Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 21, 1992 TAG: 9203210274
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: POWHATAN LENGTH: Medium
Roger de la Burde's body was found March 5 in his 13-room house with a fatal gunshot wound to his head.
A weapon was found near the body and none of the man's extensive art collection was missing. It appeared to be a suicide, though no note was found.
The man's friends, however, have said that suicide simply did not fit with de la Burde's outlook on life.
Captain Vernon Poe of the Powhatan Sheriff's office said authorities are taking longer than normal to make a ruling on de la Burde's death.
"There are several things that cause us concern," he said, declining to elaborate further.
"We're going to take a very close look at the case," Poe said. "We're not going to make any hasty decisions."
De la Burde was considered one of Radford University's major patrons. He had given the university a number of significant sculptures used to start the Corinna de la Burde Sculpture Court, named after his daughter, a 1984 Radford graduate.
He also donated contemporary art, Nigerian artworks and money to several university projects, according to Jerry Hutchens, acting director of development.
Friends of the 60-year-old chemist and real estate investor said they questioned whether de la Burde took his own life.
"From what we all saw, his zest was so much higher than everybody else in the world," said longtime friend Paddi Valentine. "It's hard to believe he couldn't find a way out, even if it meant getting on a plane and flying to Brazil.
"If he were going to kill himself, it wouldn't be this," she said. "It would be something absolutely spectacular."
His ex-wife, daughters and fiancee have declined to comment on the death.
Powhatan authorities say they probably will rule next week whether de la Burde died by his own hand.
The victim himself is something of a mystery.
"We come from a long line of scholars, royal notaries and secretaries, protectors of the [French] royal seal," de la Burde told Radford University Magazine in November 1989.
In the article, de la Burde said his family migrated from France to Poland during the Napoleonic Wars. There his family established itself near Krakow. De la Burde's father, he said, became a lawyer and "owner of major textile enterprises."
But the family's fortunes changed for the worse during World War II, when Poland was under the thumb of the Nazis, and later the Soviet army.
De la Burde eventually escaped to the West after the war. He made his way to Richmond, where he put his doctorate in chemistry to work for Philip Morris USA.
Records at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Washington show he had been granted patents on at least nine chemical processes since 1976. Many involved reducing the amount of tobacco Philip Morris puts in its cigarettes - innovations that saved the company money.
The bulk of his fortune, friends said, he made in another field - real estate.
As a real estate investor, de la Burde developed a reputation as a tough negotiator and ruthless businessman, friends said.
"He was an extremely likable and sociable type of individual," said Dr. Herbert Wiesinger, a friend for more than 10 years. "The same cannot be said for his business dealings."
At the time of his death, de la Burde's land holdings were in excess of $1.25 million.
De la Burde was probably best known for the vast collection of Nigerian and contemporary art housed at Windsor, his 220-acre estate on the James River.
De la Burde was working on a book about his collection. The day before his body was discovered, de la Burde made an appointment with a colleague to further discuss the book.
"Does that seem like a man whose going to kill himself? The suicide thing doesn't fit," said the colleague, Don Beville of the William Byrd Press.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB