Thompson killed himself while on the phone

The widow of writer Hunter S Thompson said he killed himself while they were talking on the phone.

Thompson had phoned her to return home so they could work together on his weekly magazine column. But instead of saying goodbye, she said he set the phone down and shot himself.

“He set the receiver down … and I heard the clicking of the gun,” said Anita Thompson, aged 32.

Hunter Thompson, famous for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Gonzo Journalism, shot himself in the head in the kitchen of his Colorado home on Sunday. He was 67.

His son, daughter-in-law and six-year-old grandson were in the house when he committed suicide.

Mrs Thompson said her husband had discussed killing himself in recent months and had been issuing verbal and written directives about what he wanted done with his body and his unpublished works. He wanted his ashes to be shot out of a cannon.