Still standing by her man, Richard Scrushy's wife insinuates Satanic conspiracy in prosecution of former HealthSouth CEO
On Thursday, the former Florida Junior Miss runner-up-turned-entrepreneur-turned televangelist who had stood by Scrushy for so many years as he weathered indictments and criminal trials stood by him yet again in Montgomery as the disgraced businessman sought the U.S. government's help in clearing his name in his 2006 federal conviction on bribery and extortion charges.
Richard and Leslie Scrushy were married on June 7, 1997 in a lavish wedding at the former estate of British playwright Noel Coward in Jamaica. It was Scrushy's third marriage, not a year after divorcing his second wife, Karon Brooks. In press reports at the time, guests included Martha Stewart, who reportedly helped plan the wedding, as well as singer Emmylou Harris, who stopped by and sang during the reception.
Over the years, between state and federal trials, the Scrushys went through a lot. In the midst of Richard Scrushy's first trial in Birmingham, he and his wife began hosting 'Viewpoint with Richard and Leslie Scrushy,' a half-hour Christian talk show on local television. As the daughter of a Methodist minister, Leslie Scrushy knew how to wax poetic about God and often hosted the show herself when her husband was in court or awaiting trial.
More than that, Leslie was Scrushy's rock.
'Leslie Scrushy reviewed FBI statements, questioned strategy and offered insight into how the jury viewed testimony,' reporter Janet Guyon wrote in a profile of her in The Washington Post in 2006. 'She led prayers before each day in court and dished the dirt on witnesses during recesses.'
After Richard Scrushy's conviction in 2006, the wealth that he and Leslie had enjoyed for years was slowly stripped away, from their vacation homes to their boats. According to The Birmingham News, the couple handed over between $10 million to $12 million to HealthSouth to disprove claims that Leslie was hiding her husband's money. This included Mrs. Scrushy being forced to give up $3 million worth of jewelry, as well as $2.3 million in cash and investments.
Nevertheless, she continued to keep the faith.
'God is just as good today as he was a year ago yesterday,' Leslie told The Birmingham News following her husband's conviction. 'And he works all things together for good. And so we'll see as time unfolds what good comes out of this day for us.'
As Richard Scrushy served his time in a Texas federal prison, Leslie would visit him every weekend she could for five years, trekking 1,200 miles roundtrip each time before eventually moving the family to Texas to be closer to him.
During the press conference Thursday, Scrushy looked behind him to Leslie and two of their children, Gracie Beth and Jaden, thanking them for their support.
'I don't know, Leslie, I don't want to ask you to say anything unless you want to, baby,' Scrushy said to Leslie.
Initially, Leslie Scrushy shied away from the microphones pointed at her husband. However, within a few minutes, she slowly made her way next to her beleaguered husband to offer her perspective– a spiritual one– on what the last 20 years had done to her family.
However, rather than talk about losing their once-luxurious life, Leslie addressed another aspect of what bothered her about her husband's trial, one that insinuated more Biblical evil on the part of the prosecutors than corruption.
'On the day that he was arraigned here and they read the charges, he was charged with Statute 666, so that was very clear to me where this attack was coming from,' she said.
Specifically, the statute deals with theft and bribery concerning programs that receive federal funds, but that's not what Scrushy was talking about. During her comments, she emphasized a tie to her husband's case and '666,' known as 'the mark of the beast' in the Bible that signifies the Antichrist.
Scrushy didn't stop there.
'And then, when the prosecutors rested their case, they rested their case on June 6 of 2006. 666,' she said.
She also drew a Biblical connection with the names of three of the people at the center of her husband's case: U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller, U.S. Attorney Louis V. Franklin Sr. and Assistant U.S. Attorney. Stephen P. Feaga.
'From my perspective, it was a conspiracy that required Franklin, Feaga and Fuller all to accomplish,' she said. 'If you look at their names, they all start with the letter 'F,' which is the sixth letter of the alphabet, so part of how I made it through was to continue to pray to God, to thank him for all of the blessings that we see.'
She said that while going through her husband's whole ordeal was difficult, she was thankful in her faith that led to a better life.
'Was it hard? Yes. Were there so many gut punches? Yes. Did we feel abandoned? Yes. Was it horrific at so many points and turns? Yes, but I am so thankful to my savior, to the father in heaven for getting us through this day and that our children are still doing well and thriving.'
With that, Leslie Scrushy stepped back to be with her children.
'Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Leslie,' Richard Scrushy said.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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