Shotgun discovered near body of former Clinton aide Mark Middleton: report
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A shotgun was discovered near the body of the former Clinton aide with links to Jeffrey Epstein who died by suicide last year — despite initial reports to the contrary, officials said this week.
A new set of documents obtained by the Daily Mail states that a Stoeger 12-gauge coach shotgun was 30 feet from the body of Mark Middleton when he was found dead on Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Arkansas, on May 7, 2022.
Based on an initial report released yesterday, the outlet previously claimed there was no weapon at the scene.
The additional papers, written by Sgt. Keenan Carter, also detail the lengths Middleton, 59, went to to ensure his suicide attempt was successful by standing on a bench and tying an electrical cord around his neck before finally shooting himself in the chest.
“It is … believed that Mr. Middleton pulled the trigger on the firearm casing [sic] it to discharge and strike him in the chest and then he fell from the bench causing the extension cord to become tight cutting off his breathing,” the report reads.
Just moments before his death, the HVAC businessman — who served as a special adviser to President Bill Clinton and assistant to chief of staff Thomas F. “Mack” McLarty in the early 1990s — reportedly texted his wife, Rhea, that he found “the perfect place for a nap in the sun.”
“You are a great Mom and wife babe,” he allegedly wrote to Rhea, with whom he shares two young adult daughters.
“Please be happy today and get some sun. It will make you feel better. I love you.”
He concluded the message with a heart emoji.
Middleton’s body was discovered that afternoon, when ranch employee Ian Peters noticed that his SUV had been parked for several hours.
According to the reports seen by the Daily Mail, the deputies found a gun case and three rounds of buckshot in Middleton’s car before they came upon the body.
“I went into a nearby trail to the south, then heard my colleague … calling for help,” Peters said of the gruesome discovery.
“I ran towards her, and could see the officers moving towards where she was — and she was pointing towards the overlook … asking, ‘Is that a human? Is that a body?’”
Carter’s report states that officers determined that the gun was flung away from Middleton’s body due to the recoil and angle off the ground.
“This officer didn’t find any evidence to indicate that there was anyone else present with Mr. Middleton at this scene or any evidence that there was any type of struggle and or foul play,” Carter wrote.
Based on the lack of blood in Middleton’s body, the sergeant continued, the father of two likely died within seconds.
The report also contains notes from coroner Theodore Brown, who states that Middleton had a history of depression, and officially classified the death as a suicide.
The Daily Mail’s initial claims that Middleton’s death was self-inflicted despite there being no weapon at the scene immediately ignited suspicion related to the far-right “Clinton Body Count” conspiracy theory.
The far-fetched idea that Middleton was targeted by the Clintons was amplified by his ties to pedophile Epstein: Before he left politics in 1995, Middleton signed the sex fiend into the White House seven out of the 17 times he visited the residence, the Daily Mail said.
He also reportedly rode on Epstein’s infamous “Lolita Express” jet.
Middleton’s executive access was curtailed, however, when a 1996 investigation found that he abused his high-flying contacts to position himself as an “international dealmaker.”
Despite a dearth of evidence, self-professed Clinton truthers have also pounced on similar deaths involving Clinton associates, including the 1993 suicide of deputy White House counsel Vince Foster and Epstein’s own hanging death while awaiting trial in 2019.
The flow of documents related to Middleton’s death comes after his family petitioned to keep details of the event sealed, citing concerns that the grisly images from the scene would become public.
In June 2022, the Arkansas Times reported, Circuit Judge Alice Gray determined that while the visual content was to remain sealed, the report would be available under the Freedom of Information Act.
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