Harvard-Educated Prof. Charged With Murder of Brother

UPDATED 6:01 p.m.

Harvard-educated biology professor Amy Bishop, who was charged with a shooting at Alabama University in February, was indicted for the killing of her brother in 1986, prosecutors announced today.

Earlier this year, Bishop had shot six of her colleagues and killed three, prompting authorities to reopen the case of her brother's death. Bishop had originally told the police investigating the incident that she had accidentally shot him, and the case—ruled as an accident—fell quiet for more than two decades.

After recent further investigation into the case, Bishop has been charged with first-degree murder of her then-18-year-old brother, Seth. Roy Miller—Bishop's attorney during the case of the Alabama shootings—indicated that he is considering an insanity defense for his client.

Then-Norfolk District Attorney William Delahunt said that Braintree police reports of Bishop’s actions after shooting her brother were never mentioned in state police detective reports. Bishop had allegedly tried to steal a car at gunpoint from a local car dealership, then refused to drop her 12-gauge shotgun until officers ordered her to do so repeatedly.

In April, investigators revisiting photos from the crime scene discovered a 1986 newspaper clipping in Bishop’s room of the killings of actor Patrick Duffy’s parents, who were shot by a teenager with a 12-gauge shotgun and stole a getaway car from a dealership.

William Keating, the Norfolk district attorney, ordered an inquest, during which 19 witnesses testified to consider evidence, including the newspaper clipping, that was not present in 1986. A grand jury heard the evidence this month.

According to the Associated Press, the attorney of Bishop’s parents later released a statement saying that the investigation did not reveal new evidence that Seth’s death was not an accident. They also said that the review that led to Wednesday’s indictment was “an enormous waste of public resources.”

—Staff writer Xi Yu can be reached at xyu@college.harvard.edu.