Posted on 12/10/2004 5:13:28 AM PST by NCjim
A man who either fell or jumped off the roof of his moving Mercedes-Benz in Scottsdale has been identified as an acclaimed chief financial officer for Phoenix whose struggles with a parasite might have caused his behavior Wednesday. Kevin Keogh, 55, died about 3 p.m. after he climbed onto the roof of the car he was driving east on Camelback Road with arms outstretched, similar to actor Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie “Titanic.”
Police haven't determined if the death was suicide or accidental, Scottsdale detective Sam Bailey said.
Keogh contracted the illness a couple of years ago while on vacation in Mexico and his wife, Karlene, told city officials "she believes the parasite impaired his frontal lobe inhibition, said Toni Maccarone, a Phoenix spokeswoman.
The specifics of Keogh's illness were unavailable, but he had been receiving treatment, city officials said.
Will Humble, bureau chief for disease control for the Arizona Department of Health Services, said that in general, tapeworms can invade brain tissue and cause brain damage. People can get tapeworms from eating undercooked pork in Mexico or pig feces on vegetables, he said.
"Usually, it's someone who’s from Mexico who comes up here as a migrant or someone who is binational that goes back and forth a lot. Very seldom is it a tourist who goes shopping and has a street taco or something," Humble said.
The worms have long incubation periods, ranging from weeks to 10 years, he said.
Autopsy results won't be available for a couple of months, Bailey said. Keogh, who had worked for Phoenix since 1976, made $164,000 a year and supervised 300 employees and part of the city’s $1 billion budget, Maccarone said.
“There is nothing we can do to replace Kevin,” City Manager Frank Fairbanks said at a news conference. “Kevin was more than a professional; he was a person.”
Bailey was not aware of any notes or documents Keogh left behind.
Witnesses told police the car was going about 40 mph when he got on the roof. Wednesday, police said the car was traveling 50 mph.
Police found his body on a sidewalk near 68th Street and Camelback Road, about 300 yards from where his car crashed into another, Bailey said.
Outside of work, he was known to be a patron of the arts and for his work with charities.
Keogh and his wife started the Arnold Keogh Health Foundation, which provided health insurance to mostly working-class women and their children.
“Kevin is very, very community minded," said Phoenix Vice Mayor Peggy Bilsten. “It’s sad for me for a number of reasons. They were a beautiful, beautiful couple, just a great example of what a good couple should be."
Bilsten is a member of the foundation board and a friend who had worked with Keogh for 10 years.
Keogh was reserved and noted for his sense of humor, co-workers said. He had no children.
"He made Phoenix a better place to live," Fairbanks said.
City and State magazine named Keogh one of the top 11 financial innovators in the country in 1993. The magazine selected Keogh the best finance director in the nation in 1987.
He held a bachelor's degree in philosophy and political science from Iona College in New York and a master’s degree in public administration from Syracuse University.
Jeff DeWitt, the assistant finance director, will serve as the interim chief financial officer, Maccarone said.
“He’s probably one of most intelligent, very professional, very, very good finance directors. I learned a great deal from him in 10 years," said DeWitt, who called Keogh his mentor and worked with him daily.
Kevin Randolph, 25, a counselor intern at Brophy College Preparatory School who lives in Phoenix, suffered minor injuries after Keogh’s car plowed into the back of his 2000 Plymouth Neon.
He recalled thinking, "I've been hit, but there’s nobody in the car.” Randolph was stopped at a red light waiting for a man to cross Camelback on a bicycle.
The man later told Randolph he was grateful Randolph's car blocked him from the runaway Mercedes.
Damn...one of my favorites.
What can someone say about this?
When there's no one else to blame, there's always the little worms.
"after he climbed onto the roof of the car he was driving"
That's dangerous
"I'm king of the worl-!"?
I'm curious...maybe I missed it in the article, but how do you suppose the car continued to go at such a high speed without the man's foot on the pedal? Was the car on a hill or something? My automobile will continue forward unless I put on the brake, but at a much slower speed. Anyone? He must have been strong to haul himself up on the roof and STAND? up on it while it was moving.
"What can someone say about this?"
Check back in an hour..............
This sounds like trichinosis rather than tapeworm. AFAIK, tapeworms are strictly confined to the GI tract.
Darn, I gave up drinking, smoking and even red meat ... now I can't even allow myself the pleasure of pig feces on my vegetables. What next?
I'm trying to remember where those lines are from but my mind has hit a wall.
Somehow I get the vision of a man stuggling, on the roof of a car, with one of those creatures from a 50's science fiction movie, consisting of a brain and a spinal column.
Freakiness Ping.
One of the nighty-nighty songs my mom used to sing to me went:
The worms go in
The worms go out
The worms came out of his little snout
Kids, DON'T try this at home. You will not end up on Jackass. You'll just look like one.
Cruise control.
Are they talking about tapeworm or trichinosis? Pigs and undercooked pork ae usually associated with trichinosis parasites.
I have never before heard of tapeworms invading the brain.
Parasites, tape worms, undercooked pork, dining in Mexico, this is the stuff nightmares are made of. That poor man and his wife and surviving family. God Bless them all.
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