Body of Suspect in Scripps Case Is Discovered

The husband of slain newspaper heiress Anne Scripps Douglas, who relatives believed had fled after being accused of killing his wife, has been found dead, authorities said Thursday.

A railroad employee found the body of Scott Douglas, 39, on the banks of the Hudson River in the Bronx.

His identity was confirmed through dental records by the New York Medical Examiner’s Office, a spokeswoman said. She said Douglas died of drowning and injuries received when he hit the water. The death has been ruled a suicide.

Douglas had been charged with bludgeoning his wife to death on New Year’s Eve. His car was found later idling on the Tappen Zee Bridge, which crosses the Hudson in Westchester County, north of New York City, where the two lived. The bridge is about 12 miles north of where the body was found.

Scripps family members repeatedly alleged that Scott Douglas was alive and that leaving the car on the bridge was a ruse.

Anne Scripps Douglas, 47, was the great-great granddaughter of James Edmund Scripps, who founded the Detroit News in 1873, and was part of the family that controls the Scripps-Howard newspaper fortune.

“We’re just relieved he was found. We don’t have to worry he will come after us,” Alexandra Morell, Scripps Douglas’ daughter by a previous marriage, said at a news conference.

“The nightmare is over,” added sister, Anne, 22.

Scripps Douglas had obtained an order of protection against her husband on Dec. 6, 1993, although the couple continued to live together in their Bronxville house.

Police came to the house three times after the protection order was issued to break up disputes, authorities said.