Houstonians Debate: Was Baxter 'Vince Fostered'?

NewsMax ^ | January 26, 2002 | Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff

[MeekOneGOP]

NewsMax.com

 

Saturday Jan. 26, 2002; 10:30 a.m. EST

Houstonians Debate: Was Baxter 'Vince Fostered'?

News that ex-Enron executive Cliff Baxter had been found shot to death ignited a firestorm of speculation on Friday, and nowhere was the debate more intense than on talk radio in Baxter's hometown of Houston, Texas.

"I would say it's about 60/40 that people down here think he may have been Vince Fostered," said KPRC radio host Chris Baker Saturday morning.

Suspicions intensified when police rushed Baxter's body from his late model Mercedes where it was found in a Houston suburb to a local funeral home without further examination, the Texas radio talker noted.

But then "the Justice of the Peace in the area decided he was going to be much more thorough," Baker told WABC radio's John Gambling in New York. "So now the body's going to go for autopsy and that cooled down a lot of that, maybe-this-guy-was-murdered thing."

Still, questions continue to swirl, he said.

"You know, there's a saying that you can always blame a dead man so - (while) I truly believe it's a suicide, the rumors are going to start," Baker predicted.

The KPRC host said that any attempt to make Baxter Enrongate's fall guy would be complicated by his image as a straight shooter. "It would be strange to see (Baxter's colleagues) point the finger because this guy did have a reputation for boldly speaking with former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling and protesting against a lot of (the company's) business practices."

Houston police have so far declined to release the contents of a suicide note found in Baxter's car. But ABC News reported Friday night that several coworkers said the ex-Enron executive had expressed distress over the prospect of having to testify against his former colleagues in upcoming Congressional hearings.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

Enron

[monday]

"My neighbors sister and a neighbor of my parents each shot themselves. I saw both and they still had the gun in their hand."

Huh? Glad I don't live near you. People seem to off themselves alot in your area. And you are always around?

[eno_]

Indeed. And this guy held titles like Chief Strategy Officer. It sounds like he was an architect of the Enron debacle. And there is enough to feel guilty about with the 401k stock lock-down that cost many people their retirement. UNlike Vince Foster, this guy was looking at jail time and a rather miserable life afterward. It wasn't about him testifying against others, it was about him getting nailed as one of the main reasons Enron collapsed.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

Huh? Glad I don't live near you. People seem to off themselves alot in your area. And you are always around?

Well unlike some, I know a great many people. My parents neighbor was back in the 60's and my sister and I tried CPR to keep him alive. My neighbors sister was 12 years ago and the maid ran over here screaming for help.

I know two more people who killed themselves, both with pills, one of them my grandfather, though I was not around.

I too am glad you don't live near me. You have any more stupid insights?

[YaYa123]

I couldn't believe last night MSNBC's Brian Williams reporting on Baxter's death, and as part of the set-up, mentioned Vince Foster.

Totally inappropriate, I thought, but of course, anything, even subliminal, to give the impression that Bush and Clinton have corruption in common, is worth a few utterly tasteless, prime time insinuations.

[archy]

I would be very pleased to have you as a neighbor. Since I do not anticipate you relocating to Memphis, that would mean that I was residing in the Houston area, not as close to the Ft Worth area as my old digs in Cleburne, but still a considerable improvement.

Like most Texans I've known, it sounds like you've gone out of your way to help out a neighbor as a matter of course all your life. That's the sort of hospitality and local character that I miss and hope to return to, and which I hope to exhibit when needed as well.

See you when I get down that way, neighbor.

-archy-/-

[archy]

I couldn't believe last night MSNBC's Brian Williams reporting on Baxter's death, and as part of the set-up, mentioned Vince Foster.

Totally inappropriate, I thought, but of course, anything, even subliminal, to give the impression that Bush and Clinton have corruption in common, is worth a few utterly tasteless, prime time insinuations.

There are certainly connections between Bush I administration figures and Clinton implicated in the Mena narcotis trafficing episodes and related activities, including Iran-Contra arms transshipment and manufacture in Arkansas. And the first Clinton-related homicide during his reign as Arkansas governor was that of 21-year-old UPI Little Rock Statehouse Bureau reporter Judy Danielak, shot in the head *by a sniper* with a .357 magnum similar to those in use by the AR Highway Patrol and State Police while on her way home from work, a few months after the Juanita Broaddrick rape.

And several of the figures from those scandals are indeed now at work in the new Bush administration, including Richard Armitage and George W's new DEA administrator.

Accordingly, I await NBC running a story offering us the details of the Republican-Democratic collusion on those activities as well. But I will not hold my breath while waiting....

[Cowboy Bob]

There are two thoughts I've had since hearing of Baxter's death:

1. Did he own the pistol he was shot with? How many executives own .38s?

2. Did he keep notes? If he was a "good guy" who opposed much of what Enron did, he may have kept records for CYA purposes.

[kassie]

You could ask yourself why would he shoot himself while in a turn lane not that far from his home.

The area is patrolled by both Sugar Land police and off duty constable deputies.

Apparently it wasn't patroled at that particular time.

[Tymesup]

I heard Confidential Witness (CW) on WABC radio a few months ago. He stated that when he saw Foster, he originally thought the man was sleeping. It was only upon closer inspection that CW realized Foster wasn't in any condition to wake up ever again. This sounds more like Foster was arranged, rather than he had just shot himself.

Of course, a man who takes the trouble to shoot himself without leaving prints on the gun (perhaps by holding it in an oven mitt, which then winds up in his glove compartment), can control his body movements while expiring.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

Apparently it wasn't patroled at that particular time.

That is incorrect. The police officer passed by and saw the car, and 15 minutes later saw it again and stopped. This seems to me to mean that he passed that spot about every 15 minutes. I think that rates as patrolled don't you?

[HoustonKevin]

Chrissy Baker Sucks!!!

KSEV AM 700 is the only conservative talk station in Houston.

KPRC Radio is run by a bunch of "Girly Boys" from Clear Communications now.

The "Old" guys from KPRC are now at KSEV.

The only thing that keeps KPRC alive is Rush's contract.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

I would be very pleased to have you as a neighbor. Since I do not anticipate you relocating to Memphis, that would mean that I was residing in the Houston area, not as close to the Ft Worth area as my old digs in Cleburne, but still a considerable improvement.

Like most Texans I've known, it sounds like you've gone out of your way to help out a neighbor as a matter of course all your life.

Thank you for your kind words, I was taught you do what you can to help. I’ve pulled a person out of a burning car on Westheimer, alive, and one who died, hit by a train in Conroe. I hesitate to say it for fear I will be accused of something, but I lost a dear friend in Arizona this last year who lived in Cleburne when he was growing up. You know any Stricklands who should be in their early 50's?

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

KSEV AM 700 is the only conservative talk station in Houston.

WHOA I'm on your side, tell the other guy! ;-)

[GOPyouth]

"I would say it's about 60/40 that people down here think he may have been Vince Fostered."

What, committed suicide? This implies that this man was too close to President Bush, and that somehow he worked in the White House in DC for President Bush. I think maybe this guy just committed suicide on his own decision.

[archy]

When I saw this I immediately thought how convenient- another dead scapegoat.

When I saw it, I thought of an old TV show:

MSNBC STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Jan. 25 — Former Enron Vice Chairman J. Clifford Baxter was found dead in his car in a Houston suburb Friday. Texas police said the cause of death was suicide.

I see nossing, NOSS-ing!

[GregoryFul]

Of course, a man who takes the trouble to shoot himself without leaving prints on the gun (perhaps by holding it in an oven mitt, which then winds up in his glove compartment), can control his body movements while expiring.

No way!

[Jack Black]

gee, there are already two in a week. How many do you need dead, three?

[Fred Mertz]

Here's my take on this:

If he wrote the suicide note;

And the handgun can be traced to him;

And he has powder burns on his shooting hand;

Then it's a suicide. QED

Have any of these facts surfaced yet?

[LibKill]

The question is, did he do so to in resopnse to a choice of doing so, or having something similar happen to his sixteen-year-old son or others for whom he cared.

Dang! I never considered that.

These waters are deep and murky.

[Petronski]

Perhaps he was killed after handing over his CYA files to an enron-inside posing as a fake-reporter in an arranged meeting. (Perhaps I've watched too many episodes of the Rockford Files...)