Richard Jewell dies

[bgs]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/29/richard.jewell/index.html

One-time Olympic park bombing suspect Richard Jewell dies
a.. Story Highlights
b.. Richard Jewell, 44, has died, his attorney tells CNN

c.. Jewell wrongly suspected of setting off a deadly bomb during 1996
Olympics

d.. Jewell was cleared after 12 weeks of scrutiny

e.. In April, 2005, Eric Robert Rudolph pleaded guilty to the bombing
(CNN) -- Richard Jewell, the security guard wrongly suspected of setting off
a deadly bomb at Atlanta, Georgia's Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996
Olympics, died Wednesday morning, his attorney, Lin Wood, told CNN.

Jewell, 44, died of natural causes at his home in Woodbury, Georgia,
according to Meriwether County Coroner Johnny Worley.

Jewell had been suffering from diabetes and kidney failure since February,
Worley said.

After 12 weeks of scrutiny following the bombing, Jewell was cleared by the
FBI and U.S. Attorney Kent Alexander in an unprecedented government
acknowledgment of wrongful accusation.

"I am not the Olympic park bomber," Jewell told reporters after being
cleared. "I am a man who has lived 88 days afraid of being arrested for a
crime I did not commit."

The FBI, Jewell said, trampled on his rights "in its rush to show the world
it could get its man," while the news media "cared nothing about my feelings
as a human being" in its rush to get a story on the bombing.

Jewell was working as a private security guard in Centennial Olympic Park
about 1 a.m. on July 27 when he identified a suspicious unidentified package
and began moving people away from it. The package turned out to contain the
bomb, which went off, killing one person and wounding more than 100.

He was originally hailed as a hero for moving people away, but he was later
thrust into a different light when the FBI suspected that he had set off the
bomb to give himself an opportunity to be a hero.

For weeks, reporters and camera crews camped outside Jewell's Atlanta
apartment, capturing every move that he -- and the FBI -- made.

He later sued the FBI and several media organizations. CNN and NBC were
among the organizations that settled with him.

In April, 2005, Eric Robert Rudolph pleaded guilty to the bombing. Rudolph
was captured in Murphy, North Carolina, in May 2003 after one of the largest
manhunts in U.S. history.

Rudolph also pleaded guilty to a 1998 bombing at a family planning clinic in
Birmingham, Alabama, that killed a police officer and two 1997 bombings at
an abortion clinic and a gay nightclub in Georgia.

He is serving four consecutive life sentences plus 120 years for the
attacks.

CNN's Marylynn Ryan contributed to this story
--
Scott

[zig zigalo]

bgs wrote:
> http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/29/richard.jewell/index.html
>
> One-time Olympic park bombing suspect Richard Jewell dies

an update to this story: richard jewell has not, in fact died, it was eric
robert rudolph.
i know, i'm retarded....

--
zig zigalo
"...you can't get any older than dead." Ron puts things in perspective
in a.s.b.a-b

[Colin William]

I wonder if the law enforcement people who leaked dubious speculation
about him to the media were ever held accountable to the same level as
would be, say, the person leaking Bonds' grand jury testimony?

I know he eventually received a settlement fromt he government and from
media agencies, but I woner if any individuals were ever held
accountable for what he went through.

Colin

[bgs]

"Colin William" <colint...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:5jm5ch...@mid.individual.net...
:I wonder if the law enforcement people who leaked dubious speculation

I hope so.

--
Scott