Defense attorneys for three housemates accused of covering up the slaying of Robert Wone assailed the government’s forensic pathologist on Friday, trying to get her to concede that Wone could have been rendered unconscious within seconds, which they argue helps explain why the 32-year-old lawyer didn’t show any signs of fighting back.
Wone, 32, was found dead from stab wounds inside the swanky Dupont Circle home of Joseph Price, Victory Zaborsky and Dylan Ward. The medical examiner said authorities found no defensive wounds and concluded that Wone was drugged and sexually assaulted before he was stabbed three times.
On cross examination Friday, Deputy Medical Examiner Lois Goslinoski stood firm that Wone was conscious for several minutes and should have been able to defend himself.
Attorneys for the defense tried to get Goslinoski to concede that their witnesses, respected heart surgeons, were more knowledgeable than she. Goslinoski countered that heart surgery is conducted on patients under anesthesia in a sterile environment, not under violent and chaotic circumstances.
“The two scenarios are not comparable,” she said.
Goslinoski acknowledged, though, that she was not a board-certified forensic pathologist and that she had failed the American Board of Pathology exam both times she took it.
Prosecutors say they don’t know who killed Wone because Prize, Zaborsky and Ward cleaned up the crime scene, planted evidence and misdirected detectives. The men are charged with conspiracy, obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence. They face up to 38 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
