More than two months after Oklahoma energy leader Aubrey McClendon, one of the co-founders of Chesapeake Energy, died in a fiery SUV crash in Oklahoma City, police are calling it a traffic accident. It was not suicide by the 56-year old energy magnate.
His death on March 2 came a day after an Oklahoma City federal grand jury had indicted him on federal bid-rigging charges.
Captain Paco Balderrama says the department carried out a traffic accident investigation as well as homicide probe. Four detectives looked into every possible scenario of the March crash of McClendon’s speeding SUV into a bridge abutment. The vehicle was first traveling an estimated 90 miles per hour but slowed to 78 mph when the vehicle impacted and burst into flames. Dental records were used to identify McClendon.
“We were unable to find any evidence or information that would lead us to believe it was anything other than a vehicular accident,” said Balderrama in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal. “We may never know one-hundred percent what happened.”
There had been speculation following the crash that the multi-billionaire McClendon might have killed himself as he faced the federal charges. The investigation by the Justice Department followed his ouster as CEO of Chesapeake Energy in 2013.