Report: Car Headlights Suspect in Death of White House Adviser's Wife

Fox news ^ | Feb 9 2011 | Fox news

[crosslink]

Several sources familiar with the ongoing investigation tell WTOP fire and police investigators believe the radiator in Turton's 2008 BMW X5 was punctured when it rolled into a workbench. The halogen headlights, which emit a bluish light and illuminate the road better than conventional headlights, stayed on after the radiator was punctured.

[Gabrial]

“how the heck could her body have been burned inside the car?”

The Fox story says it was determined she was unconscious before she was burned.

[Girlene]

Yes, they heard “loud popping noises”, looked out the window and saw flames

I hadn't read that. According to this link from January 10, it was called in as a traffic accident. Source: So Far, Lobbyist Car Fire Not Being Looked at by Homicide

.... A source in homicide with the Metropolitan Police Department says the "the call" came in as a "traffic accident," and murder detectives haven't been asked to take the case. We've asked MPD to confirm, but haven't gotten a response yet.

Update: MPD has issued a statement saying the death is being investigated as an accident:

On Monday, January 10, 2011, at approximately, 4:45 a.m., the driver of a 2008 BMW X-5 crashed into the interior of a garage of a residence in the 800 block of A Street S.E. After impact, a fire started and quickly engulfed the entire garage as well as the automobile.

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks. I had thought the vehicle had been much more damaged than it was.

[crosslink]

Here is the news story with eyewitness testomony of the cracking and that the husband was in the house http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid30317508001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAABvaL9Hk~,mLC66bU8hPPEixOfY5Pc8DGh7QP3dFX0&bctid=745088874001

[OrangeHoof]

I can only imagine what would be said if this was the wife of a Clinton aide...

[Newton]

I agree... I”m prone to migraines and those lights really bother me.

[Gabrial]

See second page of this article for popping sounds reference.

This article also is one of the best in terms of laying out the highy compressed timeline.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/10/AR2011011006857_2.html

[Tijeras_Slim]

Just out of curiosity I checked a halogen bulb in our lab with a IR thermometer. It reached close to 300 F very quickly.

[lazypadawan]

Uh huh, and Vincent Foster shot himself.

[Neidermeyer]

“The xenon lamps...” Except the 2008 BMX X5 has sealed HALOGEN bulbs.

Don't trust the "journalists" expertise on cars ,, try this link to "Kelly Blue Book" ,, it lists the features for that year BMW X5 ,, Xenon ARC headlamps were standard equipment.

http://www.kbb.com/used-cars/bmw/x5/2008/private-party-value/equipment?id=196946

[Newton]

This is one of the many things about the story that does not make sense, that the husband seemed to not notice where his wife was.

[crosslink]

I have spent many hours researching this story because this breaks my heart. I had nothing in common with Mrs Turton. When I saw that facebook picture and those kids I was sad. Then as I dug into thee story I began to find many ties to her and so many of the progressive agenda power players. Stan Greenburg,John Podsta,Tony Podesta,Dick Gephart, and she worked for Speaker Polosi and Stan Greenburgs wife who owned the condo Rahm stayed in while in DC. She was her secretary and cut all the checks for things like rent on that condo.

Her husband worked with and for the Tides foundation before and after Barak was elected and steered the stimulus through the congress. He put lots of goodies in the bill including plenty for Ashleys employer.

I expected the main stream press to be all over this story. The post originally had two of their top reporters on it and then handed of to the STYLE person. This is when my radar went up. This woman demands justice and I am not going to stop until I see it happen. I may even dust off some old skills and travel to DC and talk to some old friends in various agencies and with their help we will find the truth. I hope the reporter from the story stays vigilant and becomes the next Woodward.

[crosslink]

Just out of curiosity I checked a halogen bulb in our lab with a IR thermometer. It reached close to 300 F very quickly.

Great you have access to some things I do not. If you take an equal mixture of Coolant and water can you test to see what temp it takes to ignite? Per the sources I have read with it 50/50 it would take 700 degrees. I would love to have that answer.

[melancholy]

Let me speculate: zero won't release the long form death certificate.

0b0z0 IS the long form of DEATH TO AMERICA!

[Gabrial]

Edmunds seems to agree...

The 2008 BMW X5 is a midsize luxury SUV available in two trim levels: 3.0si and 4.8i. Standard equipment on the 3.0si includes 18-inch wheels, adaptive xenon headlights, cruise control, a panoramic sunroof, dual-zone climate control, 10-way power front seats with driver memory, a power tilt-telescoping steering column, vinyl “leatherette” upholstery, the iDrive electronics interface and a 12-speaker sound system with two subwoofers, CD player and an auxiliary audio jack.

I stand corrected!

http://www.edmunds.com/bmw/x5/2008/#fullreview

[Girlene]

Thanks for the info, guys. Wonder what the loud popping noises were. I noticed in the WaPo article that one of her coemployees was expecting her in the office even though the neighbors said she was taking an early flight. Lobbyist Ashley Turton found dead at home

.........The incident apparently occurred as Turton was leaving home earlier than usual for work, anticipating a busy day in her downtown office. Her employer, Progress Energy, and another North Carolina utilities giant, Duke Energy, announced Monday that Duke is buying Progress for $13 billion in stock.

"We were getting ready to deal with a lot of merger communications issues," said fellow Progress lobbyist Michael Sewell, with whom Turton shared a three-person office at 801 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. "I was in the office very early, too." .....

[Tijeras_Slim]

Management is leery when I get too “Mad Scientist”... perhaps we should ping Mythbusters.

[crosslink]

I would love to talk to Mr Sewell,found this on the net I am not a big fan of the sight so understand its source.

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_6821.shtml

meat of the story:

DeLauro said she last saw Ashley Turton at her and Greenberg’s Christmas Party. DeLauro last communicated with Ashley Turton on January 5, the day the new Congress was sworn in. Ashley Turton was at a political event in Arizona where featured speakers included Democratic pollster and lobbyist James Carville, Greenberg’s business partner, and Karl Rove, the chief political adviser to President George W. Bush. Ashley Turton indicated to DeLauro that while she would probably attend Carville’s session, she probably would not bother with Rove’s.

Ashley Turton’s friends described in Turton a person who had an appetite for possible gossip. In some cases, while discussing a juicy bit of political rumor, Ashley Turton would tell her friends, usually over a glass of wine, that “this conversation needs to go out on the porch.” Ashley Turton confided in a close friend that she wanted to leave Washington and return to North Carolina to raise her family

[crosslink]

good idea.

[wiggen]

-That article you linked is nearly 30 days old now and states more than once she was being taken in for an autopsy. Was the reporter assuming that or were they told that? If that was not a guess then someone said hold off on the autopsy.