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The death of Antonin Scalia: Chaos, confusion and conflicting reports The death of Antonin Scalia: Chaos, confusion and conflicting reports
(about 3 hours later)
MARFA, Tex. — Inside the cloistered chambers of the Supreme Court, Justice Antonin Scalia’s days were highly regulated and predictable. He met with clerks, wrote opinions and appeared for arguments in the august courtroom on a schedule set months in advance. MARFA, Tex. — In the cloistered chambers of the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Antonin Scalia’s days were highly regulated and predictable. He met with clerks, wrote opinions and appeared for arguments in the august courtroom on a schedule set months in advance.
Yet as details of his sudden death trickled in Sunday, it appeared that the hours afterward were anything but orderly. The man known for his elegant legal opinions and profound intellect was found dead in his room at a hunting resort by a ranch owner. Yet as details of Scalia’s sudden death trickled in Sunday, it appeared that the hours afterward were anything but orderly. The man known for his elegant legal opinions and profound intellect was found dead in his room at a hunting resort by the resort’s owner, who grew worried when Scalia didn’t appear at breakfast Saturday morning.
It then took hours for authorities in remote West Texas to find a justice of the peace, officials said Sunday. When they did, she pronounced Scalia dead of natural causes without seeing the body and decided not to order an autopsy. A second justice of the peace, who was called but couldn’t get to Scalia’s body in time, said she would have ordered an autopsy. It then took hours for authorities in remote West Texas to find a justice of the peace, officials said Sunday. When they did, she pronounced Scalia dead of natural causes without seeing the body and without ordering an autopsy. A second justice of the peace, who was called but couldn’t get to Scalia’s body in time, said she would have made a different decision.
“If it had been me . . . I would want to know,” Juanita Bishop, a justice of the peace in Presidio, Tex., told The Washington Post in an interview Sunday about the chaotic hours after Scalia’s death at the Cibolo Creek Ranch, a luxury compound less than an hour from the Mexican border and about 40 miles south of Marfa. “If it had been me . . . I would want to know,” Juanita Bishop, a justice of the peace in Presidio, Tex., said in an interview Sunday of the chaotic hours after Scalia’s death at the Cibolo Creek Ranch, a luxury compound less than an hour from the Mexican border and about 40 miles south of Marfa.
The U.S. Marshals Service has not issued a statement about the events surrounding the death on Saturday of Scalia, who had recently returned from a trip to the Far East, where his last public event was a book signing in Hong Kong. And as official Washington tried to process what the justice’s death means for politics and the law, some details of his final hours remained opaque. As official Washington tried to process what his demise means for politics and the law, some details of his final hours remained opaque. As late as Sunday afternoon, for example, there were conflicting reports about whether an autopsy should have been performed. A manager at the El Paso funeral home where Scalia’s body was taken said his family made it clear that they did not want one.
As late as Sunday afternoon, there were conflicting reports about whether an autopsy would be performed, though officials later said Scalia’s body was being embalmed and there would be no autopsy. One report, by WFAA-TV in Dallas, said the death certificate would show the cause of the death was a heart attack. Meanwhile, Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara acknowledged that she pronounced Scalia dead by phone, without seeing his body. Instead, she spoke to law enforcement officials at the scene — who assured her “there were no signs of foul play” — and Scalia’s physician in Washington, who said that the 79-year-old justice suffered from a host of chronic conditions.
One thing was clear: Scalia had died in his element, doing what he loved at the ranch that has played host to movie stars and European royalty and is famous for bird hunts and bigger game, such as bison and mountain lions. “He was having health issues,’’ Guevara said, adding that she is awaiting a statement from Scalia’s doctor that will be added to his death certificate when it is issued later this week.
“Other than being with his family or in church, there’s no place he’d rather be than on a hunt,” said Houston lawyer Mark Lanier, who accompanied Scalia on hunting trips seeking wild boar, deer and even alligators. Lanier said he first learned of Scalia’s love for hunting through former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor. “He’ll do anything if you take him hunting,” Lanier recalled O’Connor saying. Guevara also rebutted a report by a Dallas TV station that quoted her as saying that Scalia had died of “myocardial infarction.” In an interview with The Washington Post, she said she meant only that his heart had stopped.
John Poindexter, who owns the ranch, said Sunday that Scalia and a friend arrived Friday by chartered aircraft after first traveling to Houston, accompanied by U.S. marshals. About 35 people were in his party; Poindexter declined to name the other guests. “It wasn’t a heart attack,” Guevara said. “He died of natural causes.”
Scalia went out with the group that day to hunt blue quail, but “he did not exert himself. He got out of the hunting vehicle, and walked around some,’’ Poindexter said. In a statement Sunday, the U.S. Marshals Service, which provides security for Supreme Court justices, said Scalia had declined a security detail while at the ranch, so marshals were not present when he died. “Deputy U.S. Marshals from the Western District of Texas responded immediately upon notification of Justice Scalia’s passing,” the statement said.
Although law enforcement officials said Scalia left a private party that night, attended by about 40 people, to go to bed early, Poindexter said that didn’t seem unusual. All of the guests were tired from traveling to the remote ranch and the day’s other activities, with everyone going to bed by 10 p.m., he said. One thing was clear: Scalia died in his element, doing what he loved, at a luxury resort that has played host to movie stars and European royalty, and is famous for bird hunts and bigger game, such as bison and mountain lions.
According to law enforcement officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized spokespeople, Scalia did not show up for breakfast the next morning. People at first thought he might be sleeping in, but they eventually grew concerned, the officials said. “Other than being with his family or in church, there’s no place he’d rather be than on a hunt,” said Houston lawyer Mark Lanier, who took Scalia hunting for wild boar, deer and even alligators. Lanier said he first learned of Scalia’s love for hunting through former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor. “He’ll do anything if you take him hunting,” Lanier recalled O’Connor saying.
Poindexter and one other person knocked on his room door, didn’t get an answer, and went inside. Scalia had recently returned from a trip to Asia, where his last public event was a book signing in Hong Kong. John Poindexter, the Houston businessman who owns the Cibolo Creek Ranch, said Sunday that Scalia and a friend arrived Friday by chartered aircraft, traveling through Houston. At the ranch, Scalia joined about 35 other people invited by Poindexter, who declined to name the other guests.
“Everything was in perfect order. He was in his pajamas, peacefully, in bed,” Poindexter said, adding that Scalia had been his usual affable self at the ranch and that “his behavior was entirely natural and normal.’’ Later that day, Scalia went out with the group to hunt blue quail. But “he did not exert himself,” Poindexter said. “He got out of the hunting vehicle, and walked around some.’’
. Law enforcement officials said Scalia attended a private party that night with the other guests, and left to go to bed early. But Poindexter said that didn’t seem unusual: All of the guests were tired from traveling to the remote ranch, as well as the day’s other activities. Everyone was in bed by 10 p.m., he said.
After emergency personnel and officials from the U.S. Marshals Service were called to the scene, two local judges who also serve as justices of the peace were called, Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara said in an interview Sunday. Both were out of town, she said — not unusual in a remote region where municipalities are spread far apart. Scalia’s behavior, Poindexter said, “was entirely natural and normal.’’
Guevara also was out of town, but she said she declared Scalia dead based on information provided by officials at the scene, citing Texas laws that allow a justice of the peace to declare someone dead without seeing the body. The next morning, Scalia did not show up for breakfast. Poindexter at first thought he might be sleeping late, but eventually grew concerned. Late Saturday morning, he and one other person knocked on the door to Scalia’s room, an expansive suite called the “El Presidente.” When there was no answer, they went inside.
Guevara declined to comment further to The Post, but told WFAA that Scalia’s death certificate would list myocardial infarction — a heart attack — as the official cause of death. “Everything was in perfect order. He was in his pajamas, peacefully, in bed,” Poindexter said.
Chris Lujan, manager of the Sunset Funeral Home in El Paso, where Scalia was taken, did not question the television report but said he had not seen paperwork confirming the cause of death. Other officials declined to comment. Emergency personnel and officials from the U.S. Marshals Service were called to the scene, then two local judges who also serve as justices of the peace, Guevara said. Both were out of town, she said — not unusual in a remote region where municipalities are miles apart.
Guevara told the station that she planned to drive to the ranch but changed her mind when a U.S. marshal told her by phone: “It’s not necessary for you to come, judge. If you’re asking for an autopsy, that’s what we need to clarify.” Guevara also was out of town, but she said she agreed to declare Scalia dead based on the information from law enforcement officials and Scalia’s doctor, citing Texas laws that permit a justice of the peace to declare someone dead without seeing the body.
Guevara said she asked the Marshals whether there were “any signs of foul play. And they said, ‘Absolutely not,’ ” she told the station. After talking with Scalia’s personal physician, she said, she pronounced him dead and declined to order an inquest. On Saturday evening, Scalia’s body was loaded into a hearse and escorted to the Sunset Funeral Home in El Pasoby a procession of about 20 law enforcement officers. It arrived there about 2:30 a.m. Sunday, according to funeral home manager Chris Lujan. The funeral home is about 31/2 hours from the ranch where Scalia died.
Scalia’s body was taken to the Sunset Funeral Home by a procession of about 20 law enforcement officers. It arrived there about 2:30 a.m. Sunday, according to Lujan. The funeral home is about 31/2 hours from the ranch where Scalia died. About 3:30 a.m. Sunday, Scalia’s family declined to have an autopsy performed, Lujan said, so the body was being prepared for funeral and was expected to be transported back to Washington on Monday. Late Sunday, it was under guard by six law enforcement officials, including U.S. marshals and Texas state troopers, he said.
Lujan said that Scalia’s family did not request an autopsy and that the body is being prepared for the funeral and will be transported back to Washington on Monday. It is under guard by six law enforcement officials, including U.S. marshals and Texas state troopers, Lujan said. Funeral arrangements for Scalia — a devoted Catholic who was given the last rites by a Catholic priest — were unclear Sunday.
“An autopsy was declined at about 3:30 a.m.,” Lujan said. “The justice of the peace said there was no indication of foul play and that he died in his sleep from natural causes.” Horwitz and Markon reported from Washington. Lana Straub, a freelance writer in Marfa, Tex., and Alice Crites and Robert Barnes in Washington contributed to his report.
Funeral arrangements for Scalia were unclear Sunday.
Straub and Moravec, in Marfa, Tex., are freelance writers. Horwitz and Markon reported from Washington. Alice Crites and Robert Barnes in Washington contributed to his report.
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