Wrongly accused Richard Jewell dies

A lawsuit against the
newspaper that linked him
to the bombing was never
settled.

ATLANTA (AP) — Richard Jewell lived for more than a decade with the shame caused by being wrongly linked to the 1996 Olympic bombing. The former security guard died Wednesday without closure with the newspaper he accused of starting the frenzy.

Jewell, who had diabetes, kidney problems and was on dialysis for several days recently, was found dead in his west Georgia home. He was 44. An autopsy was scheduled for today, though Meriwether County Coroner Johnny Worley said foul play was not suspected.

The Jewell episode led to soul-searching among news organizations about the use of unattributed or anonymously sourced information. His very name became shorthand for a person accused of wrongdoing in the media based on scanty information.

Jewell sued several media companies, including NBC, CNN and the New York Post, and settled for undisclosed amounts. According to his longtime attorney, Lin Wood, Jewell also settled a lawsuit against Piedmont College, a former employer of his. That amount was also confidential.

Lawsuit never settled

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which described Jewell as “the focus” of the investigation in an unattributed report three days after the bombing, never settled a lawsuit Jewell filed against it. Wood said a trial is set for January.

In 1997, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno expressed regret over the leak regarding Jewell. “I’m very sorry it happened,” she told reporters. “I think we owe him an apology.”

The bomber turned out to be anti-government extremist Eric Rudolph, who also planted three other bombs in the Atlanta area and in Birmingham, Ala. Those explosives killed a police officer, maimed a nurse and injured several other people.