Ken Lay’s Disappearance: Coincidence Theorists Having a Field Day

The first thing I thought when I read that former Enron chief Kenneth Lay had died was: “How convenient.”

Yes, it was awfully convenient that he should die when he did, thereby avoiding life in prison. So convenient, in fact, that you would almost think it was planned, that it was a conspiracy.

Is this so far fetched?

After all, the guy had just been convicted of conspiracy. His propensity to engage in conspiracies was a matter of public record, not theory. Therefore, it is not at all unreasonable to suggest that he might have conspired again, this time to fake his own death. He certainly had the means to do such a thing: the money, power, and connections. Also the motive.

No, it's not far fetched at all; it’s quite plausible. Also plausible he could have been murdered, or committed suicide.

And yet, it’s equally plausible that he suffered a massive coronary and died. Stress can do that to a person, particularly to a 64-year-old man who is about to begin serving a life sentence.

Therefore, given the fact that conspiracy and coincidence are equally plausible in this case, as well as the fact that no hard evidence exists to support a conspiracy theory, I was willing to let the matter go. I was willing to file this matter under “Speculation” and move on to things that could be proven.

But, yesterday, I read a CNN story entitled “The Ken Lay Conspiracy: Many theories are swirling around the Enron chief's death ... all wrong.”

So there you have it. It's only 24 hours after the breaking of the story, and already the mainstream media is publishing a conspiracy-debunking piece, complete with the usual reference to Elvis and a dismissal of conspiracy theories in general.

Which makes me more suspicious than ever. Methinks the mainstream media doth protest too much ...