Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia stayed for free at Texas luxury ranch where he died

Owner of Cibolo Creek Ranch John Poindexter speaks to reporters the day following the death Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at the West Texas Resort ranch February 14, 2016 in Shafter, Texas. Poindexter says that he, along with the other members of the weekend's group had an enjoyable evening on Friday before Scalia was found the next morning to be unresponsive in his room. less Owner of Cibolo Creek Ranch John Poindexter speaks to reporters the day following the death Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at the West Texas Resort ranch February 14, 2016 in Shafter, Texas. Poindexter ... more Photo: Matthew Busch, Getty Images Photo: Matthew Busch, Getty Images Image 1 of / 63 Caption Close Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia stayed for free at Texas luxury ranch where he died 1 / 63 Back to Gallery

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia didn't pay for a trip to the 30,000-acre luxury ranch in West Texas where he was found dead on Saturday, according to a news report.

John Poindexter, owner of Ciblo Creek Ranch, told The Washington Post that he didn't charge Scalia for the stay or pay for his flight to Texas.

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"I did not pay for the Justice's trip to Cibolo Creek Ranch," Poindexter told the Post. "He was an invited guest, along with a friend, just like 35 others."

The ranch owner did not give the identity of Scalia's friend to the Post.

Poindexter also told the newspaper, "The Justice was treated no differently by me, as no one was charged for activities, room and board, beverages, etc. That is a 22-year policy.''

That's different from what Poindexter previously told the San Antonio Express-News.

"All the guests were friends of mine, I paid for all of them. There were no politics, no jurisprudence in the slightest," he told Express-News reporter John MacCormack.

"This was strictly a group of friends that the judge decided to join. He was coming with his son who had to drop out for reasons I don't know," Poindexter said.

"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," he said.

It's not clear what relationship Scalia and Poindexter shared or who else was at the ranch, but the Post reported that in 2015 the Supreme Court declined to hear a case about an age discrimination lawsuit against a subsidiary Poindexter's Houston-based manufacturing firm J.B. Poindexter & Co.

RELATED: Cibolo Creek Ranch owner recalls Scalia's last hours in Texas

These questions are just the latest in a series of confusing, befuddling and unclear events surrounding Scalia's death.

William O. Ritchie, former chief of criminal investigations for the District of Columbia police department, wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday that he was "stunned" that there was no autopsy ordered for Scalia.

"You have a Supreme Court Justice who died, not in attendance of a physician," Ritchie wrote. "You have a non-homicide trained US Marshal tell the justice of peace that no foul play was observed. You have a justice of the peace pronounce death while not being on the scene and without any medical training opining that the justice died of a heart attack. What medical proof exists of a myocardial Infarction? Why not a cerebral hemorrhage?"

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Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara declared Scalia dead after speaking with law enforcement officers over the phone, a process allowed under Texas law.

Guevara defended her decision and method of handling the declaration in a statement issued to The Associated Press, saying Scalia's attorney told her the family believed he died of natural causes and didn't want an autopsy performed.

"I respected the wishes of the Scalia family, Guevara said. "I did this based upon credible reports to me from law enforcement and from Justice Scalia's personal physician."

jfechter@mySA.com

Twitter: @JFreports