Killer Had Stalked Doctor For Years
By Sue McClure, Staff Writer
Originally published by The Tennessean, November 3, 2004
COLUMBIA, Tenn. — As residents here grapple with a shocking murder-suicide that occurred in a Belk department store parking lot Monday night, two very different portraits are emerging of the victim and her assailant.
Dr. Heather Elizabeth Bazzel, a promising young doctor who often used her own money to buy medicine for patients who couldn't afford it, charmed everyone with her wit and friendliness, friends said.
Her vivaciousness also attracted a quiet, soft-spoken former police officer with a history of stalking women.
At 5:37 p.m. Monday, Miles Scribner, 54, of Indian Camp Springs Road, approached Bazzel, 36, in the parking lot.
An argument ensued, probably because Bazzel had a court order of protection against Scribner, and he was violating it by speaking to her, according to Maury County Chief Deputy Ashley Brown.
Scribner pulled out a .38-caliber handgun and shot Bazzel several times, then turned the gun on himself. He died on the scene. Bazzel was taken by emergency medical helicopter to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she died a short time later.
''Originally, he was a patient of hers,'' Brown said, ''but once he got obsessed with her, she was terribly frightened of him and got the order of protection.
''She didn't carry a gun, even though I had recommended it,'' Brown said. ''She was just too kind and good to do that.''
Instead, Bazzel turned to the courts, filing a criminal stalking case and a civil action to have Scribner involuntarily committed to a mental hospital, according to Columbia attorney John Colley, the court-appointed attorney for Scribner.
''He was taken to Nashville for a mental evaluation. Then the Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute sent him back to jail after three days, saying he had no problems that couldn't be controlled with medication,'' Colley said.
In all, Scribner spent three months in jail and was released April 14.
That's when the stalking of Bazzel began again.
''About a month ago, he put some flowers and a note on her car,'' Brown said. ''It wasn't a threatening note; it was a note of affection.
''We sent that evidence to the crime lab, and the results haven't come back yet.''
The murder-suicide is reminiscent of another recent tragedy that jolted the Maury County community—the shooting of Freda Elliott and her daughter, Rachel. Freda's ex-husband, Parker Ray Elliott, is awaiting trial for the slayings. Freda Elliott, too, had obtained a court order of protection, but authorities said it didn't stop her ex-husband from breaking down the door of her Culleoka, Tenn., home and terrorizing the family before killing Freda and Rachel.
Scribner's arrest history dates back to 1998, when Columbia police arrested him on charges of possession of marijuana and driving on a suspended license, jail records show. On Sept. 15, 1993, the Maury County Sheriff's Department arrested Scribner on stalking charges involving Bazzel. He made bail but failed to appear in court, so he was arrested again.
''He served time in jail from Jan. 26, 2004, to April 15, 2004, on this stalking case,'' said Sheriff's Department employee Linda Wray. ''When he was released, he was to have no contact with her or her family, and he couldn't have a weapon.''
Scribner's trouble with the law dates back even further—to his time with the Spring Hill Police Department. Scribner served on the Columbia Police Department from 1977 to September 1985. His personnel file shows he quit for ''personal reasons,'' according to Columbia Police Detective Lt. Kenny Brady. In 1986 Scribner joined the six-officer force in Spring Hill, Mayor Ray Williams said.
''He was terminated in the early 1990s for drinking on duty and stalking a woman in town,'' Williams said. ''He even spray-painted 'Miles Loves whatever-her-name-was' on the Port Royal overpass on Saturn Parkway.
''He supposedly received counseling, and he was hired back in 1995, but then we had complaints from a female police officer that he was calling and stalking her.
''He even left a condom on her vehicle.''
After Scribner was fired for the second time, he went to work as a security guard at American Banknote in Columbia. Contacted at the business yesterday, Sharon Cole of the human resources department said the company would have no comment on Scribner's employment there.
Meanwhile, friends of Bazzel were trying to cope yesterday with her violent death. ''She was a very high-energy, very positive person,'' said Edie Sutter, a patient of Bazzel's. ''I always enjoyed my appointments with her because we'd sit and talk.
''She would also buy medicine for patients who didn't have the money for it,'' Sutter said. ''That shows what kind of a person she was.''
Bazzel, who was board-certified in internal medicine, joined the medical staff at Maury Regional Hospital in 1999.
She was active in hospital activities, serving on the medical staff executive committee and as chairwoman of the medicine/pediatric peer review committee in 2003 and 2004.
She received her medical degree from the University of South Alabama in Mobile. Her husband, Judd, is a family practice physician in Columbia. They have no children.
''But she has a farm full of animals,'' said Jennifer Graham, who worked on community charity events with Bazzel. ''She loved her dogs.
''And she was very active in the community,'' Graham said. ''She chaired our benefit ball this year.''
''She would raise money for handicapped children and any and all causes,'' Chief Deputy Brown added. ''And she bought medicine for people out of her own pocket.
''She was a beautiful person inside and outside.''
