{"id":186737,"date":"2025-10-03T04:58:04","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T04:58:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/186737\/"},"modified":"2025-10-03T04:58:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T04:58:04","slug":"us-investigators-launch-review-into-2005-death-of-journalist-and-author-hunter-s-thompson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/186737\/","title":{"rendered":"US investigators launch review into 2005 death of journalist and author Hunter S Thompson"},"content":{"rendered":"

The apparent suicide of journalist and author Hunter S Thompson is under review by investigators in Colorado, more than two decades after his death.<\/p>\n

Thompson, 67, died on February 20, 2005 at his Woody Creek home, of what investigators at the time ruled was a suicide.<\/p>\n

If you or anyone you know needs help:Suicide Call Back Service<\/a> on 1300 659 467Lifeline<\/a> on 13 11 14Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander crisis support line 13YARN<\/a>\u00a0on 13 92 76Kids Helpline<\/a> on 1800 551 800Beyond Blue<\/a> on 1300 224 636Headspace<\/a> on 1800 650 890ReachOut<\/a> at au.reachout.com<\/a>MensLine Australia<\/a> on 1300 789 978QLife 1800 184 527<\/a><\/p>\n

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) announced this week it would be reviewing the case.<\/p>\n

The Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office \u2014 which conducted the original investigation \u2014 said there was no new evidence suggesting foul play in Thompson’s death.<\/p>\n

The independent review by the CBI was sparked following a request by Thompson’s widow, Anita Thompson.<\/p>\n

Pitkin County Sheriff Michael Buglione said his office wanted to address lingering questions surrounding the author’s death.<\/p>\n

“We understand the profound impact Hunter S Thompson had on this community and beyond,” he said.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

Moments leading up to Thompson’s 2005 death<\/p>\n

Police were called to Thompson’s property about 6pm after his son, Juan Thompson, reported the shooting.<\/p>\n

The “fortified compound” Thompson called Owl Farm was built on a 44-hectare property in the unincorporated town of Woody Creek, north-west of Aspen.<\/p>\n

As police officer John Armstrong rolled up the driveway to the home, he heard three more gunshots ring out.<\/p>\n

“I told Juan I had heard gunshots, and asked [him] who was shooting and why,” the police officer wrote in his incident report.<\/p>\n

“Juan told me he had shot a shotgun into the air to mark the passing of his father.”<\/p>\n

Juan Thompson had been visiting his father with his wife and son.<\/p>\n

Friends and family said Thompson had been recovering from a hip replacement surgery, back surgery and a recently broken leg.<\/p>\n

In the days leading up to his death, he had given family heirlooms and rare copies of his books to his son and spoke of his wishes for his remains.<\/p>\n

He argued with his wife the night before \u2014 shooting a pellet gun without warning at a gong in the family kitchen, narrowly missing her head.<\/p>\n

These moments were detailed in an article published by Rolling Stone magazine a few months later, written by friend and fellow author Douglas Brinkley.<\/p>\n

On that February day, Anita Thompson reconciled with her husband and left to go to a fitness class in nearby Aspen.<\/p>\n

\"Hunter<\/p>\n

Hunter S Thompson with Benicio Del Toro and Johnny Depp in 1998. (Reuters)<\/p>\n

Later, according to Brinkley, she called, and again the pair talked about the pellet gun incident, this time reconciling.<\/p>\n

She recalled hearing a “strange clicking noise” as she hung up.<\/a><\/p>\n

Minutes later, Juan Thompson, sitting in the home’s living room with his family, heard a “dull sound, not a sharp crack typical of a gunshot”, according to the police report.<\/p>\n

A handgun was found on the ground beside the senior Thompson’s foot.<\/p>\n

Police and the coroner concluded the death was self-inflicted.<\/p>\n

Discussions of CBI review began in April, says Pitkin sheriff<\/p>\n

A CBI special agent has been assigned to the case to review the 2006 report.<\/p>\n

Based on that review, they could decide to reopen the case and launch their own investigation, or reach the same conclusion as those initial Pitkin County police officers.<\/p>\n

The CBI has not provided a timeline for its review to be completed.<\/p>\n

Sheriff Buglione said he had spoken several times since April 2025 about the case, adding Anita Thompson concerns did not relate to the original police investigation.<\/p>\n

\"Fireworks<\/p>\n

Hunter S Thompson’s ashes were fired out of a cannon after his death.\u00a0 (Reuters: Rick Wilking\u00a0)<\/p>\n

Instead, she was more concerned by “things she was hearing from \u2026 friends and possibly relatives about Hunter’s demise”, the sheriff said.<\/p>\n

“And then I said, ‘Look, you’re talking to the wrong guy \u2026 you wouldn’t really want to talk to one of our investigators because we did the initial investigation.’<\/p>\n

“I discussed the possibility of bringing in the Colorado Bureau of Investigation \u2026 and we spoke to them and they were open and willing to do that.<\/p>\n

“I gave Ms Thompson those options of doing a case review or reopening the investigation.”<\/p>\n

Anita Thompson, he said, opted for the case review.<\/p>\n

The sheriff noted he had not asked for the case to be reviewed because of Thompson’s celebrity.<\/p>\n

“I would do it for anybody in Pitkin County who lost a loved one,” he said.<\/p>\n

“And [who] was either getting different information or found something out, or maybe found a note buried in a book 20 years later.”<\/p>\n

Anita Thompson and Juan Thompson have not commented publicly.<\/p>\n

Thompson’s ‘Gonzo’ legacy made him a cult figure<\/p>\n

Thompson, born in Kentucky in 1937, enlisted in the US Air Force at 19 years old, working as a sports writer for an air base newspaper.<\/a><\/p>\n

He was honourably discharged after just a year.<\/p>\n

He rose to prominence following the publication of his book Hell’s Angels, detailing the lives of members of the motorcycle club.<\/p>\n

\"hunter<\/p>\n

Hunter S Thompson achieved celebrity status as a cult figure before his death. (AFP: Frazer Harrison\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

To research the 1967 book, he lived among the club for a year.<\/p>\n

His later writing formed the basis of a new subgenre of reporting he called “Gonzo” journalism.<\/p>\n

Under Thompson’s method, the writer becomes a central part of the narrative \u2014 throwing out any attempt at objectivity.<\/p>\n

It was an ideology which made him a cult figure.<\/p>\n

In 1972, he published Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, a partly autobiographical novel which would become his most famous.<\/p>\n

The book was adapted into a movie starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro in 1998.<\/p>\n

In 1970, he ran for the office of Sheriff in Pitkin County, losing by just a handful of votes.<\/p>\n

After his death \u2014 at his request \u2014 his ashes were fired out of a cannon at Owl Farm, in front of friends, family and several high-profile actors, including Depp and Sean Penn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The apparent suicide of journalist and author Hunter S Thompson is under review by investigators in Colorado, more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186738,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,119061,3912,134,119058,5315,119062,119059,119060,14248],"class_list":["post-186737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cbi","tag-colorado","tag-entertainment","tag-hunter-s-thompson","tag-investigation","tag-michael-buglione","tag-owl-farm","tag-pitkin-county","tag-suicide"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}