Richard Jewell Found Dead; Natural Causes Cited

Aug 30, 05:00 AM

Current Headlines: By Larry Copeland

ATLANTA -- Richard Jewell, the former security guard who was briefly a suspect in the 1996 Olympics bombing here and later cleared of wrongdoing, was found dead Wednesday in his home, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and a county coroner.

Jewell, 44, was found dead around 10:30 a.m. by his wife, Dana, who had been unable to reach him by phone, said Meriwether County Coroner Johnny Worley.

"He died of natural causes," Worley said. "He had been at home sick for several months."

Jewell, who lived in Woodbury, had been on medical leave from his job as a Meriwether County sheriff's deputy since February, Worley said. "He had diabetes, and he'd had some toes amputated, and he'd had some kidney problems."

The GBI will perform an autopsy on Thursday, said spokesman John Bankhead. "Nobody suspects foul play," Bankhead said. "It's just to make sure, since he was young."

Jewell was a security guard at Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Summer Olympics. He was initially hailed as a hero after he spied a suspicious backpack that held the bomb. He helped move people out of the area just before the bomb exploded, killing one and injuring 111.

Within three days, though, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution cited unnamed law enforcement sources as saying Jewell was a "focus" of the bombing investigation. Other media outlets also linked Jewell to the bombing. He was questioned by the FBI and was the subject of search warrants, but he was never arrested or charged with a crime.

The FBI later cleared him of any wrongdoing.

In 2005, Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to the Olympics bombing. Rudolph is serving five consecutive life sentences at the ADX Florence supermax federal prison in Colorado for that bombing and others.

After Jewell was exonerated, he sued the Journal-Constitution and other media outlets for libel. Several news organizations settled with him, but the Journal-Constitution did not. The newspaper reported Wednesday that much of Jewell's case was dismissed last year; a claim based on reports about a 911 call is pending trial, it said.

Jewell's attorney, Lin Wood, said he expects the case to continue.

"His legacy should be that of a man who was a hero the night of the Olympic Park bombing," he said.

Last year, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue honored Jewell for his actions in 1996. "I never sought to be a hero," Jewell said then. "I wish I could have done more.

In the last years of his life, Jewell managed to keep any bitterness he might have felt from showing publicly, said Worley, who worked with him on several cases.

"He never talked about the past, never talked about it," Worley said. "In all the years I've known him, it never was mentioned. I never mentioned it, and he never mentioned it.

"He was just a super nice guy," Worley said. "He was very polite to me, polite to the families of the deceased. He would always comfort the family." (c) Copyright 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.