ATLANTA — The attorney for Richard Jewell, who was investigated in the 1996 Olympic bombing and named by a newspaper as a suspect, said the only thing that will ease his client's mind is the conviction of the real bomber.
"The arrest of Eric Rudolph does nothing to change the injustice suffered by Richard Jewell," attorney Lin Wood said Saturday. "It will be interesting now to be able to see the government's evidence against Mr. Rudolph in connection to the Centennial Park bombing."
Jewell declined to comment on the Saturday arrest of Rudolph, who is suspected of planting the park bomb and others at or near two abortion clinics and a gay nightclub.
Jewell was a security guard when the park bomb exploded July 27, 1996, killing one woman and injuring 111 people during the Atlanta Olympics.
He was considered a hero for helping evacuate the park just before the bomb went off, but three days later The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the FBI was investigating him.
Jewell was cleared by the FBI three months later and eventually filed a civil suit against the newspaper that is still pending.
"The portrayal of Richard Jewell as the bomber was so intense," Wood said. "Richard is always remembered as the person who bombed the park and is never remembered as the man who reacted heroically that night to save so many lives."
Wood said Jewell is working as a police officer in an undisclosed Georgia town and added that he is married and "trying to regain privacy."