The Olympic Park Bombing Part 2 | Kent Alexander on Justice and Richard Jewell
Zone 7 with Sheryl McCollum
iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline
4.4 • 696 Ratings
🗓️ 3 September 2025
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In Part 2 of the Olympic Park bombing series, Sheryl McCollum talks with Kent Alexander, who served as U.S. Attorney during the investigation. Alexander recalls the tense hours after the blast, the FBI and media’s rush to label Richard Jewell a suspect, and the non-target letter that cleared him. He also explains how Eric Rudolph became the focus, what investigators learned from the case, and how his book The Suspect grew into Clint Eastwood’s film Richard Jewell.
Kent Alexander served as U.S. Attorney for Northern District of Georgia during the Olympic Park bombing investigation. He is the co-author of The Suspect, the book that became the basis for Clint Eastwood’s film Richard Jewell.
To learn more about Kent Alexander, visit The Suspect
Highlights:
- (0:00) Sheryl introduces guest Kent Alexander, former U.S. Attorney during the Olympic Park bombing
- (2:45) The 911 call and Alexander’s first moments of the investigation
- (5:30) Securing evidence and rebuilding the bomb
- (8:15) Remembering victims Alice Hawthorne and Melih Uzunyol
- (9:15) Media and FBI rush to judgment against Richard Jewell
- (12:30) The non-target letter that cleared Richard Jewell
- (17:30) Eric Rudolph emerges as the true bomber
- (22:00) Alexander start writing The Suspect, documenting the case
- (25:15) Understanding Eric Rudolph’s motives and methods
- (30:00) Sheryl recall firsthand stories of victims and media exposure
- (33:15) How The Suspect became the film Richard Jewell
- (37:00) “He was a hero. What he did saved a lot of lives.” - Kent Alexander on Richard Jewell
Enjoying Zone 7? Leave a rating and review. Your feedback helps others find the show and supports our mission to educate and investigate.
---
Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award-winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnline, forensic and crime scene expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and co-author of the textbook Cold Case: Pathways to Justice. She is the founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a national collaboration that advances techniques for solving cold cases and assists families and law enforcement with unsolved homicides, missing persons, and kidnappings.
Social Links:
- Email: [email protected]
- Twitter: @ColdCaseTips
- Facebook: @sheryl.mccollum
- Instagram: @officialzone7podcast
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is an IHeart podcast. |
| 0:12.0 | Kent Alexander was the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. |
| 0:18.1 | He has been the General Counsel for Emory University. He was a partner with King and Spalden. |
| 0:25.6 | He also co-authored a book called The Suspect, an Olympic Park bombing, the FBI, the media, |
| 0:35.6 | and Richard Jewell, the man in the middle. |
| 0:39.3 | And that was later made into a Clint Eastwood movie called Richard Jewell. |
| 0:45.3 | Now Ken Alexander and I, we know each other. |
| 0:49.3 | He was in charge of a federal task force that I was involved in |
| 0:53.3 | called Operation Weedin Seed. |
| 0:56.0 | And I just have to tell y'all, he is the most ethical, kind, brilliant, and solid leaders I think I have ever worked with |
| 1:07.0 | and had the honor of knowing. So y'all please help me welcome Kent Alexander to Zone 7. |
| 1:16.0 | And thank you, Cheryl. |
| 1:17.0 | You're too kind. |
| 1:18.0 | Well, I just want to start on a personal note, too, if I can. |
| 1:21.6 | I was so sorry to hear about you losing your dad. |
| 1:26.1 | And, you know, some of the things that I was reading, oh, Miles Alexander. |
| 1:31.7 | I mean, the accolades were just overwhelming. |
| 1:36.1 | I mean, he was not only, you know, a legal genius. |
| 1:40.5 | He was just a good man. |
| 1:42.7 | Oh, thanks so much, Cheryl. |
| 1:43.8 | He was awesome. |
| 1:45.1 | Just very special and amazing life lived. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.