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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Suicide of Enron CEO? -- you decide... |
Current rating: 0 |
by CNN.com (by way of Sascha)
Email: meinrath (nospam) ucimc.org (unverified!) |
26 Jan 2002
Modified: 31 Jan 2002 |
SUGAR LAND, Texas (CNN) -- Former Enron Corp. vice chairman J. Clifford Baxter was found dead in his car in a Houston suburb early Friday, the victim of an apparent suicide, police said.
Baxter made millions on the sale of Enron stock, but reportedly was unhappy with Enron's business practices and resigned as vice chairman in May. He had remained as an Enron consultant. |
from: http://www.cnn.com/
Former Enron exec dies in apparent suicide
January 26, 2002 Posted: 11:47 AM EST (1647 GMT)
SUGAR LAND, Texas (CNN) -- Former Enron Corp. vice chairman J. Clifford Baxter was found dead in his car in a Houston suburb early Friday, the victim of an apparent suicide, police said.
Baxter made millions on the sale of Enron stock, but reportedly was unhappy with Enron's business practices and resigned as vice chairman in May. He had remained as an Enron consultant.
Enron, once a giant energy corporation, has collapsed in the biggest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history amid accusations of mishandling of funds and shredding of crucial documents. Enron and its accounting firm, Andersen LLP, are under congressional investigation.
Congressional sources told CNN that Baxter, 43, had been among several Enron officials that investigators had wanted to interview. And the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, led by Michigan Democrat Carl Levin, D-Michigan, had asked for documents from Baxter as part of a batch of subpoenas sent out January 11.
Police in Sugar Land said Baxter was found in his 2002 Mercedes Benz with a gunshot wound to the head at 2:23 a.m. Friday.
"He was discovered inside a vehicle parked between two medians," police spokeswoman Pat Whitty said. "A suicide note was found at the scene. There was no sign of foul play. Inside his wallet was an ID indicating he was an employee of Enron."
Baxter was among the Enron officers and directors who made massive profits cashing in on Enron stock options, netting nearly $22 million since October 1998, according to records of stock exchange transactions.
Thomson Market Strategies, a CNN consultant, said Baxter sold more than 600,000 shares of Enron on the open market during the period, including nearly 490,000 he had bought at bargain prices. The trades were often made on the same day, using options granted to him by Enron. His total profits, after deducting the cost of exercising options, was $21,980,470.
Watkins: Baxter unhappy with Enron deals
Baxter joined Enron in 1991. He was chairman and CEO of Enron North America before being named chief strategy officer for Enron in June 2000 and vice chairman in October 2000.
In a letter to then-Chairman Ken Lay, Enron Vice President Sherron Watkins said Baxter had been unhappy about Enron's dealings with one of its limited partnerships.
"Cliff Baxter complained mightily to [then-Enron President and CEO Jeff] Skilling and all who would listen about the inappropriateness of our transactions with LJM," Watkins wrote, referring to one of the partnerships linked to Enron's collapse last fall.
Watkins' lawyer, Philip Hilder, said Friday that she was "deeply saddened and stunned beyond belief" by Baxter's death.
"Mr. Baxter had the utmost integrity and she respected him immensely. Mrs. Watkins expresses her heartfelt sympathy and prayers to her family," Hilder said in a prepared statement.
In November, after Enron's troubles became public and its stock price collapsed, Baxter was named along with then-CEO Ken Lay and eight other senior company officials as defendants in a lawsuit filed by shareholders in U.S. District Court in Houston. The suit accuses Baxter and the others of conspiring to cover up Enron's financial troubles while profiting personally from an inflated stock price and concealing the true state of the company from other investors.
Baxter's last reported stock sale was January 31, 2001, when Enron stock was still selling at $80 a share, near its all-time high. The stock is now worth less than a dollar a share.
In a statement released to reporters, Enron said, "We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our friend and colleague Cliff Baxter. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends."
Police did not disclose the contents of the suicide note found with Baxter. Authorities in Sugar Land said they found a .38 caliber revolver, registered to Baxter, in his car, and the local justice of the peace has ordered an autopsy.
-- CNN Correspondent Alan Chernoff contributed to this report.
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He was murdered, this is not rocket science here |
by Avenger
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
26 Jan 2002
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If you listen to the short audio on pbs.org you will here from a friend and co-worker of ten years that he was a happy individual and had no intentions of suicide. Interesting he was the one who could potentially do the most damage to not only Enron but present political interests and thats a no no. Just ask the families of those murdered by Clinton's faction of cocaine smuggling thugs from the CIA. Just look it up on the search engine and you'll see it even an up dated list of the murders. It is common procedure with these bastards |
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And the Bushes? |
by ML
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
27 Jan 2002
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Blaming drugtrafficking on just the CIA and Clinton leaves out at least HALF of the story. There's plenty of bi-partisan blame to go around. The War on Drugs is a self-serving exercise on government oppression that has seen both parties support it, and the unconstitutional violations of human rights that are a large part of it, for their own evil purposes. |
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Homicide directed by Son of Skull & Bones |
by Truthseeker
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
28 Jan 2002
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An intensive homicide investigation should begin immediately. If there was any question whether the Whitehouse was dirty on the Enron debacle, it has been laid to rest with Cliff Baxter’s murder. |
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Too Soon To Jump To Conclusions |
by ML
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
28 Jan 2002
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Here's another good article on this:
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/jan2002/enro-j28.shtml
And then this tid-bit from today on Undernews/The Progressive Review website:
http://prorev.com/indexa.htm
"IT'S NOT BEING REPORTED in the corporate media, but the medical examiner in the Clifford Baxter death, Joye Carter, has been involved in a number of controversial cases including the alleged suicide of Paul Wilcher who found dead on a toilet in his apartment in 1993. Some belief Wilcher was murdered. He was said to be investigating various scandals including the October Surprise, the 1980 election campaign, drug and gun-running through Mena and the Waco assault. He was also planning a TV documentary on his findings. He delivered an extensive affidavit to Janet Reno three weeks before his death."
One doesn't actually need a lot of conspiracy theory to figure this thing out. Just watch for developments. Bush's denial of public record info to the GAO today that might reveal insider influence in setting US energy policy is another smoking gun in Enron's hand. Whether Baxter was in the line of that fire remains to be proven. although a thorough and competent investigation is certainly called for.
ML |
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enron exec murdered |
by bob long
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
30 Jan 2002
Modified: 12:53:50 PM |
baxter was quoted by a friend two days before his death as
saying "i think i need a bodyguard." i have never heard of anyone contemplating suicide that considered hiring a bodyguard to protect themself from ...themself? the fact remains he had serious dirt on some of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the united states including the president and vice president. take a good look at the arthur andersen auditor's eyes in the widely circulated photo shot before he didnt testify. it appears he may also have had a 'talking to' and did the 'smart thing'. i will never believe cliff baxter committed suicide... |
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Not one curious mind in the entire nation? The media aren't worth their salt. |
by Dave
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
31 Jan 2002
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Not one media-type asked to see the "suicide note"? Why don't they ask? what are they afraid of? Why is the public not allowed to see the note? It has "secret" information that we have not been cleared to view? They must be protecting us from ourselves. Thay know what's best for us....that's also why we can't view the proceedings behind Dick Cheney's closed-door sessions. Don't you love America? |
