Posted on 01/26/2002 1:18:16 PM PST by Wolfstar
Police examine note in apparent suicide
By ERIC HANSON and MARY FLOOD
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle
SUGAR LAND -- A former Enron executive who resigned last year -- reportedly after complaining about accounting practices that led to the firm's collapse -- was found dead Friday, an apparent suicide.
Police said they expect the autopsy results on John Clifford Baxter, the former Enron Corp. vice chairman, to be released Monday.
SNIP...
...Baxter, 43, was discovered about 2:20 a.m. in the driver's seat of his Mercedes-Benz, parked in the 5800 block of Palm Royale Boulevard.
He had been shot once in the head and a .38-caliber revolver was found inside the locked car, investigators said.
Sugar Land police were examining a suicide note, said [Sugar Land police spokeswoman Pat] Whitty, but she would not disclose its contents or say where it was found.
Sources familiar with Baxter's death said Enron was mentioned in the note.
Baxter's car was being inspected for fingerprints or other evidence this weekend.
SNIP...
His luxury sedan was parked in a cut-through in the median of the tree-lined boulevard, within blocks of the $700,000 home he shared with his wife and two children in Sugar Land's most exclusive neighborhood.
Because the evidence of suicide was considered so strong, Fort Bend County Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace James Richard initially chose not to order an autopsy.
"There just wasn't any evidence of foul play," said Richard, noting that police did not request an autopsy.
However, because of the attention being focused on Baxter's death, he changed his mind just before noon.
"I decided to use an overabundance of caution," Richard said.
SNIP...
He had hired an attorney and knew it was likely he was about to be deposed and questioned by lawyers, federal investigators and maybe even Congress. In addition to questions about his work at Enron, there were questions about his own sale of more than 577,000 shares that garnered him $35.2 million between October 1998 and early 2001.
SNIP...
Also Friday, ABC News reported that Baxter and 48 other people had received subpoenas this month from the Senate Government Affairs Subcommittee on Permanent Oversight and Investigation.
Baxter was discovered by a Precinct 4 constable's deputy, who saw the Mercedes during routine patrol, said police Sgt. Truman Body [note: his last name is Body]. He said the deputy drove by again about 15 minutes later, saw the mortally wounded Baxter and called for an ambulance.
Police had to smash the right-rear window to get into the car. The car was towed to a private storage lot near Richmond for examination.
SNIP...
When Baxter resigned in May 2001, Enron's news release said it was to spend additional time with his family. It said he still would be an Enron consultant.
By all accounts, he did not take on significant other work. Instead, he stepped up his interest in yachting.
But when the company faltered several months later, Baxter was named in dozens of federal lawsuits, along with other former and current Enron executives who sold stock and took profits while lower-level employees were left with little in stock and retirement plans.
Dennis Onstott, a Gulf Coast marine insurer, knew Baxter from selling him yachts years ago and from his largess with Onstott's favorite charity, the Sunshine Kids, which helps children with cancer.
"He was the nicest, most conscientious man. It's hard to imagine him (committing suicide)," said Onstott.
But Jerry V. Mutchler, president of Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas, where Baxter served on the board, saw a different side.
Baxter's activity with the board was at its peak while he was at Enron, Mutchler said. He even was scheduled to join the board's executive committee until he left Enron.
"I consider him larger than life. He was a very generous man who worked very hard and ran very hard," Mutchler said. "That kind of man can be more sensitive than someone who plodded through life."
He said several others active in Junior Achievement had talked with Baxter recently and found "he wasn't very happy these last few weeks."
"He was depressed and disappointed about all that had happened," Mutchler said. "Who wouldn't be?"
SNIP...
TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE, CLICK ON URL ABOVE.
This is scarcasm for those who cant recognize it
I'm glad you labeled sarcasm. Some of the "tin-foil" folks here would have run with it, claiming it was "smoking gun" proof of conspiracy.
This didn't happen in Houston, it happened in Sugarland, which is a small high class town (mostly bedroom community) in the next county, right next to SW Houston, and about 10 miles directly via US 59 - the Southwest Freeway, from the Enron building, where many of the pretty damn rich (as opposed to the super rich) live, who work in SW Houston.
Could this perhaps be a way, if an assailant were to leave via a back door which he opened from the front prior to leaving? Which was then automatically locked when he shut the back door after he got out?
The partnerships that looted the company were not in the states but in tax havens like the Cayman Islands. Those who looted Enron and the taxpayer don't have to leave America to enjoy their ill-gotten gain as long as its safe offshore and the Clinton lawyers are running the defense.
Baxter was one of the good guys. He helped build the company. You would be depressed if what you built was being destroyed by gangster methods. But he had no reason to off himself -- unless he had been told to die by his own hand or he would die by the hands of others along with his family.
If I'm a Demo and raise these issues, what kind of a Republican does that make you?
Assuming that the vehicle was in 'park', a rear door (if it was a 4 door vehicle) could be opened while locked. A child proof mechanism is a selectable feature and may have prevented this. However, when the door is opened, the door is unlocked and and remains so when closed. The only way to re-lock the rear door is from inside or with a key in the drivers door turned counter-clockwise or by remote transmitter.
Ahh, but you forgot the Master Key that exists...
For the most part, suicide is an irrational act. But yet, the tin-foilers try to apply criteria as seen through the rational eye. For example, there has been much talk of where the car was when discovered. Is there a "normal" place where such cars are found when there is a suicide? Where? The garage? Right, then people would be saying that the Exec was surprised as he was coming out of his house and getting into his car. What if his car was found 10 miles away? Well, that just proves that he was driven out that far and killed, right?
Propogating these types of theories is better than selling hair growth tonic. I can't wait for the book on why this and the Vince Foster suicide are related.
Hi, WK...
Really? No reason? Were you friends with the man? When was the last time you talked with him? Had lunch with him? Went to his house and visited him and the family? Tell us, what do you know of Baxter?
When was the first time you heard of Baxter and said in a public forum "he better watch out, people might be after him!".
When you come back with one and only one fact that shows foul play I might read what you have to say.
I think if you go back and read my reply to you carefully you will see that I did not take a position one way or the other on whether this was a case of suicide or murder. What I did point up was that his death is very convenient for some in that this person happened to be the one that was sounding the alarms and calling for correction long before the failure happened-his complaints were specificially cited in a memo that has surfaced.
You on the other hand, without even so much as an autopsy and based only on very early reports, tell us this could only be a suicide. You should take your own advise for certainly it is you that needs to take a look at reality. It is a dirty world out there and foul play is certainly not out of the question. Nothing you post - which was my point - is substaintial enough evidence to rule out foul play. Actually, some of what you post supports the possibility that foul play was involved.
Sir, you slipping. Certainly your realize that had this been a hit that was tied to the Enron matter, it would not be beyond possibility that keys could be copied or that a second set could be picked up, used and replaced. Keep working at it Holmes. Your seven percent solution is clouding your thinking. Suggest you try it straight for a bit.
I didn't say it happened in Houston.
I said the Harris County ME would issue the cause-of-death ruling.
Who had the most to gain from Cliff Baxter's timely demise?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.