Did Katherine Wone, the widow of slain D.C. lawyer Robert Wone, wait too long to file a wrongful death suit against three men who were acquitted this summer of covering up his death?
That’s the latest issue in Katherine Wone’s civil suit against Joseph Price, Dylan Ward and Victor Zaborsky —the three friends with whom her husband was staying when he was stabbed to death in August 2006.
Defense attorneys argue in court filings that the suit, filed in November 2008, was filed after the one-year statute of limitations expired. But Katherine Wone and her attorneys say Wone didn’t know that a lawsuit was justified until 2008, when police brought conspiracy, obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence charges against the three men.
In a sworn affidavit filed this week, Katherine Wone states that in 2006, the Dupont Circle housemates told her they “did not know how Robert was murdered but that they believed an unknown intruder had entered their home and killed Robert. At the time, I believed the Defendants were telling me the truth.” She said she learned in 2008 “that the Defendants had been lying to me about what they knew and their involvement in Robert’s death.”
A status hearing is scheduled for Dec. 8.
