The stab wounds that killed Robert Wone would have left him unconscious within five to 10 seconds, according to testimony from a cardiac surgeon Tuesday in D.C. Superior Court.
Lawyers for the three men accused of covering up Wone’s death tried to establish Tuesday that Wone wouldn’t have been able to defend himself, that his wounds wouldn’t have caused much external bleeding and that the defendants didn’t have time to plan a cover-up.
The stab wound that cut Wone’s aorta and left anterior descending artery would have caused “torrential hemorrhage” internally, said Dr. Farzad Najam, associate director of cardiac surgery at George Washington University hospital.
As a result, Wone’s heart would have stopped pumping blood effectively within five to 10 seconds, rendering him unconscious, Najam testified in the trial of Joseph Price, Dylan Ward and Victor Zaborsky.
The three housemates are charged with conspiracy and obstruction of justice in connection with Wone’s Aug. 2, 2006, death in their Dupont Circle townhouse. Ward and Zaborsky were acquitted of tampering with evidence last week, but that charge still stands against Price.
Najam’s testimony refuted that of Dr. David Fowler, a forensic pathologist who testified for the prosecution that Wone should have been able to move after he was stabbed and the lack of defensive wounds was unusual.
Najam — who did not treat Wone and reviewed the case at the request of defense attorneys — also testified that Wone’s wounds should have produced significant internal bleeding, but little external bleeding. Prosecutors say the small amount of blood at the crime scene shows that someone cleaned up the area.
Also Tuesday, emergency medical technician Tracy Weaver testified that Wone had no pulse, but some electrical activity in his heart, when he was transported by ambulance to the hospital.
A George Washington professor of emergency medicine who did not treat Wone testified last week that someone can’t live in that condition untreated for more than 12 minutes. That implies Wone couldn’t have been stabbed more than a few minutes before the defendants called 911 at 11:49 p.m.
Prosecutors claim the defendants delayed calling for help, giving them at least 17 minutes in which to plan the cover-up.
The trial, now in its fifth week, is expected to conclude this week.
