Old story is similar to Ala. prof's Mass. shooting

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CANTON, Mass. – Investigators have discovered that a newspaper on triple murder suspect Amy Bishop's bedroom floor when she killed her brother more than 20 years ago described an incident strikingly similar to what she did that day, raising questions about her claim it was an accident.

Norfolk District Attorney William Keating said investigators found the date of the newspaper after enlarging a police photo of the scene. He said the newspaper contained an article about a shotgun killing in which the suspect stole a getaway car from a dealership.

Bishop, now accused of killing three colleagues at an Alabama university this month, said she accidentally killed her teenage brother with a shotgun at their suburban Boston home in December 1986. She then went to a car dealership body shop and tried to commandeer a car at gunpoint, police said.

"We were struck by how parallel the circumstances were," Keating said. "That could go to the state of mind of Amy Bishop at the time."

Keating declined to be specific about the incident in the paper. Boston newspapers were reporting the incident was about the November 1986 killing of the parents of actor Patrick Duffy, who starred in the TV series "Dallas." They were slain with a shotgun during a robbery attempt at a Montana bar they owned. The two teen suspects then stole a truck at gunpoint from a car dealership. They were arrested after a high speed chase.

On Thursday, Keating ordered an inquest into the shooting of Bishop's brother, Seth Bishop, saying there are new questions about whether it was the accident investigators concluded at the time.

The handling of the case has been under scrutiny since Amy Bishop was accused of killing three faculty colleagues and wounding three others in a shooting Feb. 12 at the University of Alabama-Huntsville.

Keating said the inquest would allow a judge to subpoena Bishop's parents, who refused to talk with state troopers who went to their home last week, saying they had retained an attorney.

"Had they cooperated and we thought their answers were forthright and truthful," Keating said, "this might not have been necessary."

Bishop's mother was the only other witness to the killing. An attorney for the Bishops, Bryan Stevens, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Thursday.

Judge Mark Coven, presiding judge in Quincy District Court, will conduct the closed-door inquest and report his findings to Keating, who would then decide whether to pursue an indictment. The only possible charge that could be filed is murder because the statute of limitations on all other counts, including manslaughter, has expired.

The fact that the only other eyewitness says the shooting was an accident is "a huge burden to overcome," Keating said.

Police reports released by Keating last week said Amy Bishop told police she accidentally fired the shotgun in her bedroom, then went downstairs to ask her brother for help unloading the gun, which her father bought after a break-in.

She said after the gun accidentally went off again, hitting her brother, she fled, believing she dropped it, the reports said. She was arrested with the shotgun at gunpoint. She said she did not remember anything from when she fired the gun the second time until she was at a police station later.

Bishop was released after her mother went to the police station, and police didn't question Bishop or her family for 11 days, among the serious errors Keating said were committed in the 1986 investigation.