Three Killed In Alabama University Shooting
Re: Three Killed In Alabama University Shooting
Eleven years later, a tragic footnote to this story:
Son of UAH shooter, Amy Bishop Anderson, identified as shooting victim
Seth Anderson, age 20, was shot and killed in Huntsville Monday night. Vincent Harmon, age 18, sits in jail charged with reckless murder in his death. The Huntsville Police Department is not releasing any additional information about Seth’s death, except to say he died after arriving at Huntsville Hospital with gunshot wounds Monday night.
You may not know Seth Anderson but you probably know his mother. She is spending the rest of her life at Tutwiler Prison for Women for killing three of her fellow UAH faculty members and trying to kill three more, in 2010.
Seth’s mother is Amy Bishop Anderson.
The massacre, during a Biology Department faculty meeting, started years of legal proceedings and investigations into Amy’s past.
That past uncovered the shooting death of Amy’s 18-year-old brother, Seth, for whom her son was named. Originally, Amy’s brother’s death in Massachusetts was ruled accidental, but the case was reopened after the UAH murders. After an in-depth investigation, Amy was indicted in Seth Bishop’s murder but authorities declined to take her to trial. She will remain behind bars here for the rest of her life.
In an off-camera interview last year, Seth bore a striking resemblance to his late namesake.
He was still living at home. He dropped out of Lee High School and got a GED. He used to be an accomplished violinist like his late uncle, but his sister said that he hadn’t played in a while.
She also said Seth was friends with the 18-year-old charged with his murder and that the shooting didn’t take place in their family home.
His sister did want to share that her brother was shy and didn’t like his picture taken. She said he loved the outdoors, photography and was a real techie with computers. She shared that the family was traveling for Seth’s cremation Thursday.
A memorial service will be held soon.
Son of UAH shooter, Amy Bishop Anderson, identified as shooting victim
Seth Anderson, age 20, was shot and killed in Huntsville Monday night. Vincent Harmon, age 18, sits in jail charged with reckless murder in his death. The Huntsville Police Department is not releasing any additional information about Seth’s death, except to say he died after arriving at Huntsville Hospital with gunshot wounds Monday night.
You may not know Seth Anderson but you probably know his mother. She is spending the rest of her life at Tutwiler Prison for Women for killing three of her fellow UAH faculty members and trying to kill three more, in 2010.
Seth’s mother is Amy Bishop Anderson.
The massacre, during a Biology Department faculty meeting, started years of legal proceedings and investigations into Amy’s past.
That past uncovered the shooting death of Amy’s 18-year-old brother, Seth, for whom her son was named. Originally, Amy’s brother’s death in Massachusetts was ruled accidental, but the case was reopened after the UAH murders. After an in-depth investigation, Amy was indicted in Seth Bishop’s murder but authorities declined to take her to trial. She will remain behind bars here for the rest of her life.
In an off-camera interview last year, Seth bore a striking resemblance to his late namesake.
He was still living at home. He dropped out of Lee High School and got a GED. He used to be an accomplished violinist like his late uncle, but his sister said that he hadn’t played in a while.
She also said Seth was friends with the 18-year-old charged with his murder and that the shooting didn’t take place in their family home.
His sister did want to share that her brother was shy and didn’t like his picture taken. She said he loved the outdoors, photography and was a real techie with computers. She shared that the family was traveling for Seth’s cremation Thursday.
A memorial service will be held soon.
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OscarGuy
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I notice how this article doesn't mention the suspicious relationship between Bishop's mother and the local police department that had been mentioned in other articles when the incident first occurred. There was most certainly a cover-up and this article superficially talks about it. I hope the mother is also brought to charges for lying to the police and withholding evidence.
I'm glad she's finally being charged, but there's more to the story and more people should be involved.
I'm glad she's finally being charged, but there's more to the story and more people should be involved.
Wesley Lovell
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
Ala. prof charged in brother's 1986 shooting death
CANTON, Mass. – A biology professor charged with killing three of her colleagues at an Alabama university has been indicted in the 1986 shooting death of her brother in Massachusetts, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Authorities had originally ruled that the shooting of Amy Bishop's brother was an accident, but they reopened the case after Bishop was charged in February with gunning down six of her colleagues at the University of Alabama-Huntsville, killing three.
Bishop, 45, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her 18-year-old brother, Seth, Norfolk District Attorney William Keating said.
Keating said he did not understand why charges were never brought against Bishop.
"I can't give you any explanations, I can't give you excuses, because there are none," he said. "Jobs weren't done, responsibilities weren't met and justice wasn't served."
Bishop had told police who investigated her brother's death that she accidentally shot him while trying to unload her father's 12-gauge shotgun in the family's Braintree home. Her mother, Judith, the only witness to the shooting, confirmed her daughter's account to police.
But after Bishop was charged in the Alabama shootings, authorities began reinvestigating Seth Bishop's death.
U.S. Rep. William Delahunt, who was then the Norfolk County district attorney, said that Braintree police never told anyone in his office that after Bishop shot her brother, she tried to commandeer a getaway car at gunpoint at a local car dealership, then refused to drop her gun until officers ordered her to do so repeatedly. Those events were described in Braintree police reports but not in a report written by a state police detective assigned to the district attorney's office.
Investigators looking at an old crime scene photo from her brother's shooting discovered a newspaper article about the 1986 killings of actor Patrick Duffy's parents. The clipping, which was in Bishop's bedroom, described how a teenager shot the "Dallas" star's parents with a 12-gauge shotgun and stole a getaway car from an auto dealership.
Keating ordered an inquest, which was held in April. Nineteen witnesses, including Bishop's parents, testified before Quincy District Court Judge Mark Coven during the closed-door inquest. A grand jury heard evidence this month.
Delahunt's first assistant district attorney, John Kivlan, said the inquest was important to consider evidence, including the newspaper clipping, that he did not have in 1986.
"Had this and other evidence been reported to the District Attorney's Office at the time, it would obviously have been presented to a Grand Jury and an indictment for intentional homicide, or murder, could have resulted at that time," Kivlan said in a statement released Wednesday by Delahunt's congressional office.
Keating said the indictment, brought 24 years after Seth Bishop's death, brought little comfort.
"You're never satisfied when a young boy, a young man, has lost his life," he said. "You're never satisfied when justice isn't served. You're never satisfied, when using your common sense, in all likelihood, three individuals in Alabama that were killed might not have been because the defendant wouldn't have been in that room."
An attorney representing Amy Bishop in the Alabama shootings, Roy Miller, had no immediate comment on the Massachusetts charges. Miller has indicated he is considering an insanity defense for Bishop.
The chief prosecutor in Huntsville, Madison County District Attorney Robert Broussard, didn't immediately return a telephone call seeking comment. He has said an Alabama grand jury would likely consider charges against Bishop in the university shooting by late summer.
Edited By dws1982 on 1276729504
At home in Madison, Joe Leahy finds healing, looks for answers in UAH shooting
By Mike Marshall, The Huntsville Times
Since coming home in mid-April, Dr. Joe Leahy and his wife, Ginny, take afternoon walks near their home in Madison.
Almost three months after the shooting at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Joe Leahy has had plenty of healing, perhaps more than anyone in his family expected.
In the afternoons, Leahy and his wife, Ginny, leave their home in Madison for their daily walks around the block.
On the weekends, there have been church and high school track meets. Lately, there have been trips to UAH for talks with professors and administrators.
On Friday, Leahy and other faculty members are scheduled to meet with the Madison County District Attorney's Office to discuss the shootings on Feb. 12 at the Shelby Center for Science and Technology.
Leahy, though, will likely not make that meeting because of a therapy appointment.
Thirteen people gathered that fateful day in February in the third-floor conference room to discuss proposed budget cuts, scheduling for the fall and a senior seminar that had become too large.
Three of them were shot to death, and three others were wounded, including Leahy, a UAH biology professor since 1997.
Dr. Amy Bishop, a fellow biology professor, was arrested outside the Shelby Center minutes after the shooting. She has been charged with capital murder and attempted murder.
Positive support
Leahy, 50, doesn't remember what happened that afternoon in the conference room. His wife and other members of the biology department have helped him with the details of the shooting and the aftermath.
"At first, they didn't know if you'd survive," Ginny told her husband Monday. "Then, in ICU, they said the longest they'd had anyone was 5 1/2 weeks, and they said you could be in there longer."
But he was out of ICU at Huntsville Hospital in 2 1/2 weeks. Then it was on to the Shepherd Center, a private hospital in Atlanta for people with spinal cord and brain injuries.
After six weeks at the Shepherd Center, the Leahys came home on April 14. The front yard of their home on Pebblebrook Drive was filled with signs and handmade posters.
Parents and former members of the track team at St. John the Baptist Catholic School in Madison - people he hadn't seen in years - came to visit the family.
"It's a great feeling that I hope everyone gets to experience," he said. "That's the positive that I take out of this - the support from the community and the humanity that we can be this good to one another."
By Ginny's estimate, there have been thousands of cards and letters, enough to fill 10 binders. Some have come from Canada, others from Iraq.
Ginny Leahy, left, wife of Joe Leahy, UAH professor who was shot during a staff conference on Feb. 12, look through one of 10 binders full of cards and notes of well wishes.
Leahy, an ardent fan and graduate of Ohio State University, received autographed photos from Ohio State head football coach Jim Tressel and former Ohio State running back Archie Griffin, the only two-time Heisman Trophy winner in college football history.
"Day-to-day life seems OK," he said. "Vision is not good. Reading is tough."
He lost the sight in his right eye, The optic nerve was severed.
Accept it, move on
But today, the brace for his head and jaw, once shattered, will be removed. He speaks decisively, without hesitation.
He expects his feeding tube to be removed soon because his appetite has been strong since his return home.
"The people who saw me after the shooting say I look fantastic," he said. "They saw me on a stretcher with a respirator, covered with blood. They say I look great."
He tells people that he's doing as well as can be expected, that he's happy to be alive. He's optimistic about his return to UAH, saying he'll "be fine long-term as far as teaching."
Before he can have total healing, though, he must piece together the events of Feb. 12 in the Shelby Center conference room.
"I'm trying to put a picture together in my mind to better understand for healing," he said. "I need to have an image of the scene, minute by minute, of what transpired for the healing, then accept it as an incident in my life and move on."
Until then, until he puts together that mental picture, that afternoon in the conference room will be something he's unable to understand.
"I'm trying to imagine the scene," he said. "I can't even imagine it. It's so foreign. We're not used to extreme violence or the aftermath - the extreme consequences."
'Liked her quite a bit'
About five weeks ago, the Leahys talked about the shooting for the first time.
One night in the Shepherd Center, Joe asked Ginny a question as he was eating his "mush food," as Ginny called it. Because of his shattered jaw, he was limited to eating puree.
"So, tell me exactly what happened," he asked, as Ginny recalled.
Ginny was braced for the moment. She and Dr. Catherine Rogers, one of Joe's doctors, had talked about how to handle the question.
Give it to him straight, Ginny recalled Rogers telling her.
Ginny had also prepared for the question by asking Dr. Lynn Boyd, one of the 13 people in the conference room. She knew Joe, a devotee of data, would want as much information as possible.
"Dr. Boyd talked to the whole family," Ginny said. "We wanted to know what happened. We wanted to be precise. He likes the details."
Ginny said she spoke to several other professors, including Dr. Debra Moriarity, dean of graduate studies at UAH.
"You were at a department meeting on a Friday afternoon," Ginny recalled telling him. "For some unbelievable reason, Dr. Bishop brought in a gun, stood up and, unprovoked, began to shoot other faculty members in a clockwise fashion."
Then she told Joe that he was the last person to be shot. From all accounts, Joe was leaning forward as he was shot in the top of the head, likely trying to duck under the table for cover.
Joe's reply, as Ginny recalled: "Well, at least no one died.'"
No, Ginny told him. Three people died.
Joe wanted to know who had died. Ginny told him - Dr. Gopi Podila, the department chair; Dr. Adriel Johnson; and Dr. Maria Ragland Davis.
Leahy, Dr. Luis Cruz-Vera and Stephanie Monticciolo were wounded.
"That is so very sad," Ginny recalled Joe saying.
Joe's younger brother, Paul, was also in the room. Ginny recalled something Joe said that night about Amy Bishop: "She could be kind of crazy."
But on Monday, Joe Leahy said he was supportive of Bishop. "That's the toughest part of all," he said. "She was a very nice person. I was one of the faculty who recommended that she be hired. I was supportive of her ever since. I personally liked her quite a bit."
Pressure-cooker
"I think academia, especially during tenure-earning period, it's a pressure-cooker that people don't understand. I can't say I'm shocked that it happened. When you don't get tenure, it's a terrible feeling of rejection from people you're very close to."
Last Friday, Leahy visited one of those people. He went to see Boyd and thanked her for saving his life.
That afternoon in the conference room, Moriarity told Boyd to grab some napkins off the conference room table and apply pressure to Joe's head.
"You've got to use whatever you've got to use in life or death," Joe Leahy said.
Now, his quest for more information begins. The other professors in the biology department, the ones who were in the conference room, the ones with the details, have said they'll be happy to answer his questions.
"I'll ask them one at a time," he said. "Sometimes, you can get a different shading (from each person), so I'm going to piece together the average. And I'll piece together the story, and it'll be my story, and I'll move forward."
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Big Magilla
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I remember that. It was Patrick Duffy's parents.dws1982 wrote:The Boston Herald reported sources identifying the article as a November 1986 newspaper clipping about two teens who murdered the parents of a "Dallas" TV star at their Montana home. The two teens then stole a car from a dealership but were eventually caught.
Amy Bishop saved article about '86 murder and get-away
Could a newspaper article about two teens using a 12-gauge shotgun for murder and a car-jacking getaway in 1986 have put the seed of murder into a 20-year-old Amy Bishop's head?
Norfolk County District Attorney William Keating yesterday pointed to new evidence in the 1986 shooting death of Bishop's 18-year-old brother Seth -- a photograph of the scene in Bishop's Braintree bedroom the night of the shooting that shows a newspaper clipping next to shotgun shells -- signaling a prior intent and motive for murder.
The Boston Herald reported sources identifying the article as a November 1986 newspaper clipping about two teens who murdered the parents of a "Dallas" TV star at their Montana home. The two teens then stole a car from a dealership but were eventually caught.
What happened the day of the shooting and why Bishop was released is the source of much confusion, as the former Braintree police chief, John V. Polio, now in his eighties, denies that he ordered Bishop to be released into the custody of her parents.
Police records show Judy Bishop secured her daughter's release, but Polio says it was a lieutenant and a captain who ordered the release. William Delahunt, the former Norfolk DA, said he conducted a proper review of the case at the time and ruled it an accidental shooting.
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Amy Bishop 1986 shooting: What happened that day?
The Amy Bishop case has sparked renewed interest in a 24-year-old cold case involving the shooting death of Bishop's brother Seth on December 6, 1986. Bishops parents, through their attorney, maintain it was an accidental shooting.
But what are the facts? What was known on the day of the shooting and why was Bishop allowed to leave after her arrest? Many people are wondering, but maybe only three people know what really happened that day: Amy Bishop, her mother Judith (Judy) Bishop, and the former Braintree chief of police John Polio.
Here's what the police reports released by the Briantree police department and Norfolk County District Attorney William Keating reveal -- you can read the original reports yourself in a PDF file at the website of the DA.
* Bishop took her father's 12-gauge shotgun and shells into her bedroom and loaded the gun. It went off and destroyed her mirror and lamp and put a hole in the wall. No one heard the gun go off. Police photo of the scene now revealed to show a newspaper clipping on the floor, about two teens who killed a TV star's parents with a 12-gauge and stole a getaway car from a nearby dealership.
* Bishop went downstairs into the kitchen and the gun went off, hitting Seth square in the chest. He died later that day at a Quincy hospital. The only eyewitness, Judy Bishop, told police that day that Amy screamed and ran out of the house still holding the shotgun, which was still loaded. Judy called 911, police and an ambulance arrived soon after.
* Amy reached a nearby Ford dealership and encountered two employees, who told Braintree police that day that she had surprised them in the body shop, pointed the gun at them and demanded keys for a getaway car. (The state police report clearing the shooting as accidental did not include this account.) She then ran out of the body shop and encountered Braintree police.
* Behind the Village News on Parkway, Amy ran into Officer Solimini, who exited his cruiser and tried to talk her into dropping the shotgun. He wrote in his report that she seemed "frighten [sic], disoriented, confused." Officer Murphy then came up from behind her and was able to get her to drop the gun. The two officers apprehended her and drove her to the police station.
* On the ride back to the station, Amy told the officers that she had been in a fight with her father, James Bishop, before the shooting.
* At the station, Lt. James Sullivan gave Bishop her rights, but she said she had a "spat" prior to the shooting and went to her room. As he was proceeding with booking Amy, Judy Bishop came to the booking area with Sgt. Brady and said Amy would not make any more statements. Sullivan wrote in his report that he then left the booking area.
* "After consulting with Cpt. Buker and Cpt. D'Amicoit was determined that no charges would be brought against Amy Bishop at this time," Sullivan wrote in his report.
Polio, the former chief of police, now says that he never ordered Bishop's release, but his account is disputed by several of the officers involved.
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US attorney orders review of 1993 mailbombing case tied to Amy Bishop
The state's top federal prosecutor announced today that her office will review its investigation of the December 1993 attempted mail bombing of a Harvard Medical School professor, now that a woman once considered a suspect in the case is accused of killing three people during a shooting rampage at the University of Alabama at Huntsville.
US Attorney Carmen Ortiz, who was appointed to her post in November, said today in a statement that she has ordered a review to make sure that "all appropriate steps'' were taken at the time of the original investigation.
"While it would be inconsistent with our legal obligations to release all information related to this incident, we have commenced a thorough review of the information related to this incident to confirm that all appropriate steps were taken in that matter, and to determine whether information related to this incident may be of assistance to other law enforcement agencies,'' the statement said.
A spokesman for Huntsville police said detectives investigating the shootings at the University of Alabama would welcome any insights that a review of the 1993 attempted bombing could provide.
"We would be grateful for any help we can get from any source," Sergeant Mark Roberts said today.
The announcement came two days after the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives released files to the Globe detailing why investigators focused on Amy Bishop, who is charged with the Alabama slayings, and her husband, Jimmy E. Anderson Jr., after a package containing two pipe bombs was sent to the Newton home of Dr. Paul Rosenberg.
The couple were never charged with the attempted bombing, which remains unsolved.
In a telephone interview today, Anderson's father, Jim Anderson, Sr., said he welcomed Ortiz's decision. "That's a very proactive statement. I take that on a positive note,'' he said. "Because I think they went after the wrong people.''
Rosenberg, who could not immediately be reached for comment today, issued a statement last week expressing his condolences to victims of the Alabama shootings and calling for a "thorough (sic) investigation into this recent crime, so that no one else will be victimized by such senseless violence."
After returning from vacation with his wife on Dec. 19, 1993, Rosenberg was opening a package that had been brought in with the mail and addressed to him when he saw wires and a cylinder inside. He and his wife fled the house and called police. The package contained two pipe bombs.
The ATF files revealed that Rosenberg, a Harvard Medical School professor and doctor at Children's Hospital in Boston, told investigators that weeks before the attempted bombing he played a role in Bishop's resignation from her job as a post-doctoral research fellow in the hospital's neurobiology lab because "he felt she could not meet the standards required for the work.''
Rosenberg said he feared Bishop "was not stable'' and that her co-workers had growing concerns because she had "exhibited violent behavior.''
The files reveal that a witness told investigators that Anderson "wanted to get back at" Rosenberg by shooting, bombing, stabbing, or strangling him. Nothing in the files indicated whether investigators found the unidentified witness credible.
The Huntsville Times reported today that Anderson said the allegations in the ATF files "are based on an unconfirmed witness.''
The names of Bishop and Anderson are blacked out in most of the files, but three people familiar with the investigation have confirmed on condition of anonymity that the documents refer to the couple.
In one document provided to the Globe, Andersen's name is not redacted, and he's identified as the person who allegedly told the witness in 1993 that he wanted to "shoot him, bomb him, stab him or strangle Rosenberg.''
In the interview with the Globe today, Anderson's father heaped scorn on that allegation.
"The comments are out of character first because he's an Eagle Scout, first because I think he's almost a pacifist. It would be totally out of character for him to ever make a statement [like] that,'' the elder Anderson said.
He added, "He's 45 years old, and I've never heard him use the word 'strangle' in his life. I've never heard him use the word 'stab' anything in his life. He's a lover of nature. He's not a person who would harm anybody. So that was out of character -- that's what makes it ludicrous to even consider that as a viable statement. It's just 100 percent ludicrous."
On Monday, former US attorney Donald K . Stern, who presided over the office when prosecutors oversaw the attempted mail bombing investigation, said the case should be reviewed, following Bishop's arrest Feb. 12 for allegedly shooting three colleagues and wounding three more during a faculty meeting at the University of Alabama at Huntsville over a decision to deny her tenure.
Stern said he believed the investigation was thorough and professional, but noted, "There's a reason to take a fresh look because you want to make sure things were done properly."
Separately, Governor Deval Patrick has ordered State Police to review their handling of the 1986 investigation into Amy Bishop's killing of her brother, Seth, with their father's shotgun.
The incident was ruled an accident, but law enforcement officials involved in the case at the time now say information was not shared between investigating agencies.
Edited By dws1982 on 1267239927
Could a newspaper article about two teens using a 12-gauge shotgun for murder and a car-jacking getaway in 1986 have put the seed of murder into a 20-year-old Amy Bishop's head?
Norfolk County District Attorney William Keating yesterday pointed to new evidence in the 1986 shooting death of Bishop's 18-year-old brother Seth -- a photograph of the scene in Bishop's Braintree bedroom the night of the shooting that shows a newspaper clipping next to shotgun shells -- signaling a prior intent and motive for murder.
The Boston Herald reported sources identifying the article as a November 1986 newspaper clipping about two teens who murdered the parents of a "Dallas" TV star at their Montana home. The two teens then stole a car from a dealership but were eventually caught.
What happened the day of the shooting and why Bishop was released is the source of much confusion, as the former Braintree police chief, John V. Polio, now in his eighties, denies that he ordered Bishop to be released into the custody of her parents.
Police records show Judy Bishop secured her daughter's release, but Polio says it was a lieutenant and a captain who ordered the release. William Delahunt, the former Norfolk DA, said he conducted a proper review of the case at the time and ruled it an accidental shooting.
------------------------
Amy Bishop 1986 shooting: What happened that day?
The Amy Bishop case has sparked renewed interest in a 24-year-old cold case involving the shooting death of Bishop's brother Seth on December 6, 1986. Bishops parents, through their attorney, maintain it was an accidental shooting.
But what are the facts? What was known on the day of the shooting and why was Bishop allowed to leave after her arrest? Many people are wondering, but maybe only three people know what really happened that day: Amy Bishop, her mother Judith (Judy) Bishop, and the former Braintree chief of police John Polio.
Here's what the police reports released by the Briantree police department and Norfolk County District Attorney William Keating reveal -- you can read the original reports yourself in a PDF file at the website of the DA.
* Bishop took her father's 12-gauge shotgun and shells into her bedroom and loaded the gun. It went off and destroyed her mirror and lamp and put a hole in the wall. No one heard the gun go off. Police photo of the scene now revealed to show a newspaper clipping on the floor, about two teens who killed a TV star's parents with a 12-gauge and stole a getaway car from a nearby dealership.
* Bishop went downstairs into the kitchen and the gun went off, hitting Seth square in the chest. He died later that day at a Quincy hospital. The only eyewitness, Judy Bishop, told police that day that Amy screamed and ran out of the house still holding the shotgun, which was still loaded. Judy called 911, police and an ambulance arrived soon after.
* Amy reached a nearby Ford dealership and encountered two employees, who told Braintree police that day that she had surprised them in the body shop, pointed the gun at them and demanded keys for a getaway car. (The state police report clearing the shooting as accidental did not include this account.) She then ran out of the body shop and encountered Braintree police.
* Behind the Village News on Parkway, Amy ran into Officer Solimini, who exited his cruiser and tried to talk her into dropping the shotgun. He wrote in his report that she seemed "frighten [sic], disoriented, confused." Officer Murphy then came up from behind her and was able to get her to drop the gun. The two officers apprehended her and drove her to the police station.
* On the ride back to the station, Amy told the officers that she had been in a fight with her father, James Bishop, before the shooting.
* At the station, Lt. James Sullivan gave Bishop her rights, but she said she had a "spat" prior to the shooting and went to her room. As he was proceeding with booking Amy, Judy Bishop came to the booking area with Sgt. Brady and said Amy would not make any more statements. Sullivan wrote in his report that he then left the booking area.
* "After consulting with Cpt. Buker and Cpt. D'Amicoit was determined that no charges would be brought against Amy Bishop at this time," Sullivan wrote in his report.
Polio, the former chief of police, now says that he never ordered Bishop's release, but his account is disputed by several of the officers involved.
------------------------
US attorney orders review of 1993 mailbombing case tied to Amy Bishop
The state's top federal prosecutor announced today that her office will review its investigation of the December 1993 attempted mail bombing of a Harvard Medical School professor, now that a woman once considered a suspect in the case is accused of killing three people during a shooting rampage at the University of Alabama at Huntsville.
US Attorney Carmen Ortiz, who was appointed to her post in November, said today in a statement that she has ordered a review to make sure that "all appropriate steps'' were taken at the time of the original investigation.
"While it would be inconsistent with our legal obligations to release all information related to this incident, we have commenced a thorough review of the information related to this incident to confirm that all appropriate steps were taken in that matter, and to determine whether information related to this incident may be of assistance to other law enforcement agencies,'' the statement said.
A spokesman for Huntsville police said detectives investigating the shootings at the University of Alabama would welcome any insights that a review of the 1993 attempted bombing could provide.
"We would be grateful for any help we can get from any source," Sergeant Mark Roberts said today.
The announcement came two days after the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives released files to the Globe detailing why investigators focused on Amy Bishop, who is charged with the Alabama slayings, and her husband, Jimmy E. Anderson Jr., after a package containing two pipe bombs was sent to the Newton home of Dr. Paul Rosenberg.
The couple were never charged with the attempted bombing, which remains unsolved.
In a telephone interview today, Anderson's father, Jim Anderson, Sr., said he welcomed Ortiz's decision. "That's a very proactive statement. I take that on a positive note,'' he said. "Because I think they went after the wrong people.''
Rosenberg, who could not immediately be reached for comment today, issued a statement last week expressing his condolences to victims of the Alabama shootings and calling for a "thorough (sic) investigation into this recent crime, so that no one else will be victimized by such senseless violence."
After returning from vacation with his wife on Dec. 19, 1993, Rosenberg was opening a package that had been brought in with the mail and addressed to him when he saw wires and a cylinder inside. He and his wife fled the house and called police. The package contained two pipe bombs.
The ATF files revealed that Rosenberg, a Harvard Medical School professor and doctor at Children's Hospital in Boston, told investigators that weeks before the attempted bombing he played a role in Bishop's resignation from her job as a post-doctoral research fellow in the hospital's neurobiology lab because "he felt she could not meet the standards required for the work.''
Rosenberg said he feared Bishop "was not stable'' and that her co-workers had growing concerns because she had "exhibited violent behavior.''
The files reveal that a witness told investigators that Anderson "wanted to get back at" Rosenberg by shooting, bombing, stabbing, or strangling him. Nothing in the files indicated whether investigators found the unidentified witness credible.
The Huntsville Times reported today that Anderson said the allegations in the ATF files "are based on an unconfirmed witness.''
The names of Bishop and Anderson are blacked out in most of the files, but three people familiar with the investigation have confirmed on condition of anonymity that the documents refer to the couple.
In one document provided to the Globe, Andersen's name is not redacted, and he's identified as the person who allegedly told the witness in 1993 that he wanted to "shoot him, bomb him, stab him or strangle Rosenberg.''
In the interview with the Globe today, Anderson's father heaped scorn on that allegation.
"The comments are out of character first because he's an Eagle Scout, first because I think he's almost a pacifist. It would be totally out of character for him to ever make a statement [like] that,'' the elder Anderson said.
He added, "He's 45 years old, and I've never heard him use the word 'strangle' in his life. I've never heard him use the word 'stab' anything in his life. He's a lover of nature. He's not a person who would harm anybody. So that was out of character -- that's what makes it ludicrous to even consider that as a viable statement. It's just 100 percent ludicrous."
On Monday, former US attorney Donald K . Stern, who presided over the office when prosecutors oversaw the attempted mail bombing investigation, said the case should be reviewed, following Bishop's arrest Feb. 12 for allegedly shooting three colleagues and wounding three more during a faculty meeting at the University of Alabama at Huntsville over a decision to deny her tenure.
Stern said he believed the investigation was thorough and professional, but noted, "There's a reason to take a fresh look because you want to make sure things were done properly."
Separately, Governor Deval Patrick has ordered State Police to review their handling of the 1986 investigation into Amy Bishop's killing of her brother, Seth, with their father's shotgun.
The incident was ruled an accident, but law enforcement officials involved in the case at the time now say information was not shared between investigating agencies.
Edited By dws1982 on 1267239927
UAH shooting suspect Amy Bishop suspended without pay, will be fired
HUNTSVILLE, AL - Dr. Amy Bishop, suspected of killing three UAH faculty members and wounding three other employees, has been suspended retroactively to the day of the attack and will be fired, a university spokesman said.
Spokesman Ray Garner issued a brief statement saying "Dr. Amy Bishop was suspended without pay effective February 12, 2010. The university is moving forward with the process of terminating her employment."
Questions have been raised about Bishop's status compared to that of Dr. Josephy Leahy and staff assistant Stephanie Monticciolo, who are hospitalized with gunshot wounds from the attack.
Garner would not discuss details of the survivors' salaries Thursday afternoon, but reliable university sources said Leahy and Monticciolo have been receiving their full pay since the attack.
----------------------------------------------------
Stephanie Monticciolo's status is upgraded to good condition
HUNTSVILLE, AL - Stephanie Monticciolo, the biology department staff assistant injured in the Feb. 12 shooting on the University of Alabama in Huntsville campus, has been upgraded to good condition this afternoon. She has been moved out of the surgical intensive care unit and into a regular patient room at Huntsville Hospital, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Biology faculty member Dr. Joseph Leahy remains in critical condition in the neuro-intensive care unit.
Dr. Amy Bishop, an assistant professor of biology at UAH, is in custody in the shooting, which also injured Dr. Luis Cruz-Vera and killed Dr. Gopi Podila, biology department chairman, and Dr. Maria Ragland Davis and Dr. Adriel Johnson.
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Dr. Leahy's family actually has a blog set up where they post updates about his status. He's still listed in critical condition, but he also seems to be making real progress in his recovery. Here's the latest post:
josephleahy.blogspot.com
Edited By dws1982 on 1267140948
HUNTSVILLE, AL - Dr. Amy Bishop, suspected of killing three UAH faculty members and wounding three other employees, has been suspended retroactively to the day of the attack and will be fired, a university spokesman said.
Spokesman Ray Garner issued a brief statement saying "Dr. Amy Bishop was suspended without pay effective February 12, 2010. The university is moving forward with the process of terminating her employment."
Questions have been raised about Bishop's status compared to that of Dr. Josephy Leahy and staff assistant Stephanie Monticciolo, who are hospitalized with gunshot wounds from the attack.
Garner would not discuss details of the survivors' salaries Thursday afternoon, but reliable university sources said Leahy and Monticciolo have been receiving their full pay since the attack.
----------------------------------------------------
Stephanie Monticciolo's status is upgraded to good condition
HUNTSVILLE, AL - Stephanie Monticciolo, the biology department staff assistant injured in the Feb. 12 shooting on the University of Alabama in Huntsville campus, has been upgraded to good condition this afternoon. She has been moved out of the surgical intensive care unit and into a regular patient room at Huntsville Hospital, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Biology faculty member Dr. Joseph Leahy remains in critical condition in the neuro-intensive care unit.
Dr. Amy Bishop, an assistant professor of biology at UAH, is in custody in the shooting, which also injured Dr. Luis Cruz-Vera and killed Dr. Gopi Podila, biology department chairman, and Dr. Maria Ragland Davis and Dr. Adriel Johnson.
------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Leahy's family actually has a blog set up where they post updates about his status. He's still listed in critical condition, but he also seems to be making real progress in his recovery. Here's the latest post:
Dear Family and Friends,
Joe is making miraculous progress! I'm not sure where to start.
He wrote a lot more today, and most importantly he was speaking today. The respiratory therapist plugged his trach opening, told him to take a deep breath and then he was able to communicate with us, even with his jaw being wired shut.
Questions and Joe's Answers:
1. What is your first name?
Joe
2. What is your last name?
Leahy
3. What year is it?
2010
4. Where do you teach?
U. of Maryland (where he got his Ph.D)
Then he said: Univ of Alabama in Huntsville
Then he started to talk without waiting for a question. He had his own agenda!
He asked about taking a shower
He was asking Ginny about bringing him his lessons and activities
(earlier in the day when we weren't in the room, he told the nurse that he needed to get his rest because he needed to get up early to give a test on Tuesday)
He said he had 2 boys and then Ginny told him that his parents were at the house taking care of Stephen and Keith, incase he was worried about them. After learning about the folks being at the home, he said "Good, follow the rules" That cracked us up! We were both laughing and crying at the same time. We've had so many emotions during these last two weeks!
We are in a whirlwind right now, due to Joe's unexpected quick rate of progress, and we are needing to make many decisions and hold many meetings to plan for the transition to The Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Given that, Ginny has asked that no one visit tomorrow (Friday) so we can catch our breath and plan for this move.
Love to all,
Praise God!
Lisa
josephleahy.blogspot.com
Edited By dws1982 on 1267140948
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But does it have any material purpose of being in the article other than as a note "these guys had degenerate pursuits".
There is little other reason to bring that up unless the author was intending to portray the individuals in a negative light. If that wasn't his intention, then he didn't have to mention it.
There is little other reason to bring that up unless the author was intending to portray the individuals in a negative light. If that wasn't his intention, then he didn't have to mention it.
Wesley Lovell
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
Mrs. Bishop's husband seems to be a loathsome creature, who's way too eager to talk to the press, considering he has children at home going through a pretty traumatic event. But I do like that he wasn't ashamed to admit he met his wife at a Dungeons and Dragons game. Based on his quotes, however, he's either delusional, or a huge enabler, or both.
Amy Bishop 'consumed' with university tenure but was pursuing plan B, husband says
HUNTSVILLE, AL -- Jim Anderson said although his wife, biology professor Dr. Amy Bishop, remained "consumed" with achieving university tenure, she was actively pursuing "Plan B" for her career, including other teaching jobs.
"She had plans to maybe go into full-time neuro research," Anderson said in a wide-ranging 45-minute interview Tuesday night, "and she had three leads about other faculty positions. Those plans may have involved leaving Huntsville, or maybe not."
But now, Bishop is in the Madison County Jail, accused of murdering three of her biology department colleagues in a shooting rampage Friday at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
Wednesday, Madison County District Judge Ruth Ann Hall appointed Huntsville attorney Roy W. Miller to serve as Bishop's counsel. To receive a court-appointed attorney, a defendant must file an affidavit of substantial hardship, showing that she cannot afford to pay for her own attorney, which in a capital murder case, could cost hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars.
Factors used to determine hardship include the income of the defendant (but not the spouse), debts, the number and ages of dependents. Bishop and Anderson have four school-aged children.
A judge can reconsider a defendant's financial status at any time. Bishop and Anderson are listed as co-inventors of a cell incubation device called InQ which has been touted as having amazing potential, but it is still in the development and marketing phase."
Final semester at UAH
Bishop had been denied tenure at UAH, and she was in her final semester as a professor there. Anderson said he believed she'd accepted the fact that she had to find somewhere else to work and was exploring her options.
"What's happened has taken me by complete surprise," he said.
Anderson said his wife has written - and "rewritten and rewritten" - three novels over the past several years. He said he'd encouraged her to "dust them off" and make renewed attempts to get them published.
The Boston Globe acquired a copy of one of those drafts, which is titled "Amazon Fever." It's a racy thriller set in Boston and Brazil, and the heroine is a scientist struggling against depression and the fear of losing tenure. Another character named James Anderson - her husband's real name - is a crack genetic sequencer at UAH.
Members of Bishop's former writing club in Ipswich, Mass., have said she often referred to best-selling novelist John Irving - author of "The Cider House Rules" and "The World According to Garp" - as her cousin. Irving's publicist, Anne Tate of New York's Random House, confirmed on Wednesday that the novelist is Bishop's cousin.
Bishop and Anderson met as undergraduate students at Northeastern University in Boston at a Dungeons & Dragons gathering. They married two years later, "in an intimate ceremony with close friends and family."
"I was drawn to her intelligence," Anderson said. "She had that combination of looks and intelligence and fun to be with."
Anderson said he'd never "really" seen Bishop display a temper, "and from what I gather from everyone else, they didn't either."
Prior incidents no big deal, Anderson says
Anderson said they barely knew each other in December 1986 when she shot and killed her 18-year-old brother, Seth Bishop.
"She told me it was an accident," he said. "But it wasn't something she liked to talk about."
In reviewing records from that shooting, prosecutors and police in Braintree, Mass., said this week that a more thorough investigation should have been done at the time. Instead, Bishop wasn't questioned until 11 days after the shooting. [See a copy of the police report]
Retired Police Chief John Polio said he wasn't told at the time that Bishop had also pointed the shotgun at strangers when trying to procure a getaway vehicle or that three shots were fired inside her home.
"No one accidentally shoots a shot gun three times," Polio said. "That's just crazy."
Anderson said too much attention is being paid to Bishop shooting her brother.
"It was just an accident," he said.
Also, Anderson said a 2002 arrest for assault and battery at a Peabody, Mass., International House of Pancakes has "been blown out of proportion." The police report states Bishop became irate when there was no booster seat for her child during a family outing to IHOP, and she cursed and hit a customer who wouldn't relinquish hers.
"The woman was hoping to hit the litigation lottery," Anderson said of the victim in Bishop's attack. "There was nothing to it."
When asked if he thought his wife could have benefited from anger management classes as the prosecutor suggested back in 2002, he said, "No. For an instance like that, no. It was just blown out of proportion."
Anderson said he and his wife were also unfairly targeted as possible suspects in an attempted pipe bombing of Harvard professor Dr. Paul Rosenberg in 1993. Former colleagues have said Rosenberg was critical of her work.
"Attorneys sent us a letter that (federal officials) were closing the case," Anderson said. "Remember, this was happening in the time of the Unabomber, so they were really sensitive about it.
"Probably 90 percent of the houses in America have stuff (used to make pipe bombs) in them. But we had a big, hairy, snarly attorney, so (investigators) treated us pretty fairly."
Edited By dws1982 on 1266509794
Amy Bishop 'consumed' with university tenure but was pursuing plan B, husband says
HUNTSVILLE, AL -- Jim Anderson said although his wife, biology professor Dr. Amy Bishop, remained "consumed" with achieving university tenure, she was actively pursuing "Plan B" for her career, including other teaching jobs.
"She had plans to maybe go into full-time neuro research," Anderson said in a wide-ranging 45-minute interview Tuesday night, "and she had three leads about other faculty positions. Those plans may have involved leaving Huntsville, or maybe not."
But now, Bishop is in the Madison County Jail, accused of murdering three of her biology department colleagues in a shooting rampage Friday at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
Wednesday, Madison County District Judge Ruth Ann Hall appointed Huntsville attorney Roy W. Miller to serve as Bishop's counsel. To receive a court-appointed attorney, a defendant must file an affidavit of substantial hardship, showing that she cannot afford to pay for her own attorney, which in a capital murder case, could cost hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars.
Factors used to determine hardship include the income of the defendant (but not the spouse), debts, the number and ages of dependents. Bishop and Anderson have four school-aged children.
A judge can reconsider a defendant's financial status at any time. Bishop and Anderson are listed as co-inventors of a cell incubation device called InQ which has been touted as having amazing potential, but it is still in the development and marketing phase."
Final semester at UAH
Bishop had been denied tenure at UAH, and she was in her final semester as a professor there. Anderson said he believed she'd accepted the fact that she had to find somewhere else to work and was exploring her options.
"What's happened has taken me by complete surprise," he said.
Anderson said his wife has written - and "rewritten and rewritten" - three novels over the past several years. He said he'd encouraged her to "dust them off" and make renewed attempts to get them published.
The Boston Globe acquired a copy of one of those drafts, which is titled "Amazon Fever." It's a racy thriller set in Boston and Brazil, and the heroine is a scientist struggling against depression and the fear of losing tenure. Another character named James Anderson - her husband's real name - is a crack genetic sequencer at UAH.
Members of Bishop's former writing club in Ipswich, Mass., have said she often referred to best-selling novelist John Irving - author of "The Cider House Rules" and "The World According to Garp" - as her cousin. Irving's publicist, Anne Tate of New York's Random House, confirmed on Wednesday that the novelist is Bishop's cousin.
Bishop and Anderson met as undergraduate students at Northeastern University in Boston at a Dungeons & Dragons gathering. They married two years later, "in an intimate ceremony with close friends and family."
"I was drawn to her intelligence," Anderson said. "She had that combination of looks and intelligence and fun to be with."
Anderson said he'd never "really" seen Bishop display a temper, "and from what I gather from everyone else, they didn't either."
Prior incidents no big deal, Anderson says
Anderson said they barely knew each other in December 1986 when she shot and killed her 18-year-old brother, Seth Bishop.
"She told me it was an accident," he said. "But it wasn't something she liked to talk about."
In reviewing records from that shooting, prosecutors and police in Braintree, Mass., said this week that a more thorough investigation should have been done at the time. Instead, Bishop wasn't questioned until 11 days after the shooting. [See a copy of the police report]
Retired Police Chief John Polio said he wasn't told at the time that Bishop had also pointed the shotgun at strangers when trying to procure a getaway vehicle or that three shots were fired inside her home.
"No one accidentally shoots a shot gun three times," Polio said. "That's just crazy."
Anderson said too much attention is being paid to Bishop shooting her brother.
"It was just an accident," he said.
Also, Anderson said a 2002 arrest for assault and battery at a Peabody, Mass., International House of Pancakes has "been blown out of proportion." The police report states Bishop became irate when there was no booster seat for her child during a family outing to IHOP, and she cursed and hit a customer who wouldn't relinquish hers.
"The woman was hoping to hit the litigation lottery," Anderson said of the victim in Bishop's attack. "There was nothing to it."
When asked if he thought his wife could have benefited from anger management classes as the prosecutor suggested back in 2002, he said, "No. For an instance like that, no. It was just blown out of proportion."
Anderson said he and his wife were also unfairly targeted as possible suspects in an attempted pipe bombing of Harvard professor Dr. Paul Rosenberg in 1993. Former colleagues have said Rosenberg was critical of her work.
"Attorneys sent us a letter that (federal officials) were closing the case," Anderson said. "Remember, this was happening in the time of the Unabomber, so they were really sensitive about it.
"Probably 90 percent of the houses in America have stuff (used to make pipe bombs) in them. But we had a big, hairy, snarly attorney, so (investigators) treated us pretty fairly."
Edited By dws1982 on 1266509794
-
Sonic Youth
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Thank god she was caught in time. She might have taken a penis off.
Ala. slay defendant is related to novelist John Irving
By Meghan E. Irons, Boston Globe Staff
Amy Bishop, who is accused of killing three colleagues at the University of Alabama and who penned novels in her spare time, is related to famed novelist John Irving.
Bishop is the second cousin of Irving, a New York-based publicist for the author confirmed today. Irving is writing a novel and declined to comment about his relationship with Bishop's family, except to say he is a cousin of Judith Bishop, who is Amy's mother, said the publicist Anne Tate, who works for Random House in New York.
“It’s official,’’ said Tate, who declined to respond to any further questions about the author’s closeness with the family. “Judith is his cousin.”
Acquaintances of Bishop, a Harvard-trained neurobiologist said she was a regular member of the Hamilton Writer's Group in the late 1990s when she lived in Ipswich and saw writing as her ticket out of academia.
She penned three novels for the group -- a suspense thriller about an IRA operative, a tale about a virus that made all women barren that ended mankind, and one called "Martians in Belfast,'' which recounts the life of a girl growing up during the Troubles of Ireland.
Bishop, book club acquaintances said, would frequently cite her Harvard degree and family ties to Irving to boost her credential as a serious writer.
Irving, who lives in Vermont, is a popular and acclaimed author whose novels include “Cider House Rules,’’ “Last Night in a Twisted River,” and "The World According to Garp."
Dinsmoor described Bishop, who often hosted the writer's group in her Ipswich home, as a "gritty" author who was heavy on details.
"She really had a knack for writing character, dread, and suspense,” said Dinsmoor, who said Bishop had a literary agent back then.
But another member of the book club said he was not impressed with Bishop and her interactions with the group. He described Bishop as a smart woman who felt entitled to praise.
"She had this sense that having been a professor and gotten her PhD from Harvard made her a little above other people,'' said the book club creator, who did not want to be named because of his close ties to the family. "And yet at the same time she used to park far way far from where we would meet because she didn’t want anyone to see her beat-up Chrysler.''
Dinsmoor said that Bishop could be blunt and abrasive to people, and was often prone to blurting whatever was on her mind.
"She lacked tact when we were criticizing our work,'' he said. "She would say things like, 'This doesn't work' or 'Get rid of that character' -- things like that. We were usually more polite."
Ala. slay defendant is related to novelist John Irving
By Meghan E. Irons, Boston Globe Staff
Amy Bishop, who is accused of killing three colleagues at the University of Alabama and who penned novels in her spare time, is related to famed novelist John Irving.
Bishop is the second cousin of Irving, a New York-based publicist for the author confirmed today. Irving is writing a novel and declined to comment about his relationship with Bishop's family, except to say he is a cousin of Judith Bishop, who is Amy's mother, said the publicist Anne Tate, who works for Random House in New York.
“It’s official,’’ said Tate, who declined to respond to any further questions about the author’s closeness with the family. “Judith is his cousin.”
Acquaintances of Bishop, a Harvard-trained neurobiologist said she was a regular member of the Hamilton Writer's Group in the late 1990s when she lived in Ipswich and saw writing as her ticket out of academia.
She penned three novels for the group -- a suspense thriller about an IRA operative, a tale about a virus that made all women barren that ended mankind, and one called "Martians in Belfast,'' which recounts the life of a girl growing up during the Troubles of Ireland.
Bishop, book club acquaintances said, would frequently cite her Harvard degree and family ties to Irving to boost her credential as a serious writer.
Irving, who lives in Vermont, is a popular and acclaimed author whose novels include “Cider House Rules,’’ “Last Night in a Twisted River,” and "The World According to Garp."
Dinsmoor described Bishop, who often hosted the writer's group in her Ipswich home, as a "gritty" author who was heavy on details.
"She really had a knack for writing character, dread, and suspense,” said Dinsmoor, who said Bishop had a literary agent back then.
But another member of the book club said he was not impressed with Bishop and her interactions with the group. He described Bishop as a smart woman who felt entitled to praise.
"She had this sense that having been a professor and gotten her PhD from Harvard made her a little above other people,'' said the book club creator, who did not want to be named because of his close ties to the family. "And yet at the same time she used to park far way far from where we would meet because she didn’t want anyone to see her beat-up Chrysler.''
Dinsmoor said that Bishop could be blunt and abrasive to people, and was often prone to blurting whatever was on her mind.
"She lacked tact when we were criticizing our work,'' he said. "She would say things like, 'This doesn't work' or 'Get rid of that character' -- things like that. We were usually more polite."
"What the hell?"
Win Butler
Win Butler
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