Michael Hastings Feared Car Was Tampered with Before Fatal Crash

Only hours before his fatal car accident, journalist Michael Hastings allegedly told a neighbor he thought his car had been tampered with.

Hastings was killed on June 18 when the Mercedes he was driving slammed into a tree in Los Angeles.

There have been many questions about Hastings’ death, and now a new wrinkle appears in an L.A. Weekly interview with Hastings’ neighbor, Jordanna Thigpen. She claims the journalist was worried that his car was being tampered with shortly before his fateful drive.

Thigpen said that Hastings was “scared” and that nothing she could do would console him.

Other reports claim that Hastings had sent friends a panic-filled email expressing his fear of being investigated. Reports suggest that in the email Hastings was also worried about his friends being investigated.

The email said, in part:

Hey [redacted]–the feds are interviewing my ‘close friends and associates,'” reads the email, acquired Friday by KTLA-TV. “Perhaps if the authorities arrive ‘BuzzFeed GQ’, er HQ, may be wise to immediately request legal counsel before any conversations or interviews about our news-gathering practices or related journalism issues.

Also: I’m onto a big story, and need to go off the radat (sic) for a bit.

Hastings died fifteen hours after sending the email.

The Smoking Gun reports that toxicology reports show Hastings had meth and pot in his system when he died.

Some reports suggest that Hastings’ body was cremated against the wishes of his family.