The secret life of Herman Rockefeller

Last updated 08:09 07/02/2010

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Victoria Police

EXPOSED: Herman Rockefeller seems to have paid a terrible price for his secret life.

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Millionaire Herman Rockefeller's disappearance and grisly death has shone a spotlight into the treacherous shadows of privacy, writes Tom Reilly.

Cynthia Matuschka had waited for Mr Right and, at 46, had waited longer than most. But when, in 2003, she came into contact with her first love from her teenage years, that patience seemed justified.

Richard Eames appeared perfect: he was charming, funny and romantic. And the smitten divorcee had travelled from his home in England to rekindle his relationship with Matuschka in Tasmania.

But soon doubts crept in. Eames flew back and forth to England but rarely explained the purpose of the trips. Then there was the long list of promises that were never kept.

"There were lots of things that an outsider might say never added up," Matuschka says. "But, of course, I was in love and I wanted to believe him."

They married in Hobart in May 2004, but the union fell apart four months later when it emerged that Eames was still married to Fiona McFadden - whom he had wed in 1973. Far from being divorced, the former policeman was still living with his wife on his return trips to Britain.

"Eventually I had to accept that every word he told me had been a lie," says Matuschka, since happily remarried.

Among the lies Eames used to cover up his other life were that his mother had passed away and that his daughter had been badly injured in a car accident that killed her fiance.

Eames was finally exposed when his mother really did die. His English wife, believing him overseas on business, was desperate to call him back for the funeral. After finding an Australian number on an English mobile he had used, she had an enlightening conversation with Matuschka's sister.

And that's the thing about lies - they come back to haunt you. Just ask Harry Gordon, though in his case it may have been him doing the haunting.

New Zealand-born Gordon died in June 2000 when, after a hearty seafood lunch washed down with bottles of fizz, he crashed his powerboat into the Karuah estuary in the Hunter region in Australia. No body was discovered, but 12 months later the coroner accepted that he had drowned, allowing his family to claim a $3.5 million insurance policy.

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Five years on and Gordon's brother Michael was walking up a remote track on Mt Maunganui and so was Harry - with his new fiancee, Kristine Newsome.

"Is that really you?" asked a stunned Michael. "Of course it is," replied Harry. "But look it's not convenient to talk now. I'll call you in a few days."

With that chance meeting the double life unravelled. Michael persuaded Harry Gordon's first wife - who had been in on the plot but later split with her husband - to go to police. When Gordon, now in a bigamous marriage to Newsome, returned to Australia in 2005 he would serve 12 months' jail for fraud.

"My decision to disappear wasn't necessarily a bad one, though I should have just left a note saying that I'd run off with a floozie," says Gordon, who's now in his early 60s.

"To pretend you're dead is utterly ridiculous. The consequences were dire and the impact on my life will go on forever."

Although bigamy is rare, every week many people have to confront the uncomfortable truth that their partner is leading a secret life.

"It could be issues with sexuality, infidelity, substance abuse or even criminal activity, but it's not uncommon for psychiatrists to come across this type of behaviour where people wall off a part of their life from those around them," explains Professor Louise Newman, president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.

In Melbourne last month the disappearance and grisly death of millionaire Herman Rockefeller laid bare an aspect of his life he had tried to keep private. Apparently unbeknown to his family, the 52-year-old property developer sought sexual thrills in casual encounters made through swinger websites and magazines.

Ultimately, though, he paid a terrible price for this secret life. Police allege he was killed after an argument with Mario Schembri, 57, and Bernadette Denny, 41.

And when people do die and their secret life is suddenly exposed, such as Rockefeller, the pain is acute.

"For those left behind ... there can be a tremendous sense of shock and betrayal but there's also grief," says Newman. "It's a very confusing time."

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