Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Big-name mourners say adieu to Lay

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published July 13, 2006

HOUSTON - Former President George Bush and his wife, Barbara, were among the mourners Wednesday at a memorial service of Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay.

Lay's memorial service drew some of the high-profile guests who were close to him before he was convicted in May of fraud and conspiracy for lying to investors and the public about the energy company's financial health before it collapsed in 2001.

Among the other mourners at the downtown Houston church Lay attended for 12 years were former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane Jr., heart surgeon Denton Cooley and Lay's criminal lawyer, Mike Ramsey.

His co-defendant, former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling, did not attend the service Wednesday. Skilling did attend a private service Sunday in Aspen, Colo., where Lay died July 5, with about 200 friends and family members.

Skilling's wife, former Enron corporate secretary Rebecca Carter, did attend Wednesday's memorial service.

Former Houston Mayor Bob Lanier, 80, collapsed at the memorial service shortly after arriving and was taken away by ambulance. He was listed in stable condition at a hospital.

Lay, 64, died while vacationing in Aspen with his wife, Linda. His body was cremated there.

Lay and Skilling, 52, were convicted in May of fraud and conspiracy for repeatedly lying to investors and employees about the company's financial health before Enron careened into bankruptcy proceedings in December 2001.

The two men were the public faces of Enron throughout its days as a premier trading company that enjoyed Wall Street's adoration and grew into the nation's seventh-largest company. They also fell hard, vilified as masterminds of a huge fraud that fueled a flameout that left thousands jobless and wiped out billions from investors.

They insisted at their trial that they committed no crimes and that no fraud occurred at Enron except for a few executives who skimmed money behind their backs.

A jury convicted Lay of six counts of fraud and conspiracy and Skilling of 19 of 28 counts of fraud, conspiracy, insider trading and lying to auditors. Lay also was convicted of bank fraud and lying to banks in a separate, nonjury trial related to his personal banking.

Little mention was made of Enron during Lay's Aspen service, and the same was expected for the Houston service.

Before Enron crashed, Lay was a highly respected business leader and philanthropist in the nation's fourth-largest city with a powerful circle of friends that included Bush as well as his son, the current president.

[Last modified July 13, 2006, 06:41:06]