Conspiracy theories arise after Scalia's death
Justice Antonin Scalia died of natural causes at the age of 79 during a stay at a Texas ranch, according to the justice of the peace who pronounced him dead.
But there was no autopsy, and the justice of the peace didn’t see the body, leading some to question those procedures, the Washington Post and New York magazine report. Several conspiracy theories are being advanced online.
“My gut tells me there is something fishy going on in Texas,” William Ritchie, former head of Washington, D.C., criminal investigations, wrote in a Facebook post. Scalia could have been injected with a substance to simulate a heart attack, he wrote. Or Scalia could have been suffocated or poisoned.
Texas law allowed Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara to make a determination regarding Scalia’s death from afar. She said she based her determination on the judgment of law enforcement officials, who saw no signs of foul play, and a discussion with Scalia’s doctor.
Scalia’s doctor told Guevara the justice had a history of heart trouble and high blood pressure, the Associated Press reports. He was considered too weak for surgery to repair a shoulder injury. Guevara also said Scalia told some people at the ranch that he wasn’t feeling well.
Scalia was at the ranch for a weekend of hunting and a private party, the Los Angeles Times reports. Scalia joined other guests on a quail hunt, though he did not hunt himself. The justice was at the ranch at the invitation of John Poindexter, a Texas millionaire businessman, who said a mutual friend had suggested Scalia join the party.
Poindexter said Scalia was “very congenial” and in good spirits before going to his room at about 9 p.m. “He stood up and said he was tired, he had had a long week and he would see us in the morning,” Poindexter told the Los Angeles Times.
