Official: Executive killed wife, then himself

updated 4:07 p.m. ET Jan. 20, 2008

MARLTON, N.J. - Personal problems led an executive of a collapsed subprime mortgage lender to kill his wife inside their home and then jump to his death from a bridge, authorities said Saturday.

Walter Buczynski, 59, left a note inside his car, indicating that his wife would be found at their home, that he had jumped off the bridge and that the couple's two sons were safe, prosecutors said.

Prosecutor Robert Bernardi said the note also revealed that the motive for the slaying was "based upon the personal relationship of the couple," not the family's economic situation. Bernardi declined further comment.

Police found Buczynski's wife, Marci, 37, dead after a male caller asked them to check on her welfare. Bernardi said Walter Buczynski made the call shortly before he jumped from the Delaware Memorial Bridge on Friday afternoon.

An autopsy found his wife died from blunt force trauma to the head, resulting in a fractured neck, Bernardi said.

The couple's children are being cared for by family members, Bernardi said. It was not known whether they were in the home when their mother was killed. Meanwhile, searchers Saturday continued to look for Buczynski's body.

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.

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