The kitchen at Owl Farm was never a quiet place. It was the nerve center of a 40-acre "fortified compound" in Woody Creek, Colorado, usually vibrating with the hum of a typewriter, the crackle of a police scanner, or the clinking of ice in a Chivas glass. But on the afternoon of February 20, 2005, the noise was different. It was sharp. It was final.
Hunter S. Thompson, the man who essentially invented "Gonzo" journalism and lived a life that would have killed a normal human three times over, died that Sunday at the age of 67. If you’re looking for the clinical answer, the hunter s thompson cause of death was a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He used a .45-caliber handgun. He didn’t leave in a whisper; he went out with a bang, just like the life he’d led since he first hopped on the back of a Hell’s Angel’s motorcycle in the sixties.
The Final Moments at Owl Farm
It’s easy to get lost in the mythology of Dr. Gonzo, but the reality of that Sunday was strangely domestic. Hunter wasn’t alone. His son, Juan, his daughter-in-law Jennifer, and his six-year-old grandson Will were all in the house. They were visiting for the weekend.
Hunter was sitting in his favorite spot—his "command center" chair in the kitchen.
At 5:42 p.m., he was on the phone with his wife, Anita, who was at a health club in Aspen. They were talking about him writing his weekly column for ESPN. Suddenly, Anita heard a sound. It wasn't a gunshot to her ears; she thought it was the familiar clack-clack of his typewriter keys. She figured he was just getting to work and hung up.
In the other room, Juan and the family heard a loud noise too. They didn't panic. At Owl Farm, guns were basically kitchen utensils. Hunter fired them all the time. They thought maybe a heavy book had fallen off a shelf. It took about half an hour before Juan walked into the kitchen and found his father slumped over.
Juan didn’t call the police immediately. First, he walked outside and fired three shotgun blasts into the air. A salute. A way to tell the Colorado mountains that the King of Gonzo was gone. Only then did he dial 911.
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Why the Hunter S Thompson Cause of Death is Back in the News
You might think a case closed for two decades would stay closed. You'd be wrong. In late 2025, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) announced they were reopening a review into the hunter s thompson cause of death.
This wasn't because some secret assassin emerged from the shadows. It was a request from Anita Thompson.
Sheriff Michael Buglione of Pitkin County explained that while there’s no "new evidence" of foul play, the family has lingering questions based on things they’ve heard from friends and associates over the years. Maybe it’s about the trajectory of the bullet. Maybe it’s about the lack of gunshot residue on his hands, a detail some forensic buffs have obsessed over for years. Or maybe it's just the need for 100% certainty when dealing with a man who had as many enemies as he did fans.
Honestly, the "foul play" theories have always been a staple of the Thompson legend. People found it hard to believe that a man who survived Nixon, Las Vegas, and a lifetime of chemical warfare on his own nervous system would just... quit. But the people who knew him best? They weren't surprised at all.
"Football Season is Over"
Hunter left a note. Or rather, he had written something a few days earlier that the family accepted as his final word. It was titled "Football Season is Over."
It wasn't a standard "I'm sorry" note. It was a mission statement. He wrote:
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"No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun — for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax — This won't hurt."
The "No More Walking" part was literal. By 2005, Hunter’s body was failing him. He’d had a double hip replacement. His back was a mess of chronic pain. He was often using a wheelchair. For a man who defined himself by his "wildness" and his ability to move through the world with chaotic energy, being trapped in a broken body was a fate worse than death.
He had often told friends that he felt like a "champion" and wanted to go out while he was still on top of his game. To him, suicide wasn't an act of despair; it was a tactical retreat.
The Aftermath and the Great Cannon Blast
The official investigation in 2005 was pretty straightforward. The coroner didn't even order a toxicology report—mostly because everyone knew what would be in it. Alcohol and cocaine were as much a part of Hunter’s blood as hemoglobin.
His funeral was exactly what he wanted. His long-time friend Johnny Depp spent roughly $3 million to build a 153-foot tower topped with a "Gonzo fist" clutching a peyote button. Under a full moon in August, Hunter’s ashes were packed into shells and fired out of a cannon into the Colorado sky while "Mr. Tambourine Man" played.
It was loud. It was expensive. It was totally unnecessary. He would have loved it.
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The Nuance of the New Review
So, what should we make of this new 2026 investigation?
If you’re expecting a massive conspiracy to be uncovered, you’ll probably be disappointed. Most experts agree that the original ruling was correct. However, the CBI review highlights a gap in how high-profile deaths were handled in the early 2000s. The lack of a toxicology report and the speed of the original investigation left "cracks" for conspiracy theories to grow in.
Anita Thompson has spent years preserving Owl Farm as a museum and a writer's retreat. For her, this review isn't necessarily about finding a "killer." It’s about closing those cracks. It’s about making sure the history books have the right footnotes.
Final Insights on the Legend
Hunter S. Thompson lived his life as a series of high-stakes gambles. He pushed every boundary until they snapped. In the end, he decided to call his own number.
Basically, the guy lived 67 years at 200 miles per hour. When the engine started to smoke and the wheels began to wobble, he chose to park it on his own terms.
If you're looking for actionable ways to engage with his legacy today, don't look for conspiracy videos on YouTube. Instead:
- Read "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved" to see where the Gonzo style actually began.
- Visit the Woody Creek Tavern if you're ever near Aspen; it's the place where he spent most of his afternoons and the locals still have plenty of stories that aren't in the books.
- Support the Gonzo Foundation, which Anita Thompson runs to help journalism students and protect the environment around Owl Farm.
The hunter s thompson cause of death might be under a fresh set of legal eyes, but the man's impact on American letters is already set in stone. He taught us that the "objective" truth is usually a lie, and that sometimes, the only way to see the world clearly is to get a little bit weird.