Deaths, Lawyerly Lairs, Murder, Real Estate, Robert Wone

Lawyerly Lairs: Haunted House

By  
on

If you are superstitious, then the house shown at right (click to enlarge) — 1509 Swann Street NW, Washington, DC — is not the house for you. It is the house in which promising young lawyer Robert Wone — a former associate at Covington & Burling, and general counsel for Radio Free Asia at the time of his death — was murdered.

The murder took place almost four years ago, on August 2, 2006. Three former residents of 1509 Swann — former Arent Fox partner Joseph Price, his domestic partner Victor Zaborsky, and their lover, Dylan Ward — were recently found not guilty, after a bench on trial on obstruction of justice and conspiracy charges (but not murder).

Their former house is currently on the market. Says our source:

Get a peek inside the house. For $1.6 million, I would expect my home to not have been the scene of a murder — but then again, nothing surprises me in DC real estate.

The house’s history may be troubled, but there’s a lot to like about it….

The listing of the house was reported on Monday by Craig Brownstein of Who Murdered Robert Wone:

Sponsored

Thanks to a tipster, we learned that for the second time since Robert’s murder, 1509 Swann Street NW is up for sale; this time for just short of $1.6 million. The listing is three days old, fresh on the market with no open house scheduled yet.

Brownstein then quotes from the listing:

LUXURY AT IT’S [sic] BEST. 4BR 3.5BA TOWN HOME ON PRETTY SWANN ST IN VIBRANT DUPONT. ORIGINALLY BUILT IN 1886 THIS PROPERTY HAS BEEN BEAUTIFULLY RENOVATED WITH TOP-OF-THE-LINE AMENITIES THROUGHOUT. FROM THE ROOF DECK WITH CITY VIEWS TO THE NEW LOWER LEVEL IN-LAW SUITE WITH SEP ENTRANCE. NO DETAIL HAS BEEN OVERLOOKED IN FIVE FLRS OF ELEGANT LIVING. PLUS PATIO AND GATED PARKING FOR TWO CARS.

ALSO THE SITE OF ONE OF DC’S MOST NOTORIOUS MURDERS.

My initial thought upon hearing 1509 Swann was on the market was that the defendants were selling it to help cover their considerable legal bills. But Craig Brownstein’s post reminded me that the defendants already cashed out:

Sponsored

Bought for $1,276,000… in 2005 by Joe Price and Victor Zaborsky, they unloaded it in June 2008, for $1,475,000. Their tidy profit was probably eaten up by the extensive repair work required after the house was literally torn apart by MPD and FBI evidence technicians in the wake of Robert’s murder.

Evidence. A lot of good that did.

As it turns out, there’s another creepy coincidence here, involving the realtor. Check out Who Murdered Robert Wone to learn more.

If you can get past the whole “site of a bloody murder” thing, 1509 Swann is a lovely property. Check out the listing here, and ogle photos here.

1509 Swann St. for $1.59 million [Who Murdered Robert Wone?]
Help Wanted? [Who Murdered Robert Wone?]
The Cost of a Good Defense [Washingtonian]
1509 Swann Street NW [Sawbuck]
1509 SWANN ST [HomeVisit]

Topics

, , , ,