ASPEN — Pitkin County Sheriff Michael Buglione said Wednesday that he’s confident state investigators’ review of the 2005 death of journalist Hunter S. Thompson will confirm what his agency determined 20 years ago: that Thompson fatally shot himself at his ranch near Aspen.
“The sheriff’s office has been confident over the last 20-plus years that the original investigation was exactly what happened,” Buglione told reporters in Aspen. “We’re still confident that is the case.”
The Colorado Sun first reported Tuesday that the Colorado Bureau of Investigation is conducting a case review of Thompson’s death at the request of his widow, Anita. Buglione said he started talking to Anita Thompson about the review in April and that CBI began its probe around August.
As for why Anita Thompson wanted a second look at the case, Buglione said it was prompted by “things she has been hearing from friends and possible relatives.” It didn’t have to do with the quality of the original investigation, the sheriff said.
But Buglione said he doesn’t know what those things are because he couldn’t understand what she was relaying.
“It was very hard for me to put some sense to it,” he said, explaining that they were talking on the phone and she was speaking very fast. “I was taking some notes as fast as she was able to talk.”
Buglione said he told Anita Thompson that he wasn’t the right person to investigate her claims.
“I said, ‘look, you’re talking to the wrong guy,’” Buglione said. “I’m the sheriff. I’m not an investigator.”
He offered to ask CBI to review the case, and Anita Thompson, after months of consideration, took him up on the offer. After a meeting on July 31, CBI started its investigation.
“We’re out of the picture,” Buglione said, adding that he believes the CBI has interviewed Anita and that he knows investigators have already visited the house where Thompson died.
Pitkin County Coroner Dr. Steve Ayers, who investigated Thompson’s death in 2005, declined to comment Wednesday. He said he’ll wait to discuss the case until CBI has completed its review.
The Pitkin County sheriff at the time Thompson died was Bob Braudis.
Thompson was widely known for his unconventional, first-person style of reporting known as gonzo journalism. He was found dead at the age of 67 in his home in Woody Creek, a small community north of Aspen, in February 2005.
The original investigation found he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound from a .45-caliber handgun. His son, who was in another room at the time, found Thompson’s body in the kitchen, The Aspen Times newspaper reported in February 2005.
CBI said it doesn’t know how long it will take to complete its case review. Buglione said if any inconsistencies are found, CBI will let Anita Thompson know.
In a 2005 interview shortly after Thompson’s death, Anita told The Aspen Daily News that her husband killed himself while the two were talking on the phone.
“I was on the phone with him, he set the receiver down and he did it. I heard the clicking of the gun,” she told the newspaper.
The coroner did not order a toxicology report to reveal whether there were drugs or alcohol in Thompson’s body at the time of death, The Aspen Times reported. Thompson’s then 6-year-old grandson was also in the house.
Thompson is best known for “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” his quasifictional account of his drug-laced adventures in the city in 1972, after Sports Illustrated sent him to cover a motorcycle race. His story ended up in Rolling Stone and the book became a best seller.
The author ran for Pitkin County sheriff and lost in 1970. His campaign was captured in a documentary that was released in 2020 after filmmakers discovered seven hours of archival footage.
Months after his death, more than 200 friends, including Johnny Depp, who played Thompson in the movie of “Fear and Loathing,” John Kerry and Jack Nicholson, gathered at Thompson’s home in Woody Creek, and shot his ashes out of a 153-foot cannon under a full moon, Rolling Stone reported.
Sheriff Buglione reiterated Wednesday that he hopes the CBI review will offer transparency and peace of mind to Thompson’s family and the Aspen community.
“I would do it for anybody in Pitkin County who lost a loved one and was either getting different information or found something out,” Buglione said of referring the case to a third party for review.
Colorado Sun staff writer Olivia Prentzel contributed to this report.