The former Chairman and CEO of Enron Corporation, Ken Lay, died early this morning of  a massive heart attack, reports the Associated Press. He was on vacation in Colorado with his wife Linda.

The Pitkin, Colo., Sheriff’s Department was called to his holiday home in Old Snowmass, Colo., shortly after 1 a.m. He was taken to the local hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after 3 a.m.

The death would obviously be a tragedy for any family but it will allow his family and other defenders to say that the prosecutors and the stress of the trial and impending lengthy jail sentence contributed, if they did not cause, his death.

Death happens when it happens so Lay’s family will now have to rely on the civil trial where the government wants to recover $43.5 million in allegedly ill-gotten gains from the Enron fraud, to vindicate their man. Any criminal appeal and sentencing is now moot.

At one time Lay was a contributor to the Republican Party and Bush campaigns but his one-time political friends will probably be conspicuous in by their absence. And whatever Lay’s sins, he will have to seek vindication elsewhere.