Investigation Into Aubrey McClendon Crash Finds High Speeds, No Health Emergency -- 6th 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. The medical examiner's office earlier said that Mr. McClendon died of multiple blunt force trauma.

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, said Bill Citty, chief of police. After reaching top speed a few seconds before the crash, the Tahoe hit the bridge 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 in its preliminary investigation, Chief Citty said. He wouldn't speculate on whether Mr. McClendon committed suicide, and said that the investigation is ongoing.

"You don't know, one, what was going on in his mind at that point in time. You don't know what was going on in the cabin of the vehicle," he said. "Anything is possible. You don't rule it out, but we can't say it is, either."

Police are still in the process of checking Mr. McClendon's cellphone records and talking to friends and associates about his state of mind and activities on March 2, the day of the crash, and the hours leading up to the accident.

Several of Mr. McClendon's friends and business associates told The Wall Street Journal that he was known to drive fast, not wear a seat belt and 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, who went on to found rival American Energy Partners LP in 2013, 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 and appeared to be driving back roads north and west through Oklahoma City toward Arcadia, where he owned a tree farm and a restaurant. The crash site is now marked with two wooden crosses covered in written messages and neckties bearing the logos for American Energy and Chesapeake. People also have left company hard hats and baseball caps in tribute, along with bouquets of flowers.

An empty bottle of Veuve Clicquot bore a message scrawled across it-- "Thanks for everything!!"--in a nod to Mr. McClendon's penchant for champagne and his habit of ordering expensive bottles of wine when dining out and having them signed by his companions.

The U.S. Justice Department has dropped the charge against Mr. McClendon, citing his death. Mr. McClendon was the only person who had been indicted as a result of the government investigation into bid rigging for oil-and-gas properties. Chesapeake is shielded from criminal charges and fines because it has been cooperating with the Justice Department investigation under a federal leniency program.

--Alison Sider contributed to this article

Write to Erin Ailworth at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 14, 2016 17:30 ET (21:30 GMT)

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