They had her back. She is buried in Oconee Hill Cemetery in Athens, Georgia. However, people who were directly aware of the situation, including many of her AJC colleagues, her friends, her brother, and even Ron Martz who covered the story with her, werent approached by the filmmakers to get a better picture of Kathy Scruggs. Scruggs appeared to have died peacefully in her sleep, wrote Doug Monroe in a 2003 article in Atlanta Magazine. Her friends always believed stress over that story contributed to her failing health. Richard Jewell, a security guard, also discovered the explosives. Also Read:Brittany Kaiser Wiki, Facts About Facebook-Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower. Along with this, Kathy was under the stress of the libel lawsuit for several years. The man, Richard Jewell, went from being hailed a hero to the most hated villain when Kathy Scruggs, a journalist with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, broke the news about Jewell being looked at as the main suspect by the FBI. Jewell sued for libel, settling with some news organizations, but not Kathys, which fought the claims to the end. Obituaries / Obituarios Entertainment and celebrity news, interviews, photos and videos from TODAY The Forester Sisters are an American country music vocal group consisting of sisters Kathy, June, Kim and Christy Forester. In the last year of her life, anguished over the ongoing legal action, Scruggs was on medical leave from the newspaper. The transaction felt peak 2019 yet timeless. She gave the most important information regarding the Olympics Blast case to the FBI officials which helped the FBI team to conclude the case. Paroxetine lower than the lowest calibrator of 0.25 mg/L She felt treated as a pariah in the newsroom and complained that she no longer had a desk., In her heyday, he added, Scruggs was a hard-drinking, tough-talking police reporter who wasnt afraid of anything.. CBSs miniseries Manhunt: Deadly Games is the action-packed follow-up to its predecessor Manhunt: Unabomber. Warner Bros and Olivia Wilde have defended the movie. I find it interesting that during Ms. Wildes extensive research of Kathy, she did not bother to contact me or any of Kathys very close friends, Lewis Scruggs Jr. said. Even still, both Gugino and those who crafted the short-lived series seem intent on giving the character greater depth. She was accurate., The newspapers publisher Roger Kintzel said in that story, nothing was ever found that indicated that what Kathy wrote was not the truth. For the uninitiated, the Centennial Olympic Park bombing on July 27, 1996 was an act of domestic terrorism that could have killed dozens, had it not been for Richard Jewell. She took all this stuff that interacted with each other.. When she went after a story she did what was necessary to get the story, within legal and ethical bounds.. However, after her death, the Journal-Constitution was exonerated of any wrongdoing because the articles in their whole were substantially truthful at the time of publication. Atlanta Councilman proposes refund program for overpaid water bills, Clayton County sets qualifying fee for election to replace Victor Hill, State hellbent on ending hotel placements for foster children, Greenlight Financial slashes one-fifth of its workers, Atlanta City Council could vote on new mayors office of policy Tuesday. According to AJC, Stress over the case contributed to her failing health.. All Obituaries - The J.F. Wilde, 35, attended the Gotham Awards . If you recall this bit of history, Richard Jewell is the security guard who saved lives during the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing. Other than this, not much information is available regarding her education. Someone in Scruggs Rolodex led to the biggest story of her career, but those close to her say it was also her undoing. But the FBIs quest to catch a serial bomber came to vilify him, reads the Netflix blurb with the show. Write the truest sentence that you know. She was so empty.. pic.twitter.com/w7wMTupDz2, HJ (Hank) Ellison (@hjtherealj) December 12, 2019. Jewell himself passed away in 2007. All of the ethyl alcohol may have been produced by the postmortem decomposition process. The word filter was not in her body. Ernest Hemingways words grace a wall in the Athens Academy writing center named in memory of Kathy Scruggs. The coronary arteries exhibited moderate to severe atherosclerosis., Under findings and diagnoses, the following were listed: After her death, the medical examiner was unable to determine whether the overdose of morphine was intentional or accidental. Would love your thoughts, please comment. Of the allegations on screen, Tolley said, That is complete horse (expletive). She has flaws, is extremely complex, and holds a great deal of fascination. Jewell never quite recovered from the media firestorm sparked by an article headed FBI Suspects Heros Guard May Have Planted Bomb, even after being absolved of the crime. However, he was cleared of all suspicions and once again made a hero. Olivia Wilde plays Scruggs, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter who broke the news that the FBI was focusing on Jewell. He called the police and assisted them in evacuating the area before the bomb squad arrived. He is portrayed by name in Richard Jewell by actor David Shae, but no one from the production ever got in touch. She was hospitalized and was briefly unable to move her legs. It was as much a contributor of her death than anything, Lewis Scruggs Jr. said. Similarly, Kathy used to wear shoes of6 inches. In the end, only her dog was at her side when she passed away. How Kathy Scruggs, the Reporter in Manhunt: Deadly Games on Netflix, Died, Please review our privacy policy here: https://heavy.com/privacy-policy/, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. Kathy, Nancy, and Lewis Sr. are survived by Lewis Jr., who continues his fathers legacy in the insurance business, and his wife and kids. Like others who knew her, he bristles at Hollywoods treatment. The last time I saw her was one of the times she came back to visit when she was on leave, said AJC retiree Joey Ledford, one of her former editors. It also started her downward spiral. She was never at peace or at rest with this story. Kathy Scruggs died September 2, 2001, age 42, in Cherokee County, Georgia. In the event that they had, it might have wrecked their vision of what they wanted the story to be. Unfortunately, Kathy Scruggs passed away on September 2, 2001, at the age of 42 because of a drug overdose. Lewis Scruggs added, Her choice of boyfriends was not great. My mother would go over there. View Kathy Scruggs results including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. There are no scenes of romance. She wasnt on the line anymore.. She died very tragically. In addition, as of the GBI medical examiner, the examination team was unable to identify whether the overdose was intentional or accidental. A guy at the bar with a beard and bowtie heard the odd request and handed over a business card, explaining that he represents the label. The Clint Eastwood directorial ventureRichard Jewellis set to release on December 13, 2019, and its already stirring a debateparticularly for its portrayal of journalist Kathy Scruggs by Olivia Wilde. Kathy Scruggs was an American journalist who was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. His tenure as an officer at a small, private college in north Georgia ended after repeated clashes with the administration. She was so, so alive.. According to Doug Monroe.com, The stress of the libel lawsuit took a terrible toll on Scruggs over the years. Hollywood's version of Scruggs appears in "Richard Jewell," coming out Dec. 13. Scruggs former colleague said that she was ordered to reveal her sources for the FBI story or face jail time. By: Caroline John - Published: December 11, 2019 at 4:57 am, Olivia Wilde attends 2019 IFP Gotham Awards on December 2, 2019 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. The coroners report shows that life caught up with Scruggs in the end, although it was never clear whether she purposely took her own life. She was, like most people, a complex person, who was also highly regarded for her tenaciousness when it came to stories and her charisma. Whats the truest sentence about Kathy Scruggs? In the 1990s, Scruggs was known for her solid reporting, her tight relationship with local law enforcement, and also her hard-partying ways, something that was exacerbated after she set off the media firestorm directed at Jewell. It was just hard living," her brother told the AJC. Kathy Scruggs was born on September 26, 1958 and died September 2, 2001, age 42, in Cherokee County, Georgia. Kathy Scruggs, a journalist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was the first to publish that the FBI was treating Jewell as a suspect and not a hero. Kathy Scruggs Wiki: Kathleen "Kathy" Scruggs was a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution who broke the story that the FBI was investigating security guard Richard Jewell as a possible suspect in the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics bombing. That. "The Suspect," a recently published nonfiction book about the 1996 bombing, is unsparing but not unfair. Valerie Lego Leaving 13 On Your Side: Where Is the Health Reporter Going? I loved Kathy, but she was crazy.. At first, Jewell was heralded as a hero for his role in thwarting the attack and saving many lives. Jewell wasnt the bomber. Kathy Scruggs was an American journalist, based in Atlanta, Georgia, best known for her role in the case of hero Richard Jewell. It was just hard living, her brother said. Jewell died in 2007 of heart failure from complications of diabetes. ", https://web.archive.org/web/20210118151905/https://thecinemaholic.com/who-was-kathy-scruggs-how-did-she-die/, "The sad story of a hero destroyed by others ambitions", https://web.archive.org/web/20201027035222/http://www.leecountycourier.net/about_people/the-sad-story-of-a-hero-destroyed-by-others-ambitions/article_a5ca4648-653c-11ea-a49a-cb7c4702803a.html, "Richard Jewell: Kathy Scruggs Roommate, Family Angered by Journalists Portrayal", https://web.archive.org/web/20210302153029/https://variety.com/2019/film/news/richard-jewell-kathy-scruggs-roommate-journalist-portrayal-1203435902/, "Richard Jewell Controversy: Olivia Wilde Calls Out Double Standard Of Sexism", https://web.archive.org/web/20210125221716/https://deadline.com/2019/12/olivia-wilde-responds-to-richard-jewell-kathy-scruggs-controversy-1202799205/, "Richard Jewell film under fire for depiction of journalist Kathy Scruggs", https://web.archive.org/web/20211008065940/https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/10/entertainment/kathy-scruggs-richard-jewell-film-trnd/index.html, "Richard Jewell's lawyer agrees the movie smeared Atlanta newspaper reporter", https://web.archive.org/web/20210303233650/https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/olivia-wilde-says-she-doesn-t-believe-richard-jewell-journalist-n1101126, "The True Story Behind the Movie Richard Jewell", https://web.archive.org/web/20210125053410/https://time.com/5748926/richard-jewell-movie-true-story/, http://en.wikialpha.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Kathy_Scruggs&oldid=228047, broke the story that the FBI suspected Richard Jewell was a bomber, not a hero. It was Scruggs who first publicly. She felt confident that that would be proven in court.. toxicological testing of chest fluid revealed a potentially lethal level of morphine. That article headlined FBI Suspects Hero Guard May Have Planted Bomb set off a media firestorm around Jewell from which he never really recovered, even after being cleared of the crime. The word filter was not in her body. Likewise, her mother Nancy was a charitable and social force in Athens before her death in 2015. A colostomy site was present on the body. Kathy was just luminous, Parke said. She was born to her father Lewis Bubber Scruggs Sr. and her mother Nancy Bentley Scruggs. According to Coram, all the cops loved Kathy and nobody ever said anything negative about her, even in a drunken state. In an interview with the Journal-Constitution, longtime friend Lisa Griffin revealed that she had a phone conversation with Scruggs just before her death. The court should not have ruled in her newspapers favor. Theres now no doubt that she was unmarried at her passing. As U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia at the time, Alexander was closely involved with the investigation. Instead of following in her parents and brothers footsteps and enrolling at UGA, she chose Queens University (formerly Queens College) in Charlotte, North Carolina. [2][3][4][5][6][7] While commentators agree Scruggs was a beautiful woman, with a strong personality, her defenders assert media portrayals of her have obscured her genuine professionalism and dedication, with an undue focus on her lovelife. No identified traumatic injuries. In the last year of her life, Scruggs was on medical leave from the publication. The Cherokee County Coroners office provided Heavy.com with the official report of the Division of Forensic Science, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, into the autopsy and death of Kathleen Scruggs. This page was last modified on 19 October 2021, at 15:57. 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.. Start where you are. 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. What happened to the real Kathy Scruggs? I thought of stories Parke and Kiss each told me about what happened after Scruggs funeral. Side by side, she was also worried and under stress from financial problems as her medical bills mounted. However, it has never been made public what their relationship status is. He passed away in 2009, eight years after Kathy died in 2001. Clint Eastwood and the team made the movie entitled Richard Jewell. An injury early in her career left her with chronic back pain for which she took prescribed pain relievers. Only Scruggs dog, Sadie, was with her when she died. The newsroom she once filled with sometimes manic energy and a sailors vocabulary now houses city offices, the AJC having relocated from downtown Atlanta. After his acquittal, Jewell filed libel suits against all the media outlets involved, including the AJC. Scruggs recalled a visit to his uncle's home at age six to hear a blind banjo player named Mack Woolbright, who played a finger-picking style and had recorded for Columbia Records. One person was killed and over a hundred injured when the bomb went off 13 minutes after the area had been evacuated. Scruggs worked at two other publications before she spent most of her career at the The Atlanta Journal Constitution, on its Police beat.[8]. Kathy was a proud member of the Apache Bells at Tyler Junior College where she earned her associate. Kathy Scruggs was an American journalist who was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Its obvious to me they did not go to any great lengths to find out what the real characters were like.. Kathy Scruggs was popular for her solid reporting, her tight relationship with local law enforcement, and also her hard-partying ways, something that was exacerbated after she set off the media firestorm directed at Jewell in the 1990s. Kathleen Scruggs died as a result of acute morphine toxicity, the report says. However, she accused her of giving sex in exchange for knowledge concerning the failure of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Salt Lake City, U.S.A.. Kathy Scruggs died of a morphine overdose in 2001. AJC slammed the film in a piece published on November 26, 2019. In addition, Katy had dark brown hair and eyes of the same color. Scruggs was born in Athens, Georgia. Jewell had been a hero, all along. She was prescribed pain-relieving medication for the backache, but she suffered from more complications later in life. 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