Investigators in Washington, D.C. say their investigation into the death of Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s former aide is focusing on the headlights of her 2008 BMW X5.
Ashley Turton died January 10 after a fire engulfed her car.
Turton was at the a lobbyist for Progressive Energy and wife a senior aide to President Barack Obama.
WTOP radio in Washington, D.C. is reporting that sources have told them that Turton’s high-intensity headlights of the SUV may have started the fire.
“Investigators believe the radiator in Turton’s BMW was punctured when it rolled into a workbench. The halogen headlights, which emit a bluish light and illuminate the road better than conventional headlights, stayed on after the radiator was punctured,” according to WTOP. “Heat from the headlights, in proximity to the radiator’s antifreeze, either caused of exacerbated the initial fire, which ignited the garage.”
Two engineers from BMW have joined the investigation by the Metropolitan Police
Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Although an autopsy is still pending, authorities believe Turton was somehow stricken and was unconscious before the fire started, WTOP reported.
