WP: sheriff says Hunter Thompson was IN HIS KITCHEN when

[diamond14]

he shot himself....ODD location....wonder what REALLY happened here...hunter was probably in the kitchen trying to get a DRINK...hope there's an autopsy done to make certain he wasn't "suicided"....what was his wife doing 'at a gym' at about 9:30 PM?....and who goes to a gym at the height of SKI SEASON in Aspen Colorado?


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40737-2005Feb20.html

-snips-

Pitkin County, Colo., Sheriff Bob Braudis said in a brief telephone interview that Thompson was alone in his kitchen of his Woody Creek home when he shot himself with a handgun. His wife was at a gym, Braudis said.

The sheriff said Thompson had seemed "still on top of his game."

[Padraig18]

1. What makes the location 'odd'?

:wtf:

[jpgray]

2. Well, he did put it in all caps (nt)

[sasquatch]

3. Most people kill themselves in bedrooms or bathrooms I guess?

:shrug:

[diamond14]

4. or OUTSIDE....

:nuke:

[Padraig18]

6. Cite evidence proving that.

I can think if at least 6 suicides among people I've known, and no 2 of the 6 occured in the same room/location.

[idiosyncratic]

35. I knew someone who shot himself outside of a local Mortuary

He probably thought that would be the most convenient place . . .

[MikeG]

8. Because his brains are now all over where his relatives will eat.

How's that?

(Exactly the answer he would give)

[Padraig18]

12. Nonsensical. n/t

[MikeG]

13. Like I said.

[sybylla]

19. You have a point.

If Thompson wanted to end his pain, why would he do it at the expense of his family. If you wanted to off yourself, doing it in a place where your family has to clean you off of their living space isn't very considerate. I've had personal experience with this. You can take it from me, neither the police nor the coroner have a housekeeping detail. The family gets to scrub the walls, the ceiling, the floor and dispose of the pieces of bone scattered about that they will find over the next few days, maybe months.

Given the circumstances of Thompson's life and current situation immediately before his death, his shooting himself in the kitchen was either vengeful (on his family), a totally selfish act in which he didn't think of the consequences, a totally ignorant act in which he didn't understand the consequences (thanks to the "cartoon" physics of television and movies), or somewhat suspect.

[MikeG]

21. I thought it was lucid.

[dweller]

39. Rent the movie 'Curdled'

i think that's the name, for a take on the cleanup.


dp

[alfredo]

24. There are contractors who clean up after suicides and murders.

They treat it as a Hazmat site. I had a friend who used to do that type of work. She was paid well.

When they get done, there is no sign of the gore.

[Padraig18]

26. I worked for one for a while--- Servicemaster@

It pays well.

[alfredo]

30. I had my own janitorial service, but

I drew the line at that type of cleaning.

The kitchen and the bathroom are good choices for suicide because of all the tile and surfaces made to be cleaned. If he wanted to make a real mess, do it on the couch or bed.

[sybylla]

28. That's provided the family can afford it.

My relatives weren't so lucky, except that the suicide victim shot himself in a dirt-floor shed on top of a plastic sheet. Kind of considerate in a sick sort of way.

Cleaning aside, the fact remains that his wife and perhaps others, will never be able to walk into that kitchen again without imagining HST splattered all over.

I'm not saying I believe in a conspiracy. I'm just saying that, at the very least, it says something about his state of mind at the time. And I think it was a very unfortunate choice.

[Padraig18]

52. Actually, most homeowner's insurance policies cover the cost.

They cover the cost of cleaning up after a suicide, just like they do after a fire, e.g. .

[Mandate My Ass]

38. He never did anything vengeful to you did he?

Because your moral indignation is in extremely poor taste and more tellingly unflattering to your own character, or lack thereof, than HST's when taking into consideration you know nothing of the particular circumstances of this tragedy.

[all.of.me]

49. when people are suicidal,

they don't think about the consequences for those left behind. they are totally self-absorbed at that moment, now are they thinking clearly.

but i am suspicious about this alleged suicide anyway. i'm not convinced he did it.

[Warpy]

17. Right, if he didn't keep the booze in the kitchen, he kept the mixers

there, and I'm willing to bet he got loaded before he killed himself.

I don't find the late fitness class odd, either. Lots of gyms run evening fitness classes, especially aerobics and other organized classes for people who work during the day.

What does jump out at me is that he was allowed to remain in undertreated pain. This is criminal.

Untreated pain KILLS.

[tx_dem41]

5. Please be careful not to drag HT thru the mud

of yet another conspiracy theory.

[RBHam]

10. IRONIC : Hunter S Thompson suspected 9-11 LIHOP

HST interview with Aussie journalist...
http://www.indybay.org/uploads/hunter_thompson_aug29_2002.mp3

HST Interview
BY ADAM BULGER
CULTURE | 3.9.2004

http://www.freezerbox.com/archive/article.asp?id=287

This interview took place in early March 2003, shortly after the publication of Kingdom of Fear.

excerpt:
Q.Right, but I mean, there were those assholes who flew the plane into the World Trade Center.

A.Who were they indeed? Now, do you believe that, that a bunch of Arabs jumped up from some kind of a campfire and fucking mountains over there and snuck into this country and hijacked those planes and did that by themselves?

Q.Well what are you proposing? I mean I think they were funded years ago by the CIA and it was a blowback, but, I don't think there was any direct... Are you saying there might be some other American agency or some international agency that directly supported them in that?

A.Uhh, this is tricky territory, but yeah, that's what I'm getting at.

Q.Really.

A.I can't sit here and jerk up documents like Joe McCarthy, there's no proof of that. But I'm sure there is. And the idea that we're getting the whole story, uh, through the uh, the media, or from the president, is absurd on it's face because you never do, for one thing. And there's so many unanswered questions and loose ends and uh, lets see, well, lies! Yeah, about what happened. That they, in the run-up to that day, the years, I wrote a column about it right after it happened.

HST's Last Book
KINGDOM OF FEAR
http://www.salon.com/books/review/2003/03/31/thompson /

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684873230/002-8...

[Octafish]

45. BARTCOP: HST thought BandarandBushwerelikethis.

Subject: "apparent suicide" of Hunter S. Thompson

BART!
 
Another outspoken (VERY OUTSPOKEN) opponent of the B.F.E.E. is discovered dead from a gunshot wound labeled "an apparent suicide..."
 
Color me a conspiracy nut, but I just found it a LITTLE bit troubling to discover that his neighbor is PRINCE BANDAR! (Or "Bandar Bush" to the Bush family!)

Here's an excerpt from a Bankrate.com interview with Hunter S. Thompson last fall.

Bankrate: You've been pretty outspoken in your dislike of our current commander in chief.
 
Hunter S. Thompson: I was candid about Nixon, too.
 
Bankrate: Yet you say Nixon pales in comparison to George W. Bush.
 
Hunter S. Thompson: Oh, yeah, he looks almost like a liberal. You look at the Clean Air Act and several others back then. Nixon was a crook but at least he operated off of an individual base. But this yoyo, this stupid little … It's cheap opera. Take a look at your pocket. Take a look around you. It's a hold-up, a looting of the national treasury, and that's what they're doing. The combined spending of the Kerry campaign is far less than $5 million for advertising. Five million dollars, that's like a goddamned Susan Anthony dollar compared to $60 billion that is just routine going out to Halliburton. We might lose if we went to war with Halliburton.
 
Bankrate: You are neighbors with Prince Bandar, the Saudi ambassador and longtime Bush family friend featured in Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11."

Hunter S. Thompson: I can see him from my front porch. He's been a pretty good neighbor; that counts for a lot out here. He will shoot some skeet now and then. I don't want to say anything really ugly about him. He's an enlightened plutocrat, I guess you call it. Michael Moore is dead right on that, and it's even worse than you think. Bandar. All kinds of roads cross out here. Networks and wires.

Bankrate: The Bush Administration seems to have lit your fuse. Are you angry again?
 
Hunter S. Thompson: Very angry. I'm very angry. That's why I guess I have to write this (campaign) piece for Rolling Stone. This is the darkest hour that I have seen in my long experience as an American. This is evil.

SOURCE:

http://www.bartcop.com/

[Jacobin]

7. What's the difference?

He was sick and in a lot of pain from orthopedic surgery. Give the guy a break. He wanted to check out and he did. He didn't want to die in a hospital with tubes sticking out of him.

I'm glad he was here and I was able to read what he wrote. He was a national treasure. I'll miss him.

I'd love to be able to read what he would write about folks making up murder theories about his suicide. I'm sure they would be priceless!

[diamond14]

11. The sheriff said Thompson had seemed "still on top of his game."

that's a quote from the Washington Post article....Hunter and the Sheriff were FRIENDS, so the Sheriff would KNOW....

[Jacobin]

15. "Thompson said not one to die in hospital"

ROBERT WELLER

Associated Press

ASPEN, Colo. - While Hunter S. Thompson's suicide shocked many in his out-of-the-way neighborhood, one of his closest friends said Monday the writer had been in a lot of pain after a broken leg and hip surgery.

"I wasn't surprised," said George Stranahan, a former owner of the Woody Creek Tavern, one of Thompson's favorite hangouts. "I never expected Hunter to die in a hospital bed with tubes coming out of him."

(snip)

Neighbors in Thompson's Woody Creek neighborhood said a broken leg had kept him from getting out as often as in the past, including to the tavern.

(snip)

Mike Cleverly, a neighbor and longtime friend, spent Friday night watching a basketball game on TV with Thompson. He said Thompson was clearly hobbled by the broken leg. "Medically speaking, he's had a rotten year," he said.

http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/nation/10956503.htm


Ya know, normally, I can ignore bullshit threads about whacked out theories with NO evidence to back them up except bullshit conjecture.

I happen to be really upset about losing Hunter Thompson. I would hope we can all let him rest in peace. He decided to check out. Deal with it. I happens thousands of times a day.

RIP Hunter

[KoKo]

43. A broken leg and hip surgery wouldn't have "tied Thompson down."

not saying he didn't "off himself" but for a guy like Thompson that just is minor. If you told me he had terminal cancer or Parkinsons or something that would have put him off his public persona...then i might understand "suicidal thoughts" from him. But...please...broken legs and hip surgery is NOT a big deal today in America. He was 67 not 97 and he had access to great health care...This is a non-issue to me. It's something else going on.. Maybe they found something terminal and he didn't want to say.

I also think the had more "class" than to off himself in his kitchen but he was a flamboyant guy...so who knows.

I agree that it's very strange and I don't think it's "tinfoil" to be curious about it. :shrug:

[sybylla]

25. I have to differ with you.

What's the difference? If he merely wanted to check out, why do it in the kitchen? The family eats there. They will have to clean him off the floor, walls, ceiling and everything else in the kitchen or pay some cleaning company big bucks to do it for them. Why ruin the good memories the home might provide for his surviving loved ones? His wife will never be able to walk into that kitchen without imagining HST lying there dead. Surely his broken leg and hip didn't keep him from going outside? He was a writer. He could have left a note and found a location that would have been much easier for his family to cope with.

I think there is a difference. Whether it speaks of some nefarious motive, that's for the police to decide.

[Jacobin]

33. I would think that would be the last thing on his mind at that time

I've unfortunately known five people who have killed themselves. Only one seemed to take pains to make it less unpleasant for the survivors.


Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in this country and as you get older from middle age, the rate goes up.

Sometimes people check out.

[blackcatpgh]

41. the kitchen

hunter did a lot of his work in the kitchen at owl farm. if i remember correctly, it was his base of operations for his campaign for sheriff of aspen, as well as where most of his in-house interviews took place. it was his office, if you will.

[Rick Myers]

9. Strange coincidence

Sheriff Bob Braudis is a key figure in HST's last commentary for the ESPN website.

I am SO VERY SAD...

All my heroes kill themselves...

[Kolesar]

14. Abbie Hoffman comes to mind

[Rick Myers]

18. And Spaulding Grey...

I am REALLY in a funk over this one...

[DemBones DemBones]

16. Suicide is never easy to understand but I think there will surely be an

autopsy done. I'm not familiar with Colorado law regarding this but would be surprised if autopsy was not required by law.

As for his wife being at the gym during ski season in Aspen, I'll bet a lot of people in Aspen go to the gym during ski season, either because they want other types of exercise or because they don't ski. I spent a large part of my life living near the water (both Atlantic and Pacific oceans, South China Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes) but I much prefer to swim in a pool.

[two gun sid]

20. HST used his kitchen as his office.

He did all his work there and spent most of his time there. Not really that odd that he killed himself in the kitchen. Oh, and the Sheriff was one of his best friends.

[gizmo1979]

22. he was probably trying to open

his beer can with his 9mm again.:toast: :cry: here's to you Hunter.

[diamond14]

29. whoa....that's probably the MOST likely possibility....other than

being on someone's hit list.....hunter has had a few 'accidents' with guns in the past...almost killing himself and others....


however, I am CERTAIN that hunter had a LOT of enemies over the years....and to totally ignore the possibility of a 'hit' would dishonor hunter and his legacy.....hunter himself has uncovered MANY real conspiracies and exposed 'HITS'.....

[KoKo]

44. Well... a ricochet bullet would make sense... An accident when he was

in one of his wild momements "showing off." I disagree with the hip, broken leg thingy as a reason for him committing suicide..which I posted above...but yeah...some stupid game where he shot something and it came back on him would make sense.

EXCEPT that it was DESIGNATED SUICIDE by his buddy THE SHERRIF...Or Police Chief whatever...So that's what makes it really suspicious. This is the guy he just wrote about doing "Shotgun Golf" with him in an ESPN article, I believe. :shrug:

[Wat_Tyler]

23. Sometimes a suicide is just a suicide.

[livinginphotographs]

27. OMG, a rational response to this. I'm shocked.

Can we please have one person die without someone trying to tie it to Bush?

I mean, Bush is one evil bastard, but I don't think he's trying to off people right and left. And just because HST was anti-Bush, and tended towards LIHOP doesn't mean it made him a target for suiciding.

People die, people kill themselves, it happens. It's not always a conspiracy.

[Wat_Tyler]

37. If anything, us seeing conspiracies on every corner does our opponents'

work for them, by making us look like total nuts.

[Time for change]

54. I don't think that I'm a nut

for believing that this administration is evil and has no moral compunction about doing anything they can to gain an advantage.

[Time for change]

53. Maybe this is just another message

to media people and others who might want to write bad things about this administration. Maybe this kind of thing is part of the reason why the MSM is so tame these days.

[sleipnir]

40. And sometimes a murder is just a murder.

Who knows, yet...

[Wat_Tyler]

47. OK. What evidence do you have that this is anything other than a suicide?

[Jane Austin]

31. 9:30 pm is the time I usually get to the gym of an evening.

The after-work crowds have left, and there are plenty of machines available.

[hlthe2b]

32. re: gym... not everyone skis (even in Aspen), right timing for classes,

aerobics, pilates, yoga, tai chi, whatever. Even if she does ski, the older you get the more you realize you can't ski yourself into shape without risking injury. Women especially are at risk of cruciate ligament tears in the knee if they don't do some targeted strength and flexibility training. This doesn't strike me at all strange.

[hollowdweller]

34. Maybe the kitchen was tile and easier to clean.

Sad thing. I guess we'll learn more about it as it goes on. Still seems odd to me.

[SmokingJacket]

36. Was there a note?

Hard to imagine a man of letters going without a note, but it wouldn't be the first time I suppose.

[slackmaster]

48. Authorities refused to say whether a note was found

So says my local daily fishwrap.

Friend says Hunter Thompson was in lot of pain from broken leg...

...Authorities refused to say whether a note was found, but a family statement said Thompson had taken his own life. His adult son, Juan, found his body Sunday evening.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050222/news_1n22hunter.html

[bling bling]

42. Why would his wife lie about being at a gym? n/t

[diamond14]

46. his wife is quite young (maybe 35) and stands to inherit a lot of $$$

it was a curious relationship....one of those May-December things, bond together by BIG BUCKS....


and hunter had LOTS of enemies due to his flamboyant and popular writings....he also pissed off a LOT of people....not everyone found hunter's 'style' amusing, even though he was an ICON for baby-boomers...

[theboss]

51. Hunter always had beautiful young "assistants"

I can't remember the name of the woman who lived with him in the 80s after his divorce. But she was stunning and apparently as crazy and violent as he was.

Also, let's please not make the man into a saint incapable of this type of act. There are a number of instances of him being irrationally violent with his first wife, neighbors, and friends. It's possible he finally hurt himself.

[theboss]

50. Can one famous person die without a conspiracy theory attached?

Please. Someone.

Well, maybe Bush didn't off Sandra Dee.

Anyway, it's starting to come out that Thompson put some preparation into this:

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E53%257E2725327,00.html

Tobia said his client and friend didn't leave a suicide note, only obscure directions he had issued to friends and family in recent days. "This was definitely not spur of the moment," said Tobia, who plans to fly to Colorado today. "He arranged to have things dealt with, and he wanted his family close by, but he didn't want anyone to know - he didn't want anyone to try to stop him."

Tobia said he didn't know of anything specific that led to Thompson's suicide but noted the two had discussed it in the past.