidence, Wone didn't move when he was gored with a kitchen knife three times–and that that's evidence he was drugged, likely by the defendants or someone close to them.

At the conclusion of his remarks, Grimm played parts of Price's police interrogation video in hopes of showcasing his client's honesty.

Connolly, who's representing Zaborsky, was up next. Speaking in theatrical tones that sometimes softened to near-whispers, Connolly addressed the judge: "There is no direct evidence, circumstantial evidence, or any other kind of evidence that Mr. Zaborsky knows what happened to Mr. Wone."  Connolly pointed out that his client, who says he was up in his bedroom watching Project Runway when Wone arrived at the house that night, didn't even cross paths with Wone until after the stabbing. Connolly contended that nothing about the way Zaborsky behaved the night of the murder was suspicious. He brought up the recording of the 911 call that Zaborsky made to report Wone's murder as " chilling evidence" indicating Zaborsky's innocence. "It's the chilling call of a man who's frightened and confused,"Connolly said. Connolly added that when emergency workers arrived, Zaborsky had a human reaction: "He implores, he begs the EMTs to help," Connolly said, adding, "It's what I would do."

After about an hour of oration, Connolly decided to characterize his client: "The truth is, he is a kind and gentle soul. The truth is, he wouldn't cover up any murder, no matter who caused it."

Next up was Schertler for Ward. Schertler called the prosecution's case "assumptions, speculation, and innuendo." He went on, "We don't know who did what in that house in respect to the murder of Robert Wone. If you can't prove the true circumstances of the murder of Robert Wone, then you can't prove these three men lied to the police."

The government had simply "cobbled together a patchwork of suspicious circumstances," he said. "It borders on the Kafka-esque. It's nothing but the government's imagination run wild." Shertler brought up the defendants' police interviews. "These are not tough guys going down to the station," Schertler said, explaining that the three defendants were interviewed for hours. "They would not, could not stand up under police interrogation unless they were telling the truth."

Rachel Lieber rebutted for the prosecution. "Kathy Wone doesn't know what happened to her husband," Lieber said, "They did," she said, referring to the defendants. "They lied." Lieber said the defendants could have invoked the Fifth Amendment when police asked what happened to Wone, but chose to deceive cops instead. "You can't do that," she said. "That 's obstruction of justice." Then, riffing off Schertlers' contention that the prosecution was speculating: "Let's talk about speculation, some opportunistic ninja assassin intruder ran into the house and stabbed Mr. Wone?"

Judge Leibovitz plans to deliver her decision Tuesday at 11 a.m.

"They lied to the police, they orchestrated, they tampered," Kirschner said of Price and fellow defendants Dylan Ward and Victor Zaborsky. The trio stands accused of conspiracy and obstruction of justice in connection to the 2006 death of D.C. attorney Robert Wone, who was fatally stabbed while staying the night in their guest room. The gay threesome maintain that an unknown intruder broke into their home at 1509 Swann Street NW and killed their friend Wone. Prosecutors believe the men know the killer and are covering up to protect him.

Kirschner said Thursday that investigators may never learn the true identity of Wone's murderer, "or who came along for the conspiracy ride." But he said the evidence presented in the case proves that the trio had engaged in a coverup.

"A stabbing homicide is a noisy, messy thing," Kirschner said. Yet, according to the defendants' story, they didn't hear much that night, and investigators didn't find a lot of blood at the scene, he said.

Kirschner also pointed to an apparent discrepancy in the defendants' story–which City Desk had earlier noted: After finding Wone's body, neither Price or Zaborsky apparently bothered to check on their fellow housemate Ward, who was supposedly sleeping just down the hall, despite the fact that the killer would have needed to pass Ward's room twice in order to commit the crime and flee the scene.

"What is the first thing you do?" Kirschner posited. "You make a beeline for your loved one's room."

Prosecutors have portrayed Price, who faces additional charges of tampering with evidence, as the leader of the alleged conspiracy effort. On Thursday, Kirschner played a segment of police interrogation video to bolster that claim. "You can't help but notice that Mr. Price couldn't be more dismissive, couldn't be more detached. He's plainly in control. He's in control of this interview."

Kirschner also pointed to the testimony of the defendants' neighbor, William Thomas, who claimed to hear a scream sometime during the local eleven o'clock newscast that night–a claim that conflicts time-wise with the defendants' own version of events. "Mr. Thomas, he has no dog in this fight," Kirschner said, "came in here and said, 'I heard a single scream of desperation.' That's a time stamp. No two ways about it."

Summing up, Kirschner paid the defendants a backhanded compliment. "This has been a very, very successful conspiracy and coverup," he said–albeit one that would end in conviction, he added.

"I hate to sound like a b-movie," Kirschner said, "but three people are there, there's no forced entry, who did it?"

Judge Lynn Leibovitz asked Kirschner several of questions pertaining to whether the defendants' actions described during witness testimony technically fits the legal definition of obstruction of justice.

Kirschner simply stated that the three men clearly knew that they were deceiving police. "It might not be the most egregious obstruction in the world," he said, "but that's obstruction."

The defense says that's bullshit, and suggests that when Third District and homicide cops showed up at 1509 Swann Street NW sometime around 12 a.m that night, they began jumping to conclusions, perhaps as a result of prejudice. Defense lawyers say that cops had accused the trio of trying "to gay Wone up." In an interrogation room video, Detective David Wagner can be heard laying out what he thinks inevitably happens when gay men and hetero men spend time together: “I’ve got three homosexuals in a house. And I’ve got one straight guy. What’s he doing over there? I think we were all drinking wine. You know what’s going to happen tonight, you’re coming to Jesus tonight. That’s what’s going on.” Defense attorneys say Wagner and other cops pursued their innocent clients as murder suspects instead of finding the real killer.

Today, after some five weeks of testimony from family members, cops, and experts, attorneys on both sides will present their closing arguments. The orations, which have been limited to about an hour for each party, will likely talk about bloody knives, missing blood, needle marks, pork loin, cardiac tamponade, oddly uniform stab wounds, a sandbox, a wayward brother prone to crack binges, the alleged shifty behavior of Price,  the alleged neatness of the murder victim, TV newscater Maureen Bunyan, TV shows Nightline and Project Runway,  and a lot more.

Check back with City Desk later today for full coverage of today's closing arguments.

"If there's another voice that sounds like Maureen Bunyan, that's relevant," argued Connolly. Weeks ago, a neighbor to the defendants, witness William Thomas, testified that he heard a scream coming from his neighbors' home at 1509 Swann Street NW on the night Robert Wone was stabbed to death in the defendants' guest room.

Based on the fact that the other thing Thomas heard at that time was his wife watching WJLA-TV newscaster Maureen Bunyan–"I know her voice after all these years," said Thomas, who added that he's been watching Bunyan since back when the anchorwoman was on Channel 9–Thomas estimated that the scream happened sometime during Bunyan's regular nightly newscast, between 11 and 11:30 p.m.  That creates a problem for the defense, as the defendants didn't place a 911 call about the incident until 11:49 p.m., giving them ample time to concoct the alleged murder/cover-up plot of which they're accused.

But Connolly hopes a DVD of the Nightline broadcast for that evening will prove that at 11:45 p.m., for seven minutes, a female voice was broadcasted on Nightline. Connolly hopes to suggest that Thomas mistook that voice for Bunyan's. If the judge buys that notion, the 11:49 p.m. call to 911 better lines up with the defendants' narrative of events that fateful night.

The judge ruled that a portion of the Nightline broadcast would be included as evidence.

Defendants Joseph Price, Dylan Ward and Victor Zaborsky are charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice in connection to Wone's death. Price also faces charges of tampering with evidence. The trio insist that an unknown intruder broke into their home and killed their friend Wone. Investigators believe the three men know the killer and are covering up to protect him.

The judge also apprised the defendants that the right to testify "is you right to give up." Questioned by the judge, the defendants confirmed over and over that they wanted to give up their right to testify. Price, Zaborsky, and Ward, could barely be heard as they let loose answers "Yes, your honor" and "That's correct your honor."

The striking moment brings us ever closer to the final day of the hugely hyped trial. The defense will rest soon, and though the prosecution has a short rebuttal case to get through today, closing arguments should start tomorrow morning. That means the defendants, accused of covering up the murder of Wone–who was stabbed to death in their guest room–are edging ever closer to the moment when they will either head off to prison or be exonerated.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Glenda King

Just next door, of course, police were investigating a murder from the night before. Alarmed, King alerted the cops and investigators photographed the sandbox.

Defense attorneys had called the former housekeeper to the stand in order to help support the defense's theory that someone besides the housemates next-door at 1509 Swann Street NW may have been around during the death of D.C. attorney Robert Wone.

Defendants Joseph Price, Victor Zaborsky and Dylan Ward maintain that an unknown intruder broke into their home and stabbed their friend Wone, who was sleeping in their guest room.

In order to do so, the mysterious perpetrator may have needed to scale a tall fence behind the house-a scenario the cops dismissed as unlikely.

Police photos displayed  in the courtroom showed the crushed sandbox located not far from that same fence.

Authorities nonetheless arrested the housemates. Defendants Price, Ward, and Zaborsky are charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice in connection to the Wone's death. Price also faces charges of evidence tampering.

To hear prosecutors tell it, Wone suffered from weirdly uniform wounds that lack tell-tale tears that would indicate he moved at all as the murder weapon left gashes in his torso. For the lawyers attempting to convict Joseph Price, Victor Zaborsky and Dylan Ward for conspiring to cover-up Wone's murder, the lack of any evidence that Wone tried to defend himself, or that he even reflexively reacted to the pain of being knifed, is proof that the defendants are hiding something about the August 2, 2006, slaying that happened at their Dupont Circle home.

Early in the trial, D.C. Deputy Medical Examiner Lois Goslinoski, who performed Wone's autopsy, told the court that "Wone should have responded to the wounds." Goslinoski (whose findings were later backed up by forsenic pathologist Dr. David Richard Fowler) said that the only way a person wouldn't have reacted is if he had some kind of neurological problem. Or, she said, "They could be under the influence of some substance that would not allow them to respond." The prosecution believes needle marks found on the body prove it was the latter. They believe the defendants, or someone close to the them, drugged Wone prior to the stabbing.

Attorneys for the accused have come up with what seems like an unusual counter-narrative to the drugged-and-stabbed story: Wone didn't move because he slept through his murder. An intruder, who hopped a tall backyard fence and found the backdoor open, crept up the stairs, stabbed Wone in his sleep, and then fled without taking anything or even being seen. Though various aspects of the story might seem implausible, on Monday, an expert for the defense seemed to lend credibility to one of them.

Testifying for the defense, forensic pathologist Dr. Vincent Di Maio told the court of stabbing victims, "Some people move and some people don't."

"Some people get a small wound and faint, other people keep plugging away," Di Maio added. The forensic expert asserted that it was possible that Wone went instantly unconcious after being stabbed in his sleep three times in rapid succession. As for why he didn't react reflexively to the pain: "Once it [the knife] goes through it's actually not painful," said Di Maio. He pointed out that in combat, soldiers are often shot without realizing it. Di Maio also said that as far as defensive wounds go, it's been documented that some 60 percent of stabbing victims don't acquire them.

One thing bothersome about Di Maio's theory that Wone slept through his slaughter, however, is that during a police interrogation Price told cops that he and Zaborsky rushed to Wone's room when they heard him make several noises. "It was like yelling but it wasn't like...it was grunts or something," Price told police. So Wone was awake enough to grunt, but not enough to move?

Defendants Price, Ward, and Zaborsky are charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice in connection to the death of their friend Wone, who was staying the night in their guest room when he was killed. Price also faces charges of evidence tampering.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

But things got most interesting when, during a redirect by defense attorney David Schertler, the theory of murder victim Robert Wone sleeping through his stabbing came up. The defense has contended that one of the reasons there's no evidence Wone moved or tried to defend himself during his fatal 2006 stabbing is that he may have been asleep during the attack. Prosecutors, on the other hand, have suggested that the defendants or someone close to them drugged Wone.

Lee backed up the sleep theory, but also brought up another possibility: "A martial art expert can hold a joint and the victim cannot move," he said. Lee also mentioned that an "assassin" might also be able to do it.

Defendants Joseph Price, Dylan Ward and Victor Zaborsky are charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice in connection to the death of their friend Wone, who was staying the night in their guest room when he was killed. Price also faces charges of evidence tampering. The men maintain a unknown intruder broke into their home at 1509 Swann Street NW and stabbed their friend on Aug. 2, 2006. They face 30-plus years in prison.

At another point in Monday's testimony, the prosecutor sought to show how a certain blood smear could have been placed on a knife that prosecutors believe was planted at the scene in an effort to confuse investigators. The lawyer attempted to demonstrate that it made sense for a person attempting to wipe blood on a knife to place the flat edge of the instrument against the towel instead of the sharp edge. That way they'd be in less danger of cutting the hand with the towel in it. Lee somewhat unbelievably disagreed, and subsequently mimed how the knife could fly up and cut Kirschner in the forehead.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Forensic scientist to the stars, Dr. Henry Lee (seen above discussing the death of Michael Jackson with CNN's Larry King), testified Monday in the sensational trial of three Dupont Circle men accused of conspiring to cover up the 2006 murder of D.C. attorney Robert Wone.

Analyzing photos of a kitchen knife found at the crime scene, Lee testified that blood stains on the dagger indicate a backward and forward motion, consistent with a stabbing. Lee went on to say that you would get the same sort of smears by "dipping" a knife into an open ketchup bottle and plunging it in and out. "Same principle," he said.

Lee's testimony would suggest that the knife found at the scene might be the actual murder weapon. Prosecutors, on the other hand, believe the blade is a plant, smeared with Wone's blood, in an attempt to confuse investigators.

Quickly: Defendants Joseph Price, Dylan Ward and Victor Zaborksy are charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice in connection to the death of their friend Wone, who was staying the night in their guest room when he was killed. Price also faces charges of evidence tampering. The gay threesome insist that an unknown intruder broke into their home at 1509 Swann Street NW and stabbed their friend on Aug. 2, 2006. Investigators believe the trio knows who stabbed Wone and are covering up for the killer.

Prosecutors have suggested that the conspirators used a towel dipped in Wone's blood to smear the supposed second knife and make it look like the murder weapon. Price's attorney, Bernie Grimm, called the famous forensic scientist Dr. Lee to the stand in an attempt to discredit that theory, hence the ketchup analogy.

"Could you apply the knife to that towel and leave that impression on the knife?" Grimm asked Dr. Lee.

Dr. Lee said no.

Last week, defendants Dylan Ward and Victor Zaborsky both looked relieved, speaking outside the courtroom with defense attorney Robert J. Spagnoletti. Zaborsky (seen here in a WJLA-TV clip) reportedly "spent much of the rest of [Thursday] with a smile on his face" after Judge Lynn Leibovitz threw out charges of evidence tampering against them. Now only alleged co-conspirator Joseph Price will face charges for possibly handling the knife that might have killed D.C. lawyer Robert Wone.

There might not be that much to smile about, however. Prior to the ruling, the trio each faced a combined 38 years imprisonment, if convicted on charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and evidence tampering. Without the tampering charges, they'll face a mere three years less, as in Ward and Zaborsky could still each end up serving a long 35-year bid in the pen.

Quickly: The three Dupont Circle men insist that an unknown intruder broke into their home at 1509 Swann Street NW and killed their friend Wone, who was staying the night in their guest room. Investigators, meanwhile, believe the men know the killer and are covering up for him. Among other things, prosecutors have accused the men of planting a second knife in place of the actual murder weapon. Murder charges have never been filed.

In any event, the blog Whomurderedrobertwone.com, the place to go for blow-by-blow coverage of the case, coupled with insights into the trial's legalistic layers, had a psychologist on hand for Friday's session. Sitting in the courtroom, the shrink trained her keen eyes on the defendants for some afternoon analysis. Among the things noted by the expert, identified only as Gloria in the blog post, is that–perhaps after Thursday's smile session–Zaborsky was feeling comfortable enough to check his email. Zaborsky, she writes, "grabbed a chance to check his Blackberry at one point."

Other observations, there was an awkward moment when 35 minutes when Price seemed to be on the outs:

From 2:15 (start) to 2:50 pm, hardly a glance was exchanged from the twosome of Dylan and Victor to Joe although right after Dr. Smith went to the witness chair, Joe was staring at the two as if to get their attention, but they did not look his way.  After 2:50 and especially during breaks (including 3 lengthy bench conferences), there was more interaction.

Also, Ward may be (suspiciously?) detached from the proceedings, she points out.

"Throughout, I tried to think of a situation to which to compare his attitude – as a rather passive, mildly interested bystander, rather than as a defendant in his own trial.  Someone watching an interesting play or listening to a fairly interesting lecture that he would not be tested on later. Aloof, maybe. As if none of this really related to him but it was kind of interesting."

Testimony resumes Monday. Closing arguments in the case could come as soon as Wednesday.