By Jacqueline L. Salmon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 9, 1997; Page A01

WARRENTON, Va., Sept. 8 — It could be the plot of a romance novel: The wealthy daughter of an international arms dealer falls for a dashing Argentine polo player and brings him to her magnificent country estate.

But then the polo player turns up dead in the heroine's mansion, shot several times with a handgun, and the heroine is arrested.

Many members of the horsey set in bucolic Fauquier County were in shock today when one of their own -- 35-year-old Susan Cummings -- was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Roberto Villegas, a handsome, internationally ranked polo player on a team sponsored by Cummings. He was found dead Sunday in the sprawling mansion on the 300-acre estate where Susan Cummings and her twin sister, Diana, have lived for 13 years.

Friends say Villegas, 38, and Susan (pronounced SuZON) Cummings had dated for about 18 months and appeared to be very much in love.

"They held hands a lot," said Betsy Branscome, the horse and field sports editor of the Fauquier Times-Democrat and a friend of Susan Cummings's. "It was very sweet."

It also may have been a facade.

At a bond hearing today, Cummings's attorney, Blair Howard, painted a grim portrait of the couple's relationship, saying that Cummings and Villegas had ended their liaison and that Cummings had met with a Fauquier County sheriff's investigator recently because she feared Villegas would harm her. He said Cummings had been scheduled to meet with investigators again today to ask for a restraining order against the polo player.

Howard said Cummings bore scratches on her left arm and right cheek that were the result of a confrontation Sunday with Villegas. He would not detail how the confrontation began or how Cummings was injured, but he said Cummings acted in self-defense.

"I think she was scared to death," Howard said after the hearing, at which Cummings was released on $75,000 bond. "She was frightened for her life. I think she did the only move when she was cornered that was available and tried to protect her life.

"We absolutely deny any suggestions that she murdered this man."

Fauquier Sheriff Joe Higgs confirmed that Cummings had met with an investigator about two weeks ago but declined to specify the reason for the meeting. He declined to comment on whether Cummings had another appointment for yesterday afternoon to request a restraining order.

Joe Muldoon Jr., president of the Potomac Polo Club, said that he saw the couple at a party Friday night in Pittsburgh and that they seemed fine -- "no problem that I could see."

Friends described Cummings as quiet and reserved. A tall, thin woman with light brown hair, she is an accomplished horsewoman who became interested in polo about two years ago.

She was "definitely quiet," said her first instructor, Jean Marie Turon, an Argentine native who teaches at the Willow Run Polo School at the Great Meadow in The Plains, Va. "She is the kind of person who cannot show her feelings."

Turon said Cummings and Villegas had talked about getting married, although nothing was certain.

Friends said that Susan's twin sister, Diana (pronounced DeeYANA), lives in a small cottage on the estate, called Ashland Farm, and that Susan lives in the main dwelling, a 200-year-old stone building that was occupied by Union troops during the Civil War.

According to testimony in court, the sisters also own a 700-acre estate in Culpeper County, Va., and, according to land records, several pieces of property in Northern Virginia.

Much of the wealth of the Cummings sisters is said to come from their father, Samuel Cummings, a former CIA employee who has called himself the "leading [arms] trader in the world." His firm, Interarms Inc., is based in Alexandria, but he lives abroad and is reported to be ill.

Friends say that Susan Cummings was Villegas's polo sponsor -- known in the sport as a patron. Villegas worked on Cummings's estate, and according to others in polo circles, she bought him several ponies -- which can cost $15,000 to $20,000 each -- and paid for their upkeep. In return, Villegas played on Cummings's Ashland Farm team, which was part of Great Meadow Polo Club, one of 33 clubs in the Eastern Circuit.

Cummings and Villegas were devotees of "arena polo," a faster version of the game, played with a larger ball on a smaller field and with three players instead of the traditional four on each side. In competition, Villegas is said to have displayed none of the fiery nature traditionally expected of Argentine polo players.

"He always had a smile on his face," said Richard Varge, president of the Great Meadow Polo Club in The Plains, where Villegas began playing four years ago after moving from the Sarasota Polo Club in Florida. He is believed to have played polo in the United States for about 10 years.

Villegas "was nice to everyone, a true gentleman and very polite," said Varge, who is organizing a memorial service for Villegas. "He never caused trouble on or off the field. This has been really devastating."

At the bond hearing before Fauquier General District Judge Charles Foley, neighbors described Cummings as a quiet and gentle woman who enjoys bottle-feeding newborn animals.

"She loves animals," said Jock Queen, who farms Ashland Farm and the sisters' estate in Culpeper. "She wouldn't hurt anything. . . . She's a wonderful gal."

Special correspondent Sarah L. Greenhalgh contributed to this report.