U of Alabama @ Hunstville shooting 2/12/10-Amy Bishop Anderson Sentenced LWOP

[MuffyBee]

http://www.whnt.com/news/whnt-stephanie-monticciolo-released-032910,0,4077225.story
UAHuntsville Staff Member Shot In February Released From Hospital
March 29, 2010

February 12 shooting at UAHuntsville is now out of the hospital. University staff member Stephanie Monticciolo is now recovering at home.

That's according an entry posted on her blog Sunday. That entry also says Monticciolo continues to heal, and that she is making progress with each passing day.

Dr. Joseph Leahy was also badly hurt in the February shooting. He is recovering at a rehabilitation center in Atlanta. The latest entry on his blog says his level of awareness has greatly improved. He's been able to feed himself pudding and applesauce and is also able to brush his teeth.

A third person injured in the shooting, Dr. Luis Cruz-Vera, was released from the hospital back in February.

The accused shooter, Dr. Amy Bishop Anderson, was in court last week for her preliminary hearing. A judge ruled there is enough evidence to keep her behind bars. Her case will now go to a Madison County grand jury, likely in about six months.

[MuffyBee]

http://www2.nbc13.com/vtm/news/local/article/huntsville_ala._husband_of_uah_suspect_says_computers_seized/138350/
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. : Husband Of UAH Suspect Says Computers Seized
March 16, 2010

(AP) - The husband of Huntsville shooting suspect Amy Bishop said police took his family’s computers during a search of the family’s home.
    Jim Anderson told WAFF-TV that police weren’t satisfied with having his wife’s computer. He said they took his computer and his girls’ computers during the search Friday. Police also blew up a piece of PVC pipe that turned out to be nothing dangerous.
    Bishop is accused of killing three colleagues and wounding three others during a faculty meeting at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. No one else has been charged in the case.
    —-

[MuffyBee]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/04/15/bishops_mother_again_testifies_on_sons_death/
Bishop’s mother again testifies on son’s death
One of 9 at inquest on ’86 shooting and aftermath
Thursday, April 15, 2010

QUINCY — Amy Bishop’s mother testified for the second time yesterday in a judicial inquest into the 1986 shooting of her 18-year-old son by her daughter, a death that was initially declared an accident but has come under renewed scrutiny since Bishop allegedly gunned down three people in Alabama in February.
Judith Bishop, who was in the room when Amy Bishop shot her brother, Seth, provided testimony on Tuesday, the first day of the inquest, and then returned yesterday afternoon to testify again, according to two law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the proceedings are closed to the public.

Afterward, court officers whisked her and her lawyer out of the courthouse through a back door. Judith Bishop declined to speak with reporters before driving away. She and her husband, Samuel, have insisted through their lawyer that the death of their son at the hands of their daughter was a tragic accident.

Judith Bishop was among the last of nine witnesses seen leaving the courthouse after testifying during the second day of the inquest yesterday. The others included Brian L. Howe, a retired state trooper whose report to prosecutors in 1986 concluded the shooting was accidental; John V. Polio, the former Braintree police chief; and his wife, Virginia, who was working for the Police Department in an administrative capacity at the time of the Bishop shooting. All declined to discuss their testimony as they left the court house.

“We were told not to discuss it by the judge, and I abide by the law,’’ John Polio said. “Otherwise, I would have plenty to say.’’

Contradictory reports about the 1986 shooting — and the investigation that followed it — have surfaced since Amy Bishop, 45, allegedly opened fire at a faculty meeting Feb. 12 at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The goal of the inquest is to review the 1986 shooting and determine if it was an accident, as investigators initially ruled.

According to police reports, Amy Bishop told police at the time of her brother’s death that she had taken her father’s shotgun and loaded it, but couldn’t figure out how to unload the weapon. When she went to ask for help, Bishop told police, the gun accidentally went off, striking her brother in the chest. She then fled the Bishop home, tried to commandeer a car at gunpoint from an auto dealership, and trained the shotgun on police, who eventually persuaded her to drop the weapon, the reports say. Bishop was released within hours and did not face charges.

Among the first to testify yesterday were two workers from the former Dave Dinger Ford in Braintree, who have said they were confronted by a wild-eyed Amy Bishop carrying a shotgun on Dec. 6, 1986.

One of the workers, Thomas Pettigrew, told reporters outside the courthouse yesterday that his thoughts kept returning to the people killed in Huntsville.

“Let’s just not forget the people in Alabama, and Seth,’’ Pettigrew said. “This should be more about them than me or anyone else.’’

His former co-worker, Jeff Doyle, declined yesterday to discuss his version of events but said he hoped this week’s inquest would provide closure in the case.

“I just hope maybe there’s a few more answers to some questions that as of right now, I think, are pretty much unanswered,’’ he said.

The inquest is expected to continue at least through today. Still to offer testimony are US Representative William Delahunt, who was Norfolk district attorney when the shooting occurred, and his then-assistant, John Kivlan. It’s unclear if Delahunt will testify under oath at the courthouse or be interviewed by State Police investigators who will relay his comments to Judge Mark S. Coven, who is conducting the inquest.

Delahunt has previously said he had no direct knowledge of the case and simply followed Kivlan’s recommendation that the case be closed without charges. Kivlan has said he relied on Howe, the State Police detective assigned to Delahunt’s office. Howe has said he relied on Braintree police, who did not provide him with key police reports in the case.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/04/14/delahunt_slated_as_witness_in_bishop_inquest/
Delahunt slated as witness in Bishop inquest
In first day, officers testify about ’86 killing


The type of shotgun Amy Bishop used in 1986 was taken into a Quincy courtroom yesterday. (Yoon S. Byun/ Globe Staff)

QUINCY — US Representative William Delahunt is scheduled to offer testimony this week in the judicial inquest of the shooting death of 18-year-old Seth Bishop in 1986, when Delahunt was Norfolk district attorney and did not press charges in the case, according to two people briefed on the inquest.
It is unclear whether Delahunt will testify under oath in a courtroom — unusual for a sitting congressman — or be interviewed by State Police detectives who would relay his comments to Quincy District Court Judge Mark S. Coven, who is conducting the inquest. Those briefed on the inquest spoke on condition of anonymity because the proceedings are not open to the public.

During the first day of testimony yester day, several police officers on duty the day Seth Bishop was shot by his 21-year-old sister, Amy, spoke to reporters outside the courthouse, making their first public comments about the shooting. One said that he believed Bishop should have been charged in the case and that the investigation, which concluded the shooting was accidental, was not handled properly by Braintree police officials, Delahunt and his staff, and a State Police detective assigned to Delahunt’s office.

“They just didn’t seem to — nothing seemed to go right,’’ former Braintree officer Kenneth Brady said as he left the courthouse. “We just felt that it should have been handled differently.’’

Delahunt has previously said he had no direct knowledge of the case and simply followed the recommendation of his assistant, John Kivlan, that the case be closed without charges. Kivlan has said he relied on the State Police detective, Brian L. Howe, who has said he relied on Braintree police, who did not provide him with key police reports in the case.

Delahunt’s chief of staff, Mark Forest, said the congressman is cooperating with authorities conducting the inquest.

“Congressman Delahunt thinks it important to find the truth and is happy to cooperate in the inquest,’’ Forest said.

Amy Bishop, 45, is now accused of killing three colleagues and injuring three others in a shooting rampage at the University of Alabama in Huntsville in February.

Questions — and contradictory reports — that have surfaced since then about exactly what happened in the shooting of her brother some 24 years ago prompted the inquest, which is scheduled to run at least through tomorrow.

Among the witnesses slated to appear today are John V. Polio, the Braintree police chief at the time of the shooting; Howe; and Kivlan, according to those briefed on the inquest.

Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Robert Nelson, who is questioning witnesses in the proceedings, said eight people are scheduled to testify today and another is slated tomorrow. He said the proceedings went more quickly yesterday than he expected.
The judge asked some questions in areas that he was interested in, but I asked most of the questions,’’ he said. “Basically, we’re just trying to figure out what happened.’’
Inquests are closed-door proceedings conducted by a judge, who is responsible under state law for examining evidence, observing and conducting sworn testimony of witnesses, and reaching determinations about how a death occurred and whether charges should result. Judges then issue a report about their findings. Prosecutors decide whether to press charges.

In this case, the only charge for which the statute of limitations has not expired is homicide.

Amy Bishop, who faces a capital murder charge in the Alabama shootings, is being held in that state and so was not present at yesterday’s inquest.

Outside the courtroom in Quincy yesterday, security was tight, with a court officer locking and unlocking the courtroom door each time a witness entered or left. All that could be heard outside Jury Room A was the repeated gnashing sound of a 12-gauge shotgun. People inside the courtroom later said a witness demonstrated the use of a pump-action Mossberg 500A, the type of weapon that killed Seth Bishop.

According to police reports, Amy Bishop told police at the time of the shooting that she had taken her father’s shotgun and loaded it, but couldn’t figure out how to unload the weapon. When she went to ask for help, Bishop told police, the gun accidentally went off, striking her brother in the chest. She then fled the Bishop home, tried to commandeer a car at gunpoint from an auto dealership, and trained the shotgun on police, who eventually persuaded her to drop the weapon, the reports say. Bishop was released within hours and never faced charges.

Among the first witnesses to testify yesterday were Bishop’s parents, Judith and Sam, according to former Braintree officers who were sequestered with them in a holding room. The couple slipped in and out of the courtroom without speaking to reporters. Judith Bishop was in the room when her daughter shot her son, according to police reports.

Brady, the Braintree police officer, told reporters that he drove Judith Bishop to the Braintree police station after the shooting and she asked to speak with the chief, who was not at the station. Brady said he believed she then called the chief, either on a pay phone in the lobby or on a phone at the station’s front desk.

Within minutes, Brady said, a clerk told him to have the officer who was then booking Amy Bishop on charges to call another supervisor, Captain Peter D’Amico.

“D’Amico told him not to book her,’’ he said.

Brady also said State Police did not show up at the scene, where he and other officers had to process evidence — collect shell casings and take photographs — on their own.

“Generally, they show up at something like that,’’ he said.

Another former officer who testified yesterday defended investigators’ handling of the case, and said he still believes the shooting was accidental, partly because he couldn’t fathom a sibling shooting deliberately.

“Nobody would do something like that,’’ said retired officer Timothy Murphy, who handcuffed Amy Bishop after her standoff with Braintree police.

He said investigators acted properly in the probe.

“Everything that was supposed to be done was done,’’ he said. “It was handled very professionally.’’

[MuffyBee]

http://www.patriotledger.com/news/cops_and_courts/x1195009516/Before-UAH-shooting-Amy-Bishop-already-a-world-away-from-her-roots
Before Alabama shooting, Amy Bishop was far from her roots in Braintree
May 1, 2010


HUNTSVILLE, Ala —

Years before that fateful Friday in February, Amy Bishop called a different place to call home.

The southeast Huntsville subdivision where Bishop, her husband James Anderson and their children moved in 2003 is very different from the leafy street lined with Victorian-era homes near Braintree Square where Bishop grew up.

The lots on McDowling Drive and adjoining streets are large and sunny, unlike those of the tidy, well preserved old houses of Hollis Avenue.

Developed in the 1960s and ’70s, the McDowling Drive neighborhood is filled with two-story frame houses like Bishop’s, along with brick ranches and the occasional faux Tudor and stucco exterior – the Sun Belt homes of working families and retirees.

Opposite the Bishop home is Scarlett O'Hara Circle, named for the heroine of Margaret Mitchell's novel ‘‘Gone With The Wind.’’

The former Bishop home on Hollis Avenue is just a short walk from Braintree Square. McDowling Drive is about as far south as you can go and still be in the city, with the ridge of Green Mountain just out of sight beyond the tree line.

Bishop's Huntsville home is as far from the University of Alabama-Huntsville campus, where she taught biology, as Braintree is from Boston.

For all the differences, the 45-year-old biology professor's neighbors are in much the same mood these days as those in Braintree were in 1986, after Bishop shot her younger brother Seth Bishop to death.

In February, shot six of her colleagues at the University of Alabama-Huntsville, killing three.

Longtime residents like Faye Chassay of adjoining Green View Drive are still shocked by the campus killings and still trying to cope with seeing a side of Bishop that no one suspected was there.

‘‘I had trouble thinking about anything else for a couple of days,’’ Chassay said of Bishop's alleged murder of three of her colleagues on Feb. 12.

Another Green View resident said he and others rarely saw Bishop or her husband. "We pretty much keep to our own business,’’ he said. But they never imagined her doing such a thing, either.

Chassay, who lives a block from the Bishop home, was among the few who had any personal contact with her. About a year ago she asked to talk with Bishop when one of the children tipped over her trash barrel. Chassay and Bishop shared a Coke and chatted for 45 minutes.

‘‘It was very normal,’’ the retired FBI clerk recalled.

Chassay was quickly impressed by Bishop's intelligence – though she thought it odd that Bishop told her right away that she had a doctoral degree.

While she and everyone else await a murder indictment for the campus murders, neighbors and people across Huntsville are following reports from Massachusetts about the Seth Bishop shooting and Quincy District Court Judge Mark Coven's inquest with equal intensity.

‘‘If that case hadn't been swept under the rug, this might not have happened,’’ one Huntsville neighbor said of the UAH shootings.

An indictment could be months away. Madison District Attorney Robert Broussard couldn't be reached for comment on Friday. With all parties under a gag order, no one else can say much about the case.

Bishop's attorney, Roy Miller of Huntsville, says she is off a suicide watch and has ‘‘good days and bad days’’ as a regular inmate in the Huntsville-Madison County Metro Jail.

Miller and Deputy Sheriff Chris Stephens couldn’t provide details about Bishop's activities, but Stephens said female inmates typically live dorm-style, with as many as 60 in a unit. (The jail currently has about 150 female inmates and some 900 male inmates.)

Inmates like Bishop get at least an hour of exercise each day, and are allowed 15-minute visits two days a week from family members or others who are on an approved visitor list. Since the jail is a short-term facility, Stephens said there are no counseling or other programs – only a jail ministry. Inmates have limited access to reading material.

Sometime this summer, Bishop and all other inmates will be transferred to a new $80 million jail adjacent to the current facility. The new jail is only three miles from the UAH campus – and a world away from both Braintree and McDowling Drive.

[MuffyBee]

This is an older article, but it has some interesting bit of information:

http://www.waaytv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12305512
Amy Bishop Anderson - What's Next
April 13, 2010

With the inquest into Seth Bishop's death underway in New England, folks in the Valley are wondering what's next for Dr. Amy Bishop Anderson's case here in Huntsville.

According to Huntsville Police, they're just waiting for the trial. The investigation into the shooting is complete, and all evidence has been turned over to the District Attorney's office for a grand jury hearing.

Meanwhile, Dr. Bishop-Anderson has been moved from solitary confinement into general jail population. We're told she's only been visited by her family once since her February 12th arrest.

 

[MuffyBee]

http://clintonherald.com/local/x1414099483/Injured-professor-with-local-ties-returns-home
Injured professor with local ties returns home
Joseph Leahy was shot during a meeting at the University of Alabama Hunstville
May 13, 2010

MADISON, Ala. — A Clinton-born professor, critically injured when a colleague allegedly opened fire during a February faculty meeting at the University of Alabama Huntsville, has returned home from the hospital.

Dr. Joseph G. Leahy, 50, a biology professor since 1997 in Huntsville, Ala., was allowed to return home last month to his home in Madison, Ala.

Leahy’s cousin, Albany, Ill., resident Karlyn Lemke, said in an interview Wednesday that Leahy has physical therapy and more surgeries ahead, but that he’s eager to return to teaching.

“He’s doing amazingly well, considering,” said Lemke. “He wants to go back to work really bad. He’s actually been over to the university and wants to do some work. He’s ready.”

Leahy and two other faculty members were wounded – and three more were killed – when fellow biology professor Dr. Amy Bishop allegedly pulled out a handgun and began shooting during a faculty meeting Feb. 12 at the university.

Bishop, who was arrested minutes after the shooting, had been denied tenure at the university.

Leahy was shot once, with the bullet entering the top of his head and severing the optical nerve to his right eye before lodging in his neck. The professor also sustained fractures to his skull and a shattered jaw when he fell.

Lemke said Leahy has recovered much faster than anyone expected, adding that his greatest physical hurdle ahead will be coping with permanent vision loss in his right eye and weakened vision in his left eye from his brain injuries.

She said the professor has returned to his son’s track meets and has become strong enough to take walks around his neighborhood, although no timeline has been set for him to return to work.

“He does not remember anything about the shooting, but he absolutely wants to know everything,” said Lemke. “He’s devastated about the loss of his colleagues, and stunned because he was one of Amy Bishop’s supporters for tenure.”

Leahy, a graduate of the University of Ohio, is a UAH researcher in the areas of environmental microbiology and biotechnology, and microbial evolution.

He is married and has two sons. His parents Jackie and Phillip Leahy, who traveled from central Ohio to be with their son at the hospital, both attended Clinton High School.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=12484862
(Video)
UAH student dedicates graduation to slain professors
May 14, 2010

HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF)- This weekend is full of pomp and circumstance for graduates of UA-Huntsville. One student is dedicating his graduation and future success to 2 of the professors who were gunned down during a faculty meeting.

Andrew Adrian graduates Saturday with a degree in Biology.

He credits his success to a mentor who won't see him get his diploma.

"Dr. Podila was a great guy. He got me the job in the greenhouse. I've been doing that the past 2 years," said Adrian.

Dr. Gopi Podila was one of three professors shot and killed during a faculty meeting in February.

Another of Adrian's professors, Dr. Maria Davis, died that day too.

"She went above and beyond to help people out. Its really sad that she's gone," said Adrian.

Adrian is dedicating his graduation to both professors.

"They have had a phenomenal impact on my life," said Adrian.

They've also impacted the lives of other students in the biology department.

Adrian said their absence felt everyday.

"People's research has been dramatically impacted, people's personal lives has been impacted. There's a lot of grief in the biology department still," said Adrian.

Amy Bishop Anderson, who Adrian had some contact with in the biology department, is charged with their murders.

"It's been a gruesome experience.  A lot of the teachers are thinking about going other places--having to pick up the pieces of the other professors," said Adrian.

Adrian said it will take time for the campus to heal, but now, he's trying to focus on something positive-- graduation and an upcoming fellowship.

A future, which he said, was made possible by 2 caring instructors.

"These are the people who got me here, these are the people, who are not here, that got me here," said Adrian.

Adrian graduates Saturday morning at 10 a.m.

©2010 WAFF. All rights reserved.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.whnt.com/news/whnt-massachusetts-inquest-amy-bishop-052510,0,7048228.story
(video)
Massachusetts Judge Makes Decision In Amy Bishop's Inquest, Records Sealed
Decision not made public; documents impounded until higher court makes decision
May 26, 2010

UINCY, Mass. - After more than a month, a judge has made a decision in the Massachusetts inquest of Dr. Amy Bishop Anderson. The inquest into the death of Bishop's brother, Seth, has been finalized.

However, the documents have been turned over to the Superior Court and have been impounded. That means the findings of the inquest will not yet be made public.

The Norfolk County District Attorney now has two options. If the judge determined probable cause existed -- that Bishop murdered her brother, the DA can seek an indictment in the case.
On the other hand, experts say there is a huge burden to overcome, in that Amy Bishop's mother, Judy, was the only eyewitness to her son's death. She testified during the inquest, and it's possible the judge may rule that it was accidental.

Here's the statement from the trial court and district attorney about the inquest.*

Massachusetts authorities held the inquest hearing last month to hear from witnesses and investigators who were involved in the 1986 case. After her arrest, Amy Bishop was released to her mother without being charged. Many people, including police who worked the case, want to know why things were handled this way.

Dr. Amy Bishop Anderson is still in the Madison County Jail, accused of shooting six people on the campus of UAHuntsville back in February. Three of them died.
***********************************

*
http://www.whnt.com/news/whnt-joint-statement-quincy-massachusetts-inquest,0,5205609.story
Read It: Joint Statement Of The Trial Court & Norfolk District Attorney's Office
May 26, 2010

QUINCY, MA - The following is a joint statement of the trial court and the Norfolk District Attorney's Office:

"The report of the inquest into the death of Seth Bishop has been finalized and delivered, according to statute, to the Norfolk Superior Court. All documents at the Quincy District Court and the Norfolk Superior Court are impounded by order of the Superior Court," said Joan Kenney, spokeswoman for the Trial Court.

David Traub, spokesman for the Norfolk District Attorney's Office stated:
"According to case law: Upon completion of the inquest, the inquest documents shall remain impounded until such a time as (a). The District Attorney shall file with the appropriate clerk of the Superior Court a written certificate that no prosecution is proposed, or (b) if it shall appear that an indictment has been sought and not returned, or (c) if trial of the persons named in the report as responsible for the decedent's death shall have been completed, or (d) if a judge of the Superior Court shall determine that no criminal trial is likely, then upon order of the Superior Court, the report and transcript shall be opened forthwith to the public examination." (Mass. 1969 Kennedy v. Justice of Dis. Court of Dukes County, 356 Mass 367, 252 N.E. 2d 201)

[MuffyBee]

http://www.patriotledger.com/features/x88774942/Bishop-inquest-finalized-impounded
Amy Bishop inquest is over but judge keeps it secret for now
Posted May 25, 2010, Updated May 26, 2010

QUINCY —

An inquest report by Judge Mark Coven into the 1986 death of Seth Bishop in Braintree has been finalized and ordered impounded.

The report was delivered on Tuesday to Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Joan Kenney, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Trial Court, said.

The report’s filing comes six weeks after a three-day inquest was held in Quincy District Court into the shooting 23 years ago, which Braintree police determined to be accidental.

The shooter, Amy Bishop, now faces capital murder charges in Alabama for allegedly gunning down six colleagues on the University of Alabama’s Huntsville campus in February, killing three.

Following Bishop’s arrest, Braintree Police Chief Paul Frazier raised questions about the handling of the 1986 investigation, which led to a review by Norfolk District Attorney William R. Keating and, ultimately, the inquest.

In calling on Judge Coven to hold the inquest, Keating said investigators had found numerous inconsistencies in reviewing original records and conducting interviews. Evidence and police records were believed to be missing. And at least one Braintree police officer recalled that Amy Bishop, then 21, was abruptly freed while being booked for murder after officers received a phone call from then-Police Chief John V. Polio.

Inquests are relatively rare. Held behind closed doors, the proceeding is a fact-finding tool that lets a judge determine if a person’s death resulted from a crime.

Murder is the only charge that prosecutors could file this many years later against Bishop. And Coven’s findings are likely to play a significant role in whether Keating opts to present the case to a grand jury.

A joint statement from the Trial Court and Keating’s office said Coven’s findings will remain under seal until a decision not to file criminal charges against Bishop is made or, in the case of a grand jury indictment, a criminal trial has concluded.

“One way or the other, it becomes public,” David Traub, spokesman for Keating, said.

In explaining the rules governing when an inquest report may be made public, the joint statement cited as case law the Supreme Judicial Court’s ruling in the 1969 case of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy versus the Justice of the District Court of Dukes County.

[pdh3]

If they had handled her brother's shooting properly, the UAH tragedy would never have happened.

My daughter is a student at UAH, and some of her friends had Dr.Bishop for their biology classes. When they heard that there had been a shooting....she was the first one they thought of as being the shooter way before her name was released. Not one was surprised to find out their suspicions were correct.
The kids knew she was unbalanced, and a lot of them had complained about her. She was difficult in the classroom, and most kids tried to avoid taking a class with her if possible. A couple of my daughter's friends thought she was scary.
On the other hand...the students were very happy with Dr. Leahy, and the other 2 professors that died. Dr, Leahy is especially well liked on campus, and he's a very good teacher. I hope he makes it back to class soon, because he's been sorely missed. I'm glad he doesn't remember the shooting....that's a blessing, at least. It may spare him some additional heartache.

The whole tragedy has been hard on the students and faculty. I can't imagine what the victims' families have had to endure. I know a guy who was working down the hall from the room where the shooting took place, and he has had a very difficult time with the loss of his co-workers, and with the loss of his sense of safety, and with what he saw and heard that day. He has been diagnosed with PTSD. He's not the only one, either.

[trimmonthelake]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100616/ap_on_re_us/us_ala_university_shooting
Ala. prof charged in brother's 1986 shooting death

  By BOB SALSBERG, Associated Press Writer Bob Salsberg, Associated Press Writer   – 2 mins ago

CANTON, Mass. – A biology professor charged with killing three of her colleagues at an Alabama university has been indicted in the 1986 shooting death of her brother in Massachusetts, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Amy Bishop, 45, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her 18-year-old brother, Seth, Norfolk District Attorney William Keating said.

Authorities had originally ruled her brother's shooting an accident, but they reopened the case after Bishop was charged in February with gunning down six of her colleagues at the University of Alabama-Huntsville, killing three.

Keating said he did not understand why charges were never brought against Amy Bishop.

"I can't give you any explanations, I can't give you excuses, because there are none," he said.

Bishop had told police who investigated her brother's death that she accidentally shot him while trying to unload her father's 12-gauge shotgun in the family's Braintree home. Her mother, Judith, the only witness to the shooting, confirmed her daughter's account to police.

But after Bishop was charged in the Alabama shootings, authorities began reinvestigating Seth Bishop's death.
U.S. Rep. William Delahunt, who was then the Norfolk County district attorney, said that Braintree police never told anyone in his office that after Bishop shot her brother, she tried to commandeer a getaway car at gunpoint at a local car dealership, then refused to drop her gun until officers ordered her to do so repeatedly. Those events were described in Braintree police reports but not in a report written by a state police detective assigned to the district attorney's office.

Investigators looking at an old crime scene photo from her brother's shooting discovered a newspaper article about the 1986 killings of actor Patrick Duffy's parents. The clipping, which was in Bishop's bedroom, described how a teenager shot the "Dallas" star's parents with a 12-gauge shotgun and stole a getaway car from an auto dealership.

Keating ordered an inquest, which was held in April. Nineteen witnesses, including Bishop's parents, testified before Quincy District Court Judge Mark Coven during the closed-door inquest. A grand jury heard evidence this month.

"What we're doing in this is being the voice of Seth Bishop," Keating said of the indictment. "We're doing our job, but there's no satisfaction when this is built on tragedy and more tragedy."

[MuffyBee]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/06/hold_hold_hold_2.html
Amy Bishop charged with murder for 1986 shooting of her brother
June 16, 2010
CANTON -- Amy Bishop has been charged with murder for the 1986 shotgun slaying of her 18-year-old brother in their Braintree home, Norfolk District Attorney William R. Keating said this afternoon.

"The grand jury has indicted Amy Bishop for murder in the first degree,'' Keating told reporters. "Here in Massachusetts, we had evidence of a murder. We proceeded with that, as we should have."
The slaying of Seth Bishop was declared an accident by Norfolk County authorities at the time. But questions were raised about the investigation after Bishop, a college professor, was charged in February in a shooting rampage at the University of Alabama Huntsville. Three of Bishops' colleagues were fatally shot and three wounded in that case.

Keating said an indictment warrant has been lodged with Alabama authorities. He indicated that he would give the Alabama triple murder case priority. Asked whether Bishop would ever be tried in Massachusetts for murder, Keating said, "You never know.''

No charges against anyone else are expected from grand jury.

"With what we know right now, we do not have enough to sustain that," Keating said, noting that a number of witnesses are dead, including the Braintree police captain who oversaw the investigation.

Former Braintree police chief John V. Polio, who ran the department when Bishop killed her brother, said the murder indictment against Bishop "does not convince me in any way that she's absolutely guilty. I'll stick right with the innocent unless proven guilty.''

Polio, who has been severely criticized by his former law enforcement colleagues, said there were too many unanswered questions and it remained unclear to him whether Bishop accidentally or intentionally killed her brother.

"I don't question myself one bit,'' Polio said during a telephone interview this afternoon. "I did absolutely the right thing because when I took it for granted that (reports) were sent over to the DA's office when in fact there was a lack of communication that I was unaware of. I did nothing that I would change.''

Polio defended his handling of the original investigation and said it was only when new details surfaced recently that he learned that Braintree police reports weren't shared with the district attorney's office at the time.

In a separate telephone interview, Bishop's father-in-law, Jim Anderson Sr., who lives in a suburb of Montgomery, Ala., said in a telephone interview today that he wished justice had been done back in 1986.

"We lost a talented young man, a violinist,'' said Anderson, referring to Seth Bishop. "If justice had prevailed when he was shot and law enforcement had handled it correctly, Amy would have been able to either get criminally charged or get help, one or the other.''

Shortly after the Alabama shootings, Keating launched a review of the Braintree slaying and concluded that Bishop should have been charged at the time with assault with a dangerous weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm and illegal possession of ammunition.

Keating also found that police reports, along with crime scene photos, suggested Bishop may have intentionally shot her brother. One photo of her bedroom, where she had loaded the 12-gauge shotgun, showed a National Enquirer article chronicling actions similar to Bishop's that day. The article reported that a teenager wielding a 12-gauge shotgun killed the parents of actor Patrick Duffy, who played Bobby Ewing on the television show, "Dallas," and then commandeered a getaway car at gunpoint from an auto dealership.

Keating requested a judicial inquest to determine whether there was sufficient evidence to warrant charges. Quincy District Court Judge Mark S. Coven conducted the inquest, hearing testimony from 19 witnesses over three days during the closed-door proceedings in April. Last month, Coven provided a report to Keating, who said it would remain sealed until he decided whether to pursue charges.

Bishop's mother, Judith, told police decades ago that she was in the room when her 21-year-old daughter accidentally shot her son.

Amy Bishop told police she took her father's shotgun on Dec. 6, 1986, loaded it and fired a shot in her bedroom, then went downstairs to the kitchen and shot her brother in the chest. She said she accidentally shot him while trying to figure how to unload the shotgun.

According to police reports from 1986, Bishop then fled the home, tried to commandeer a car at gunpoint from a Braintree auto dealership, and trained the gun on police, who eventually persuaded her to drop the weapon. Bishop was released within hours and did not face charges.

Keating said today that Amy Bishop threatened two civilians and a police officer with the shotgun. However, he said, the statute of limitations on possible charges for those three people -- assault and battery with a dangerous weapon -- expired in 1992.

To read the Globe's coverage of the twists and turns in the case, click here.

Seth Bishop graduated from Braintree High School in 1986 and was a freshman at Northeastern University studying electrical engineering. He was also an accomplished violinst.

Amy Bishop graduated from Northeastern University, earned a doctorate in genetics at Harvard University then worked in labs at Boston hospitals. In 2003, she moved to Alabama with her husband Jim Anderson Jr., and their four children.

[trimmonthelake]

http://www2.nbc13.com/vtm/news/local/article/amy_bishops_parents_criticize_indictment/160708/
Amy Bishop’s parents criticize indictment
The Associated Press
Published: June 17, 2010
BOSTON (AP) - The parents of Amy Bishop say the indictment of their daughter on a first-degree murder charge in Massachusetts was the result of a “prejudicial, biased” review of the 1986 death of their son, Seth.
 
In a sharply-worded statement released by their attorney, Bryan Stevens, Judith and Sam Bishop said the investigation revealed no new evidence that Seth Bishop’s fatal shooting in the family’s Braintree home was anything other than an accident.
 
The Bishops said they could never explain or understand the events in Alabama, where Amy Bishop is charged with shooting six university colleagues, killing three.
 
But they also said the review that led to Wednesday’s grand jury indictment was “an enormous waste of public resources” and stemmed from finger pointing between past and present police officers and prosecutors.

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20100617/news/100619679&tc=yahoo
Bishop lawyer says Boston case may help defense
The Associated Press
Published: Thursday, June 17, 2010 at 12:58 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, June 17, 2010 at 12:58 p.m.
HUNTSVILLE (AP) — The murder charge brought against Amy Bishop for the 1986 shooting death of her brother in Massachusetts will definitely be used in any insanity defense for the killing of three university colleagues in Alabama, her attorney said Thursday.
Roy Miller said the killing of her 18-year-old brother Seth would play a role if the defense follows through with its initial plan to claim that the biology professor is mentally ill.

"If we claim a defense of insanity, then her whole life history comes in, including the killing of her brother. Her life becomes an open book then," Miller told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

Miller did not elaborate on how the Boston indictment, announced Wednesday, would be used in an insanity defense.

District Attorney Robert Broussard in Huntsville said earlier her indictment could aid the murder case against her in the February shooting rampage that killed three biology department colleagues and wounded three others at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He said that if a mental illness defense is raised, the prosecution can bring out evidence from her entire life to rebut it.

The killing of her brother at the family's suburban Boston home initially was ruled accidental. But after Bishop was arrested in the Alabama shootings, authorities in Massachusetts decided to reopen the case.
In announcing the indictment, prosecutors said police failed to share important evidence that would have pointed to a homicide, not an accidental shooting as Bishop and her mother claimed. Evidence that surfaced in the reopened investigation included an alleged carjacking attempt by Bishop after she fled the shooting scene.
Bishop's parents called the indictment the result of a "prejudicial, biased" review of their son's death.

In a sharply-worded statement released by their attorney, Bryan Stevens, Judith and Sam Bishop said the review that led to the grand jury indictment was "an enormous waste of public resources."

"Despite all the finger-pointing among local police, state police, and the District Attorney's Office, there is no evidence that Seth's death was not an accident," the Bishops said.

David Traub, a spokesman for Norfolk District Attorney William Keating, declined to comment except to say that the inquest was conducted by an independent judge and that a grand jury made up of citizens returned the indictment against Bishop.

Miller said Bishop could be sent to Massachusetts for prosecution, but it's unlikely. "I don't ever see her being released to Massachusetts, certainly not in the reasonable, foreseeable future," said Miller.

Broussard has said a grand jury would likely consider charges against Bishop by late summer

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.telegram.com/article/20100619/NEWS/100619674/1116
Saturday, June 19, 2010

Amy Bishop tries to commit suicide after new indictment
THE BOSTON GLOBE
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Amy Bishop tried to commit suicide yesterday in an Alabama jail where she has been held while awaiting trial for allegedly killing three colleagues and wounding three others during a shooting rampage in February at the University of Alabama Huntsville, according to a family member and a person briefed on the incident.

The attempt to kill herself came after Bishop had been told that a Norfolk County grand jury had indicted her in Massachusetts on a first-degree murder charge in the 1986 shotgun slaying of her 18-year-old brother in their Braintree home.

Bishop's mother-in-law, Sandra Anderson, who lives in a suburb of Montgomery, Ala., said she first learned of Bishop's suicide attempt from a reporter who called her at home yesterday afternoon. She said she spoke briefly afterward with her son, Jim Anderson Jr., who is married to Bishop, and he confirmed it was true.

She said her son was “not doing well'' and declined to comment further.
Bishop's attempted suicide was first reported by television station WHNT in Alabama, which said she was taken to Huntsville Hospital for treatment early yesterday, then turned over to authorities and brought back to the Huntsville/Madison County Metro Jail. The suicide attempt was confirmed to the Globe by a person who was briefed on the matter but was not authorized to speak about it.

The Huntsville Times, citing anonymous sources, reported last night that Bishop cut one or both of her wrists and left a letter to her husband. Authorities at the jail could not be reached for comment.

A spokeswoman for Huntsville Hospital said, “We cannot confirm or deny that she was a patient at our hospital.''

Huntsville lawyer Roy W. Miller, who represents Bishop in the Alabama case, did not return repeated telephone calls yesterday.

Norfolk District Attorney William R. Keating announced Wednesday that Bishop, 45, had been indicted on a charge of first-degree murder in the Dec. 6, 1986, slaying of her brother, Seth.

The shooting had initially been ruled an accident by authorities. Keating reexamined the case after Bishop was charged with the Alabama slayings. He concluded in February that evidence that had not been shared with prosecutors after the 1986 shooting suggested Bishop intentionally killed her brother.

Bryan J. Stevens, a Quincy lawyer who represents Bishop's parents, Judith and Sam Bishop of Ipswich, said yesterday that he did not know whether Amy Bishop made any statements after her indictment in her brother's slaying.

But he added, “I don't think there's any doubt that she considered it to be an accident, and that's what the family has believed for 23 years.''

He added: “Amy and her brother were very close. There was no animosity at all between them. There's no reason at all she'd want to kill her brother.''
At the time of her brother's slaying, Bishop told police she took her father's shotgun, loaded it, and fired a shot into her bedroom wall, then went downstairs to the kitchen and shot her brother in the chest.

She said she accidentally shot him while trying to figure out how to unload the shotgun.

Bishop then fled the home, tried to commandeer a car at gunpoint from a Braintree auto dealership, and trained the gun on police, who eventually persuaded her to drop the weapon, according to police reports from 1986. Bishop was released within hours and did not face charges at the time.

Her mother told police that she witnessed the shooting and that it was an accident.

Bishop, a biology professor, graduated from Northeastern University, earned a doctorate in genetics at Harvard University, then worked in labs at several Boston hospitals. She and her husband moved to Alabama with their four children in 2003.

On Feb. 12, Bishop allegedly opened fire on her colleagues during a faculty meeting after being denied tenure.

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/23961666/detail.html
'Justice Served' In Bishop Case, Chief Says
Amy Bishop Attempted Suicide After Indictment

POSTED: 6:27 am EDT June 19, 2010
UPDATED: 7:05 am EDT June 19, 2010
BRAINTREE, Mass. --
Braintree Police Chief Paul Frazier was a patrol officer in 1986 when police said Amy Bishop shot and killed her brother, Seth. He said he was relieved this week when a grand jury indicted her for first-degree murder.

"Justice really has finally been served not only for Seth Bishop, but for the police officers that were actually working that day that confronted Amy Bishop," Frazier said.

Bishop tried to commit suicide in an Alabama jail Wednesday night just hours after the indictment was announced.

In addition to the 1986 murder indictment, Bishop has been charged with killing three colleagues in a Feb. 12 rampage at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, where she was a biology professor. She was rushed to Huntsville Hospital where she was treated and survived the suicide attempt.

BIshop is suspected of pointing a gun at a car dealership worker as well as the police in an attempted getaway following the shooting of her
18-year-old brother.

"One of them (police officer) informed me he thought he was going to die that day," Frazier said. "He felt she had nothing to live for and she was going to shoot him."

But as she was being booked, Frazier said the officers were told to let Bishop go. Authorities at the time ruled the shooting accidental.

"There was a lot of frustration among the rank and file of the department," said Frazier. He said many cops believed you could get away with murder in Braintree.

Twenty-four years later, it's still unclear why Bishop was released.

"There's people that I guess know but i'm not sure if they are being honest will all of us," Frazier said.

Frazier said the blame for this botched case is clear to him.

"It's hard for me to fathom all the finger pointing going on that the heads of two agencies who are responsible didn't at least do something," Frazier said. "I would just like to see some of them take some of the responsibility and not say the buck didn't get to them."
He was referring to U.S. Rep. William Delahunt, the former Norfolk District Attorney, who said Braintree police did not provide him with critical reports. And former Braintree Police Chief John Polio who has consistently defended his actions in 1986.

Bishop allegedly went on a rampage, shooting six colleagues at the University of Alabama in February. Three of them died.

Frazier said if she had been charged in connection with the Braintree shooting there would have been red flags around her for the rest of her life.

"One of the officers that was involved made a comment to me about it that he knew at some point in his career this would come back to haunt him," Frazier said.

Video at link

[MuffyBee]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/06/19/judge_rejects_effort_to_release_inquest_records_to_public/
Judge rejects effort to release inquest records to public
Globe’s lawyer to appeal decision
June 18, 2010

A Norfolk Superior Court judge yesterday rejected a request from The Boston Globe to unseal records from the judicial inquest into the 1986 fatal shooting of Seth Bishop by his sister, Amy.
Judge Elizabeth Bowen Donovan wrote in her decision that public access to a transcript and judicial report from the inquest could cause “embarrassment’’ to those involved and prejudice potential jurors against Amy Bishop, who on Wednesday was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder in her brother’s death.

“The court balanced the rights of all concerned, including the public,’’ Donovan wrote in a seven-page decision.

The Globe filed its request Wednesday morning, citing a state law, enacted in 1992, that provides for the release of judicial inquest records once a grand jury files an indictment.

A court-appointed lawyer for Amy Bishop argued against the Globe’s request at a hearing Thursday morning. That lawyer, Larry Tipton of Dedham, said he believed the documents’ release would infringe on Bishop’s right to a fair trial and would hurt the privacy interests of witnesses who testified at the inquest.

“I think the judge was right on the law and the facts and did the right thing,’’ Tipton said yesterday.

A Globe lawyer said the newspaper intends to appeal the decision.

“We believe the statute and decisions by other courts make clear that these sorts of materials are public,’’ said David McCraw, vice president and assistant general counsel of The New York Times Co., which owns the Globe.

Seth Bishop’s death came under new scrutiny in February, when Amy Bishop, a 45-year-old biology professor and mother of four, allegedly went on a shooting rampage at the University of Alabama Huntsville, killing three colleagues and injuring three others. She is being held in an Alabama jail awaiting trial on charges of capital and attempted murder.

Bishop’s arrest drew attention to law enforcement’s handling of the Dec. 6, 1986, death of Seth Bishop in the family’s Braintree home. Amy Bishop had shot her 18-year-old brother with their father’s shotgun. She then fled the house and tried to commandeer a getaway car at gunpoint from an auto dealership. After she was apprehended by police, she said the shooting was an accident, and she was never charged.

The current Norfolk district attorney, William R. Keating, ordered a judicial inquest after widespread publicity raised questions about his predecessor’s handling of the 1986 investigation. In April, Quincy District Court Judge Mark R. Coven conducted the inquiry, hearing from 19 witnesses over three days. He filed his report and a transcript of the proceedings last month in Norfolk Superior Court.

Keating then presented evidence to a grand jury, and on Wednesday announced that the panel had indicted Bishop in the 1986 killing. Keating said that at the time of Seth Bishop’s death, “Jobs weren’t done, responsibilities weren’t met, justice wasn’t served.’’

[MuffyBee]

http://www.patriotledger.com/news/cops_and_courts/x23931175/Amy-Bishop-documentary-to-air-on-cable-TV
Amy Bishop documentary to air on cable TV
July 31, 2010

BRAINTREE —

Amy Bishop, the Braintree native accused of going on a shooting spree at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, will be back in the national spotlight Sunday night, in a cable TV documentary.

The TLC program “Killer On Campus” will air at 9 p.m. Sunday. The Bishop segment features interviews with teachers and students in Alabama as well as a re-creation of the Braintree native’s alleged murder of three fellow teachers at the school on Feb. 12.
(snip)

[MuffyBee]

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/braintree/2010/08/amy_bishop_and_braintree_back.html
With TV special, Amy Bishop and Braintree back in the news
August 3, 2010

Braintree got its share of 60 minutes of unwanted fame this week when TLC aired “Killer on Campus.”

The “investigative special” focused on Braintree native Amy Bishop, who is accused of killing three of her colleagues at the University of Alabama-Huntsville and wounding three others last February after she was denied tenure.

The program also delves into the 1986 shotgun killing of Bishop’s brother, 18-year-old Seth Bishop, at their Braintree home. Originally declared an accident, the case was reopened after the Alabama shooting and Amy Bishop was charged in June with murdering her brother.
(snip)