Tuesday, February 16, 2010

The Amy Bishop Saga Just Keeps Getting Weirder

The coverup is unraveling: Former Chief Now Doubts Bishop Police Report:

NewsCenter 5's Shiba Russell reported Tuesday that Amy Bishop shot and killed her brother in the Bay State more than 20 years ago in a shooting that was ruled accidental.

During the weekend, the former police chief in Braintree dismissed any allegations that the Bishop case was mishandled in 1986. Now, he appears to be changing his tune. John Polio, now 87, told the Boston Globe he has questions about Bishop's accidental shooting of her brother.

Why do I feel like this incident is a loose string on a sweater that could unravel for years?

UPDATE: The files may be missing from Braintree, but the DA had copies. Here's the report.

UPDATE: Fringe science? I got your fringe science right here:

An archived article accessible through the wayback machine depicts a "Press Release" about Dr. Bishop which reports that on March 10, 2009, Dr. Bishop's "Neuron Research Lab Launches Experiment in Space."

The "launch" was on par with the Balloon Boy's purported takeoff, only with less drama and coverage.

Also, while Dr. Bishop more than once mentions NASA on her web page, the March 2009 'launch' was handled by UAH Space Hardware Club, not NASA. Cherokee Labsystems, however, was purportedly involved; Dr. Bishop credited Cherokee with "payload support development." The payload -- live neuron cells from Dr. Bishop's lab secured in what looks to be a jury rigged contraption she calls the "'incubation chamber" purportedly designed to maintain temperature and pressure as the balloon ascended.

UPDATE: OK, now this is getting ridiculous:

In March, 2002, Bishop walked into an International House of Pancakes in Peabody with her family, asked for a booster seat for one of her children, and learned the last seat had gone to another mother.

Bishop, according to a police report, strode over to the other woman, demanded the seat and launched into a profanity-laced rant. When the woman would not give the seat up, Bishop punched her in the head, all the while yelling "I am Dr. Amy Bishop."

UPDATE 1013 PM: Yeah, I'm willing to go on record as saying that Amy Bishop was definitely in my SciFi Lit class, judging from this story.

This is from the 1986 report on Seth Bishop's death:

Teachers say he was an accomplished violinist. He began studying music in elementary school and developed a broad repertoire. He was a member of the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Braintree High School Orchestra and other student orchestras.

His sister was also a musical prodigy, with almost identical credits in her own high school yearbook entry. Note the Through the Looking Glass quote:

Amy Bishop

National Honor Society 4, Orchestra 1,2,3,4, BHSSA 2,3, New England Conservatory of Music, Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, BHS Chamber Orchestra, BHS Orchestra 1,2,3,4, “The time has come,” the Walrus said, “To talk of many things: Of shoes-and-ships-and sealing wax-Of cabbages-and kings-And why the sea is boiling hot – And whether pigs have wings.” Lewis Carroll 
This distinguished Braintree High alumni you see featured in the 1984 yearbook had a similar resume and obviously traveled in the same prodigious circles as the Bishops. Click to enlarge to see what Bozo lurks beneath the musical genius.

UPDATE: I mentioned the Sci-Fi Lit class that I believe I took with Amy Bishop- here is the somewhat enigmatic dedication the teacher of that class wrote to me. Click to enlarge.


As if this story wasn't strange enough already:
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. Keating declined to be specific about the incident in the paper. Boston newspapers were reporting the article 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.
Patrick Duffy was Mark Harris (read: "Mars/Horus") the Man from Atlantis. His birthday? 3/17. Bonus semiotic nuttiness:
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.
UPATE: Judy Bishop led opposition to the building of a Masonic temple in Braintree in the 70s.
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