Olympics bombing figure Richard Jewell dies

updated 2:36 p.m. ET Aug. 30, 2007

ATLANTA - Security guard Richard Jewell was initially hailed as a hero for spotting a suspicious backpack and moving people out of harm’s way just before a bomb exploded, killing one and injuring 111 others. But within days, he was named as a suspect in the blast.

Though eventually cleared in the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing, Jewell, who was found dead Wednesday at 44, never recovered from the shame of being wrongly linked to the bombing in the news media. Finally, a year ago, he was again hailed as a hero.

Gov. Sonny Perdue commended Jewell at a bombing anniversary event. “This is what I think is the right thing to do,” Perdue declared as he handed a certificate to Jewell.

Jewell said: “I never expected this day to ever happen. I’m just glad that it did.”

It was one of his last good days. Jewell, who had diabetes and kidney problems and was recently on dialysis, was found dead in his west Georgia home.

An autopsy Thursday showed Jewell had severe heart disease and essentially had a heart attack, Dr. Kris Sperry said. Jewell’s diabetes contributed to the heart problems, Sperry said. He said toxicology tests would also be done because of the notoriety of the case.

Jewell's life was dissected
After the Olympics, Jewell worked in various law enforcement jobs, including as a police officer in Pendergrass, Ga., where his partner was fatally shot in 2004 during the pursuit of a suspect.

As recently as last year, Jewell was working as a sheriff’s deputy in west Georgia. He also gave speeches to college journalism classes about his experience.

For two days after the July 27, 1996, bombing, Jewell was hailed as a hero for shepherding people away from the suspicious backpack.

But on the third day, an unattributed report in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution described him as “the focus” of the investigation.

Other media, to varying degrees, also linked Jewell to the investigation and portrayed him as a loser and law-enforcement wannabe who may have planted the bomb so he would look like a hero when he discovered it later.

The AP, citing an anonymous federal law enforcement source, said after the Journal-Constitution report that Jewell was “a focus” of investigators, but that others had “not yet been ruled out as potential suspects.”

Reporters camped outside Jewell’s mother’s apartment in the Atlanta area, and his life was dissected for weeks by the media. He was never arrested or charged, although he was questioned and was a subject of search warrants.

U.S. apologizes to Jewell
Eighty-eight days after the initial news report, U.S. Attorney Kent Alexander issued a statement saying Jewell “is not a target” of the bombing investigation and that the “unusual and intense publicity” surrounding him was “neither designed nor desired by the FBI, and in fact interfered with the investigation.”

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

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.”

Eventually, 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.

Rudolph was captured after spending five years hiding out in the mountains of western North Carolina. He pleaded guilty to all four bombings in 2005 and is serving life in prison.

MORE FROM LIFE

Life Section Front

Weakening Ida drenches Gulf Coast Dropout, 21, wins $8.55 million poker event Suicides raise worries about recession’s real cost Recession’s good news: Burglaries fall Trucker dies as rig plunges off S.F. bridge Philly transit system running as strike ends Utah girl’s pierced nose brings suspension Jobless: 10 percent is tougher than it used to be Life Section Front   Add Life headlines to your news reader: