What to make of Ken Lay's Death?

What should we make of the death of former Enron chairman, Ken Lay? Was it divine justice or an easy path out?

Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, prematurely stated that Lay died of an "of an apparent suicide." But, according to Mesa County (Colo.) Coroner Robert Kutzman, the cause of Lay's death was coronary artery disease .

In defense of conspiracy theorists, the possibility of Lay taking his own life is not as far-fetched as Oliver Stone's "JFK." It seemed somewhat fitting that he would not want to take responsibility for his actions.

Lay, the former CEO of Enron, along with his successor, Jeffrey Skilling, were convicted in May of fraud and conspiracy charges in one of the biggest corporate scandals in American history. It was possible that Lay, who was to be sentenced this fall, would have spent his remaining years behind bars.

Some have sought to compare Lay's death to that of the tragic Greek character Icarus. Lay did flee from the island of his impoverished beginnings, partly on the artificial wings of Enron's cooked up financial books, but it is unclear as to whether Lay, like Icarus, was given advice by his father, who in Lay's case was a Baptist minister, not to fly too close to the sun. Either way, both characters have been entered into the lexicon of tragic figures.

I must confess that I cheered when I heard the news of Lay and Skilling's conviction with the same exuberance as others upon hearing the Scott Peterson verdict. While as a society we tend to look at urban violence as appalling, and rightfully so, the Enron debacle was no less egregious, if not more so.

I worked in the public affairs department at Pacific Gas and Electric during the California energy crisis that ultimately cost a governor his job. It was always a thorn in the side of PG&E employees to go to then-Pac Bell park in San Francisco, minutes from its corporate headquarters, to read the large sign on the centerfield scoreboard, "Powered by Enron."

I watched as plants were systematically taken off line for "cleaning" at a time when the state desperately needed additional power to meet the demand. It was almost a daily occurrence where the state would be minutes from implementing rotating outages only to come up the requisite power (at the requisite price).

California, like so many others, will unlikely see any rebate from Enron's unethical price manipulation. Pension funds will not be replenished, jobs will not be reinstated. At least Lay and Skilling, or so we thought, would have to pay for the deeds. That particular burden has now been placed solely of the shoulders of Skilling.

Thus, Lay's premature death means that he will not have to confront, not just the nameless faces at Enron who invested in worthless company stock based on his deceptive cheerleading, but those impacted by his greed throughout the country.

It is quite possible that Lay's death may have spared his surviving family members the type of financial ruin that his business practices inflicted on so many. "The death of Mr. Lay in all likelihood will render the government's hard-fought victory null," said Christopher Bebel, a former federal prosecutor who specializes in securities fraud.

It becomes doubtful that the prosecution, which took more than fours years to convict Lay, can get restitution for the victims of Lay's fraud. Moreover, Lay's death will further complicate the government's efforts to seize any remaining property.

Whatever one's opinion of Lay, there are no winners. Lay's extravagance and hubris took its toll on countless numbers of employees, investors, and average Americans, as well as Lay and his family.

There will undoubtedly be more books to write, discussions within law and business schools, and perhaps a movie in the making. But what remains is a feeling of incompleteness. And that would be true even had Ken Lay lived and was given a sentence commensurate with his crimes.