On October 7, 1966, a violent argument erupted inside Rough Point, the Newport, Rhode Island mansion of tobacco heiress Doris Duke. The dispute was with Eduardo Tirella, her interior designer and longtime artistic advisor. Tirella had just announced his immediate resignation, planning to return to Hollywood for set design work.
Servants later reported hearing Duke’s voice grow sharp with accusation. Tirella remained professionally calm, according to witness accounts. Seven years of managing Duke’s five estates had become intolerable, and friends had warned him that Duke could react poorly to abandonment.
Around 5:00 p.m., the argument ceased abruptly. Duke told Tirella that a local antique shop had acquired a 15th-century wooden reliquary containing martyr’s bones. She needed his professional evaluation before purchase, one final service before his departure.
Duke had rented a two-ton Dodge Polara station wagon from Avis. The vehicle featured automatic transmission and power steering. Investigators later noted it was easy to accelerate violently and difficult to stop quickly.
At approximately 5:25, the pair departed with Tirella driving. The route required returning through Rough Point’s locked wrought-iron gates. Tirella stopped 12 to 15 feet before the gates, shifted into park, and pulled the parking brake. He exited to unlock the gates while Duke remained in the passenger seat.
Chauffeur Howard McFarland later testified that Duke had never taken the wheel during gate openings. She always remained in the passenger seat while others handled the gates. Witness testimony suggests this evening broke every precedent.
Thirteen-year-old Bob Walker was pedaling his Newport Daily News route past Ledge Road when he heard voices arguing from the estate. “The arguing stopped for a couple of seconds,” Walker later told investigators, “and the next thing I heard was the roar of a motor.”
According to the police theory developed that night, Duke shifted across the bench seat, released the parking brake, and moved the transmission to drive. The car then accelerated toward Tirella at the gates.
The impact catapulted Tirella onto the hood as the wagon crashed through the wrought iron. Blood and tissue were found on Bellevue Avenue center, not at the gates where Duke would claim the accident occurred. Walker reported hearing a brake application during the gate collision, causing Tirella to roll off the hood onto the asphalt.
“A deceleration, then an acceleration, and more screaming,” Walker testified, describing what he believed was Duke pressing the accelerator again. The vehicle’s wheels then allegedly crushed Tirella’s body, dragging him across the pavement until the wagon demolished 20 feet of fence and struck a tree.
Officer Edward Angel arrived at approximately 5:30 to find Duke calling, “My friend, my friend,” while Eduardo Tirella lay crushed beneath the Dodge’s rear axle. Paramedic Judith Tom Watgo observed Duke staggering back and forth hysterical but with only minor facial scratches and no blood running down her face.
Bob Walker testified that he approached offering help three times, but Duke allegedly screamed at the 13-year-old, “Get the hell out of here.” That evening Walker attempted to tell his father what he had witnessed. His father silenced him immediately, warning that Duke was a rotten person with unscrupulous people on her payroll.
For 55 years, Bob Walker remained largely silent about what he witnessed, telling only two Marine Corps buddies and select Newport residents he trusted.
Sergeant Fred Newton examined physical evidence at the scene. Tire gauges in the gravel showed what he interpreted as tremendous acceleration force, not the gentle roll of an accidentally slipped foot. Gate markings suggested somebody had been forced up on the hood. Blood and skin fragments found in Bellevue Avenue center appeared to mark where Tirella actually fell from the vehicle.
Dr. James Flanagan’s autopsy the next day documented catastrophic trauma: multiple skull fractures, massive brain hemorrhage, crushed torso, broken sternum and ribs, complete spinal cord tear, and fractured right arm. Critically, Tirella’s legs remained largely intact except for one hip fracture.
Forensic experts noted this pattern would be inconsistent with being pinned between a car and gates. Force sufficient to obliterate skull and torso would likely pulverize legs trapped against unyielding iron. The injury pattern appeared to support Newton’s theory: Tirella struck by an accelerating car, propelled onto the hood, then run over after falling.
Moving the parked Dodge required four deliberate actions: releasing the parking brake, shifting gears, removing foot from brake, and accelerating. Each required conscious physical movement on a 1966 Polara.
Within days, the investigation took an unusual turn. Chief Joseph Radice personally took control of the scene, reportedly escorting Duke arm in arm into Rough Point rather than following standard procedures for potential vehicular homicide.
Dr. Philip McAlister, serving as assistant medical examiner, made a controversial decision that night. He agreed to become Duke’s personal physician while still responsible for determining the cause of death. McAlister placed Duke in a private hospital room, which investigators claimed blocked state authorities from questioning her immediately.
McAlister told reporters it was unthinkable to consider anything but an accident. He claimed Duke required substantial medical attention for facial wounds, contradicting paramedic Watgo’s observation of only minor scratches. No blood alcohol test was administered. No toxicology screen was conducted.
Police finally interviewed Duke on October 9th, two full days later. They found her surrounded by lawyers and German shepherds in her Rough Point bedroom. Lieutenant Frank Walsh and Detective George Watts asked only four questions, what critics characterized as an unusually brief interrogation for a potential homicide.
October 12th, Chief Radice declared the case closed after five days. He stated there was an unfortunate accident with no evidence suggesting otherwise. Rhode Island Attorney General J. Joseph Nugent reportedly expressed concern about the hasty conclusion.
According to Newport attorney William O’Connell’s later account, pressure to reopen the case led Radice to contact Duke’s attorney Aram Arabian about additional documentation needs. O’Connell claimed Arabian suggested they write something up for Duke’s signature, allegedly resulting in a three-page transcript that appeared to be created after the fact. The document contained errors including Duke’s birth date, requiring her hand correction and initials.
Eight days after Tirella’s death, headlines announced Duke’s $25,000 donation to restore Newport’s famous Cliff Walk. Additional donations flowed to Newport Hospital and civic institutions. In 1968, Duke established the Newport Restoration Foundation, which would purchase and restore over 80 colonial buildings with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis serving as vice president.
Chief Radice retired seven months later on a $7,000 annual salary. Investigative reporting documented that by 1971, Radice had purchased condominium units at the Warrenton House in Hollywood, Florida. Records showed his neighbors included his brother-in-law Dominic Radice, identified in law enforcement documents as connected to organized crime figures.
Tirella’s family pursued accountability through civil court in 1971, seeking $2.5 million in a wrongful death lawsuit. Duke’s attorneys argued vigorously to minimize damages, emphasizing aspects of Tirella’s personal life and disputing his earning potential despite his successful Hollywood career.
Duke testified she always asked Eduardo’s advice on artistic acquisitions worth millions, acknowledging his crucial role in building her collections. Nevertheless, the Providence jury awarded only $75,000, a sum that represented less than Duke earned in daily interest on her fortune, according to financial estimates. After legal fees, each sibling received approximately $5,620 for their brother’s death.
“She killed him twice,” Tirella’s niece Donna Lomaya told investigative journalist Peter Lance. “She destroyed his body, and then she eviscerated his memory.”
Duke continued her life among her five estates. Some friends later reported she would call Tirella’s family members in distress, though these accounts remain unverified. In 1988, at age 75, Duke adopted adult Chandi Hefner, claiming spiritual reasons, then disinherited her within three years, according to court documents.
Bernard Lafferty, hired as butler in 1987, became Duke’s final close companion. After Duke’s death on October 28th, 1993, questions arose about the circumstances. A nurse alleged improper medication administration, though an official investigation found no credible evidence of wrongdoing.
Duke’s estate, valued at over $1 billion, established the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, which has distributed hundreds of millions to arts, environmental, and medical causes.
For 54 years, the case remained officially closed. Peter Lance, who began his journalism career at the Newport Daily News months after Tirella’s death, launched a comprehensive investigation in 2018. His research culminated in a Vanity Fair article and the book Homicide at Rough Point, presenting evidence that questioned the official accident ruling.
Lance’s book prompted Bob Walker to contact authorities in July 2021, providing his eyewitness account to Newport police. Detective Jack West interviewed Walker for nearly two hours, initially finding his account credible according to police documents.
However, in November 2021, Newport police announced the case would remain closed. The department stated they found no new evidence warranting further review, maintaining the original accident determination.
Today, visitors tour Rough Point through the gates where Tirella died. The museum’s description of the incident has been updated following renewed attention but maintains the characterization as an accident. The Newport Restoration Foundation, established by Duke, continues its preservation work throughout the city.
Eduardo Tirella rests in Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington, New Jersey. October 7th, 1966, remains officially classified as the date of an unfortunate accident at the gates of Rough Point, a determination that some witnesses, investigators, and journalists continue to dispute nearly six decades later.