Investigators will reopen the probe into the death of Hunter S. Thompson, which was ruled a suicide 20 years ago.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation has announced that it is to reexamine the official verdict after the gonzo journalist’s death in 2005, following a request by his widow, Anita.
Thompson was found by his son, Juan, at home in Woody Creek, near Aspen, in February 2005 with what was ruled a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 67.
The author and writer was known as the father of gonzo journalism: He immersed himself in extreme subcultures and environments to produce a brand of chaotic, drug-fueled, first-person reportage.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is now launching the review of the original Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office investigation.
Interviewed soon after his death, she said she heard the “click” of his gun in a phone call moments before his death. Two years later, she claimed his death had been “a big mistake” and said they had planned out their life together.
The CBI said the probe was being carried out to provide what it called an “independent perspective.”
“We understand the profound impact Hunter S. Thompson had on this community and beyond,” Sheriff Michael Buglione said. “By bringing in an outside agency for a fresh look, we hope to provide a definitive and transparent review that may offer peace of mind to his family and the public.”
No timeframe was given for how long the review is expected to take, and it’s unclear what prompted it at this precise moment.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Gonzo Foundation, which his wife started, for comment.
Reports after Thompson’s death revealed that Anita, whom he had married two years earlier, had been on the phone with him in the minutes before his death.
Just before she hung up the call, she heard the click of his revolver and mistook it for the rattle of his typewriter.
In an interview with Aspen Daily News in 2005, she said, “I was on the phone with him, he set the receiver down and he did it—I heard the clicking of the gun.”
In 2007, Anita attended the signing of her book detailing their lives together, The Gonzo Way. During the event, she was asked why Thompson did it.
“I had no idea he was planning it,” she said, according to The Hill. “He promised me 10 years. We were trying to have a child. He cheated me… It was too soon. I believe it was a big mistake.”
Thompson’s best-known work as an author, 1971’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, was later made into a motion picture starring Johnny Depp.
It was Depp who paid for the cannon with which the writer’s ashes were fired into the sky at Woody Creek in a star-studded memorial ceremony six months after his death.
Thompson was famous for the risks he took, both personally and as a writer. For his 1967 book Hell’s Angels, he embedded with the notorious biker gang over many months, painting a picture of how they lived from the inside.
If you or a loved one are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing or texting 988.
