"Executives who abuse their positions as leaders of major corporations to organize criminal activity must be held accountable for their actions," wrote Baer, the Assistant Attorney General.
McClendon skipped the Beacon Club dinner and issued a response that evening. He called the single conspiracy count against him "wrong and unprecedented." He added, "I will fight to prove my innocence and to clear my name."
He was still working close to midnight, a person familiar with the matter said.
McClendon's movements the next morning could not be confirmed. Three people who received emails from him said the messages revealed nothing amiss.
"He was unfazed," said one recipient, Franco Hamdan of EIM Capital, who'd attended the Beacon Club dinner the night before as the business partner of former Mexican President Fox. "He was determined and well on his way to make a global shale revolution in Australia, Mexico and Argentina."
Shortly after 9 a.m., McClendon drove his Chevy Tahoe north along Midwest Boulevard, a two-lane country road. He likely knew the route well: It is a scenic route from AEP's offices to McClendon's tree farm and Pops, a soda-and-burger joint he opened beside a futuristic gas station on Route 66.
"He loved navigating back roads," son Will McClendon said at the funeral. "He was definitely not a Google Maps kind of guy."
McClendon was also known for driving fast and without a seat belt.
Beneath a bridge for Interstate 44, Midwest Boulevard narrows slightly. Police have said McClendon was speeding as he approached the bridge, well in excess of the 50 mph limit. His SUV crossed the yellow dividing line and directly hit the western bridge support. Dispatchers took the first in a series of emergency calls at 9:12 a.m.
"It looks like a Tahoe and it looks pretty rough..."