Scott and Mark Ruffalo moved out to LA together in their late teens, Mark obviously trying to make it in the movies while Scott followed in his mom’s footsteps as a hairdresser. Licensed in ‘91 Scott had his own salon “Ruff Inc.” a decade later in 2001. He went on to have a successful career until his untimely demise.
On December 1st 2008, Scott Ruffalo was found dead of an apparent suicide in his Beverly Hills home with a gun in his left hand. He was 39. Minimum traces of coke and morphine were found in his system (not under the influence at the time of his death).
There was one witness, a 26 year old of Saudi royal blood named Shaha Mishaal Adham. More on her in a sec. According to this article Ms. Adham claimed to have gone to Ruffalo’s to get her keys, heard him mention Russian Roulette, got nervous and tragically left before she could prevent what happened.
But according to this article, both quoting from her attorney, she and her boyfriend saw him lose R.R. and he convinced her not to call 911.
However, the coroner’s report told a different story. Ruffalo had been murdered, shot from behind in an execution. Police check surveillance and it turns out she was at Ruffalo’s with her boyfriend, 29 year old Brian Schofield.
The two turn themselves in, but questioning goes nowhere. Eventually they are released due to insufficient evidence. Based on my research no other suspects were named. The couple told TMZ that the truth would come out and that a 3rd party was out there.
Adham is an interesting character. She was related to King Faisal. She grew up with bodyguards in her school and her older sister ran in the same social circles as Paris Hilton. Seemingly estranged from her family, Adham lived the Beverly Hills lifestylez She was a client of Ruffalo’s
Adham died in 2012 of a drug overdose. Schofield is very difficult to find online, and the police seem to have given up.
EDIT: okay so this is from the website of Ronald Richards, who was Adham’s attorney. It’s an article by Mark Ebner, big time Hollywood reporter who is quoted in the ABC13 article about Adham’s sister and Paris Hilton. The end in particular is interesting as it’s Assistant Chief of Investigation Ed Winter saying the angle and entry wound don’t make sense for RR versus Richards contending that it could still be a suicide.
It also mentions the drug angle, wherein Ruffalo is cast as a potential steroid user and recreational drug addict with a temper and penchant for street fights. We know he tested positive for some substances although he was not high at the time. There are rumors he had run afoul of the wrong people and/or it was a drug deal gone bad, but those are unsubstantiated rumors and we don’t know to what extent the people saying this were really Scott’s “friends”
On December 1, 2008, Scott Ruffalo was found shot in the head in his Beverly Hills condo. He died a week later at a medical center in Los Angeles.
Initially, reports from tabloids claimed that died in a game of Russian Roulette. These claims stemmed from the account of Shaha Mishaal Adham, who was present on the night of December 1st. Adham, called by some sources a "Saudi princess," was a decendant of the Saudi Royal Family though her grandfather.
A little over a week after his death, Ruffalo's shooting was ruled a homicide. One source states that entry angle of the bullet could not have been self-inflicted, leading to the conclusion of a homicide. Adham and her boyfriend Brian Scofield were both named "persons of interest" and questioned by police. However, they were released, and the case came to a halt.
There have been no new leads in the case. Adham passed away in 2012. Considering that the case largely depended on her account, it doesn't seem like there will answers anytime soon. Very little information is readily available about Scofield, and his role in the case is not completely understood, but it seems like law enforcement believe Adham and Scofield were involved in Ruffalo's death.
The remaining questions are:
Was the shooting really a homicide? Could it have been accidental?
What did Adham really witness?
How were Adham and Scofield involved in the shooting?
