[eno_]

Your's is surely the shortest straight line to a motive to jump. But don't discount the Arkancide possibility. The Enron-related "suicide" in Texas involved the victim shooting himself in the back of the head while driving. There is enough money in play here to cause at least a couple murders.

[LarryLied]

I agree. There was motive for either suicide or murder.

From http://www.vcnet.com/~rossde/edtl_gay_marriage.html:

A significant part of the (ENRON) fraud involved hiding questionable financial arrangements in off-shore limited partnerships. To a large extent, that hiding was legal if at least 3% of a limited partnership was owned by a corporate "outsider", someone who had no connection to Enron either through employment or a relationship to an employee.

Michael Kopper, an assistant to Enron's chief financial officer Andrew Fastow, turned $125,000 into a personal windfall of $10,500,000 while managing Chewco, one of Enron's off-shore partnerships. Kopper also helped to create others of Enron's partnerships from which he profited (profits that rightly belong to Enron itself and to its stockholders, no less than the partnership debts that collapsed Enron).

According to the Los Angeles Times, Kopper's personal ownership share in Chewco was enough that the required 3% outside ownership was not satisfied for that limited partnership. That would have required Chewco's finances to be included with Enron's, blowing the cover on some of the worst of the fraud. To satisfy the 3% criterion, Kopper transferred his share to William Dodson, Kopper's domestic partner. Since Texas law does not give any legal recognition to same-gender domestic partners, Kopper asserts that Dodson cannot be considered an Enron insider.

This creates an interesting situation. Either Dodson is truly an Enron outsider, and thus Chewco was legally kept off Enron's books (eliminating the possibility of criminal charges for this part of the fraud). Or else Dodson's relationship with Kopper made Dodson an insider, which means that prosecution of this part of the fraud creates some legal recognition for same-gender couples. Of course, the way politicians enact laws, we might see same-gender couples receive all the burdens and penalties of married couples but none of the benefits.

(Did Dodson pay full value for Kopper's share of Chewco? Otherwise, Kopper was supposed to pay a federal gift tax. One of the benefits enjoyed by married couples — but not by same-gender domestic partners — is the right to give each other substantial assets tax-free.)

Kopper cops a plea, Fastow's assets are frozen that night and the next day a reporter who covered Enron is dead after falling out a window.

Uh huh....