Sorry, I never use this account. I don’t really know about the reception of his death at the time, I was speaking in the present tense for a reason. Perhaps no official investigation by the state was conducted, but people have looked into the circumstances since and it being an accident is today certainly one of the most prominent theories outside of the pop culture “bury your gays” story, which may well have spawned from an incorrect ruling made at the time but generally is not well-regarded now because, as you note, it’s ridiculous and there’s just not much evidence for it.