"I'm in total shock. It's a great loss." Heigh said. She saw Walter early last week. He seemed fine.
Fieldstone, founded in 1995, was once ranked among the top 20 subprime lenders in the country. But many borrowers quickly fell behind on payments and defaulted. Fieldstone hurriedly arranged to sell itself to a New York investment firm last spring, but it was deteriorating too quickly to stay alive for long.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Fieldstone's former chief credit officer, Gary Uchino, said he was certain the Buczynski deaths were not related to the business failings.
"It's definitely not work, it's something personal, I don't know," he said.
Uchino was laid off in October, though he still kept in touch with Walter after that. He's seen the couple's wedding album, where they were dressed in costume. He's seen Walter's family photos resting on his desk.
He doesn't understand why this has happened. Neither do the residents of Marlton, an unincorporated community of about 10,000 within Evesham Township.
People heard about the incidents on the television news Friday night or read yesterday's headlines. They speculated about the reasons over coffee at Dunkin' Donuts along Route 70 and in the shopping plaza parking lot a half-mile from the Buczynskis' home.
At the Evesham branch of the Burlington County Public Library System yesterday, Elsie McAllister just shook her head.
"Things are happening all over the place," she said. "I don't think there's anything that surprises me anymore."
tricia.bishop@baltsun.com
