A reclusive millionaire killed when fire gutted his cluttered home left more than $1 million to charity, his attorney said.
Nathan Rounds, 76, had no close relatives, showed little interest in money or taxes and rarely went anywhere in the past decade, said attorney Joseph T. Thompson."He wasn't unpleasant," Thompson said. "He just liked to keep to himself and wasn't a sociable person. He was acquainted with Howard Hughes at one time and he was a recluse."
Thompson said his client spent his last years secluded like Hughes and had attended the 1947 flight of the multimillionaire's "Spruce Goose" flying boat.
The attorney said Rounds left an estate worth more than $1 million and directed in his will that the money be donated to charity.
Rounds died early Wednesday of apparent smoke inhalation after he fell while trying to escape a fire that gutted his $560,000 home in Sherman Oaks.
"To say the house was cluttered does not come close to describing it," a police detective said. "It was like an obstacle course without a path."
There was no indication of foul play, Rooney said.
Rounds inherited his fortune from parents who found him on a church step and adopted him.