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Editor, The Konformist
http://www.konformist.com
Baxter's 'Suicide' Death Looks A Lot Like Vince Foster's
By Reed Irvine
NewsMax.com
2-8-2
The death of J. Cliff Baxter, the former vice chairman of Enron,
looks a lot like that of former White House Deputy Counsel Vincent W.
Foster Jr. Foster's death was pronounced a suicide by the U.S. Park
Police when they found a gun in his hand. The media accepted the word
of the police, who had made no investigation worthy of the name.
The day after Baxter's death, the New York Times reported that the
Sugar Land police had "ruled out foul play but a justice of the peace
ordered an autopsy as a precaution." Like the U.S. Park Police in the
Foster case, they ignored the rule that an unattended violent death
must be investigated as a homicide until they have enough evidence to
rule that out. Dr. Joye Carter, the Harris County medical examiner,
pronounced it a suicide without even knowing if the gun found in
Baxter's car belonged to him.
The police requested a trace on the gun, confirming information from
a source close to the family that no one identified it as Baxter's.
That was also the case with the gun found in Foster's hand. Finally
the FBI agents working on that case got Foster's widow to say that
the 1913 black revolver resembled the modern silver revolver that she
brought to Washington from Arkansas.
That was accepted as positive identification by Special Prosecutor
Robert Fiske and Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. Their reports
concealed the fact that the two guns were different colors and ages.
The autopsy found that Baxter was killed by a contact shot to his
temple, not by a conventional .38 bullet, but by rat-shot, small
pellets used to kill rats. If the police found any .38 rat-shot
ammunition in Baxter's home, they aren't talking about it. Nor have
they revealed if Baxter's fingerprints and blood were found on the
gun. In Foster's case, his fingerprints and blood were not found on
the gun in his hand.
The claim that Foster killed himself came as a shock to his family,
close friends and co-workers. Close friend Webster Hubbell told a
partner at the Rose Law Firm not to believe the stories that Foster
committed suicide. Mrs. Foster accepted the suicide finding, but
Vincent Jr., the oldest son, told classmates that his father did not
kill himself.
The New York Times reported that a former business associate of Cliff
Baxter called Baxter the day before his death, congratulating him for
having criticized Enron's practices before resigning. Someone had
suggested that Baxter hire a bodyguard, and Baxter told the
caller, "I'm a businessman. Why do I need a bodyguard?" The Baxter
family, according to close friends, all believe he was murdered.
The police have a suicide note, but they refuse to say where it was
found, who found it, if it was in Baxter's handwriting and if his
fingerprints were on it. They won't disclose what it says. A reliable
source says it doesn't mention his wife and children and is not
really a suicide note.
The note in the Foster case that was allegedly found in his briefcase
did not mention his family or suicide. It was in 17 pieces. Foster's
fingerprints were not found on any of them. The contents were
released, but copies of the handwritten note were withheld for over
two years. Then three independent experts examined it and said it was
a forgery.
The medical examiners in both cases have records of deference to
police and prosecutors in performing autopsies. Dr. James Beyer, who
did the Foster autopsy, had ruled two cases to be suicides that
second autopsies found to be homicides.
Dr. Beyer concealed or destroyed an X-ray he had taken of Foster's
head. He lied to explain its absence. The X-ray no doubt confirmed an
FBI report that the police found no exit wound in Foster's head and
that the fatal bullet was a small caliber and was not fired by
the .38 found in his hand.
Dr. Joye Carter was accused of falsifying an autopsy report when she
was the chief medical examiner in Washington, D.C. In Harris County,
an employee charged that Dr. Carter fired her because she reported
the suppression of evidence favorable to a murder defendant and two
cases of destruction of evidence. The employee sued. The county paid
$325,000 plus her legal costs, to settle.
The media are calling Baxter's death a suicide. Earnest Taylor, Sugar
Land's police chief, says nothing to discourage that. The Foster case
shows that if he stalls long enough the cover-up will succeed.
Reed Irvine is chairman of Accuracy in Media.
http://www.newsmax.com/commentmax/print.shtml?a=2002/2/6/155646
*****
Baxter Called Upset at Media
Skilling Says Friend Feared Scandal's Lasting Impact
By Frank Ahrens and Susan Schmidt
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, February 8, 2002; Page A15
For most of his afternoon testimony before a House subcommittee
yesterday, former Enron chief executive Jeffrey K. Skilling was an
iceman. Cool and composed, Skilling parried with lawmakers in a
confident, controlled manner; not combative, but not conciliatory.
Members asked Skilling about his reputation as a "control freak." He
remained unrattled.
Until about 5:30 p.m., as his testimony was winding down.
When a fissure appeared in the ice.
One of the committee members brought up J. Clifford Baxter, the
former Enron vice chairman who was found dead with a bullet to the
right temple, sitting in his brand new Mercedes on Jan. 25, an
apparent suicide.
Baxter had been Skilling's best friend.
Skilling was asked: Did the Enron collapse lead Baxter to take his
life?
A long pause.
Yes, Skilling said. For the first time all day, Skilling's voice
rose. He became agitated, angry.
Everyone knew Baxter, 43, was "heartbroken by what had happened,"
Skilling said. "His reputation, my reputation, the reputation of the
board of directors, the reputation of [former Enron chairman] Ken Lay
and people we had worked with for a long time were ruined."
Skilling testified that Baxter had blamed the scandal on lawyers for
plaintiffs bringing action against Enron. And he had blamed the
media, for its feeding frenzy. It was a view Skilling said he shared.
Though Baxter's death was ruled a suicide, loose ends remain. As
Skilling testified yesterday, police in Sugar Land, Tex., the Houston
suburb where Baxter was found dead, declined to comment on the
contents of a suicide note he left and have not disclosed what they
believe motivated him to take his life.
Some media outlets, quoting anonymous sources, have said the note
refers to the Enron debacle, which would square with Skilling's
testimony before the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on
oversight and investigations.
As Skilling's testimony continued yesterday, he became more
emotional. Did you talk to Baxter anytime near his death, Rep.
Clifford B. Stearns (R-Fla.) asked.
Yes, Skilling said. He paused.
"Cliff's family has gone through a lot," he said. "I don't know if
it's my job or my role to discuss this." Then, he addressed the widow
of the dead man, who was not present at the hearing.
"Carol, if you're out there, I hope you don't mind."
Skilling continued: Baxter had come to Skilling's house one day about
a week before Baxter killed himself. They talked for three hours.
About personal issues, about business issues.
"He was very angry," Skilling said.
He concluded with a surprising analogy, describing how Baxter felt
permanently tainted by the Enron meltdown.
"It's a beautiful day in Houston, Texas," Skilling began, recounting
Baxter's comments. "You're watering your lawn," kids are playing,
when suddenly "your next-door neighbor comes crashing out and
says, 'I hear you're a child molester.' . . . That will never wash
off."
Staff writer Paul Duggan contributed to this report from Austin.
� 2002 The Washington Post Company
*****
http://www.latimes.com/
THE FALL OF ENRON
Baxter 'Heartbroken' by Events, Skilling Testifies
Hearing: Ex-Enron CEO breaks his composure discussing colleague who
committed suicide.
By RICHARD SIMON and EDMUND SANDERS
TIMES STAFF WRITERS
February 8 2002
WASHINGTON -- With Enron Corp. insiders facing angry accusations from
members of Congress and others for apparently walking away with
millions while ordinary workers lost their life savings, it's not
easy to evoke sympathy for a senior executive.
But there was a moment Thursday when that happened--during a daylong
hearing before the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on
oversight and investigations.
It occurred during a bruising question-and-answer session when former
Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey K. Skilling was asked to describe a
conversation with J. Clifford Baxter, the former Enron vice chairman
who reportedly objected to some of the accounting maneuvers that
ultimately pushed the company into bankruptcy. Baxter, whom Skilling
had described as a close friend, shot himself to death Jan. 25. An
autopsy report released this week said that Baxter, who left Enron in
May, had taken a pain reliever, an antidepressant and a sleeping aid
before shooting himself in the right temple.
As Skilling began to answer the question about Baxter's concerns, he
seemed to lose the composure that otherwise characterized his several
hours of testimony. He hesitated, and his voice cracked with emotion.
"I don't think there is anyone who knew Cliff and spent time with
Cliff toward the end that didn't realize--and I don't think this is
betraying any confidence with the family--that didn't realize he was
heartbroken by what had happened," he told the committee.
"He believed that his reputation, my reputation, the reputation of
the board of directors . . . were ruined by what had happened to the
company--and the treatment of what had happened to the company by the
press."
Baxter, 43, spent a decade at Enron during the years it grew from a
middling operator of natural gas pipelines into the seventh-largest
U.S. company. Baxter zoomed up through the company behind Skilling,
who resigned as Enron's CEO in August for unexplained personal
reasons.
A former Air Force captain, Baxter cashed out $28 million in stock
gains from the sale of nearly 800,000 Enron shares from 1998 to early
2001, according to Thomson Financial/Lancer Analytics.
"He believed, as I believe, that we had created a great company . . .
and to have a lifetime of work denigrated as it was in the press was
very painful," Skilling testified.
Skilling paused and addressed an aside to Baxter's wife. "Carol, if
you're out there, I hope you're OK with this," he continued.
He said that Baxter came over to his house about a week before he
died. The two men spent almost three hours talking, and Baxter
expressed deep concerns about his reputation since Enron's collapse.
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