Posted on 03/02/2005 3:22:23 AM PST by Jet Jaguar
ASPEN, Colo. (AP) - Hunter S. Thompson's body was found in a chair in the kitchen in front of his typewriter with the word "counselor" typed in the center of the page, according to sheriff's reports.
The word was typed on stationery from the Fourth Amendment Foundation, which was started to defend victims of unwarranted search and seizure, according to reports released Tuesday.
It was not immediately known what, if any, significance the word had to the founder of "gonzo" journalism or to his family.
Juan Thompson found his father dead Feb. 20 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. After reporting the death, Juan Thompson walked outside the Woody Creek home and fired three shotgun blasts into the air.
"Juan told me he had shot a shotgun into the air to mark the passing of his father," Pitkin County Deputy Sheriff John Armstrong said in his report.
Juan Thompson was allowed to go into the kitchen alone to drape a golden orange scarf over his father's shoulders, according to Armstrong. Jennifer Winkel Thompson, Juan Thompson's wife, said the family had purchased the silk scarf in Florence, Italy, and gave it to Hunter Thompson the night before.
The couple and their 6-year-old son were in the house when Thompson, 67, took a handgun, put it to his mouth and fired.
A soft-sided gun case was found at Thompson's feet along with a spent shell casing, according to reports.
The family has canceled plans for a public gathering in favor of a private service. A public event will be held at a later date. Plans also are in the works to blast Thompson's ashes from a cannon, which was one of the author's wishes.
AP-ES-03-02-05 0603EST
Perhaps it's time to determine if this was really a self inflicted gunshot?
With every bit of news that comes out about this situation, the more self-absorbed this fool shows himself to be. It's obvious that he tried very hard to make his suicide appear archetypal. How amazingly pompous and overly self-entralled. In the end, he's just like all the other weaklings who blew out their brains because they just didn't have the fortitude to face the realities of life and couldn't handle that they weren't the center of the universe.
Good riddance to a journalistic and, indeed a human, waste.
Sounds like a job for CSI... Is the residue on Juan's hands from shotgun powder, or from handgun ammo, or both...
Hunter S. Thompson's body was found in a chair in the kitchen in front of his typewriter...Yeah, but his head was on the other side of the room.
He shoulda just thrown a live tape player into the bathtub. Woulda been easier to clean.
Well, none of us knows for sure if this was murder or suicide, but a few questions by law enforcement do seem appropriate. Initially, suicide seemed so believable; it seemed exactly like what we'd expect from this man. And maybe I'm just an odd duck, but had my father killed himself with a pistol the first thing I'd have done would not have been go outside and pop off three blasts from my shotgun. It just seems way too convenient to explain powder residue on Juan's hands.
Would have been better if he typed:
"Bang"
Reminds me of Heathers where whats-his-name underlines the word "Eskimo" in Moby Dick.
Or: "This might sting a little bit"
Sounds like he hated the scarf.
My favorite suicide note (not that I collect them) was from a college professor who blew his brains out with a shotgun. In his pocket they found a slip of paper that read, "Messy, isnt it?"
The man was a full blown alcoholic. Why do we debate the actions of an alcoholic when it is virtually impossible (as well of a waste of time) to try and interpret it? The man was throwing the ultimate temper tantrum and like a child the message was "LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME." The end of a tragic and ultimately self destructive life.
Initial autopsy report showed that Thompson had dandruff.
Found his head & shoulders in the other side of the room.
Or, "Sorry about the mess."
Since thought moves at a pretty high speed I wonder if people......when the bullet is moving up the barrel....have time to think..."OH shit. Bad idea"
At least he kept his dignity, unlike all us rubes.
/sarcasm
well more dignified then hanging yourself I suppose.....your spincter does not release automatically. But then, if you are dead.....who cares
Sounds like they intentionally destroyed evidence as well. I knew that when the police arrived they found the family sitting around the body having a cocktail. I didn't realise they had garbed the corpse up into some macabre mannequin.
I just wonder what HST's BAC was at the time of his death. And I wonder what the word "Counselor" meant... I suppose it meant call his lawyer. I wonder if there had been disagreements in the family, whether there was any hanky-panky between the son and the trophy wife, and what he and the wife had been discussing, since she said "he knew I was opposed to it."
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