Anyone else find Kenneth Lay's death a little unusual?

Question

Maybe I'm just a little bit of a conspiracy theorist, but isn't it strange that he died so suddenly just a couple of months prior to his sentencing that probably would have him imprisoned for the rest of his natural life? Just curious.

I have several theories on it:
A. He really died and I'm sorry for his family
B. He killed himself and when the toxicolgy (Spelling?) comes back maybe we'll see that.
C. He's faked his death and is already hiding out.
D. My husband's theory, that he was murdered in order to keep him quiet.

We shall see, or more likely, we will never truly know.

Answer 1

At this point, at least, suicide and a subsequent cover-up seem very plausible to me. He was in good health for a man his age, it's been reported. We can assume he had access to the type of health care, both diagnostic and treatment, that most people only dream of. He was alone, at a vacation home, knowing that he was going to be sentenced to probably the rest of his life in prison. And what seemed strangest to me, all the publicity so far seems to be coming through his (I believe) Virginia-based pastor. This almost certainly had to be arranged beforehand, and to cover up a suicide would lead the very short list of reasons he might do so.

Answer 2

Not surprising. The amount of pressure that has been on that man is enormous. If you had an accounting or corporate finance background and were to study the Enron situation, the Arthur Anderson approach to auditing their financials, and the supposed "fraud" that occurred, you have a hard time figuring out why the word "scandal" applied. The crime involved is really more of accounting philosophy than anything else. Arthur Anderson, the firm that audited Enron's financial statements, was fully acquitted of all counts against them. Yet the power of the government to accuse them of wrongdoing was enough to ruin that oustanding firm.

Ken Lay maintained his innocence, as Jeff Skilling does now. The facts are not really in dispute. The real dispute is whether or not those actions are really deceitful. The judge bought the prosecutor's version of the term "fraud" but who knows what will happen on appeal.

Financial crimes like this are not intuitive. Compare with killing youir neighbor - which we all know is wrong inuitively. There are many other "white collar" crimes in the category of financial fraud that would surprise you. For Ken Lay, the son of a Baptist pastor, this was all inconceivable. And the pressure from these events were very hard on his physical system. A heart attack is perfectly understandable if you understand that he was far from a hardened criminal who feels no remorse when he kills innocent people in the course of robbing a bank ... or just for the fun of it. Imagine if you woke up tomorrow and were told that everything you've done in your life was, in reality, a crime according to a law that Congress passed 60 years ago.

I feel sorry for all who are involved in that mess, including the Enron investors who lost money.

Answer 3

The life of this man no doubt has been very stressful since the events leading up to and the final collapse of Enron. Stress can have a devastating effect on body functions.

I'm sure an autopsy will be performed on the body. Whether the results will be made public is a matter of speculation.

I don't believe it's unusual, but just one of those thing. Have you ever heard of someone dying from a broken heart? Could be a similar event.

Answer 4

I guess I was surprised that he did die - and they say the cause of death was a heart attack. The news has also reported that he had a heart attack recently. This never made the news. I hope that they don't cremate him - so that we can see the dead body.

I would guess that he was under immense pressure and the last thing he wanted was to go to prison. This must have waived heavily on him and brought on the heart attack. You're right, he would have been sentenced for a long time - and being 64 years old, any long sentence would be a death sentence.

Answer 5

Sure, and that is why the coroner's announcement that it was not a suicide and there was no foul play is important. It is obvious that the man had some pounds on him and at his age men are susceptible to such, I've several relatives who died well before his age for his kind of heart and circulatory problems. Grief can be a tremendous trigger for a problem that has been long brewing. I feel sorry for the family, but think his passing this way saved a lot of people a lot of grief.

Answer 6

Have to admit.. the same thought ran through my mind. A simple little injection---blam, heart attack central!!! Not to difficult to effect with the aid of a health care professional...

Who knows if there will be an effort to reclaim the millions stolen from his estate??? Certainly should be...

Answer 7

i know that i would not want to live in a prison up until the day that i died, maybe he did become overpowered with stress, and commited suicide, but then again, older people are suseptible to life threatening diseases. god only knows what happened

Answer 8

Hey it looks like he took the fast way out and he don't have to set in jail to die.Because that was where he was going to spin the rest of his life and he new that.

Answer 9

i thought that at first too, like maybe he faked his own death, but i also think it's probably from the amount of stress and guilt that he's been feeling all this time.

Answer 10

the only option besides heart attack would be suicide. But.. is quite possible that a man of his age would be susceptible to heart disease due to stress and lifestyle. But if it was anything besides what they say it is... we'll never know :-)