Investigation Into Aubrey McClendon Crash Finds High Speeds, No Health Emergency--4th Update

By Erin Ailworth 

U.S. shale pioneer Aubrey McClendon hit speeds of 89 miles an hour just before his Chevy Tahoe slammed into a concrete bridge earlier this month in a fatal crash, according to a report issued Monday afternoon by the Oklahoma City Police Dept.

Mr. McClendon's SUV, which was fitted to run on compressed natural gas instead of gasoline, crossed the centerline more than 60 yards before the crash. He wasn't wearing a seat belt, the Oklahoma City Police said.

Data recovered from the vehicle's black box showed that Mr. McClendon tapped his brakes several times before the crash, but didn't truly brake, police said. His Tahoe hit a concrete embankment at roughly 78 miles an hour.

The Oklahoma City medical examiner's office didn't find any evidence of a health emergency with Mr. McClendon before his accident, said Bill Citty, police chief for the department. He wouldn't speculate on whether Mr. McClendon committed suicide, and said the police investigation is ongoing.

Police are in the process of checking cellphone records for Mr. McClendon and talking to friends and associates about his state of mind and activities on March 2, the day of the crash, and before the accident.

Several of Mr. McClendon's friends and business associates told The Wall Street Journal that he was known to multitask in the car, often talking on his cellphone.

The two-lane road leading up to the crash site--a straight but hilly stretch with narrow lanes running in both directions--gets little traffic, said Oklahoma Police Department Capt. Paco Balderrama.

Mr. McClendon was traveling well in excess of the posted speed limit of 50 miles an hour, according to the police report.

A swath of scorched earth littered with broken glass and other charred bits pinpoints where Mr. McClendon's SUV hit the underpass head on and quickly burst into flames, sending smoke billowing toward motorists on the Kilpatrick Turnpike overhead.

"The cab is completely crushed," a man who called 911 after the crash told a police dispatcher. "There's fire, there's fire."

By the time emergency responders arrived, Mr. McClendon's Tahoe was completely engulfed in flames, Capt. Balderamma said. Investigators were able to identify Mr. McClendon as the driver after receiving a call from his security detail, which employed several retired city police officers.

"It didn't take long for one of his guys to call us and say, 'Hey, Aubrey is missing,'" Capt. Balderrama said.

The day before he died, Mr. McClendon was indicted on a federal antitrust charge after a lengthy U.S. Justice Department investigation. The former chief executive of Chesapeake Energy Corp. was accused of conspiring with a second company to rig bids for the price of oil-and-gas leases between 2007 and 2012.

Mr. McClendon adamantly denied the charge.

"I am proud of my track record in this industry, and I will fight to prove my innocence and clear my name," he said in a statement through his attorney on the night the indictment was announced.

Mr. McClendon was in his Oklahoma City office early the next morning, strategizing how to do just that, according to a person familiar with the matter.

He left the office and at the time of the crash appeared to be driving back roads north and west through Oklahoma City toward Arcadia, where he owned a tree farm and a soda fountain.

Write to Erin Ailworth at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 14, 2016 15:33 ET (19:33 GMT)

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