Newport Police Reportedly Reopening Investigation Into Death at Doris Duke's Newport Estate
GoLocalProv News Team
Newport Police Reportedly Reopening Investigation Into Death at Doris Duke's Newport Estate
Author Peter Lance, who wrote “Homicide at Rough Point,” in an article this week in Vanity Fair said that Bob Walker, a witness to the homicide in which Duke had been at the wheel of a car that ultimately crushed Tirella -- that had been ruled “accidental" at the time -- finally spoke with police this year.
“Having the courage to come forward on July 2d to tell his story to Det. Jacque Wuest, the Newport PD's cold case detective, has led the Dept. to reopen the Duke case,” Lance wrote on Facebook. “The next day Bob visited me during a book signing at the Brenton Hotel and the result is my 4,500 piece that broke in VF.com.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTDuke -- an American billionaire tobacco heiress, philanthropist, art collector and socialite -- was often referred to as "the richest girl in the world."
Walker, now 68, in a video interview with Lance said that he never went to police to tell them what he saw that day on the advice of his father, who feared for his son's life.
Duke passed away in 1993.
On the day of the homicide, the man said, he had been a 13-year-old paperboy, literally on his way to deliver Doris Duke her copy of The Newport Daily News when he heard a series of sounds that tracked precisely with Sergeant Newton’s analysis of Tirella’s killing.
He told me that the events were “seared” into his memory and he spelled out why he’d been reluctant to come forward for nearly 55 years. Most importantly, he said that the day before the book signing, he’d gone to the Newport Police, recounting the events of that day in 1966.
He said that Detective Jacque Wuest, who debriefed him, told him that she’d prepared for the session by reading my piece in Vanity Fair.
On August 2, the Newport Police Department confirmed that it has now opened an active investigation into the matter.
Lance and the Newport Police Department did not respond to request for comment on Thursday.
Photo: Library and Archives Canada/Public Domain