EXCLUSIVE: Shotgun WAS found near the body of Clinton aide linked to Jeffrey Epstein: He texted wife 'found a perfect place for a nap' before blasting his chest and falling from bench with electrical cord tied around his neck

• e-mail

A shotgun WAS found near the body of the Clinton White House aide who killed himself on a ranch in Arkansas, the local sheriff is now saying. 

And more details of how cops now believe Mark Middleton killed himself have been released. 

Papers released earlier by Perry County sheriff Scott Montgomery said deputies who were called to the Heifer Ranch in Perryville, an hour west of Little Rock, after an abandoned BMW SUV was found there specifically said there was no gun in the car.

But now a further set of papers has been released to DailyMail.com that says a weapon – a Stoeger 12-gauge coach gun – was found on the ground 30 feet from Middleton’s body.

In the new papers, Sergeant Keenan Carter gives a detailed explanation of how he believes Middleton – an aide who signed pedophile Jeffrey Epstein into the White House several times during Bill Clinton’s presidency – took great lengths to ensure his suicide bid was successful - after writing a text to his wife saying he had ‘found a perfect place for a nap in the sun.’

A shotgun WAS found near the body of the Clinton White House aide who killed himself on a ranch in Arkansas, the local sheriff is now saying

Like Clinton, Middleton also flew on Epstein's jet, nicknamed the 'Lolita Express'. Middleton was the authorizing figure who admitted Jeffrey Epstein to the White House on seven of the at least 17 times the late pedophile visited

Hours before Middleton's body was found on an Arkansas ranch, he had texted his wife, Rhea, letting her know that he was 'going to rest for a while'

He tied an electrical cord round his neck and then shot himself, so if the blast didn't kill him the wire would when he fell.

In the note to his wife Rhea, Middleton said: ‘Going to rest for a while,’ he added: 'You are a great Mom and wife babe. 

‘Please be happy today and get some sun. It will make you feel better. I love you.’ 

He signed off on the text with a heart emoji. 

Carter said Middleton, 59, then pulled an eight-foot-long bench over to a tree at a point on the ranch overlooking a valley. 

‘He stood on top of the bench and tied one end of the extension cord to a large limb of the tree and the other end around his neck. 

‘It is believed that Mr. Middleton then took the firearm and placed the barrels against his chest and then reached out with his left hand and placed his first finger on the first trigger. 

‘It is then 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.’ 

Carter said in this report that the gun landed so far from Middleton’s body ‘due to the recoil from the discharge and the height and angle of the ground.’ 

A Stoeger 12-gauge coach gun was found on the ground 30 feet from Middleton’s body

‘Please be happy today and get some sun. It will make you feel better. I love you,' Middleton had texted his wife Rhea just before his death 

The married father-of-two, who lived in Little Rock, Arkansas, shot himself at the Heifer Ranch in Perryville

Perry County Sheriff Scott Montgomery said Middleton was discovered on the property  hanging from a tree with a shotgun blast to his chest

Middleton' is not known to have had any connection to the ranch where he killed himself

The autopsy report ruled that Middleton's death was a suicide caused by 'contact shotgun wound of chest and hanging'

‘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.’ 

Middleton’s body was discovered shortly after 1pm on May 7, 2022. But Carter believes he had killed himself more than three hours earlier as the text to his wife was timed at 9.26am. 

He said the relative lack of blood on Middleton’s body indicated that he had died within seconds. 

Coroner Theodore Brown noted that Middleton had a history of depression and ruled his death a suicide. He said all toxicology studies proved negative.

Ian Peters, the operations coordinator at the ranch, said he called the sheriff’s office after noticing that Middleton’s black SUV had been on site for some hours. 

When the deputies discovered an empty gun case and three boxes of buckshot with two rounds missing, he and fellow worker Samantha McElroy started searching the area. 

‘We began to be concerned that this person was lost or something,’ Peters, 33, said in a statement. 

‘I went into a nearby trail to the south, then heard my colleague (Sam McElroy) calling for help. 

‘I ran towards her, and could see the officers moving towards where she was – and she was pointing towards the overlook (approx. 150ft away) asking, “Is that a human? Is that a body?’ 

Middleton was a special advisor to Bill Clinton in the 1990s and signed Jeffrey Epstein into the White House

Officers at the scene said they 'didn’t find any evidence to indicate that there was anyone else present with Mr. Middleton'  or any evidence of 'any type of struggle and or foul play' 

Middleton’s body was discovered shortly after 1pm on May 7, 2022. But Carter believes he had killed himself more than three hours earlier as the text to his wife was timed at 9.26am

Ranch operations coordinator Ian Peters described how he and another worker discovered Middleton's body

Middleton was a special advisor to Bill Clinton in the 1990s and signed Jeffrey Epstein into the White House on seven of the 17 times the late pedophile visited. 

Middleton also flew on Epstein's jet, nicknamed the 'Lolita Express'. More recently he had been working for his family's HVAC business in Little Rock. 

The police report was released to DailyMail.com by the Perry County sheriff's office. 

According to the Arkansas Times, Middleton's family said he was suffering from depression. 

Middleton's life in recent years was a world away from the power he enjoyed in the 1990s. 

White House visitor logs previously reported by DailyMail.com showed that he appears as the authorizing signatory on seven of Epstein's White House visits, most of which were to the West Wing.

In addition to being a special assistant to the President, Middleton was also assistant to the chief of staff, Thomas 'Mack' McLarty. 

Middleton left the White House in February 1995 and was accused of setting himself up as an international deal-maker, exactly the kind of person that would appeal to Epstein. 

In 1996 an investigation by the White House found that Middleton had abused his access to impress business clients and was barred from the executive mansion without senior approval. 

Middleton denied the claims. 

Middleton was a special advisor to Bill Clinton in the 1990s. Pictured: Former President Bill Clinton and Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

The Middleton family did not disclose his cause of death at the time of the announcement 

A number of Clinton's former associates have died over the years in unexpected circumstances, including deputy White House counsel Vince Foster

Vince Foster's 1993 death was ruled a suicide but sparked a slew of conspiracy theories about the involvement of the Clintons

DailyMail.com previously revealed Epstein visited the White House on 14 separate days and stopped by twice in one day on three occasions during Bill Clinton's first term. Middleton admitted him at least seven times 

After Epstein hanged himself while awaiting trial in 2019, Donald Trump retweeted conspiracy theories that Clinton was involved

A number of Clinton's former associates have died over the years in unexpected circumstances, including deputy White House counsel Vince Foster. 

His 1993 death was ruled a suicide but sparked a slew of conspiracy theories about the involvement of the Clintons. 

After Epstein hanged himself while awaiting trial in 2019, Donald Trump retweeted conspiracy theories that Clinton was involved. 

Others whose deaths have been linked to the Clintons without foundation have been Seth Rich, the Democratic National Committee staffer who was murdered in 2016 with no culprit having been found.