When news concerning Kenneth Lay's death hit the internet conspiracy theories started to flow freely across the blogosphere. It started with Wikipedians, who added details about his death to his online biography shortly after news outlets began reporting it (Washington Post link); the several edits which were made all through the day prompted confusion and passionate contestations.
Blogs shortly followed the conspiracist trend with lots of various posts questioning both the news and diagnosis. 'Dvorak' posted dubious comments ( 'this is just too convenient' ) while Metafilter's readers immediately asked for an autopsy. "I wanna see the body... just to be sure, y'know?" said one, as another pondered: "Wonder where he's off to now that he's joined the Witness Relocation Program?".
By the evening satirical blogs had flourished in the blogosphere, such as "Ken Lay Lives!!!" - the self-described 'blog of Ken Lay living large in exile'. Some decided to be more poetic: Ross M. Levine, blogger for the Huffington Post, wrote Lay a rhyming "eulogy".
In the end, conspiracy theories have been proved wrong today by the autopsy's results. According to the Associated Press, "Dr. Robert Kurtzman, Mesa County Coroner, said his autopsy showed Lay died of heart disease while on vacation in Aspen, Colo."
Meanwhile, the New York Times states that Lay's death may have spared his survivors financial ruin "Mr. Lay's death effectively voids the guilty verdict against him, temporarily thwarting the federal government's efforts to seize his remaining real estate and financial assets, legal experts say."
