Posted on 01/25/2002 1:30:54 PM PST by dead
HOUSTON (Reuters) - The toll of the Enron bankruptcy expanded dramatically on Friday with the apparent suicide of a former executive who had opposed the accounting practices that led to the collapse of the energy trading giant.
J. Clifford Baxter, 43, who resigned as vice chairman of Enron Corp. last April, killed himself with a gunshot to the head, police in Sugar Land, Texas, an affluent Houston suburb, said.
Baxter, who resigned from Enron last May, had reportedly feuded with then Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling over the propriety of off-balance-sheet transactions involving hundreds of partnerships that ultimately triggered the once-mighty Houston company's spiral into the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Sugar Land police officers and a Fort Bend County constable gather outside the Sugar Land, Texas home of former Enron vice chairman J. Clifford Baxter Friday, Jan. 25, 2002. Baxter was discovered shot to death in a car parked on a median not far from his home, an apparent suicide, authorities said. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)
Sugar Land Police Department spokeswoman Patricia Whitty said Baxter was found inside his Mercedes early on Friday with a gunshot wound to the head, a suicide note, and a revolver at his side.
He had Enron identification in his wallet, Whitty said. Police declined to divulge the contents of the note.
Enron confirmed the death in a short statement: ``We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our friend and colleague, Cliff Baxter.''
JACKSON TELLS FORMER EMPLOYEES TO ``HOLD ON''
In Houston, civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson (news - web sites) met
with former Enron employees in a church in the shadows of Enron's headquarters.
``We've got to hold on,'' Jackson said. ``In the darkest hours the stars shine most clearly.''
Tim Sundel, who is among the thousands of Enron employees who were laid off in December, said he felt deep sadness on hearing the news of Baxter's death.
``I think the timing has something to do with all of the momentum that is growing around the collapse of a very wonderful company,'' he said.
Baxter's suicide came one day after the start of congressional hearings on Enron's collapse and the role of its auditor, Big Five accounting firm Andersen, as legislators seek answers on why Andersen employees had destroyed thousands of documents related to Enron audits.
But furious lawmakers got few answers on Thursday as fired Andersen partner David Duncan refused to testify, invoking his Constitutional right under the Fifth Amendment to avoid self-incrimination.
Hearings by the House Energy and Commerce Committee and another by the Senate on Thursday were the first of nine scheduled over the next six weeks into Enron, which freely gave to politicians of both parties but was particularly generous to the election of campaign of President Bush (news - web sites).
Congressional investigators had sought to interview Baxter last week while they were in Houston talking to others about Enron, congressional committee sources told Reuters on Friday.
``We did not seek testimony from him (Baxter) yet. His name was brought up numerous times during investigators' meetings,'' a congressional source said.
ENRON SPREAD ITS MONEY AROUND
Almost all of the U.S. legislators serving on congressional committees investigating Enron have received campaign contributions from Enron or Andersen, the New York Times reported on Friday.
Of the 248 senators and members of the House of Representatives on 11 congressional committees investigating the firm, 212 received donations from the two firms, according to an analysis by the Times and the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit research group that tracks money in politics.
According to the analysis, 43 of the 57 members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee have received money from Enron and 52 of its 57 members have received donations from Andersen.
Legislators on Friday asked Enron's former Chairman and CEO, Kenneth Lay, to provide information on loans he received from the once high-flying energy firm and on his sales of company stock.
The Wall Street Journal on Friday reported that reorganization specialist Stephen Cooper is a front-runner to be named acting CEO of Enron. Cooper, a managing principal of consulting firm Zolfo Cooper, was scheduled to meet with Enron senior management during the next few days.
The Times has also reported that Lay, who resigned as chairman and CEO earlier this week but remains a member of Enron's board of directors, had repeatedly used millions of dollars in Enron stock to repay loans made to him by the company. The newspaper's report was based on an interview with Lay's lawyer, Earl Silbert.
Silbert was not immediately available for comment on Friday.
BAXTER SUBJECT OF LAWSUITS
Former vice chairman Baxter was the subject of lawsuits that targeted 29 of Enron's top directors and insiders, accusing them of cashing in on inside information at the expense of stockholders.
Court records and securities filings show that Baxter earned some $35.2 million by exercising Enron stock options, including $9 million in 2001 alone.
However, despite the financial rewards Baxter may have reaped, a former Enron official said relations between Baxter and other Enron executives were strained, at best.
``Cliff Baxter complained mightily to Skilling and all who would listen about the inappropriateness of our transactions with LJM,'' Enron whistle-blower Sherron Watkins wrote to Lay in an Aug. 14 letter.
His complaints targeted the so-called ``LJM'' and ``LJM2'' investment partnerships managed by then-Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow, who earned $30 million for that work in addition to his Enron salary.
Enron filed for the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history on Dec. 2, wiping out 5,000 jobs and leaving investors -- including many employees who held company stock in their retirement accounts -- holding nearly worthless stocks.
From a high of about $90 in Aug. 2000, Enron stock crashed to 67 cents on Jan. 10 before trading was halted its shares delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites). Enron shares now trade over-the-counter at about 45 cents.
Baxter, who was the lead negotiator on Enron's purchase of Portland General Electric in 1997, joined Enron in 1991 and was chairman and CEO of Enron North America before being named chief strategy officer. In Oct. 2000, he was promoted to vice chairman.
Enron's statement on Baxter's suicide, which was posted on the company's Web site (http://www.enron.com), was a terse, three-sentence statement.
But in a statement announcing Baxter's resignation last May, Enron had lauded Baxter's ``... creativity, intelligence, sense of humor and straightforward manner.''
The May press release had also described Enron as ``one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas and communications companies,'' noting that Fortune magazine for six straight years had named it ``America's Most Innovative Company.''
Reach just a litttttttttttle bit further if you could ...
Boy ... the tin-foil crowd bubbled to the surface quickly on this one ...
You're being funny - right?
I heard on the radio the guy was very upset about the "little people" in the company. And ... the report also mentioned the guy knew EVERYTHING about the company. Those 2 things combined could make him suicidal, or it could make him a liability to the Clinton admin. because he might be willing to spill the beans out of guilt.
Roger Hedgecock is not a conspiracy person, but he is already convinced this was a hit and not a suicide!
God Bless his family in their time of grief.
Are you kidding?? This is outrageous - what on earth motive would Bush have?? Clinton is the one with the motive - and the dems know it - in fact, this is just another one of their "projection" tecniques in progress!
Ooooh! Tell me more!!
However, the first time I heard Vince Foster was shot, I just knew it was murder, not suicide - I cannot even tell you how I knew; I just knew!
The same thing happened today when I heard about this guy from Enron - there may be no logical explanation, but I immediately thought - I bet they murdered him to keep him quiet.
They didn't say he was naked, perv ! They said he was half covered with a sheet. Maybe like someone had planned to move him, but got spooked? They said he always called if he was going to be late, and was an honorable type family man.
What do you mean by "people like him?" Did you know this guy? Police suspect foul play.
The usual single gun shot wound to the head, the gun still firmly in his hand, even though he just blew his brains out?
Are you joking?? When are you people going to get it?? Bush had absolutely nothing to gain by shooting this guy (the worst thing the Clinton crud could find on Bush was a 25 year old DUI - what does that tell you??) - BUT CLINTON HAD EVERYTHING TO GAIN BY SHOOTING THIS GUY - and the scenario is so similar to that of Vince Foster - there is no doubt in my mind it is another Arkancide!
As a more-like-Quail-Valley person, I can say that most of our homes go for considerably less than half a mil!
A report I read earlier today placed his car in the 5200 block of Palm Royale, presumably near his home. That's the priciest part of Sugar Land, around the Sweetwater Country Club.
Ooooooh! I just realized that when you said it. I had forgotten the Bobsey Twins were heading this escapade. Soooo, did Bennett and Boise find out something incriminating on Clinton and decided to get rid of the star witness?? Kind of looks that way!
You are so right!!
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.