Death apparently an accident
Chesapeake Energy co-founder was killed in March crash
No signs of a suicide are seen in the wreck that killed Chesapeake Energy’s co-founder.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma City police say the death of Chesapeake Energy co-founder Aubrey McClendon in a vehicle crash appears to have been an accident.
Capt. Paco Balderrama told reporters Tuesday that police have found nothing to indicate the fiery crash that killed McClendon, 56, on March2 was anything but an accident.
Police previously said McClendon was driving 78 mph when his sport utility vehicle hit a bridge support and burst into flames, and that there was no evidence suggesting he tried to avoid the crash.
His death came a day after a federal grand jury indicted him on a bid-rigging charge. He had vowed to fight the charge.
The grand jury had alleged he conspired to rig the bidding process for natural gas leases in Oklahoma from 2007 to 2012, when he led Chesapeake Energy.
Spokeswoman Amy Elliott for the state medical examiner said a determination on McClendon’s manner of death could be finished by the end of this week.
Investigators didn’t uncover anything in interviews with McClendon’s friends and associates — or in the wreckage — to lead them to believe he was seeking to end his life, police said.
“We may never know 100 percent what happened,” Balderrama said.
It is unclear what, if any, effect the police probe will have on a probate case taking place in Oklahoma City, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Creditors with claims totaling hundreds of millions of dollars have appeared in that case, although few details about McClendon’s estate have been made public.
The McClendon family declined to comment.