MD MD - Bishop Family murders, Bethesda, 1 March 1976

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http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/411792.html

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Bishop still wanted in family's death
Bodies were found in Tyrrell County


Bishop disappeared after family members were slain.
Jerry Allegood, Staff Writer

The discovery of five battered bodies near the quiet riverside town of Columbia 30 years ago seemed as out of place as a murder in Mayberry.

No one in town knew the two women and three boys from Maryland or why they ended up in remote Tyrrell County woods. Three decades later, they still don't have the answers.

The victims found March 2, 1976, were the family of U.S. State Department employee William Bradford Bishop Jr. Bishop vanished, leaving questions for locals and authorities who pursued him in the United States and abroad.

Darren Popkin, chief deputy with the Montgomery County Sheriffs Department in Maryland, said Bishop is still sought on five murder warrants in the death of his mother, wife and three sons. Federal authorities want him for unlawful flight.

"This case was so intriguing," said former state Attorney General Rufus Edmisten, who was spokesman for the State Bureau of Investigation at the time. For years, he said, he received calls from people around the world who asked, "Whatever happened to Brad Bishop?"

Bishop, 39 when he disappeared, has been featured on many nationally broadcast most-wanted programs, Popkin said. Bishop's visage in age-enhanced photos -- he vaguely resembles the actor Alan Alda -- continues to inspire unconfirmed sightings and tips every time it airs.

"We may get 50 leads, and we check every one of them," Popkin said.

Five corpses would create a stir in any community, but the gruesome find was particularly unsettling in Columbia, a town of about 900 about 170 miles east of Raleigh. The whole county, a sparsely populated area known for farming and fishing, hadn't had a slaying in about 40 years.

Some people recall exactly what they were doing when they heard the news. "I was running a bulldozer about a mile away," said Tyrrell County Sheriff Fred Hemilright, who was not a law officer at the time. "I was shocked."

People began locking their doors and eyeing strangers. "We were scared to death," Phyllis Jones of Columbia said recently.

Ron Brickhouse, a retired state forest ranger, clearly remembers the day. A spotter in a fire tower dispatched him to a spot where smoke was rising from woods off N.C. 94, about five miles south of Columbia. He was checking out the scrub-covered area near a logging road when he saw what he thought was a pile of discarded hogs.

"When you walk up expecting to see hogs and you find people, boy, your belly goes," he told reporters a day later.

The two-man sheriff's department was soon swamped by reporters and a slew of investigators. Sheriff Royce Rhodes, who died a few years later, told reporters that he didn't think the victims lived in his county because he knew most everyone.

A week later, attention shifted 300 miles north to Bishop's house, a gray-shingled split-level in an affluent neighborhood in Bethesda, Md. Investigators found a bloody crime scene but no bodies.

Through dental records, the victims were identified as Bishop's wife, Annette; his mother, Lobelia; and his sons, William, 14, Brenton, 10, and Geoffrey, 5.

Bishop had not been seen since he left work March 1, telling co-workers that he was not feeling well and might be coming down with the flu. A Yale University graduate, Bishop was assistant chief of the state department's special trade activities and commercial treaties division -- a mid-level bureaucrat.

Investigators said the killer went from room to room, methodically beating the victims to death with a hammer. Then he drove six hours to a remote location, dumped the bodies and set them on fire.

Bishop's credit card was used in Jacksonville, N.C., to buy $15.60 worth of sporting goods on the same day that the bodies were found. Employees didn't remember the sale.

About three weeks later, Bishop's rust-colored 1974 Chevrolet station wagon was found in a parking lot near Gatlinburg, Tenn., in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A blood-stained blanket, an ax and a shotgun were inside. Agents scoured the mountains, but the trail went cold.

Over the years, the mystery grew. Bishop followers said his language skills and State Department training would enable him to slip out of the country and establish a life overseas. Police chased reported sightings in Belgium, England, Finland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Popkin said a woman contacted authorities in April 2004 after she bought Bishop's diary at a yard sale in North Carolina. The last entry was well before the murders, he said, and there was nothing helpful.

Investigators are still puzzled by a motive. There were reports that Bishop had been passed over for promotion and had been treated for depression. But that doesn't explain how someone could kill close family members.

Edmisten, the former attorney general, said the killer apparently "flew into a demonic rage and just slaughtered those people." He said he thought that Bishop was still alive and might never be found.

"I think that 30 years from now, we'll be saying 'what happened to Bradford Bishop?' " he said.

Staff writer Jerry Allegood can be reached in Greenville at (252) 752-8411 or jerrya@newsobserver.com.
 
This case and the Lyon Sisters case have always interested me! Richard what do you know about this case? You seem very knowledgeble when it comes to crimes in the DC metro area...


Where Is Brad Bishop?
30 Years Later, Md. Murder Suspect's Flight Still a Puzzle

By Paul Duggan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 2, 2006; Page B01

Surely he's dead, right?

A lot of people think so.


Audio
Covering the Bishop Murder
Former Washington Post reporter Don Baker talks about Brad Bishop, a State Department foreign service officer who allegedly murdered his family 30 years ago this month. Some say he's dead; others think he could still be on the lam.


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All these years after Brad Bishop, a State Department Foreign Service officer, allegedly bludgeoned his mother, his wife and his three young sons in their Bethesda home and burned their bodies -- all these years after a Maryland grand jury indicted the missing diplomat on five counts of murder in one of the most baffling cases in the annals of local crime -- he couldn't still be out there, hiding under a phony name, living quietly on the lam. . . .

Could he?

A lot of people think so.

Who knows, really?

"Until I can prove he's dead," said Montgomery County Sheriff Raymond M. Kight, "I'm going to assume he's alive."

A bright-green arrest warrant folder bearing his name -- "Bishop, William Bradford Jr." -- contains the oldest of nearly 2,000 open cases (alleged traffic scofflaws, deadbeat dads, rapists, drug dealers and killers) in the files of the fugitive squad at the sheriff's office, in Rockville. Generations of deputies have been on the lookout for him since Gerald R. Ford was in the White House. Decades have gone by. And the Bishop warrant sits on a shelf.

Where did he go?

Why did it happen?

That distant March.

Thirty years ago this week.

the rest of the article can be found www.washingtonpost.com

Just thought y'all might be interested!!!
 
The Case of Bradford Bishop is one of those intriguing cases that seem to linger forever. Could a man brutally murder his entire family, load them into the family station wagon, and then drive them several hundred miles to cremate them in the open? And then completely disappear? The case is not without precident

In 1971, John List murdered his entire family then disappeared ...

'Breeze Knoll' was a nineteen room, three-story Victorian mansion, and the most expensive house in an upper middle class neighborhood in Westfield, New Jersey. It even had a massive ballroom. John List, 46, lived there with his wife, Helen, 45; his daughter, Patricia, 16; and his two sons, John Jr., 15, and Frederick, 13. His 85 year-old mother, Alma, lived in an apartment in the attic. List was a religious man with an extreme need to keep things under control. He kept everything in its place, barely ever smiled, and even mowed his lawn in a suit and tie. In October of 1971, he applied for a firearms registration, for “home protection.” However, he had something altogether different in mind....

Link:
http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/family/list/1.html

America's Most Wanted featured the case and in doing so, got a forensic sculptor to make a bust of List as he would appear almost thirty years later. That program led to the capture of List and his subsequent conviction and imprisonment.

There have been reported sightings of Bradford Bishop over the years. Perhaps a similar effort will result in his arrest.
 
The Doe Network page lists the sightings of Bradford, where, and by who (credible people who knew him).
 
After seeing a mention in a recent Washington Post article of MCS searching through UNID bodies for a possible match being him, they were contacted and given information on the Doe Network. They were especially interested in the organization having European unidentified cases listed.
 
This is a fascinating case to me as well! I recently watched the Unsolved Mysteries version of this case. It seems like there have been several leads over the past 30 years where he has been spotted in European countries, but always seems to be several steps ahead of law enforcement trying to catch him.

I wonder if he's dead, or still out there? The last claimed "sighting" was in 1994. Have there been any updates since?

Satch
 
Photos at link show William Braford Bishop, Jr. Age Progression

William Braford Bishop

Fugitive Since
March 1, 1976
Classification: Fugitive

Vital Statistics

Date Of Birth: August 1, 1936
Social Security Number: 556-48-3489
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 6’1;
180 lbs in 1976
Distinguishing Characteristics: White male
AKA: Bradford Bishop, Brad Bishop, Bradford Bishop Jr.

Identifyers

Places Stationed or Lived: United States: California; South Pasadena, Monterey and Truckee Maryland: Baltimore and Bethesda; Vermont, Middlebury Connecticut: New Haven; Washington DC; Europe: Italy: Verona, Florence and Milan Africa: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Gaborone and Botswana

Languages Spoken Fluently: English, Spanish, French, Serbo-Croation, Italian

Education: Bachelor of Science, History, Yale University; Master of Arts, International Studies Africa; University of California: Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont; University of Florence, Florence Italy.
Last Employer: United States Department of State as an Assistant Chief, Division of Special Activities and Commercial Treaties

Sports and Interest: Tennis, swimming, camping, fishing, skiing, motorcycle riding and flying.

Circumstances of Disappearance

William Bradford Bishop, Jr. is wanted for the March 1, 1976 murders of his entire family. The five victims were: his wife, Annette Kathryn Bishop; his three sons, William Bradford Bishop III, 14; Brenton Germain Bishop, 10; Geoffery Corder Bishop, 5; and his mother, Lobelia Amaryllis Bishop, 68. "Verified" sighting - March 2, 1976 in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Stockholm, Sweden - July 1978 - Seen by acquaintance of Bishop family. Sorrento, Italy - January 1979 - Seen by co-worker at the State Department. Basel, Switzerland - September 1994 - Seen by neighbor who knew Bishop and family in Bethesda, MD

Investigators

If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office
Col. Darren M. Popkin, Chief Deputy
240-777-7000


Source Information:

Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office
The Doe Network: Hot Case 78

LINK:

http://www.doenetwork.org/hot/hotcase78.html
 
Well, I can tell you this: until a bone containing this coward F's DNA is found he must be assumed to be alive and dangerous. I played on a soccer team with Brent. Yes folks, the people he murdered were actually real. All the sites I see regarding this "story" ... tradgedy, state: "wife and 3 sons". Brent was a quiet boy. He went to a different school than the core group of the Parkwood Blue Devils. We were bad *advertiser censored* too! No one could beat us. We were such jokers that we really should not have been so successful but we won the damn Maryland State cup. We had to win that tournament without Brad if I remember the timeline correctly... cuz he was beaten to death by his F father.
I moved recently and was going through my old trunk of mementos when I saw our soccer pictures. Brent was just a boy like the rest of us. Yet I got the chance to be 45 years old and finally, finally... married. Brent never got to do anything other than be a boy and I am willing to bet he did that in fear. He was pretty quiet. Other players that did not attend my school were as outgoing as the rest of us buddies. Like that crazy Shawn. I love all those guys. I demand justice for my teammate Brent. We slugged it out in the dirt together and I want to see his father pay for this crime.
Now, the parents of us players were VERY good at keeping the story quiet. Back then there was no 24 hour CNN news crap so I only heard things here and there. None of us boys read the newspaper and the evening news, all of 30 minutes, reported on national crap, not some small town murder.
I will do all I can to help catch this F William Bradford Bishop. There is no justice when he walks free. If he is dead then his bones need to be locked up behind bars. For me there is no statute of limitations for this scum. I will never forget his face. I saw him at practices and games. I always thought he a had a strange facial shape: hook nose, sunken cheeks, jutting out chin. I have a picture of him wearing a red sports jacket from 1975. I try to keep that face in my mind so that if I ever see him I will grab him and not let go. Is he dead? Until he or his remains are found and this case is closed he will never be dead. Is Jack the Ripper dead? Is THAT case closed?
Damn, this has been building for some time folks. I don't wish to offend. But I'm an old K-town boy and the Lyons sisters and this case bug me. Surely justice must prevail in a just society. How can people kill and never be brought to justice? What the F is up with that? Rant is now complete.
 
Welcome, Ritchie. Glad to have you here. Thanks for such a nice post - you really made Brent come alive for me. I hope that Bishop is found, or if he is dead, an id is made. You are right - justice needs to be done.

Blessings!
Rosie


Well, I can tell you this: until a bone containing this coward F's DNA is found he must be assumed to be alive and dangerous. I played on a soccer team with Brent. Yes folks, the people he murdered were actually real. All the sites I see regarding this "story" ... tradgedy, state: "wife and 3 sons". Brent was a quiet boy. He went to a different school than the core group of the Parkwood Blue Devils. We were bad *advertiser censored* too! No one could beat us. We were such jokers that we really should not have been so successful but we won the damn Maryland State cup. We had to win that tournament without Brad if I remember the timeline correctly... cuz he was beaten to death by his F father.
I moved recently and was going through my old trunk of mementos when I saw our soccer pictures. Brent was just a boy like the rest of us. Yet I got the chance to be 45 years old and finally, finally... married. Brent never got to do anything other than be a boy and I am willing to bet he did that in fear. He was pretty quiet. Other players that did not attend my school were as outgoing as the rest of us buddies. Like that crazy Shawn. I love all those guys. I demand justice for my teammate Brent. We slugged it out in the dirt together and I want to see his father pay for this crime.
Now, the parents of us players were VERY good at keeping the story quiet. Back then there was no 24 hour CNN news crap so I only heard things here and there. None of us boys read the newspaper and the evening news, all of 30 minutes, reported on national crap, not some small town murder.
I will do all I can to help catch this F William Bradford Bishop. There is no justice when he walks free. If he is dead then his bones need to be locked up behind bars. For me there is no statute of limitations for this scum. I will never forget his face. I saw him at practices and games. I always thought he a had a strange facial shape: hook nose, sunken cheeks, jutting out chin. I have a picture of him wearing a red sports jacket from 1975. I try to keep that face in my mind so that if I ever see him I will grab him and not let go. Is he dead? Until he or his remains are found and this case is closed he will never be dead. Is Jack the Ripper dead? Is THAT case closed?
Damn, this has been building for some time folks. I don't wish to offend. But I'm an old K-town boy and the Lyons sisters and this case bug me. Surely justice must prevail in a just society. How can people kill and never be brought to justice? What the F is up with that? Rant is now complete.
 
Writer James Bruno (Chasm, Bittersweet House Press, 2012) travelled to Europe in July to track down William Bradford Bishop. Here's a little info about Bruno and links to recent blog posts. Interesting reading about a fascinating case.

snipped from Bruno's Blogger profile:
I was a Foreign Service officer for twenty-three years, having worked previously in military intelligence and journalism. I am a member of the Diplomatic Readiness Reserve, subject to worldwide duty on short notice. I hold M.A. degrees from the U.S. Naval War College & Columbia University, and a B.A from George Washington U. (continued at the link)

http://www.blogger.com/profile/16915420421912064053

An Open Letter to William Bradford Bishop, Jr.
June 15 2013
snipped
During my research, I came upon something called "catathymic crisis" as a possible motivator for some serial killers. According to this psychological condition, there is "the development of the idea that a violent act - against another person or against oneself - is the only solution to a profound emotional conflict whose real nature remains below the threshold of the consciousness of the patient." After the act, the perpetrator then experiences a sense of relief, followed by a superficial feeling of normalcy which returns the subject to calm, rational behavior.

This then would explain your methodically collecting the bodies of your family members, driving five hours to North Carolina where you dug a shallow trench and ignited them with gasoline, purchased a pair of tennis shoes, then drove west to Tennessee with the family dog (alive), where you abandoned your blood-filled station wagon and disappeared. Poof!
William Bradford Bishop, Jr: Let's Meet
June 19, 2013

Calling Brad Bishop! Calling Brad Bishop!
July 13, 2013

On the Trail of a Murderer: William Bradford Bishop, Jr.
Jul 31, 2013
snipped
So, Brad, here's my take: You're cowering in one of two places: Italy or Canada. Your fluency in Italian, extensive knowledge of Italian society, Italy's loosey-goosey government administration and America's Most Wanted not seen there make that country a conducive hide-out for a murderer on the lam...

After those close calls in Europe, Brad, you might have made your way to Canada, easily stealing the identity of a deceased Canadian and burrowing your way into a place like Ste. Jovite or Noranda, getting by with your fluent Quebecois and free to speak North American English.
CHASM: James Bruno: 9780983764236: Amazon.com: [email]Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com[/email]/images/I/51k6iSp8CUL.@@AMEPARAM@@51k6iSp8CUL
 
William Bradford Bishop Wanted In 1976 Bethesda Murder
Samara Martin Ewing
12:03 AM, Feb 23, 2011
BETHESDA, Md. (WUSA)

"He went from room to room," says Popkin. "And one at a time hit them around the head and and killed each one of them."
Popkin says Bishop killed his wife first. Then, he killed his 3 young sons as they slept in their beds. Shortly after this, Popkin says Bishop's mother entered the house after walking the family dog. She was the last to be killed.
"It was just a horrific scene," says Popkin.
 
FBI officials announced Thursday that William Bradford Bishop, Jr, . was added to the Bureau's "Ten Most Wanted" list, according to CBS affiliate WUSA. Commonly known as Bradford Bishop, the suspect, who worked for the U.S. State Department, is wanted by the Montgomery County Police Department for the 1976 murder of five of his family members.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ex-us-diplomat-murder-suspect-added-to-fbis-most-wanted/


http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten

New age enhanced picture at both links. Hope they catch him!

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/april/william-bradford-bishop-added-to-fbi-top-ten-list

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/201...en-list/photo-gallery-william-bradford-bishop
 
He had been seen in many photos wearing his class ring from Yale, something that meant a lot to him and that he still may have or wear.

If you have any information about Bishop, you are asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI . You could receive a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to his arrest. If you are overseas, you are asked to go to the nearest embassy or consulate.

http://www.abc2news.com/news/state/fbi-seeks-family-annihilator-in-1976-murders
 

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