After news broke that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had passed away in his sleep, and that an autopsy was not ordered, it didn’t take long for the conspiracy theories to begin swirling—especially after the owner of the ranch where Scalia was found dead said he had a pillow over his head.
Scalia’s eldest son Eugene has had enough, however, saying it’s been a ‘hurtful distraction’ for the family while they are mourning.
"It’s, I think, a distraction from a great man and his legacy at a time when there’s so much to be said about that and to help people even more fully appreciate that. And, on a personal level, I think it’s a bit of a hurtful distraction for a family that’s mourning," he said on Laura Ingraham's radio show.
While many, including veteran detectives, raised eyebrows over the fact that an autopsy wasn’t ordered, people must respect the fact that the family also didn’t push for one.
"He was a month shy of 80 years old. He lived this incredibly full and active life, but I knew, and he knew, that he was at a place in life where he could be taken from this world at any time," Eugene Scalia added.
"Our family just has no doubt he died of natural causes. And we accept that. We’re praying for him. We ask others to accept that and pray for him," he said.
"[My father] would have been the first to tell you,” Scalia continued, “that we’re from dust, we return to dust, your life could be taken from you at any instant."
The justice’s funeral will be held Saturday at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.