Kathy Scruggs Wiki: Kathleen “Kathy” Scruggs was a reporter at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution who broke the report about the FBI was looking into the security officer Richard Jewell as a possible suspect in the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics bombing. The story — with the headline “FBI suspects ‘Hero’ Guard Could Have Planted Bomb” — sparked an uproar in the media over Jewell who did not really recover even after being exonerated.
born Kathleen Bentley Scruggs on September 26 in 1958, she and her brother of 10, Lewis Scruggs Jr. were part of an influential family from Athens, Georgia. They both had a prominent father. parents, Lewis “Bubber” Scruggs Sr., was a World War II veteran who founded Athens Insurers Inc. Athens Insurers Inc. In 1953. Kathy’s father was also a journalist in the University of Georgia. He died in 2009, just eight years after Kathy passed away in 2001 from an overdose of prescription drugs. The late Mrs. Scruggs has passed in Cherokee County, Georgia.
Kathy Scruggs’ mother, Nancy Bentley Scruggs was a philanthropic and social presence in Athens prior to her passing in the year 2015. Kathy, Nancy, and Lewis Sr. are survived by Lewis Jr., who will carry on the legacy of his father in the insurance industry, as well as his wife and children.
Kathy Scruggs was remembered by people who knew her including her family and friends as a wild child with an adventurous and rebellious side. Instead of following her brothers and parents’ steps and enrolling at UGA instead, she chose Queens University (formerly Queens College) located in Charlotte, North Carolina.
In the 90s, Scruggs was known for her solid reportingskills, her close connection with law enforcement agencies in the area and her notorious partying habits which were heightened when she sparked the media firestorm that targeted Jewell.
Kathy Scruggs died of a drug overdose in the year 2001. The coroner at the time stated that it was impossible to determine whether the death was suicide or accidental. However, several of her acquaintances and friends have claimed throughout the years that she did not recover from the events that occurred with Jewell.
“She was never at peace or at peace because of this story. The story haunted her until the end of her life,” her former colleague Tony Kiss told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a feature article from 2019 about her. “It killed her like a Junebug slamming into the street.”
Even though she was facing legal action concerning the article Kathy Scruggs would not reveal her source when she reported that Jewell was considered a suspect. At the time she passed away she was feared to face prison time, but eventually she was cleared by the Journal-Constitution was cleared of any liability, with it being cleared by the Georgia Court of Appeals finding that “the entire article were largely accurate when they were released.”
The dismissal was made many years later, after Kathy Scruggs died. The people she knew believed that the story was a contributing factor to her declining health. Friendship with longtime acquaintance Lisa Griffin told the Journal-Constitution that she had spoken to Scruggs in a phone call shortly before her death.
