richard jewell atlanta journal constitution

An appellate court ruled that her Richard Jewell stories were “substantially true at the time they were published.” According to AJC, “Stress over the case contributed to her failing health.” An appellate court later sided with the newspaper, finding that Scruggs’ stories correctly reported what was known at the time – that, at that time, Jewell was under FBI investigation in the attack. Jewell sued for libel, settling with some news organizations, but not Kathy’s, which fought the claims to the end. When it turned out that Jewell (played on screen by Paul Walter Hauser) was innocent, her reporting and that of the national media were criticized as a rush to judgment. Scruggs “appeared to have died peacefully in her sleep,” wrote Doug Monroe in a 2003 article in Atlanta Magazine.įriends who talked to her old newspaper in an attempt to resuscitate her reputation in the wake of the Eastwood movie said they didn’t think she ever got over the media infamy. “It crushed her like a junebug on the sidewalk.”Īnother friend told AJC: “Her soul was gone. It haunted her until her last breath,” former co-worker Tony Kiss said to her old newspaper for a story about her. “She was never at peace or at rest with this story. In real life, Scruggs died without ever revealing her source. That was Eric Rudolph, an anti-government extremist who led police on a massive manhunt (read about how Rudolph was eventually found here.) Other characters in the movie, like FBI agent Tom Shaw, are fiction, although they draw from real people.

What is clear also, though, is that Scruggs was emotionally damaged from the controversies over her journalism (sadly, the controversies continue, with people who knew her slamming the movie for what they believe is a false portrayal of her.) (You can also read more about Scruggs’ life and background here.) You can see more from the report later in this article. The report concludes: “It is unclear whether the drug overdose leading to the acute morphine toxicity was suicidal or accidental, and thus the manner of death is listed as undetermined.” Findings at autopsy included severe coronary artery atherosclerosis (blockage of blood vessels that supply blood to the heart), which may have contributed to death…no acute traumatic injuries were identified.” All of the ethyl alcohol may have been produced by the postmortem decomposition process. Also present in the chest fluid were paroxetine, mirtazapine, and ethyl alcohol. “…toxicological testing of chest fluid revealed a potentially lethal level of morphine. “Kathleen Scruggs died as a result of acute morphine toxicity,” the report says. Scruggs died of a drug overdose, specifically “acute morphine toxicity.” Contrary to some other news reports, the coroner could not determine whether it was an accidental one or suicide. What was Scruggs’ cause of death? How did she die? In the end, the feisty police reporter was a broken person. The key figures in the movie and real-life saga – the former security guard Jewell and journalist Scruggs – are not around to give their thoughts on it. That sparked a media frenzy around Jewell that lasted for weeks before he was exonerated, and it’s now the subject of a new Clint Eastwood movie. Kathy Scruggs was the Atlanta newspaper reporter who first reported, through a source, that the FBI was investigating hero security guard Richard Jewell in the Atlanta Olympics bombing. “That would be an appalling and misogynistic dismissal of the difficult work she did.Kathy Scruggs cause of death is a sad one. “Nothing in my research suggested she did so, and it was never my intention to suggest she had,” Wilde tweeted. Paul Walter Hauser, who stars in the movie's title role, told WXIA that debate over the depiction 'sorta came out of nowhere,' as the project was in the works for years.Īn AJC reporter was not allowed on the red carpet with other journalists.Īlthough her portrayal of Scruggs suggests otherwise, Wilde tweeted that she doesn’t believe the reporter traded romantic favors for information. Explore Atlanta relieves one of its best/worst moments with “Richard Jewell”Įastwood shrugged off backlash over the portrayal, telling Atlanta station WXIA at this week's premiere at the Rialto Center for the Arts that 'there's only so much you can do' when researching a character based on a real person.

Richard jewell atlanta journal constitution