'No autopsy necessary': Justice Scalia said to have died of 'natural causes'

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‘No autopsy necessary’: Justice Scalia said to have died of 'natural causes’

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died of natural causes and no autopsy was necessary, a judge has told The Associated Press. Chris Lujan, a manager for Sunset Funeral Homes in Texas, said the 79-year-old jurist’s body was taken from the El Paso facility late Sunday afternoon and was to be flown to Virginia, although he had no details. Scalia’s family didn’t think a private autopsy was necessary and requested that his remains be returned to Washington as soon as possible, Lujan said. Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara told The Associated Press on Sunday she consulted with Scalia’s personal physician and sheriff’s investigators, who said there were no signs of foul play, before concluding that he had died of natural causes.

It is hard to imagine the court without my friend.

Justice Clarence Thomas

He was found dead in his room at a West Texas resort ranch Saturday morning. Scalia’s weekend death was as much of a shock to those at the ranch as it was to the rest of the nation. Scalia’s colleagues praised his brilliance and grieved his death. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she and Scalia “were best buddies” for more than 30 years.