Skilling: I considered suicide, ate worms, convicted myself

If you didn't see Jeff Skilling's interview with The Wall Street Journal on Saturday, here's what you missed: He thought about killing himself, became resolved to live when federal prosecutors went after him, thinks he helped convict himself and maintains he's not guilty. "I've come to the conclusion that life is better than the alternative, which was not a conclusion that was real clear to me for a period of time," Skilling told the Journal.

The former Enron CEO said the company's collapse in late 2001 sent him into a deep, two-year depression during which he holed himself up in his mansion and thought about suicide. But it was his 2004 indictment on charges of conspiracy, fraud and insider trading that served as the pick-me-up he needed: "That's when I started climbing back," he said. But things didn't go well during the trial earlier this year, when Skilling said he told federal prosecutors too much, which we suppose is his explanation for why he was convicted of most of the charges against him last month. "I was the best source of information that the government had," Skilling said. (In his typically charming way, he called federal authorities the "Gestapo.")

Skilling also told one bizarre personal anecdote: Before his and ex-Enron Chairman Ken Lay's trial began, Skilling spent two weeks in the Utah wilderness:

To prepare for the rigors of the trial, Mr. Skilling said he wandered through the Utah wilderness for two weeks, hiking up to 30 miles a day, as part of a survival-training program. He slept on the ground, had no food for the first three days and then dined largely on whatever he could find, including insects. (He recommends caterpillars and grub worms, which "are basically pure fat.")

Ewwww. The closest Houstonist has come to that is walking to the end of our block popping gummi worms. Even though Skilling said he expects to face years in prison, he's looking on the bright side: "At some point, people will ask what really happened (at Enron)," he said. "It would be good if they had someone there who could tell them." Does that mean we can expect a 120-year-old Skilling still blaming the collapse on Andy Fastow? And, for that matter, The Wall Street Journal, which the defense in the trial said was part of the conspiracy to destroy Enron? The Chron's Loren Steffy thinks the whole thing is classic Skilling BS.

(You can read the original interview from the Journal online if you're a subscriber.)