Amy Bishop Indicted on First-Degree Murder in Massachusetts

Former University of Alabama biology professor, Amy Bishop, charged with the deaths of three of her colleagues in a February rampage in Huntsville, Ala; has been indicted on a first-degree murder charge in the 1986 shooting death of her brother, Seth, according to a report released by WCVB-TV5's thebostonchannel.com. The indictment was the result of a Massachusetts grand jury inquest.

Seth Bishop's Death Ruled Accidental in 1986

Apparently, Amy Bishop, who was 20 at the time, was detained, but never booked, following the shooting death of her 18-year-old brother, Seth. Another WCVB-TV5 news report claims in 1986 Amy shot her brother in the chest with a 12-gauge shotgun, killing him in the family's Braintree, MA home, but it was determined to be accidental.

The news report also states that at the time of the shooting, Amy Bishop's mother, Judith, was quoted in a local newspaper indeed defending the death as accidental. According to that news report, Judith said Amy was teaching herself to use the shotgun (in case there were burglars) when it fired into the bedroom wall.

Judith Bishop also said her daughter, Amy, then asked Seth to give her a hand to unload the gun, which went off once again, killing her brother. At the time, the police Chief was John Polio, who is in his late eighties now and the Massachusetts District Attorney was William Delahunt.

At present, Delahunt is a U.S. congressman, but as the D.A. at the time of the shooting, apparently he gave the go ahead to Chief Polio to release Amy Bishop, who was taken into custody that day by police at gunpoint.

Interestingly, when the February news of the University of Alabama shooting rampage broke in Massachusetts, the aged former police Chief John Polio told The Patriot Ledger; he remembered that Judy Bishop's two children were in an argument and a weapon was involved and somehow went off. He also said the D.A. found the shooting did not warrant charges, though. Very different scenario than Judith Bishop painted back then.

Investigation Reopened Following Alabama Shootings

The investigation of the death of Seth Bishop was reopened by the Norfolk District Attorney's Office following the University of Alabama shootings. Has Amy Bishop gotten away with the murder of her brother for 24 years? Time will tell when she goes to court. She now faces a better late than never first-degree murder charge on top of charges she faces for the murder of three of her colleagues.

Sources:

The Patriot Ledger

WCVB-TV5 News

The Times Online

Thebostonchannel.com