Ken Lay to be Cremated...

[Junkdrawer]

Ken Lay's family says the Enron founder will be cremated and buried in Colorado, and not in Houston, where he rose to the top of the business world, only to be eventually convicted of conspiracy and fraud.

The lead investigator in Aspen has told Eyewitness News some new details about Lay's death. Early Wednesday morning Lay was in bed. He woke up in pain. His wife Linda was the only person with him in their rental home. She called 911.

Lay was unconscious when paramedics arrived. They tried to revive him along the 10 mile ride from the ranch to Aspen Valley Hospital. He never regained consciousness. The medical examiner called it a heart attack.

Mesa County Coroner Rob Kurtzman said, "There was no evidence of foul play

....


http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=local&id=4342217

Well, that ought to stop the conspiracy theories, huh?

[wakeme2008]

1. I bet no open casket too

:grr:

[MODemocrat]

39. I don't even trust a "dead" Republican

I read somewhere today where one newspaper has stated they want to see his body. It didn't dawn on me at first, but now with this cremation, I'm getting a bit suspicious. :tinfoilhat:

[wakeme2008]

43. Here :)

[MODemocrat]

50. Thank you wakeme2008; I couldn't find it again

I'm glad you posted this photo.

[AndyTiedye]

59. That's REAL! I Thought You Had Constructed That, 'till I Checked!

[Imagevision]

89. Has anyone seen any footage of dead kenny-boy being shuffled

around, as in when the body was moved to where-ever?? any interviews recorded? Cremation of course is the answer for digging up any graves to make sure they got the right guy in the ground.

What police dept. was called? no conspiracy from here but the absense of commom protocol never seemed to take place.

Someone dies, cops are called a police report is made out and it has to be on the record, or is merely the "announcing" the death of a loved one adequate these days?? please fill me in, I've seen no follow-up asking those who were involved being questioned, paramedics, funeral parlor exec's etc...

[cantstandbush]

71. What? A RW funddie being cremated? What do Pat & Jerry say?

[aquart]

2. Nobody is gonna believe this guy is dead.

I can see a lotta movie scripts about finding Lay drinking pina coladas with Elvis and an elderly Hitler.

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ncrainbowgrrl]

80. You mean- sort of like "Weekend at Kenny's?"

[leftchick]

3. I want the EMT people interviewed!

;)

[jobycom]

12. I'm sure they would confirm that he was dead of a heart attack and add

that heart attacks are rare in 15 year old Hispanic males wearing grey wigs.

[KAT119]

57. EMT"S SHOULD TAKE LIE-DETECTOR TESTS-NO CREMATION WITHOUT DNA

& FINGERPTRINTS AND PHOTOS!! Next photos may be of Lay in Caymen Islands next to hundreds of millions of" his "$$ in secret accounts that should be going back to all of his employees who lost their pensions etc.etc.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

4. I KNEW IT.

No way they could risk letting a DNA sample out of the box, so to speak.

The whole thing is FAKE.

[Junkdrawer]

20. Perhaps he'll be a new Number 2....

[Raine]

33. Yeah, you're telling me!

I would have bet a million that he would be cremated, infact yesterday that is what I was telling people "they'll cremate him". Cremation to either hide that he was murdered to keep his mouth shut or for him to escape. :mad:

[enough already]

84. We need to demand PROOF that he's dead

This is total horseshit

[rzemanfl]

5. If he is dead this solves that pesky "How do we keep all the

people he screwed from pissing on his grave?" problem.

[rinsd]

77. I think you may have nailed it (nt)

[Xipe Totec]

6. Martha! We're gonna need more Reynolds Wrap!

Don't know about you, but I'm going to invest in Alcoa Aluminum tomorrow!

:tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat:

:rofl:

[Junkdrawer]

7. And did I mention that they had to get a guest coroner to do the autopsy?

...

Kurtzman said he received a phone call Wednesday morning from the Pitkin County Coroner's Office, which asked him to perform a postmortem examination on Lay. Pitkin County Coroner Dr. Steve Ayers is out of town.

By afternoon, Lay's body was en route to Farnum-Holt funeral home in Glenwood Springs.

Pitkin County sheriff's deputies and a Basalt ambulance were called to the Old Snowmass home Lay was renting at 1:41 a.m. for a medical emergency, according to a news release from the sheriff's office.

Lay was transported to Aspen Valley Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:11 a.m. - "His heart simply gave out," said Steve Wende, Lay's pastor at Houston's First United Methodist Church.


http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20060706/NEWS/107060050

In an awful hurry, if you ask me...

[karlrschneider]

22. Self delete...never mind

:eyes:

[Junkdrawer]

25. According to the link in the OP, his wife....

He woke up in pain. His wife Linda was the only person with him in their rental home. She called 911.

A heart attack in his sleep....

I did a Google and Douglas Fairbanks, John Candy and Buck Owens went that way. I guess it's rare but not unheard of.

[karlrschneider]

28. Mea culpa, I missed it in the op, edited it out. thanks

...

[enough already]

85. How long before the "widow" moves to South America?

This stinks.

[screembloodymurder]

27. Who called?

Who had the authority to request an outside coroner? This stinks.

[Junkdrawer]

32. The cited article claims it was one coroner's office asking for help...

from another.

My question is what was the rush? Who pressed to have an immediate autopsy? I mean he's pronounced dead at 3:00 am and the autopsy is done and the body released by early afternoon.

[seafan]

36. Some interesting notes on Dr. Robert Kurtzman, who performed autopsy:

He was involved with the autopsy of Michael Kennedy, after his skiing accident in Colorado.

Dr. Robert Kurtzman, a forensic pathologist, said initial toxicology tests showed there was no alcohol or drugs in Kennedy's body. Kennedy had said last year that he was battling alcoholism. The Kennedys often brought their well-known family sport to the slopes of Aspen Mountain and had been told before about the dangers of playing football on skis, a former Aspen Skiing Co. employee told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday.

http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:bsK-mm2fVcsJ:www.chicago-scene.com/ski-assoc-pres-article.htm+Dr.+Robert+Kurtzman&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=13

Dr. Kurtzman was also instrumental in another case of homicide by thallium, some 30+ years later, leading to investigation of former Colo. legislator Nick Theos:

That wondering was given some scientific weight two
years ago when Robinson's body was exhumed and his
hair, toenails and bones showed that he had ingested
enough of the odorless and colorless coyote-killing
poison thallium to kill him. Dr. Robert Kurtzman, a
forensic pathologist who conducted tests on the
exhumed body, listed his death as a homicide.

http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:-a1kwudOa9YJ:lists.envirolink.org/pipermail/ar-news/Week-of-Mon-20030804/004520.html+Dr.+Robert+Kurtzman&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=54

Also:

"Murder will out, though thirty-two years may go by"
http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:H5ce96WC-lMJ:www.dvmen.org/dv-151.htm+Dr.+Robert+Kurtzman&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=8

After receiving Dr. Kurtzman's opinion, Matt Robinson began a five year battle to have his father's body exhumed. Over the objections of his mother, his wishes were finally carried out in the fall of 2001. Forensic tests showed his father's body contained high levels of thallium. Authorities are now attempting to change the cause of death on Jim Robinson's death certificate to homicide.

According to the Denver Post (October 18, 2001, p. 24A), before his death Jim told a number of friends and relatives that his wife, Lois, was having an affair with well-known and former state legislator, Nick Theos. Days before he was poisoned Robinson told a friend he was going to Nick Theos' sheep camp to confront him about the affair.

Theos divorced his first wife several years after Jim's death and married Lois in 1977.

Theos testified before Congress on the need for strong predator controls during the Nixon administration. He was also described in the 1971 book "Slaughter The Animals: Poison The Earth" as having laced a mule carcass with thallium to kill coyotes. The December 26, 2001, edition of the Denver Post (p. 8B) states that taped conversations between Theos and U.S. Fish and Wildlife investigators indicate that he had a stockpile of the poison in 1990-1991 and that Theos describes in detail how to use it on the tapes.

In 1991 Theos was charged with illegally using thallium to kill coyotes on his ranch. He claims he was framed and was acquitted in a trial held in Meeker.

Lois Robinson Theos died in late September of 2001 without answering investigators questions. Nick Theos has been questioned by the police but will neither confirm or deny the affair, and denies having any knowledge of Jim's murder.

Jim Robinson's murder is being investigated by Meeker police chief Si Woodruff and he hopes to have his investigation complete in early 2002 but that investigation stalled, as most seem to do when a woman kills her husband. Law enforcement and prosecutors say they have not being able to devote many resources to a 34-year-old case in which many potential witnesses have died.

[KoKo]

49. OOPS! Very Strange..........eom.

[BadgerKid]

76. Thallium toxicity pervades the body

If you cremate the body, you can't look for samples.

The lethal dose of thallium is approximately 15-20 mg/kg; however, significant toxicity and death may occur with smaller amounts. Thallium poisoning more commonly occurs after oral ingestion. Thallium is rapidly distributed intracellularly throughout all body tissues, with a large volume of distribution estimated to be about 3.6 L/kg.

Thallium follows a 3-phase toxicokinetics: first intravascular distribution, then CNS distribution, and finally elimination. In the first 4 hours following exposure, thallium is rapidly distributed to the blood and to well-perfused organs such as the kidney, liver, and muscle. Over the next 4-48 hours, thallium is distributed into the CNS. The elimination phase begins about 24 hours after ingestion. Thallium is primarily eliminated through excretion into the feces (51.4%) and the urine (26.4%). The high concentrations of thallium found in the kidney (>5.5 times more than other tissues) result from renal filtration with approximately 50% reabsorbed in the kidney tubules. Elimination is slow with an elimination half-life of 3-30 days, varying with the dose and chronicity of the exposure. Because of this prolonged elimination phase, thallium may act as a cumulative poison.

http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic926.htm

[smokey nj]

44. Was it Quincy?

[Jawja]

74. Just how STUPID

do they think the American public IS? :mad:

[Up2Late]

82. Isn't that what they did when they found the Dead girl in Scarborough's

...Florida Congressional Office back in 2000? Bring in a Guest or totally incompetent Coroner who wasn't licensed to work in his County I mean.

She was a Marathon Runner, but "...died of a Heart Attack..." and a blow to the back of the head, IIRC.

[Junkdrawer]

83. Different...Stinky, but different...

In that case, a coroner who had his license revoked in Mississippi turns up in Florida and finds that the intern died from a fall, not a blow to the head. Read all about it here:

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/viewtopic.php?topic=27946&forum=13

[dflprincess]

8. I want to hear the 911 tape

n/t

[Demeter]

9. Couldn't Somebody Get an Injunction?

Or perhaps the pathologist has enough for DNA testing?

No word on the toxicology screening yet==that takes time.

[robinlynne]

10. I wonder if the rest of his family members who died were cremated.

Don't most christians bury rather than cremate? I would imagine that he already would have a huge cemetery plot with buildings and things on it....

[rzemanfl]

16. See my post on the urine avoidance theory above. n/t

[Junkdrawer]

17. He was Methodist and I think they accept cremations now...

...

For all of these reasons, United Methodists do not insist upon burial as the only appropriate means of committing our earthly remains to God, and so are generally open to cremation as a viable alternative. In some places burial or entombment is simply not an option, either because of costs involved or because of a lack of cemetery space. Ultimately, this is a decision that will be in the context of the individuals, families, and cultural norms involved.


While United Methodists take no direct stand against cremation, we do take a very proactive stand to encourage organ donation. Our Social Principles state that

...

http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=1383

But you're right. The real question is how his family usually does things. I'm guessing that the family would say they're trying to prevent grave desecration - I hear a few people were angry with Kenny...

[JVS]

70. cremation is acceptable in most branches of christianity

"In Christian countries, cremation fell out of favour due to the Christian belief in the physical resurrection of the body. Beginning in the Middle Ages, rationalists and classicists began to advocate it. In the Medieval Europe, cremation was practised only on special occasions, such as in situations where there were multitudes of corpses simultaneously present, such as after a battle, after a pestilence or famine, and there was an imminent danger of diseases spreading by the corpses.

The first to approve cremation were the Protestant churches, whose rationale was "God can resurrect a bowl of ashes just as conveniently as He can resurrect a bowl of dust". The development of modern crematoria also helped to make difference on the Pagan rite of burning the corpse on pyre. The first crematoria in the Protestant countries were built in 1870s.

For most of its history, the Roman Catholic Church had a ban in place against cremation, which was lifted in the 1960s. The church still officially prefers the traditional burial of the deceased. Cremation is now permitted as long as it is not done to express a refusal to believe in the resurrection of the body, and the church has become more open to the idea of cremation. <2> Until 1997, Church regulations stipulated that cremation was to take place after the funeral service has taken place. The Church does specify requirements for the reverent disposition of ashes. This means that the ashes are to be buried or entombed in an appropriate container, such as an urn. The Church does not permit the scattering of ashes or keeping them at home.

Some branches of Christianity still oppose cremation. The Eastern Orthodox Church forbids cremation. Exceptions are made for circumstances where it may not be avoided (when civil authority demands it, or epidemics) or if it may be sought for good cause, but when a cremation is willfully chosen for no good cause by the one who is deceased, he or she is not permitted a funeral in the church and may also be permanently excluded from liturgical prayers for the departed. In Orthodoxy, cremation is a rejection of the dogma of the general resurrection, and as such is viewed harshly. Some of the more traditional members of the Catholic church have objected to the practice of allowing cremation."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cremation#Christian

[robinlynne]

73. thank-you all. amazing how you can learn new things here on DU.

[whistle]

11. I knew it, that gets rid of all DNA evidence and any other identification

...the guy has already hidden out deep in the Rockies

[SharonRB]

13. I'm shocked, shocked I tell you

that he's being cremated.

[Dover]

14. Heard on the radio they are going to probably drop the charges against him

which will essentially dismiss the millions he owed as well. Such a perfect situation that it's really hard not to think he's pulled off yet another scam.

And not the news about cremation.....perfect.

[bdamomma]

51. sounds like the perfect plan

we are dealing with the bush crime family you know.

[Kahuna]

15. Hmmm. The plot thickens...

:tinfoilhat:

[B Calm]

19. I smell someone avoiding justice..

[saltpoint]

21. Asses to ashes, distrust to dust.

[Swamp Rat]

23. !

:D

[tridim]

24. Good, I won't have to drive far to piss on his grave

Even if he's alive and well on some island, his grave will still be here.

[robbedvoter]

26. So, Ny Post's suggestion wasn't taken?

[RB TexLa]

34. It worked, just like most days their outlandish and silly cover

caused some people to part with a quarter.

[davekriss]

41. O my gawd!

It's Orson Welles in The Third Man!!!

[lovuian]

29. Cremation will destroy all evidence

if he was killed or if he is hiding out under protection witness program

but his family SHOULD NOT get the ENRON MONEY!!!

[Raine]

30. Something stinks here

and it's not a dead body! x(

[Guaranteed]

31. BUULLLLSHIT. nt

[global1]

35. This Was His Only Way Out.......

After Ken Lay was convicted and sat waiting for sentencing he had to think about his options. Knowing there was no hope for an appeal - here are some of his choices:

Option 1: Go to prison - probably for a long time - at least 2 1/2yrs until * is ready to leave office and maybe get pardoned.

Positives: Only 2 1/2 years before I get pardoned - not a lifetime - I can handle that.

Negatives: What if * leaves office in a negative way before the 2 1/2 years are up; I may not get pardoned and I'll be stuck for lifetime. I lose all the money or at least most of it.

Option 2: Work out a deal. Turn on *CO - provide evidence of *CO's collaboration on secret energy meeting; other wrongdoings I know *CO is involved in.

Positives: Shortened sentence - maybe no sentence at all.

Negatives: If *Co finds out - I'm a dead man anyway and my family is in danger.

Option 3: Flee the country

Positives: Get off without going to jail. Will have the money.

Negatives: Will be hounded for the rest of my life; can trust no one; nowhere will be safe.

Option 4: Commit Suicide

Positives: Get off without going to jail. Convicted but not sentenced - leaves loose ends. Ties up the money; making it harder to get at.

Negatives: I'll be dead - can't enjoy the money. Those scorned Enron folks and Californian's will piss on my grave.

Option 5: Stage my death.

Positives: Best of all worlds. No jail. Ties up the money but I'll have access to most of it. Can live out my life somewhere in the world in the style I've become accoustomed to. Gets *CO off the hook. *CO doesn't have to pardon me. *CO can disavow all knowledge of me. *CO will help me accomplish this and take care of me to boot. No more snooping around by media folks. Solves my problem. Solves *Co's problems.

Negatives: It will be harder to steal more money.

This is just a quick look at the options. I'm sure there might be a few more positives and negatives in each. But to me it looks pretty clear which option I might consider if I were Ken Lay. Could this have been the "Only Way Out"?

Comments would be appreciated.

[Junkdrawer]

38. Here's the thing: Do the same math from BushCo's viewpoint...

and "kill Kenny and make it look like a heart attack" comes in pretty high too - unless Kenny has a "to be opened in the event of my death" file.

But you're right: IF you can swing it, faking the death is the cleanest solution to the Kenny Boy problem. But it is a big IF.

[in_cog_ni_to]

42. IF he's dead, BFEE killed him. n/t

[hang a left]

53. IMO it is a staged death

And...he has help from BFEE. How come no one is screaming for DNA? Rolling earth movers over this one.

[bdamomma]

55. Option 5

this guy was not going to jail.

[mnhtnbb]

60. He was also given another month before sentencing

Originally, he was scheduled to be sentenced Sept 11th. How creepy was that?
Then, in articles about his death, it was mentioned the sentencing date
was moved back to sometime in October. Gee, could that have been to give him more time to "get his affairs in order"? Or cook up a faked death?

But, no matter what, Elvis will probably still be sighted more than Kenny Boy.

[LibDemAlways]

61. Inasmuch as we're talking about the Bush Crime Family,

option number 5 makes the most sense. Kenny Boy and the cabal had plenty of time to work out the details, make the necessary financial arrangements and payoffs to the Colorado officials, take care of pesky problems like a body with the cremation scenario, and whisk Lay off to permanent exile in some exotic locale where the natives will suck up to the very wealthy, very reclusive newcomer.
As I commented on another thread, it really sounds like the plot of a Grisham novel.

[DemonFighterLives]

37. Any old dust will do in bushworld

William Casey will be rolling in his grave- he had to take his pill.

This should be required to be proven. Kenny boy is preparing a place for cheney on the islands.
:argh:

[davekriss]

47. You know, the first thing I thought of when I heard

Ken Lay had died of a heart attack was William Casey's death, a brain tumor iirc, right before he was to testify before Congress.

[DemonFighterLives]

56. I don't remember the official cause

but the timing was special.
Get out of testifying card.
He made moves with poppy when poppy didn't know where he was pertaining to the October Surprise.

[in_cog_ni_to]

40. I KNEW IT! he's not dead. n/t

[Liberal_Dog]

45. Why Am I Not Surprised?

eom

[DemonFighterLives]

46. The Aspens are turning NT

:grr:

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

64. out west, where you vacation

~Colorado. That keeps going thru my head too.

[bdamomma]

48. how convenient

cremation, hmmm.....you can't help to think this is like a episode of the Sopranos.

[Junkdrawer]

52. They couldn't make this more suspicious if they...well, I guess they...

could have tried the old "he fell overboard and his body was never found" trick. But, aside from that....

[global1]

62. Makes Me Think About The Original 'Ocean's Eleven' ......

lets hope they hide the money in Lay's casket before he's creamated.

[orleans]

54. of course they're going to cremate him! they have to! because

they'll be burning the wrong body and they have to do it quickly before the masses start shouting: CHECK THE DNA!!!

[gatorboy]

58. Mesa County Coroner Rob Kurtzman sounds fishy!

He sounds like a pure Repug:

http://www.gaypeopleschronicle.com/stories02/02feb15.htm

Denver—A Rifle, Colo. teenager who says he was attacked by four young men because he is gay filed a federal lawsuit February 7, claiming his civil rights were violated.

<snip>

Rifle police said that a drunken Skyock left a party at the brothers’ house and fell about a half-mile into his walk home. The side of the road where Skyock fell is rocky and he could have been hurt by his fall, police said.

Dr. Rob Kurtzman, a Grand Junction forensic pathologist, agreed that Skyock’s injuries were consistent with a fall.

But Arapahoe County Coroner Michael Dobersen, who reviewed the case, said the injuries were more consistent with an assault. He said Skyock couldn’t have received the injuries from a fall.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.apologeticsindex.org/news/an200803.html

Aug. 3, 2000 - GRAND JUNCTION - The death of Billy Ray Reed, the infant who died recently after being denied medical care on religious grounds, could likely have been prevented with treatment, but will not be classified a homicide.

Mesa County Coroner Dr. Rob Kurtzman has determined Billy Ray died on July 9 from respiratory problems caused by a common birth defect of the heart that is rarely fatal if treated.

But because he can't determine for certain how noticeably severe the 3-day-old infant's symptoms were before he died and can't say for sure that medical intervention would have saved him, Kurtzman has classified the manner of Billy Ray's death as ''undetermined.''

''I favor homicide (as the classification), but I don't feel as if I am able to get to that threshold,'' Kurtzman said. ''To call this a homicide, I have to be sure a lifethreatening condition was recognized.'' The undetermined classification does not mean that Billy Ray's parents, Billy and Barbara Reed of Clifton, won't be prosecuted for following the anti-medical-care beliefs of the General Assembly Church of the First Born and not seeking medical help for their baby.

[Junkdrawer]

69. Did you see post #7. Someone went out of their way to call the guy in...

and he seems to have a history of finding "nothing to see here, move along" in high profile cases.

:tinfoilhat:

[DemonFighterLives]

72. Disgusting- he does whatever is best for the flock

:argh:

[Rex]

63. Kinda like how the WTC site was cleaned up chop chop so no one

could call it a crime and investigate.

"It is fall now … Out West, where you vacation, the aspens will already be turning. They turn in clusters, because their roots connect them. Come back to work—and life." - Libby

So much we will never know.

[ladjf]

65. Well, there won't be any skeletons in his closet now.

[Vidar]

66. Off to party with BinLaben at the safehouse.

[niyad]

67. they were RENTING? don't they still have 2 or 3 houses, including one

in aspen? booooohoooo, they sold 2, I think.

[upi402]

68. Call up the Nazi hunters...

:hide:

[otokogi]

75. SMART MOVE

but a hellava 'tell'

[Junkdrawer]

78. .

[Zhade]

79. "Evidence To Be Destroyed" is a better headline.

It's more honest.

[Up2Late]

81. A.P.B. Be on the look out for this man!

He goes by the name Kennieboy

[Swamp Rat]

86. ALIVE UNTIL PROVEN DEAD!!!

[Junkdrawer]

87. Perhaps that would explain Ken's enigmatic last words to the paramedics...

"I knew I shouldn't have entered that look-alike contest."....

[jmowreader]

88. I think he's dead

...and I think Bushco killed him.

Far too many of George Bush's skeletons are in Kenneth Lay's closet. This bears repeating: the most dangerous-to-George-Bush man in America who's not on George Bush's payroll is Kenneth Lay. Or was, anyway.

The shit is starting to roll downhill at an increasing rate for Shrub. We know the WMD thing he used to attack Iraq was a lie. We know Bush was instrumental in setting up Valerie Plame. We know he has no interest in finding Osama and 9/11 is potentially provable as an inside job. We know Bushanomics doesn't work, that Bush's foreign policy is all war all the time, and that his domestic policy is nonexistent. Oh, and let's not forget the Anthrax Terrorist who, somehow, only managed to attack people critical of Bush.

What made Kenneth Lay so dangerous to Bush that he had to be killed is the fact that he was somewhere between conviction and sentencing for crimes that could have sent him to jail for life. Life in prison isn't something that appeals to most of us, especially those among us who enjoy living in luxury as Kenneth Lay did. I have been told that you can negotiate your way into shorter prison sentences by giving up information to prosecutors, and about the only thing he's got left is Bush.

Killing Lay does two things: it eliminates this threat, and it sends an unambigious message to the rest of Bush's inner circle--fuck with me and you're dead.

Kenneth Lay is dead. Cremating him permanently eliminates the possibility of exhumation for forensics.