Robert Wone's Shocking Murder Gets Another Look in New Peacock Docuseries — What Happened?

Similar to its streaming competitors like Netflix and Hulu, Peacock has been tackling the true-crime genre with dramatized series like "A Friend of the Family" and investigative documentaries that include "John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise." The streamer's latest docuseries, "Who Killed Robert Wone?" examines the 2006 unsolved murder of 32-year-old Robert Wone and the circumstances that surrounded his mysterious death, which continue to divide investigators today.

At the time of his murder, Wone was spending the night at the house of Joseph Price, a friend he had known since college, along with Price's domestic partner, Victor Zaborsky, and their roommate (and sometimes romantic partner) Dylan Ward. After finding Wone lifeless in bed, the trio called 911 and alleged that an intruder broke into the home and killed Wone before leaving the residence. However, evidence found at the scene, as well as a lengthy investigation, seemed to present a different theory that didn't point to a mystery intruder.

Before you dive into the new insight included in "Who Killed Robert Wone?" — which began streaming on March 7 — here are the details of the case we already know and a breakdown of what happened to Wone, as well as his three friends, after his murder.

Wone was born in New York City in 1974 and grew up in Brooklyn, as reported by AsianWeek in an archived article from the former news outlet. After graduating high school, Wone attended the College of William and Mary in the 1990s. Upon completing his undergraduate degree, he went on to study law at the University of Pennsylvania and worked as a clerk before securing a position at Covington & Burling, a law firm headquartered in Washington DC, according to The Washington Post. In 2002, Wone met his soon-to-be wife, Kathy, at a conference in Philadelphia, and the two married a year later in 2003.

In July 2006, Wone left his job at Covington & Burling and started a new position with Radio Free Asia as general counsel for the company. The office, located in downtown Washington DC, was approximately 30 minutes from the home he shared with his wife in Oakton, VA. On Aug. 2, 2006, just one month after taking on his position with Radio Free Asia, Wone decided to work late and stay overnight at the townhouse of longtime friend and gay-rights attorney Price for a friendly visit and to avoid the late-night commute to Oakton, the Post reported. This would be the last night of Wone's life, with certain evidence suggesting Price, Zaborksy, and Ward were either responsible for, or had some knowledge of, his tragic death.

On Aug. 2, Wone arrived at the townhouse of Price, Zaborsky, and Ward at approximately 10:30 p.m. and allegedly talked with Price and Zaborsky in the first-floor kitchen while Ward was in the third-floor bedroom. At around 11 p.m., the three said they prepared for bed, and Wone went to the second floor to shower and to the guest room to sleep, per The Washington Post. According to the arrest warrant for Ward, Zaborsky called 911 at 11:49 p.m. after he said he discovered Wone in bed with stab wounds to his chest.

EMS workers arrived on the scene and later described the behavior of Price, Zaborsky, and Ward to be suspiciously and unusually calm given the nature of the event. When they were questioned by the police that night, the three claimed that they believed Wone was murdered by an intruder, who they speculated entered through an unlocked back door. The roommates claimed that they heard a security chime go off shortly after falling asleep. Investigators, however, found lack of evidence to support the theory of a forced entry, as well as an impeccably clean crime scene.

An autopsy found that Wone had puncture marks on his neck, chest, hand, and foot, and three "clean, symmetrical, uniform stab wounds" to his torso with no signs indicating that there was a struggle. Given this evidence, including additional signs of sexual assault, investigators suspect that Wone was drugged (leaving him incapacitated), sexually assaulted, and fatally stabbed afterwards, as reported by News Channel 8.

The initial investigation led authorities to speculate that one, if not all three, of the men were involved in Wone's murder to some degree. Evidence of a delayed 911 call and blood detected by cadaver dogs in a dryer lint trap and sink drain made investigators zero in on the trio. Yet the investigation carried out for over two years before any of the men were charged with a crime associated with Wone's murder.

Per The Washington Blade, Price, Zaborksy, and Ward were charged in 2008 with evidence tampering, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy to obstruct justice in connection to the Wone case, as there was insufficient evidence linking them to the murder itself. In 2010, the men decided against having a jury trial and opted for Superior Court Judge Lynn Leibovitz to oversee and rule over their trial instead. On June 29, 2010, Leibovitz found Price, Zaborksy, and Ward not guilty due to an insufficient argument by the prosecution. Still, the trio's legal battles were far from over. That same year, Wone's widow, Kathy, filed a $20 million wrongful-death lawsuit against the three men, and the suit was settled out of court a year later in August 2011, per The Washington Post. As of March 2023, no one has been charged with Wone's murder, and it remains unsolved.

The tragic murder of Robert Wone has unbelievable twists and turns. Watch the details of his case unfold in "Who Killed Robert Wone?" now streaming on Peacock, and check out the trailer below.