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"It would be both macabre and downright hateful to suggest that Michael Hastings&amp;#039;s death is anything less than a tragedy. At the time, however, conspiracy theorists went all in to say that Hastings&amp;#039;s fiery crash into a tree at 4:00 a.m. on June 18 was a hit job. That the Rolling Stone reporter known for taking down General Stanley McChrystal was being stalked. Or worse, that the FBI or other dark forces sabotaged his Mercedes. Even car writers joined the fray, suggesting that Benzes simply didn&amp;#039;t catch fire or eject their engines on impact with immovable objects. We countered with our own examination of what happens during a high-speed car wreck, which is neither good nor pretty. You can&amp;#039;t drive directly into a tree at a high speed and expect to walk away. It doesn&amp;#039;t work that way. Now, the coroner has weighed in, and the conclusion is more sad than mysterious. The report says that Michael Hastings died of &amp;quot;massive blunt-force trauma,&amp;quot; likely within seconds of impact with the tree. The full report, available here, details the list of injuries sustained, including extensive damage to his heart and liver. Further investigation by the police, interviewing an undisclosed family member or friend, revealed that Hastings had drug-abuse issues in his past, including a Ritalin addiction. A toxicology screening found traces of methamphetamine and marijuana in his system, and while the coroner believes Hastings wasn&amp;#039;t intoxicated at the time of his accident, this unidentified relative says that Hastings had passed out earlier in the evening. None of which makes it clear why Hastings would drive his car at high speed down Melrose Avenue in the wee hours of the morning. What we do know is that the police don&amp;#039;t suspect foul play. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/news/a5192/go-news-michael-hastings-coroners-report-released/>