Secret Society of Hunters at Ranch When Scalia Died

A new detail has emerged in the death of Antonin Scalia: The US Supreme Court justice spent his last hours with members of the International Order of St. Hubertus, a "secretive society of elite hunters," the Washington Post reports. Public records reviewed by the Post revealed that some of the men staying at the Cibolo Creek Ranch when Scalia died there on Feb. 13 are members of the order founded some three centuries ago. Ranch owner John Poindexter, along with Scalia's traveling partner, C. Allen Foster, both hold leadership positions within the order. Scalia's association with the group is unclear. In an email, Poindexter acknowledged that group members have been guests of the ranch, adding, "I am aware of no connection between that organization and Justice Scalia." Private planes connected to two other men who have held leadership positions in the order's Texas chapter landed at the ranch for Valentine's Day weekend, records show.

As for Scalia's death, Poindexter told the sheriff that after dinner and a chat, the justice retired for the evening. Poindexter knocked on his door when he didn't show for breakfast; it was then they found Scalia dead in bed. Founded in 1695 in the modern Czech Republic, the International Order of Saint Hubertus (the patron saint of hunters) was a "knightly order," according to its website. Among the group's tenets is promoting "the concept of hunting and fishing as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity." And its motto is "Deum Diligite Animalia Diligentes" or "Honoring God by Honoring His Creatures." (Honoring how? And which creatures? Gawker inquires.) Members drape themselves in green robes and have titles like "grand master" and "protector of the order." Read the whole story here. (More Antonin Scalia stories.)