The woman found dead inside a Capitol Hill rowhouse garage early this morning has now been identified as Ashley Turton, the wife of White House deputy director of legislative affairs Dan Turton. Roll Call reports that Turton, who had been working as a lobbyist for North Carolina utility conglomerate Progress Energy, was identified as the deceased earlier this morning. Turton had also previously served as an aide to Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-MO) and as Rep. Rosa DeLauro's (D-CT) chief of staff. As we noted in today's Morning Roundup, D.C. Fire and EMS had responded to the vehicle fire, which broke out on the 800 block of A Street SE around 5 a.m. this morning, and later found a body inside.
Police and fire officials are still working to determine the cause of the crash:
“This could be just a tragic freak accident,” Breul said. “And that’s why we’re crossing our i’s and dotting our t’s because it is a little freaky, and we need to figure out why. But there is no indication now that there was any crime.”
D.C. homicide detectives also responded to the scene this morning. The fire caused significant damage to both the vehicle and the garage, as smoke is apparent around the frame of the structure.
Neighbors told Politico reporters Josh Gerstein and John Bresnahan that Turton was "heading to airport for an early flight." Politico also notes that Turton was involved in discussions on the Hill regarding Progress' recent $13.7 billion merger with Duke Energy which would form the country's largest utility company.
Source http://dcist.com/2011/01/former_hill_staffer_killed_in_capit.php
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