Abused Heiress - Anne Scripps Douglas

If Scott expected that he was going to enjoy the life of the idle rich, it didn't happen. Anne refused to buy him a new BMW, she expected him to continue working, and most of all she expected him to carry his own weight. Family members said that didn't happen.

"She paid for everything," said James E. Scripps IV. "He would charge my sister for any kind of job he did in the house. If he was painting houses, what did he do with his money?"

Anne paid the household expenses and the entertainment bills, others said.

"She thought he would share in the cost of the house, but he acted like a gigolo," Anne's friend Gretchen Devlin recalled. "She was used to being treated like a lady."

Money, or more accurately, Anne's control over it, caused fights. Once, in front of a group of friends, Scott screamed at Anne: "I've gotten more from women I've dated two weeks than I've gotten from you in two years!"

Anne was adamant about the finances. Her money was her money and that was that. He wanted a joint checking account. She refused. The Scripps family kept Scott in the dark about finances as much as possible. The secrecy went both ways. Scott kept two different checking accounts with different Social Security numbers. He struck back at what he saw as Anne's attempts to keep him subjugated by refusing to tell her where he was going or when he would be back. Scott would leave in the middle of the night or work until midnight giving vague answers about who he was with and what he was doing.

Scott was never able to fit in with the Scripps family, but it's unfair to say it was totally his fault. He told his friends he felt the Scripps never thought he could do anything right and that filtered down to their acquaintances. He said he never wanted to live the "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" but was more interested in a "Brady Bunch" happily-ever-after scenario.

The relationship of Scott Douglas and his stepdaughter Alexandra Morell became rocky, and Scott eventually forced Alexandra to move out. This was the first step in isolating Anne from her friends and family. It would not be the last.

After the birth of their child, Victoria, the fighting intensified. The added stress of a newborn, combined with the secrets, suspicions and jealousy already in place made the environment fertile for evil. It soon sprouted and took root.