Antonin Scalia’s last night among the living was spent among friends, according to Cibolo Creek Ranch owner John Poindexter.
Describing the night before Scalia passed, Poindexter told reporters, “He was seated near me and I had a chance to observe him. He was very entertaining. But about 9 P.M. he said, ‘it’s been a long day and a long week, I want to get some sleep.’”
At 8:30 A.M. on Saturday, Poindexter attempted to wake the sleeping Supreme Court justice, but the judge didn’t come to the door. Three hours later, he returned with a friend of Scalia’s and entered the room. Poindexter described the scene upon entering the room: “We discovered the judge in bed, a pillow over his head. His bed clothes were unwrinkled.”
“He was lying very restfully. It looked like he had not quite awakened from a nap,” he added.
After checking for a pulse, and after speaking by phone with a physician, Poindexter said the decision was made not to attempt cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
Scalia arrived on Friday and was only expected to stay until Sunday, with little opportunity to enjoy the 66,000 acres the Cibolo Creek Ranch had to offer. The ranch, which was established in 1857, played host to a great number of celebrities like Mick Jagger, Julia Roberts and Tommy Lee Jones.
“This was strictly a group of friends that the judge decided to join … It was an honor to have him. He was widely admired. There were no speeches. He wasn’t asked any hard questions, it was all about the outdoors and Texas, and what it’s like to being a Supreme Court Justice,” Poindexter stated.
“All of us here saw him as a stalwart defender of our way of life in Texas, in a real sense,” he said. “It’s a great loss. Having made that statement, if it was his time to go, he was surrounded by friends, in fairly nice setting, with a full tummy, too. He said he was very happy to be invited so it could have been in worse circumstances,” Poindexter concluded.