The Deadly Professor
Seth Bishop's Death: Accident or Cover-up?
The 2010 shooting spree has sparked new interest in Seth Bishop's death. Gossips have suggested that state or local officials may have intervened to make things easier for Amy Bishop and her family, perhaps because of Judith Bishop's political connections. Authorities aren't going so far as to support rumors that the death was anything but accidental, but several area officials worry that police may have made mistakes in their investigation or in sharing information.
Governor Deval Patrick has ordered the Massachusetts State Police to review the case. Norfolk County District Attorney William R. Keating is examining the incident as well. The Norfolk County District Attorney at the time of the first shooting, William D. Delahunt, was serving in the U.S. House of Representatives at the time of the Huntsville massacre.
Braintree Police Chief Paul Frazier said that a "higher-up" ended the 1986 investigation over the objections of local officers. But Keating charges that local police didn't inform the State Police (who routinely handle wrongful deaths in smaller cities like Braintree) that Amy Bishop had left the house still armed and then demanded getaway car. Keating also chided local police for waiting 11 days to interview Bishop or her mother.
Keating suggested that Bishop likely should have been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition. But he did not expect this to lead to legal action against Bishop or the officers involved; rather, he wanted merely to review procedures.
Despite their painful memories, the Bishop family spent another 10 years in Braintree. Amy Bishop took some time off from her studies at Northeastern, and briefly broke up with her devoted boyfriend, James Anderson.
Still, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology in 1988. The following year she and Anderson married at All Soul's Church, where Seth's funeral had been held.
Bishop enrolled in a graduate program at Harvard University, earning a Ph.D. in genetics in 1993. She spent the next 9 years in various fellowships and instructor positions at Harvard Medical School, the Harvard School of Public Health, Longwood Medical Area, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Bishop and Anderson moved to Birch Lane in Ipswich, on Massachusetts' North Shore, and had four children. Neighbors there didn't much like Amy Bishop and her family. She knocked over a neighborhood basketball hoop the day they moved in—and later joked how happy she was to have removed it. She groused about the ice cream truck and skateboarders, and frequently called the police with noise complaints. Little wonder neighbors didn't invite Bishop and Anderson to their block party.