The main idea of the September 1996 New York Times story is that Poe may have died of rabies.
The entire story tells of how we are mistaken when we think that Poe died drunk in a gutter wearing somebody else's clothes. Whereas it is true that he was wearing another man's clothes (having being robbed of his own), the first part is not true - according to Dr. Benitez, Poe had rabies and died in a hospital.
