Ranch owner: Justice’s death was ‘ peaceful’
PRESIDIO, TEXAS The day before he died, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia toured an exclusive West Texas ranch, had a jovial dinner and made his usual amicable conversation before excusing himself around 9 p. m.
A few hours later, he was dead.
“He was very peaceful,” John Poindexter, owner of the Cibolo Creek Ranch resort, where Scalia had gathered for a weekend retreat, told NBC News.
Scalia’s sudden passing, at age 79, stunned a nation and has sent political reverberations throughout the USA.
The death certificate for Scalia will list myocardial infarction— a heart attack— as the official cause of death, Presidio County Judge Cinderella Guevara told WFAA- TV.
On Sunday, those involved with processing Scalia’s death remembered the shock of answering a routine call of a deceased person at the ranch — and finding a Supreme Court justice.
Miguel Acuino, the priest of the Santa Teresa de Jesus Catholic Church, was working at his offices Saturday afternoon when he got a call to perform the last Catholic rites for someone at the ranch, about 30 miles up the road.
It wasn’t until he saw the person that he realized it was Scalia.
Guevara, who preformed the inquest, pronounced Scalia dead over the phone at 1: 52 p. m. Saturday. She said she spoke to Scalia’s physician and wanted to clarify details of his death before deciding whether to order an autopsy. Presidio County Sheriff Danny Dominguez and U. S. Marshals assured her no foul play was involved, Guevara told WFAA.
Residents in this city are more focused on local politics, Presidio County Constable Steve Coker said.
“You could ask 100 people here who Scalia is and not a lot of them will know,” he said.