Indianapolis software executive commits suicide

INDIANAPOLIS -- Software executive Michael K. Campbell, who helped turn Powerway Inc. into one of the most prominent computer companies in Indiana, committed suicide at his home.\nInvestigators said Wednesday that Campbell died from carbon monoxide poisoning after sitting in his running truck with the windows opened and the garage door closed Monday night.\n"The garage door was locked from the inside. The truck windows were rolled down, and the electrical system had shut down because it had been running for so long," said Detective Scott Scheid of the Marion County sheriff's department.\nInside the house, police officers found Campbell's will and life insurance policy laid out in plain view in the office, Scheid said.\nCampbell, 50, was chairman and chief executive officer during a period of fast growth for the company, which last year sold a major stake in the business to automaker Daimler Chrysler AG. Powerway's board of directors on Tuesday appointed longtime director Thomas Hiatt the interim CEO until a successor is named.\n"The company is in very strong condition," Hiatt said. "The management team that Mike surrounded himself with is strong."\nCampbell was found at his northeastside apartment Monday night by a Marion County sheriff's deputy. Authorities were alerted after Campbell did not come to work earlier Monday or answer the phone at his home.\nPowerway senior executives informed employees through electronic mail about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.\n"I believe the first reaction was shock, and then it kind of gave way to sadness, just profound sadness," company spokeswoman Ellen Laden said. "Mike was beloved. He seemed to know everyone's name. He was not the kind of CEO who sat in his office."\nPowerway currently is engaged in three major programs, rolling out software technology for Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. and preparing for the May 12 release of its upgraded Powerway.com software.\nThe company employs about 170 in Indianapolis and 35 more in Detroit, London and Mexico City.\nCampbell, a native of Evansville and graduate of the University of Southern Indiana, took a job with the public accounting firm Coopers & Lybrand before joining computerized machine tool maker Hurco Cos. Inc. of Indianapolis.\nHe was recruited as a Powerway director in 1991 and became chairman and CEO in 1993.