John Poindexter is the Houston billionaire owner of Cibolo Creek Ranch resort in Presidio County, west Texas, who, on February 13, 2016, found the body of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in his resort room.
Scalia’s “El Presidente” suite at Cibolo Creek Ranch (photo by Matthew Busch/Getty Imaages)
On February 14, 2016, in an article for mySA (MySanAntonio) titled, “Texas Ranch owner recalls Scalia’s last hours,” reporter John MacCormack quoted Poindexter:
“We discovered the judge in bed, a pillow over his head. Everything was in perfect order. He was in his pajamas, peacefully, in bed. His bed clothes were unwrinkled. He was lying very restfully. It looked like he had not quite awakened from a nap.”
The next day, February 15, at 4:05 a.m., I took this screenshot of the mySA article as proof of the Poindexter quote, in case mySA scrubs the article:
Understandably, Poindexter’s comment about “a pillow over his [Scalia’s] head” led to speculations of foul play.
On Feb. 15, Poindexter’s comment was picked up by Drudge Report, with the headline “pillow over head”:
Drudge Report screen shot – 9:00 AM EST 02-15-2016
On February 17, Poindexter “clarified” his comment to the New York Daily News that “There was a pillow over his head, not over his face. The face was entirely clear.”
And now, the latest.
David Warren reports for the AP that according to a Presidio County Sheriff’s Office incident report obtained by The Washington Post on Feb. 23, nothing appeared out of place around Scalia’s bed. “Three pillows were stacked to elevate Scalia’s head. A top pillow appeared to have toppled onto his eyes and forehead but didn’t appear positioned to impede his breathing.” Scalia’s “arms were at his side atop the bed covers, which were pulled up to his chin. The bed covers were smooth and creased and showed no sign of a struggle.”
That is one magic pillow!
First, it was over Scalia’s head.
Then, it was above Scalia’s head, whose face was “entirely clear”.
Now, the pillow is neither over nor above Scalia’s head, but partially covering his face (“toppled onto his eyes and forehead”), although the pillow made sure to position itself so as not to “impede his breathing”.
I can hardly wait for the magic pillow’s next feat of gymnastics . . . .
See also “13 questions to ask about Justice Antonin Scalia’s death“.
~Eowyn
