There is no certainty as to the cause or manner of Azemmouri's death, and likely never will be. Virtually all stories of his death are based on legend or speculation. Some historians suggest that Azemmouri was killed because the Zuni did not believe Azemmouri's story that he represented a party of white people who were following him. Others speculate that he was killed for demanding turquoise and women. Roberts and Roberts wrote that others suggest that since Estevan, who was black and wore owl feathers and carried a medicine-man's gourd", the Zuni may have determined that he was pretending to be a medicine man, which was punishable by death. Others opine that may have looked like an evil sorcerer who existed in the Zuni religion, the "Chaikwana", usually represented by a black kachina." Juan Francisco Maura suggested in 2002 that the Zunis did not kill Azemmouri, and that he and friends among the Indians faked his death so he could gain freedom from slavery. Some folklore legends say that the Kachina figure, "Chakwaina," is based on Azemmouri.