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Saturday, January 19, 2008

And here we go.
Posted by Jill | 6:12 AM
In 1929 it was stockbrokers jumping from skyscraper office windows. Today it's mortgage brokers jumping from bridges:

A high-ranking executive of a collapsed subprime mortgage lender jumped to his death from the Delaware Memorial Bridge on Friday, shortly after his wife's body was found inside their Burlington County home, authorities said.

The deaths of Walter Buczynski, 59, and his wife, Marci, 37 -- the parents of two boys -- were being investigated as a murder-suicide, according to the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office.

Prosecutor Robert Bernardi said Evesham Township police went to the couple's home in the Marlton section of the township around noon after a male caller asked them to check on Marci Buczynski's welfare. Her body was found in a bedroom.

Authorities would not provide further details on her death, saying only that she was pronounced dead at the scene and that an autopsy would be performed sometime Saturday by the county medical examiner's office.

About 20 minutes after her body was found, officers from the Delaware River and Bay Authority Police Department received reports that a man -- later identified as Walter Buczynski -- had parked his car on the bridge and jumped from the span.

Crews continued to search for his body Friday night.

Bernardi said a motive for the murder-suicide was not immediately clear. The couple's children were being cared for by family members, Bernardi said.

Walter Buczynski was vice president of Columbia, Md.-based Fieldstone Mortgage, a high-flying subprime mortgage lender that made $5.5 billion in mortgage loans and employed about 1,000 people as late as 2006.

However, it has since filed for bankruptcy and now has less than 20 employees. The company had recently filed court papers seeking approval to pay about $1.1 million in bonuses that would be divided among Buczynski and other staffers so the company could wind down its lending operations and go out of business.



With the nation's economy no longer sinking slowly into the shitter, but on an active and increasingly-fast rollercoaster ride into it. somehow I think we're going to be reading more stories like this in the weeks and months to come.

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4 Comments:
Anonymous Anonymous said...
I worked with this man and I am in shock.

As much as its difficult to believe - wow, this really happened to WALTER - I really have to believe it was something personal and not related to the business.

Big deal - the company went bust, I got laid off - I found another job...as did most if not all of the people I worked with.

I just don't think business would be the motive here.
1/19/08, 12:38 PM  
Blogger cavjam said...
The stockbroker diving Olympics of the late twenties should be seen for what it was - an act of faith in what goes up can never come down - faith-based Weltanschauung.
1/19/08, 1:08 PM  
Blogger Bob said...
"By 2006, he owed more than $656,000 in back taxes." Story of a man who knew how to make money, but not how to manage it? Which would make him, I suppose, a lot like his subprime lendees.
1/19/08, 5:45 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...
I too was a co-worker of his. He was a nice man and I believe it was probably the P.O.S. Prez & CEO that flushed the whole company down the toilet and ruined hundreds of lives. I hope he jumps soon. The guy was a freakin' prick and had no regard for any persons well-being other than his own. Walter was a nice guy - even if he did have personal issues, the prick he worked for could have pushed anyone over the edge. I hope the prez & CEO of FMC goes to hell.
1/19/08, 9:00 PM  
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