Heiress' Mom: Judge Let Abusive Hubby Stay


    The mother of murdered newspaper heiress Anne Scripps Douglas
yesterday blasted the judge who allowed her daughter's husband  -  now
suspected in her beating death  -  to stay in the couple's home after
she sought court protection.
    "This could have been prevented," said Anne S. Scripps, 72, of
upstate Loudonville. "My daughter would be alive today if that judge
hadn't let him stay there. I think it's criminal."
    Charges against Douglas' second husband, Scott, were upgraded to
murder yesterday, a day after the 47-year-old mother of three died of
head injuries.
    Scott Douglas, 38, who allegedly bludgeoned his wife New Year's Eve
at the posh Bronxville house she owned, has been missing since early
Jan. 1. His gray 1982 BMW was found idling in the center of the Tappan
Zee Bridge.
    Scripps family lawyer, John Kelly, refused to detail what he said
was "reason to believe" Douglas is alive. But a source familiar with the
investigation told New York Newsday that Douglas had boasted of being
able to disappear at will and made several "suspicious" purchases in the
weeks before the murder.
    Last month, Anne Douglas hired a divorce lawyer and sought an order
of protection against her husband. On Dec. 6, Family Court Judge Ingrid
Braslow barred him from harassing his wife or taking the couple's
3-year-old daughter, Victoria, outside without permission. But she
allowed him to remain in his wife's home. Yesterday, Braslow said she
could not comment because the court record remained confidential.
    A few days later, Anne Douglas called the Westchester Coalition for
Family Justice and told executive vice president Deirdre Akerson she was
terrified of her husband of four years.
    "She was afraid of being beaten.," said Akerson. "She felt she was
definitely in danger. She was concerned about finding a way to get him
out of the house."
    Relatives said Anne Douglas had lived in fear of her housepainter
husband for years and had left  him in 1991, but returned because he
threatened Victoria. Police say the toddler may have witnessed her
mother's brutal beating.
    The family has posted a $25,000 reward for information leading to
Douglas' capture. Anne Douglas is a descendent of James Scripps, founder
of the Detroit News. Neighbors said she stuck close to home, caring for
her garden and lavishing attention on her daughters.
    "She's in heaven. We don't have to worry about that," said her
mother, as Monday's funeral was being discussed.


Copyright 1994, Newsday Inc. 

Michael Moss, Heiress' Mom: Judge Let Abusive Hubby Stay., 01-08-1994, pp 02.