Did Police Believe Sex Advances Led to Wone’s Death?

Testimony in D.C. Superior Court Wednesday painted a picture of a man who believed police were using his sexual preference as a motive for murder.

Joe Price and roommates Victor Zaborsky and Dylan Ward are on trial charged with trying to cover up the death of houseguest Robert Wone.

A woman who said she knew the three men so well that she was essentially "part of their family” was cross-examined on the witness stand Wednesday. Sarah Morgan rented an apartment in the Swann Street home where Price, Zaborsky and Ward lived. While she wasn’t there the night of Wone’s murder, she testified Wednesday that she comforted Price after police interrogated him.

Morgan told the court Price was upset because police accused him of “trying to gay Robert up.” Metro officers told Price that they believed he killed Robert Wone after trying to have sex with him, according to Morgan.

Under cross-examination, Morgan also backed up the defense’s claim that an intruder was responsible for Wone’s murder. She testified Wednesday that the three men had a habit of leaving doors open. She told the court that their actions concerned her because there was a lot of crime in the neighborhood.

The roommates have said that someone came in through an unlocked back door, grabbed a knife from the kitchen and stabbed Wone to death.

D.C. homicide Detective Bryan Waid took the stand at the end of the day. He told the court that he was surprised to find that there wasn't more blood at the scene, considering the wounds to Wone’s body.