Marcus Schrenker Says Claim He Tried to Fake Death Is Absurd

April 21, 2009 — -- Marcus Schrenker, a disgraced money manager accused of trying to fake his own death in a plane crash, said those allegations are "absurd."

Schrenker told "GMA" that there would be too much planning involved in faking his own death.

"Let's step back and think about what someone would have to do if they wanted to fake their own death," Schrenker said in a jailhouse telephone interview with "Good Morning America's" Chris Cuomo. "They would have to establish a new identity. They would have to have a well-funded bank account, a place wehre they would live. And I did nothing like that."

Schrenker, 38, said that he'd survived an actual accident Jan. 11 by parachuting to safety after his plane hit turbulence and the oxygen system began to fail.

"I ran into something called CAT -- clear air turbulence. Within the third time running into that turbulence, the aircraft explosively decompressed. The cockpit went from a temperature of 75 degrees to negative 33. And to make matters worse, the supplemental oxygen failed. It was one of the most frightening things I've ever been through in my life," Schrenker said.

Authorities said Schrenker hatched an elaborate plot to stage his own death after he was accused of bilking hundreds of thousands of dollars from his clients. He also recently learned his wife, who learned he was cheating on her, filed for divorce.

Schrenker was arrested two days after the apparent crash at a Tallahassee campground. Officals said the former stunt pilot put his aircraft on autopilot and jumped out over Alabama. After he landed, they said, he drove off on a motorcycle he had stashed nearby.

The plane crashed about 200 miles away in Florida, where he is being held on charges connected to the crash.

Since Schrenker has been under arrest, an Indiana judge handed down an order in March that Schrenker must pay $304,000 in restitution to bilked investors and $280,000 in state fines for violating state insurance rules.