Hunter's Last Word - Literally

The Pitkin County sheriff's report states that Hunter S Thompson's body was found in a chair by a kitchen table. The table had a typewriter, with a sheet of paper bearing the word Counselor in the center.

The paper bore the letterhead of the Fourth Amendment Foundation, an organization founded by HST to defend individual privacy rights against the threat of unwarranted search and seizure by the authorities.

Theorizing as to the meaning behind the choice of word ranges from self-description to self-loathing, to general loathing of the profession, a cry for help, or a Rosebud-style Macguffin

The gun used in the suicide was a semiautomatic Smith & Wesson model 645 handgun

Denver's ABC channel reports that

Juan Thompson found his father dead Feb. 20 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. After reporting the death of Thompson, the founder of "gonzo" journalism, Juan walked outside the Woody Creek home and fired three shotgun blasts into the air, which several deputies heard as they approached the house.

"Juan told me he had shot a shotgun into the air to mark the passing of his father," said Pitkin County Deputy Sheriff John Armstrong in his report.

Investigator Joseph DiSalvo allowed Juan Thompson to go into the kitchen alone to drape a golden orange scarf over his father's shoulders, according to Armstrong.

Winkel Thompson, Juan's wife, said the family had purchased the silk scarf in Florence, Italy, and gave it to Hunter Thompson the night before.