Autopsy: Lobbyist was drunk at time of fatal accident in garage

The Hill ^ | Feb. 11, 2011 | Jordy Yager

[Free ThinkerNY]

Ashley Turton, a former senior aide to Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), was intoxicated when she died in an accident last month, according to an autopsy report.

Turton, who was working as an energy lobbyist at the time of the accident, died from the “inhalation of products of combustion and thermal burns,” according to Beverly Fields of the D.C. Chief Medical Examiner’s office. “Acute alcohol intoxication” was a contributing factor in her death, Fields said.

Turton was found dead inside of her burned SUV, which apparently caught fire in the early morning hours inside of her garage on Capitol Hill. Turton was married to Dan Turton, the White House liaison to the House of Representatives.

[snippy_about_it]

Lets review the tales so far about what she was doing.

1st she was just coming home after a late night, then her husband said she had an early flight that morning and was on her way out to the airport but her co-workers expected her in the office. Driving into garage, out of garage, eenie, meenie, minee, mo.

Something is very wrong here.

[snippy_about_it]

And what about the husband saying everyone was accounted for. I thought, he thought she had left for the airport. The video shows the firemen casually putting out the fire, no rush because they had no idea anyone was in the car. The husband wasn’t freaking out. Doesn’t seem right.

[golf lover]

Does Vince Foster come to mind when you read the confusing circumstances in this fatality?

[snippy_about_it]

Ashley Westbrook Turton, opened the door of her BMW suburban utility vehicle a few minutes before 5 am on January 10. The 37-year old mother of three young children, including twin boys, and the wife of Dan Turton, President Obama’s chief liaison to the House of Representatives, was on her way to work. Later that day, an announcement would come from Duke Power that it was buying Progress Energy for $26 billion, creating the largest power utility in the United States.

Ashley Turton would never make it to work that day. Turton’s car was engulfed in flames after she turned the ignition. The Washington Metropolitan Police Department, which can always be counted on to come up with the best fiction ......

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_6821.shtml

[Venturer]

Took them long enough to figure that out.

Well: the Doctor who did the autopsy probably studied at Howard.

[bray]

Sounds like she should a been working for GM?

[muawiyah]

She’d come in from one event earlier that morning and was on her way to something else. Maybe she was intending to sleep it off on the trip.

[muawiyah]

BTW guys, don’t carry this too far or you’ll start talking about “Spontaneous Human Combustion” and that’s one of those topics we avoid on FR ~ or least we have for the last 15 years anyway.

[crosslink]

Guys

This is breaking news. Could the reason the husband did not know his wife was burning in the garage and said all were accounted for because he, Ashley and all the guys from the Tides foundation were drinking all night knowing they were going to make millions on the stock when the merger was announced? Good time for the tides people to kill two birds with one stone. Get rid of the source of the tip and send a message to the person who is going to be brought before the Issa committee. These guys are ruthless killers. I am in awe of the sheer evil.

For those new to this case Ashley’s husband worked with tides before he worked for Obama. He single handily shepherded the stimulus bill thru the congress. This bill included green energy subsidy for progress energy Ashley’s employer for 800,000,000.00. The source is in an earlier thread.

[SgtHooper]

She had to be partying with a Kennedy.

[khnyny]

Yeah, I’ll say. Something is very wrong here...I don’t buy this bs.

[Mears]

You’ll never get spontaneous combustion theories from me that’s for sure.

I think this mystery will never be solved.

[M-cubed]

I remember many a morning on the road after working a 12-14 hr night shift in construction.....Stopping at the nearest convenience store and buying a couple of beers....The looks of disgust from the locals at a dirty, stubbled bearded guy buying beer at 8am in the morning....I used to get a kick out of it....lol

[crosslink]

Her is an article quoting homicide detective. Turton, a mother of three small children, was the wife of Daniel A. Turton, 43, the White House’s deputy director of legislative affairs for the House of Representatives. He is President Obama’s point man on legislation moving through that body.

Investigators on Monday were trying to determine what happened a few hours before dawn at the couple’s two-story brick home in the 800 block of A Street SE.

Police said in a statement that the 2008 BMW X5 “crashed into the interior of the garage,” which faces Eighth Street. “After the impact, a fire started and quickly engulfed the entire garage as well as the automobile,” the statement said.

One source familiar with the incident said “there didn’t appear to be any major trauma” to Turton’s body. Another official, Capt. Michael Farish of the D.C. police homicide unit, said, “We have no evidence of any obvious malfeasance in her death at this time.”

Authorities said Turton’s death might have resulted from the low-speed crash, an unknown medical situation preceding it, the fire, or some combination of the three. Her body was taken to the D.C. medical examiner’s office for an autopsy.

...

Pete Piringer, a D.C. fire department spokesman, said neighbors called for help about 4:50 a.m. after they saw smoke and flames. The SUV was pointing into the garage at a crooked angle with its back end slightly outside.

Authorities said an autopsy might determine whether the incident occurred after Turton suffered “a medical event,” one official said.

Emphasizing that investigators had not determined the facts, the official said Turton might have lost control of the SUV, resulting in a low-speed crash that could have ignited flammable substances stored in the garage.

Neighbors described hearing a crash followed by several popping sounds. They said the fire burned quickly. Julie Domenick, who lives two doors away from the Turton home, said she called 911 after her barking dog alerted her to the fire.

[Girlene]

Lobbyist drunk at time of death: Autopsy
MarcS. Micozzi, a pathologist on the faculty of Georgetown University School of Medicine who is not involved in the Turton case, said in an interview that "acute" alcohol intoxication occurs when a person consumes a large amount of alcohol "very quickly, in a short time."

So they are saying she was binge drinking and blacked out.

.....Investigators think Turton was backing out of the garage when the BMW rolled forward, striking a work bench, Piringer said.

The "low-speed" collision apparently ignited the fire, Piringer said. WTOP radio has reported that experts are exploring the possibility that antifreeze spilled from the SUV's damaged radiator and was ignited by heat from an exposed headlight bulb. There were other flammable susbstances in the garage.

Authorities have said they think Turton was striken by a medical problem or lost consciousness for some other reason as she backed up the inclined driveway. They have theorized that after she blacked out, the BMW rolled forward into the garage.........

So she's pulling out, blacks out....and THEN the BMW rolls forward? How? Did she put in drive?

............Authorities said they are continuing to look into Turton's activities immediately before her death and studying the contents and layout of the garage and the mechanics of her 2008 BMW X-5 as they try to establish the sequence of events......

[Koracan]

Never, Never fall asleep drunk at the wheels at the home garage with closed doors,
better is, to fall asleep drunk while waiting at a red traffic light, at least cross walkers can wake you up.

[suijuris]

Pinging a few folks from the last thread on this about the anti-freeze and headlights.

[snippy_about_it]

Wait a minute. Was it ever determined whether she was coming home or going to the airport as I think her husband stated?

[LucyT]

Article, then # 29 , 34 , 35.

Might want to check out # 23 and # 24.

Remember Vince Foster and Ron Brown? Just askin'...

[Spunky]

"Turton was found dead inside of her burned SUV, which apparently caught fire in the early morning hours inside of her garage on Capitol Hill."

This sounds eerily familiar to one I remember I think it was about a year ago. Supposedly she had hit the inside of the garage and the car caught on fire.

Anyone else remember that? What was her name and who was it she was connected to?