Caroline Scoutt dead in Indiana

Alexis Barker
NLJ Reporter
 
The death of Caroline Scoutt, 66, of Newcastle, a notorious figure in these parts has been confirmed. True-crime author Mark Pinsky, who had been writing a book about her life, said he was suspicious when he first heard of her death. He wasn’t the only one.
Pinsky first questioned the validity of the rumors of Scoutt’s death in an email dated Feb. 19 that he circulated to Weston County Coroner Cynthia Crabtree, former Campbell County Coroner Laura Sundstrom, reporter Alexis Barker with the News Letter Journal and a private investigator who worked with Pinsky in the past. 
“As you may have heard, rumors have been circulating in the Newcastle area that Caroline Scoutt may have died in the past week, possibly in Yreka CA., or Upland, CA.,” Pinsky said in the email. “Scoutt’s daughters are not confirmed, but have indicated to at least one caller that it is true.” 
“Based on what we know, there is also the possibility that she has faked her death,” Pinsky wrote. 
Pinsky later told the News Letter Journal that those suspicions, about whether or not Scoutt’s death were real, were eliminated after Crabtree spoke with the attending physician and coroner in Milan, Indiana, where Scout died on Feb. 18. 
“I think that the initial doubt about whether she had actually died was understandable. Those most familiar with her life and legal entanglements well understand that here is a woman that used as many as seven different names and spellings of those names in her lifetime, gave several different birthdays, may have used several different Social Security numbers and had four marriages that we know of,” Pinsky said. “She had a record of duplicity throughout her life and also a record of evading justice in matters both small and large, from neighborhood boundary disputes to more serious charges like defrauding people and possibly things more serious, like the involvement in the deaths of Brent and Charlotte Springford in Montgomery, Alabama, the prison suicide of their son Brent Jr. who was convicted of their murder and the death under suspicious circumstances of Richard Campbell on her property outside of Newcastle.” 
For all of these reasons, Pinsky said, it is understandable that the people involved in the investigation of her life wondered if she was really dead or had not just run off with the $300,000 she allegedly received for selling her property outside of Newcastle and “vanished into the wind.” 
Pinsky, as well as Crabtree and Sundstrom, were suspicious of the news of Scoutt’s death.  Crabtree, who discovered an obituary for Scoutt, contacted the coroner connected with the death. 
“Based on the sort of detective work of Crabtree, who sent a copy of the death certificate to me and spoke to the attending physician and coroner, I am convinced that she did die,” Pinsky said. 
The death certificate, of which the News Letter Journal has a copy, says Scoutt died on Feb. 18 of natural causes. The death certificate specifically noted that Scoutt had dementia, Lewy body, cranial meningioma, sacral decubitus ulcer and parkinsonism. 
“I am assuming that before too long, those who initially were suspicious of her death will accept the fact that she did die,” Pinsky said. 
The death of Scoutt brings to a close to several cases that have yet to be truly solved, according to Pinsky, and the hope that any of those cases would ever be rightfully solved died along with her. 
“I found myself strangely empty when the news was confirmed and I was to some degree disappointed,” Pinsky said. “Me and others had hope, hopes that justice would be served for at least part of the story. If not for the Springfords’ murder or Richard Campbell, at least for the fraud charges.” 
The charges Pinsky referred to were dropped by former County Attorney William Curley and involved felony fraud charges for $500,000. An investigation into this incident, according to Pinsky, was taking place and there was a potential for future indictments.
Weston County Attorney Alex Berger stated that there were no pending cases at the time of Scoutt’s death but that he could not comment “as to any pending investigations.” 
“That hope died with her,” Pinsky said. 
Despite the mysteries surrounding the life and death of Scoutt, Pinsky said, he will bring to a close his book on Scoutt’s life and her involvement in the deaths and fraud cases of individuals across the country. 
Scoutt’s death leaves many angry, bitter and frustrated, Pinsky said.