Updated at 2:15 p.m. with comments from Scalia’s physician and the former head of criminal investigations for Washington D.C: 
 
 Confusion and conspiracy theories surround the cause of death for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and with no autopsy on the record, that may not change. 
 
 “My gut tells me there is something fishy going on in Texas,” William O. Ritchie, former head of criminal investigations for D.C. police, wrote in a post on Facebook questioning why the death wasn’t investigated. 
 
 WFAA-TV (Channel 8) reported Sunday that Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara declared the cause of death a “myocardial infarction,” or heart attack. But Guevara later denied that, saying that she meant only that his heart stopped. 
 
 “It wasn’t a heart attack,” she told The Washington Post. “He died of natural causes.” 
 
 While heart attacks are considered natural causes, as opposed to a suicide, homicide or accidental death, the vagueness of “natural causes” leaves room for speculation. 
 
 Guevara’s office has not returned calls for clarification to The Dallas Morning News. 
 
 It took close to three hours for the pronouncement to be made. According to The Washington Post, Guevara made the pronouncement without seeing the body, which is permissible under Texas law, and without ordering an autopsy. 
 
 “He was having health issues,” Guevara told The Post. She is awaiting a statement from Scalia’s doctor, which she will add to the justice’s death certificate when it is issued this week. 
 
 Scalia’s physician is Brian Monahan, a U.S. Navy rear admiral and the attending physician for the U.S. Congress and Supreme Court. The Post reports he declined to comment on Scalia’s health when reached by telephone Monday at his home in Maryland. 
 
 “Patient confidentiality forbids me to make any comment on the subject,” he told The Post. 
 
 WFAA-TV reports that Guevara said she spoke with Monahan who told her that the justice was seen Wednesday and Thursday last week for a shoulder injury and that an MRI had been ordered. 
 
 “As a former homicide commander, I am stunned that no autopsy was ordered for Justice Scalia,” Ritchie wrote on Sunday. 
 
 “You have a Supreme Court Justice who died, not in attendance of a physician,” he 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?” 
 
 Ritchie also questioned the marshals’ actions: 
 
 “How can the Marshal say, without a thorough post mortem, that he was not injected with an illegal substance that would simulate a heart attack…” 
 
 “Did the US Marshal check for petechial hemorrhage in his eyes or under his lips that would have suggested suffocation? Did the US Marshal smell his breath for any unusual odor that might suggest poisoning?” 
 
 Scalia died at Cibolo Creek Ranch near Marfa, where he was a guest of John Poindexter, a Texas millionaire who owns the West Texas ranch. He was part of a group of about 35 weekend guests. He arrived Friday around noon. 
 
 Scalia had declined a security detail for the trip to West Texas, according to a statement by the U.S. Marshals Service, which provides security for Supreme Court justices. 
 
 “Deputy U.S. Marshals from the Western District of Texas responded immediately upon notification of Justice Scalia’s passing,” the statement said. 
 
 Poindexter told The Los Angeles Times that when he discovered Scalia’s body Saturday morning, it was obvious he had “passed away without any difficulty” in the night and seemed “peaceful.” 
 
 Scalia’s body was taken three hours west to Sunset Funeral Home in El Paso by a caravan of 20 law enforcement officers. The Scalia family chose not to have an autopsy, and the body was prepared to be returned to Virginia, according to Chris Lujan, a funeral director manager. 
 
 Lujan told The Los Angeles Times he had not seen a death certificate to corroborate the WFAA report that Scalia’s death was due to a heart attack. 
 
 “He passed away in his sleep of natural causes,” Lujan said. He was told a county official went to the ranch to pronounce Scalia dead before the body was removed. This is contrary to reports by The New York Times that Guevera pronounced by telephone that Scalia was dead and “ruled it natural causes based on credible information.” 
 
 Another official told The Post that she would have made a different decision on the autopsy. 
 
 “If it had been me,” said Juanita Bishop, a justice of the peace in Presidio, “I would want to know.” 
 
 A Catholic priest, Father Mike Alcuino of the Santa Teresa de Jusús in Presidio, arrived Saturday afternoon to administer last rites to Scalia, who was a devout Catholic. 
 
 “It was just proper to call in a Catholic priest for the last rites,” Alcuino told The New York Times on Sunday. 
 
 Authorities were still investigating Sunday, but they released the scene and reporters were allowed to tour the ranch, but not the “El Presidente” suite where Scalia stayed. 
 
 Reporters were allowed to peer through the glass doors to the suite. The Los Angeles Times reported that the bed still appeared slept in. No personal items were visible on the carved wooden tables. 
 
 Reflecting on Scalia’s passing, Poindexter told The Los Angeles Times: 
 
 “It was an honor to have had him,” he said. “He was surrounded by 35-odd admirers. He was at a beautiful location, which he remarked upon several times as being very much to his taste. He was doing what he liked to do, which was being outdoors. He had no apparent pain or distress in his death. While an absolute tragedy, it could have happened at worse places and worse circumstances than it happened here.” ||||| (CNN) U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the leading conservative voice on the high court, has died at the age of 79, a government source and a family friend told CNN on Saturday. 
 
 His death set off an immediate debate about whether President Barack Obama should fill the seat in an election year. Obama said Saturday night that he plans to nominate a replacement, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the nomination should wait until the next president comes into office while top Democrat Harry Reid called for the seat to be filled "right away." 
 
 Scalia died in his sleep during a visit to Texas. A government official said Scalia went to bed Friday night and told friends he wasn't feeling well. He didn't get up for breakfast on Saturday morning, and the group he was with for a hunting trip left without him. 
 
 Someone at the ranch went in to check on him and found him unresponsive. 
 
 The U.S. Marshals Service is helping to arrange for his body to be returned to his home in McLean, Virginia, an official told CNN, not to investigate his death. 
 
 There will be no autopsy performed, a source familiar with the case confirmed to CNN. The decision for no autopsy was made both by the family and the Texas Justice of the Peace, the source said. 
 
 Marshals were not at the resort in Texas where he died, but were called there after the fact, a law enforcement source told CNN. Mashals help supplement security for traveling justices. 
 
 Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara pronounced Scalia dead over the phone Saturday afternoon, according to the Washington Post . Guevara told the Post she made the determination after being assured by law enforcement at the scene that "there were no signs of foul play." 
 
 Guvara also spoke with Scalia's private physician in Washington and learned the 79-year-old had several chronic conditions. "He was having health issues," she told the Post. Based on her conversations, Guevara determined Scalia's heart stopped beating. "It wasn't a heart attack," Guevara told the Post. "He died of natural causes." 
 
 In a statement, Chief Justice John Roberts said he and other justices were saddened to hear of Scalia's passing. 
 
 "He was an extraordinary individual and jurist, admired and treasured by his colleagues," Roberts said. "His passing is a great loss to the court and the country he so loyally served. We extend our deepest condolences to his wife Maureen and his family." 
 
 Obama called Scalia's son, Eugene, to offer his condolences to the entire Scalia family, Deputy White House Press Secretary Eric Schultz said. 
 
 Political fight looming 
 
 Scalia's death in an election year sets up a titanic confirmation tussle over his successor on the bench. The already challenging task of getting a Democratic president's nominee through a Republican-controlled Senate will be made even more difficult as the fight over Scalia's replacement will likely emerge as a dominant theme of a wild presidential election. 
 
 Speaking while on a presidential trip to Rancho Mirage, California, Obama vowed to nominate a successor to Scalia, who he called "a towering legal figure." 
 
 "There will be plenty of time for me to do so and for the Senate to fulfill its responsibility to give that person a fair hearing and a timely vote," Obama said. "These are responsibilities that I take seriously, as should everyone. They're bigger than any one party. They are about our democracy. They're about the institution to which Justice Scalia dedicated his professional life." 
 
 Earlier Saturday, McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, called for the vacancy to be filled after Obama's presidency ends. 
 
 "The American people‎ should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president," McConnell said in a statement. 
 
 But Reid, who represents Nevada, called for the seat to be filled "right away." 
 
 "With so many important issues pending before the Supreme Court, the Senate has a responsibility to fill vacancies as soon as possible," Reid said in a statement. "It would be unprecedented in recent history for the Supreme Court to go a year with a vacant seat. Failing to fill this vacancy would be a shameful abdication of one of the Senate's most essential Constitutional responsibilities." 
 
 Major presence on high court 
 
 Appointed to the court in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan, Scalia was a conservative icon who transformed the court by instilling in it his belief that judges should follow the precise words of the Constitution and not apply a modern interpretation. 
 
 He was the first justice of Italian-American heritage and passed through confirmation with a unanimous vote. 
 
 Scalia changed oral arguments as he became an active participant with tough questions for advocates. 
 
 He will be best known, perhaps, for his landmark decision District of Columbia v. Heller, holding that the Second Amendment protects the right to posses a firearm at home. He was a critic of Roe v. Wade and dissented in last term's same-sex marriage cases. 
 
 He wrote a stinging dissent in the same-sex marriage case Obergefell v. Hodges, calling the decision a "threat to American democracy." 
 
 He believed that marriage should be decided by the people, not the courts. 
 
 He was also concerned that some members of the bench might determine that the death penalty is unconstitutional. 
 
 Scalia caused a stir as recently as December when he made controversial comments during a hearing about the future of a program at the University of Texas that takes race into consideration as one factor of admissions. 
 
 Scalia pushed a point that had been made in some friend of the court briefs filed in the case. It concerns a theory called "mismatch" popularized by authors Stuart Taylor Jr. and Richard Sander that suggests affirmative action programs don't always benefit minorities. 
 
 Although Roberts had mentioned the theory in a different case in 2013, Scalia's language was blunt. 
 
 "There are those who contend that it does not benefit African-Americans to get them into the University of Texas, where they do not do well, as opposed to having them go to a less-advanced school, a slower-track school where they do well," he said. 
 
 "One of the briefs pointed out that most of the black scientists in this country don't come from schools like the University of Texas," he said. 
 
 This term was slated to be every bit as blockbuster as last term. The court is considering a major challenge to public sector unions, a race-conscious admissions plan at the University of Texas, a big abortion case, voting rights, the contraceptive mandate and a challenge to Obama's immigration actions. 
 
 Although in some of the cases Scalia probably indicated to his colleagues in conference which way he was going to vote, those preliminary votes aren't binding and are now void. 
 
 "The entire tenor of this term has now changed," said Stephen Vladeck, a CNN contributor and a law professor at American University Washington College Law. "The court can try to go ahead, but on cases where they are split 4-4, their only options are to leave the lower court decision intact or to hold the case over until Justice Scalia's replacement is confirmed." 
 
 If the Supreme Court is equally divided in a case, ruling 4-4, it means the lower court opinion stands and there is no precedent set by the high court. 
 
 Conservative in thought, not in personality 
 
 The jaunty jurist was able to light up, or ignite, a room with his often brash demeanor and wicked sense of humor, grounded always in a profound respect for American law and its constitutional traditions. 
 
 "What can I say," was a favorite phrase of the man colleagues knew as "Nino." 
 
 As it turned out, quite a lot. 
 
 "Justice Scalia had an irrepressibly pugnacious personality," said Edward Lazarus, a former Supreme Clerk law clerk who wrote about the experience in "Closed Chambers." 
 
 "And even in his early years of the Court, that came out at oral argument when he was the most aggressive questioner. And behind the scenes, where the memos he would write -- what were called 'Ninograms' -- inside the court had a real galvanizing effect on the debate among the justices." 
 
 A sharp mind combined with a sharp pen allowed Scalia to make his point, both to the pleasure and disappointment of his colleagues and the public. 
 
 "He could be belligerent, he was obviously very candid about he felt about things," said Joan Biskupic, a USA Today reporter who wrote a biography of Scalia. "He loved to call it as he saw it, completely not politically correct. In fact, he prided himself on not being PC on the bench in court." 
 
 His New York and Mediterranean roots -- "I'm an Italian from Queens," he was fond of saying -- helped fashion a love of words and debate, combining street smarts with a well-calculated conservative view of the law and its limits on society. 
 
 "He was very good with audiences that weren't predisposed to like him," said Paul Clement, a former Scalia law clerk. "He was incredibly disarming and charming in his own way." 
 
 Scalia, a Catholic, regularly attended Red Mass before each term. He and his wife had nine children and more than 30 grandchildren. 
 
 His best friend on the bench was Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whom he called his "best buddy" on the court. Last winter, they appeared together in a wide-ranging discussion on constitutional issues. 
 
 "Why don't you call us the odd couple?" Scalia said. 
 
 Political world reacts 
 
 Reaction and condolences quickly poured in from politicians and presidential hopefuls. President George H.W. Bush, who was vice president when Scalia was appointed to the court, called him one of Reagan's "many enduring legacies to the United States." 
 
 "Both his admirers and his detractors agreed that Justice Scalia was one of the sharpest constitutional intellects to ever serve on the bench," Bush said in a statement. "I considered him a personal hero, and Barbara and I were honored to call him a friend. Our heart breaks today for our country, but especially for his wife Maureen and his nine children and extended family. His death is a great loss for us all." 
 
 GOP 2016 front-runner Donald Trump issued his condolences to Scalia's family in a statement but tweeted that his death was a "massive setback" for conservatives. 
 
 "The totally unexpected loss of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is a massive setback for the Conservative movement and our COUNTRY!" Trump tweeted. 
 
 The totally unexpected loss of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is a massive setback for the Conservative movement and our COUNTRY! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 13, 2016 
 
 Vermont senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders also tweeted his condolences to Scalia's family. 
 
 My thoughts and prayers are with Justice Scalia's family and colleagues, who mourn his passing. — Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 13, 2016 
 
 Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who is a member of the Judiciary Committee, echoed McConnell's call for Obama to hold off on selecting a replacement. 
 
 "Justice Scalia was an American hero. We owe it to him, & the Nation, for the Senate to ensure that the next President names his replacement," Cruz tweeted. 
 
 Hillary Clinton said in a statement that she "did not hold Justice Scalia's views, but he was a dedicated public servant who brought energy and passion to the bench." 
 
 But, she added, "The Republicans in the Senate and on the campaign trail who are calling for Justice Scalia's seat to remain vacant dishonor our Constitution. The Senate has a constitutional responsibility here that it cannot abdicate for partisan political reasons." ||||| The entrance to Cibolo Creek Ranch in West Texas, where Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead on February 13, 2016. (Josh Stephen / WFAA) 
 
 MARFA, Texas — United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s heart stopped beating during his sleep, Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara told WFAA on Sunday. 
 
 Guevara officially pronounced him dead at 1:52 p.m. on Saturday. She will be the local official who signs his death certificate. 
 
 Hours earlier, the county judge told WFAA that myocardial infarction — or a heart attack — would likely be the cause of death listed. Guevara later said she would confer with the Justice’s personal physician on what specifically to show as the cause of death. 
 
 Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara was in Alpine when she learned of the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at the Cibolo Creek Ranch in West Texas. Scalia's remains were later moved to El Paso. (WFAA) 
 
 Scalia’s remains were discreetly driven by van overnight to an El Paso funeral home with an escort from a procession of Texas Department of Public Safety Troopers and U.S. Marshals Service vehicles. 
 
 After arriving at 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, the Sunset Funeral Home embalmed Scalia’s remains, according to Chris Lujuan, a funeral home manager. Embalming is required by Texas law before a body can be transported out of state. 
 
 Sunset Funeral Home said it is collecting vital information for Scalia’s death certificate. 
 
 Lujuan said Scalia’s remains would likely begin the journey back to northern Virginia sometime on Monday, though it’s uncertain exactly how the body would be transported. 
 
 Judge Guevara said she was shopping in the neighboring town of Alpine on Saturday afternoon when Presidio County Sheriff Danny Dominguez called her on her mobile phone after lunch. 
 
 “He says, 'Judge, I’m at Cibolo Creek Ranch, and a Supreme Court Justice has just passed away, and I need someone here immediately. Both justices of the peace are out of town at this time,'” Guevara recounted to WFAA. 
 
 #JusticeScalia was found in his room - the "Presidente" suite - at @CiboloRanch about 11a Saturday. Curtains pulled. pic.twitter.com/88XM3DgRCZ — Jason Whitely (@JasonWhitely) February 14, 2016 
 
 “I said, 'Sheriff, what did you say? Which Supreme Court Justice died at Cibolo Creek Ranch?’ And the phone went dead, because our connection was very bad,” she explained. 
 
 Cell phone service is spotty in Far West Texas. There’s no service at the ranch. 
 
 “He called me back and he gave me a few more sentences until it broke up again. And that’s how the conversation went for 20 minutes,” the county judge recalled. 
 
 Guevara said she immediately recognized Scalia’s name as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, and pronounced him dead over the phone at 1:52 p.m. on Saturday. 
 
 A portion of Cibolo Creek Ranch where Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia spent time the night before he was found dead in his room on February 13, 2016. (Matthew Busch/Getty Images) (Photo: 2016 Getty Images) 
 
 She planned to drive to the ranch — about 30 minutes south of Marfa — but returned when a U.S. Marshal told her by phone: “It’s not necessary for you to come, judge. If you’re asking for an autopsy, that’s what we need to clarify.” 
 
 Judge Guevara said she wanted to clarify details of Scalia’s death before deciding whether to order an autopsy. 
 
 “As part of my investigation one of the things I did ask the sheriff and the U.S. Marshal: 'Were there any signs of foul play? And they said, ‘Absolutely not.’ At that time, I still wanted to be careful and asked them if [Scalia’s] physician would call me.” 
 
 The justice’s personal doctor called Guevara at 8 p.m. Saturday night 
 
 “When [the physician] explained [Scalia] had just visited on Wednesday and Thursday, and [the doctor] had done an MRI, then I felt comfortable what I knew was going on with him physically,” she said. 
 
 
 
 
 
 U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia addresses the Legal Services Corporation's 40th anniversary conference luncheon Septemeber 15, 2014 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (Photo: Chip Somodevilla, 2014 Getty Images) 
 
 Guevara said Scalia went to his doctor for a shoulder injury last week, but the justice also suffered from several chronic ailments. 
 
 Judge Guevara said she will fill out the official death certificate to be permanently filed in Presidio County after Sunset Funeral Home collects Scalia’s vital information. 
 
 “After I did my job, yes... I kept playing it over and over in my mind and thought, ‘Oh my God. History is being made in Presidio County,” Guevara told WFAA. “It’s something I’ll never forget.” 
 
 Scalia, 79, was visiting the ranch with a friend from Washington, D.C. It was a relaxation trip to this remote private resort. 
 
 “I just feel that we have lost a great defender of the Constitution, and it’s a big loss for the United States of America,” Guevara added. 
 
 Copyright 2016 WFAA
– Conspiracy theorists, take a deep breath: A Texas judge has officially deemed Antonin Scalia's death a natural one, WFAA reports. Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara says the Supreme Court justice died of a heart attack. Guevara says she heard about Scalia's death from a sheriff, and was planning to travel to the luxury ranch where Scalia died, when a US Marshal called her. "It's not necessary for you to come, judge. If you’re asking for an autopsy, that’s what we need to clarify," the marshal told her, per Guevara. She goes on: "As part of my investigation, one of the things I did ask the sheriff and the US Marshal: 'Were there any signs of foul play?' And they said, ‘Absolutely not.’ At that time, I still wanted to be careful, and asked them if [Scalia’s] physician would call me." Scalia's doctor did call her Saturday night, saying Scalia had a shoulder injury and several chronic health issues. Guevara decided the death was natural and no autopsy would be needed, ABC News reports. Meanwhile, Scalia's body was transported overnight by van—with a procession of US Marshals Service vehicles and Texas Dept. of Public Safety troopers—to Sunset Funeral Home in El Paso. The funeral home manager says Scalia's remains were embalmed, a legal requirement before moving a body out of the state. The leading conspiracy theory was that President Obama himself had Scalia murdered, a notion the New Republic puts down to "some paranoid people on Twitter."