ASPEN, Colo. (AP) — Investigators in Colorado are reviewing the 2005 shooting death of journalist Hunter S. Thompson, which was ruled a suicide, authorities said.
There’s no new evidence suggesting foul play Thompson’s death, but the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office requested the review at the behest of Thompson’s widow, Anita Thompson, the sheriff’s office and Colorado Bureau of Investigation said in a news release Tuesday.
Investigators are committed to answering any “lingering questions” surrounding his death, Sheriff Michael Buglione said.
“We understand the profound impact Hunter S. Thompson had on this community and beyond,” he 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.”
Thompson, who popularized a first-person form of “gonzo” journalism in articles and books such as “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” died at his Aspen-area home in February 2005. He was 67.
At the time, his family said in a statement that he “took his life with a gunshot to the head.”
Anita Thompson told The Associated Press days after her husband’s death that he had been talking about suicide in months leading up to it.
“He feels at the peak of his life right now, has a very successful career, has a network of perfect friends,” she said at the time. “If he quit now, he would feel he was a champion.”
Any review will not include a reexamination of the writer’s remains, which were famously cremated and fired from a cannon at his request during a private ceremony in Colorado. Among the celebrities who attended was actor Johnny Depp, who played the lead role in the 1998 film adaptation of “Fear and Loathing.”
Neither the CBI nor the sheriff’s office immediately responded to Wednesday emails seeking further details about their decision to reexamine the death. No one answered a call to a number listed as Anita Thompson or responded to an email sent to a nonprofit she founded.
Besides the 1972 classic about his trip to Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson also wrote “Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72.” The central character in those wild, sprawling satires was `”Dr. Thompson,” a snarling, drug- and alcohol-crazed observer and participant.
Thompson is credited alongside Tom Wolfe and Gay Talese with helping pioneer New Journalism, or as he dubbed his version, “gonzo journalism,” in which writers made themselves an essential component of the story.