Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
386 pages. In the fall of 1966 billionaire Doris Duke killed a close confident in an incident that the Newport, RI police hastily ruled "an accident." Half a century later, an investigative reporter returns to his hometown and proves that the vindictive heiress got away with murder.
Introduction: Cielo Drive cuts like a beautiful scar along the bottom of a V-shaped canyon in the hills of Bel Air. In February, 1969, as she looked out on it from the red farmhouse at 10050 Cielo that she and her husband Roman Polanski had rented, Sharon Tate had no way of knowing that she only had 6 months to live. On August 9, the hyper-violent "Manson Family" would invade that house, killing Sharon and 3 of her closest friends. But strangely, half a year earlier, she'd had a brush with a different killer. It happened after her sister Patti, then 11, looked across at the Spanish-Moorish estate Sharon called "The Haunted House." In Restless Souls, their remarkable memoir, Alisa Statmen & Brie Tate write that Patti hiked down and crossed Cielo, walking up to 1436 Bella Drive. There, she encountered the open gate to Falcon Lair, Rudolf Valentino's former home, purchased in 1953 by Miss Duke.
The wrought iron gates were open when Patti wandered in. Suddenly, she heard, an angry caretaker yell, "This is private property " Startled, she lost her balance, falling and skinning her knee. Just then, a black limo pulled in. A tinted window went down and a tall woman in back lowered her sunglasses to ask who she was. Once she ID'd herself as Patti, sister of Sharon who lived "in the red barn," Doris knew that this wasn't any child. She was the sibling of the hottest young star in town. So she snapped to the caretaker, "Stop being such an ogre and bring Patti in, so we can clean those scrapes and get me the Polanski's phone number."
Later Sharon arrived, "nervously chewing her lower lip" and apologizing to the blond billionaire who was the 3rd richest woman in the world behind Queen Elizabeth & Queen Juliana. But by then, Sharon Tate was Hollywood royalty herself; her husband Roman, coming off "Rosemary's Baby," was a kind of cinematic prince. So why was she nervous? What would make her bite her lip in the face of a woman whose caretaker had caused her little sister to draw blood? Since Sharon was killed that summer, we'll never know. But one thing is clear: this wasn't the first time Sharon Tate had been pulled into Doris's orbit. 2 1/2 years earlier, one of Sharon's closest friends, Eduardo Tirella, was violently killed after Doris crushed him under a two-ton station wagon and, at that time, most of Eduardo's friends suspected he'd been murdered.
The brutal stabbing of Sharon Tate is the tragic tale of a woman of great promise cut down in the prime of life. But that was also true of Eduardo, whose own Hollywood career was catching fire when he told the possessive heiress he was leaving her, minutes before she ran him down outside the gates of her Newport estate. Because she had the money & the power, Doris Duke erased his death from the narrative of her troubled life. For more than 50 years, the real truth behind what happened at Rough Point on Oct. 7th, 1966 has been hidden. Until now...
Synopsis
In the fall of 1966, Eduardo Tirella, close confidant of billionaire Doris Duke, informed the possessive and vindictive heiress that he was leaving her employ as chief designer and art curator to return to Hollywood where his career as a set designer was just catching fire.
Minutes later, she crushed him to death under the wheels of a two-ton station wagon as they were leaving Rough Point, her Bellevue Avenue estate in Newport, RI, the storied resort.
In a murderous quid-pro-quo, the local police quickly ruled the incident "an unfortunate accident" and Doris began giving a fortune to Newport, restoring 70 colonial-era homes that quickly turned it into a tourist Mecca. In 2018, Lance, who started his career as a cub reporter for The Newport Daily News eight months after Tirella's death, began a re-examination of the case and proved that the mercurial tobacco heiress got away with murder.
In a riveting, doggedly researched book with 105 illustrations -- including never-before seen forensic files -- Lance, a five-time Emmy winner, rewrites history and finally restores the reputation of Eduardo Tirella, a gay Renaissance man and war hero whom Duke went to great lengths to erase from the history of her troubled life.
Praise for Homicide at Rough Point:
"Homicide at Rough Point is a page-turning epic for our time. Proof that when a narcissistic billionaire assumes, they can get away with murder, there's a reporter out there willing and able to expose them." -Nicholas Pileggi, author of Goodfellas and Casino
"Homicide is the best true crime book I've read in years; solving the horrific cold case murder of Eddie Tirella, a gifted Italian-American war hero who didn't deserve to die. Peter Lance is the most tenacious reporter I know. A must read " -John A. "Junior" Gotti
Praise for Peter Lance's Harper Collins Mafia biography Deal with the Devil:
"The perfect mix of thorough research and gripping storytelling." (NPR)
" A] thrilling account. . . This scrupulously investigated tale. . . will have true crime fans on the edge of their seats (Publishers Weekly, starred review)
"A meticulously researched and frightening account of the long term relationship between the FBI and vicious Mafia thug Gregory Scarpa Sr. . . Stunning revelations." (Booklist)
Synopsis
Peter Lance, author of HOMICIDE AT ROUGH POINT, debunks Doris Duke's claim that she accidentally killed Eduardo Tirella. - NY Post
In the fall of 1966, Eduardo Tirella, close confidant of billionaire Doris Duke, informed the possessive and vindictive heiress that he was leaving her employ as chief designer and art curator to return to Hollywood where his career as a set designer was just catching fire.
Minutes later, she crushed him to death under the wheels of a two-ton station wagon as they were leaving Rough Point, her Bellevue Avenue estate in Newport, RI, the storied resort.
In a murderous quid-pro-quo, the local police quickly ruled the incident "an unfortunate accident" and Doris began giving a fortune to Newport, restoring 70 colonial-era homes that quickly turned it into a tourist Mecca. In 2018, Lance, who started his career as a cub reporter for The Newport Daily News eight months after Tirella's death, began a re-examination of the case and proved that the mercurial tobacco heiress got away with murder.
In a riveting, doggedly researched book with 105 illustrations -- including never-before seen forensic files -- Lance, a five-time Emmy winner, rewrites history and finally restores the reputation of Eduardo Tirella, a gay Renaissance man and war hero whom Duke went to great lengths to erase from the history of her troubled life.
Praise for HOMICIDE AT ROUGH POINT:
"In his meticulous new tome, Lance tells the untold story of how Doris Duke, the richest woman in America got away with murdering a gay man, her designer and art curator Eduardo Tirella." - Diane Anderson-Minshall, CEO Pride Media in The Advocate.
"This book has rocked the world of publishing, it's rocked the world of journalism and true crime junkies are talking about it from Coast to Coast." - Frank Morano WABC RADIO
"A page turning look into the world of elite influence, true crime and a systemic coverup that has rocked a New England summer resort city" - Bartholomewtown Podcast
"Homicide at Rough Point is a page-turning epic for our time. Proof that when a narcissistic billionaire assumes, they can get away with murder, there's a reporter out there willing and able to expose them." - Nicholas Pileggi, author of Goodfellas and Casino
"HOMICIDE is the best true crime book I've read in years; solving the horrific cold case murder of Eddie Tirella, a gifted Italian-American war hero who didn't deserve to die. Peter Lance is the most tenacious reporter I know. A must read " - John A. "Junior" Gotti
Praise for Peter Lance's HarperCollins Mafia bio DEAL WITH THE DEVIL
"The perfect mix of thorough research and gripping storytelling." (NPR)
" A] thrilling account. . . This scrupulously investigated tale. . . will have true crime fans on the edge of their seats (Publishers Weekly, starred review)
"A meticulously researched and frightening account of the long term relationship between the FBI and vicious Mafia thug Gregory Scarpa Sr. . . Stunning revelations." (Booklist)