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[GermanStar]

Phoenix's chief financial officer was the consummate professional, a straight-laced and quiet man who was a genius with numbers.

That's why the bizarre manner in which Kevin Keogh died Wednesday - apparently by climbing out the window of his moving Mercedes-Benz on a crowded Scottsdale street - left many not only grieving, but shaking their heads in disbelief.

Keogh's last moments were so completely uncharacteristic of his day-to-day persona that only an equally strange explanation seemed to bring some kind of sense to his death. advertisement

City officials say they believe that their finance director was suffering from brain damage caused by a rare parasite that he picked up while traveling in Mexico a few years ago. The damage impairs a person's social decision-making abilities.

The city was not aware of Keogh's illness until Wednesday, when Keogh's wife, Karlene, informed them that the parasite had affected his brain and other parts of his body.

The family said it believes the accident "is related to the impacts of this disease on his central nervous system," City Manager Frank Fairbanks said.

Scottsdale police had not determined late Thursday whether Keogh's death was accidental or intentional. But police said Keogh, 55, climbed out the driver's window of his Mercedes-Benz and stood atop the moving vehicle, arms outstretched.

Witnesses told police that Keogh then jumped from the roof, said Scottsdale police spokesman Detective Sam Bailey. Keogh rolled and hit a tree before landing on the asphalt on Camelback Road near 68th Street. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police estimate his vehicle was going about 50 mph along Camelback before it crashed into a car stopped at a street light at 68th Street. The driver was not hurt. It's likely Keogh put his vehicle on cruise control before climbing out.