Settlement Reached in $20 Million Wrongful Death Suit Over Murder of Washington Attorney Robert Wone
Patrick Regan co-represented widow Kathy Wone in a $20 million wrongful death suit against three defendants acquitted of obstruction charges in the 2006 murder of Washington attorney Robert Wone, reaching a confidential settlement in August 2011.
What happened
On the night of August 2, 2006, Robert Wone, a 32-year-old Washington attorney and general counsel at Radio Free Asia, was fatally stabbed inside a Dupont Circle townhouse owned by three acquaintances. He had stayed the night as a guest. When police arrived, the three housemates, Joseph Price, Victor Zaborsky, and Dylan Ward, claimed an intruder had committed the crime. No intruder was ever identified, and the murder remains officially unsolved.
In 2008, prosecutors charged the three men with obstruction of justice, conspiracy, and evidence tampering, alleging they had tampered with the crime scene and withheld information from investigators. After a five-week bench trial, a D.C. Superior Court judge acquitted all three in June 2010, finding the government had not met its burden of proof on the criminal charges. The murder charge was never brought.
In November 2008, Kathy Wone, Robert's widow, filed a $20 million wrongful death civil suit against the three men in DC Superior Court. The civil standard of proof, preponderance of the evidence, is lower than the criminal standard, and the lawsuit proceeded separately from the criminal case. Patrick Regan of Regan, Zambri and Long joined the legal team representing Kathy Wone, working alongside attorney Benjamin Razi.
During civil discovery, the defendants invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination rather than answer questions about what happened the night Robert Wone was killed. Kathy Wone said afterward that 'their silence speaks volumes.' A statement from her attorneys noted that a central purpose of the civil lawsuit had always been 'to uncover as many facts as possible about the circumstances surrounding Robert's death.'
On August 3, 2011, the parties announced a confidential settlement. Under its terms, Price, Zaborsky, and Ward agreed to make monetary payments to the Robert E. Wone Memorial Trust, which was established to fund college scholarships and free legal services for people in need. The settlement amount was not disclosed. Kathy Wone said she had concluded that proceeding to trial would be 'a painful experience for Robert's family and friends' and was unlikely to produce new information. The murder investigation by D.C. police and federal prosecutors remained open at the time of settlement.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.Washington Blade: Settlement reached in Robert Wone civil case (Aug 3, 2011)·Archived copy
- 2.NBC4 Washington: Civil Suit Settled in Robert Wone Death (Aug 3, 2011)·Archived copy
- 3.Washingtonian: Legally Speaking: Patrick Regan (Aug 2, 2011)·Archived copy
- 4.Washington Examiner: Settlement reached in Wone civil case (Aug 3, 2011)·Archived copy
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