DA Rips 1986 Bishop Report

Time for everyone to get their stories straight in Braintree.

The Norfolk district attorney ramped up his criticism of the 1986 investigation of Seth Bishop’s death yesterday, saying that it was “glaring’’ and “striking’’ that local police accounts of Amy Bishop’s armed standoff at a local business were not included in the State Police report or considered as part of the prosecutor’s decision about whether to pursue charges.

“It was a glaring omission that . . . there wasn’t the inclusion of the shooter who exited her house with a gun, leveling the gun at an innocent bystander, and making demands on that bystander,’’ William R. Keating said in a telephone interview.

Although Braintree police had documented in great detail how Bishop had pointed a 12-gauge shotgun at two employees at a local auto body shop and demanded a getaway car, there is no indication in the final State Police report that they shared this information with the troopers who worked out of the district attorney’s office and were assigned to the case.

Keating also revealed yesterday that the state trooper who wrote the report, Brian L. Howe, has told investigators in Keating’s office that he “did not have a recollection’’ of Braintree police telling him of the incident. That backs up the repeated assertions of the assistant district attorney assigned to the 1986 case, who also said he was never made aware of the second assault.

Last Friday, 23 years after Bishop escaped charges in the shooting death of her brother and her armed encounter at the body shop, police say the Harvard-educated neurobiologist fatally shot three of her colleagues at the University of Alabama at Huntsville and injured three others.

In the aftermath, a series of troubling questions have been raised about how the Braintree case was handled, with several key figures in the investigation - including former Braintree police chief John Polio - saying they were unaware of crucial facts surrounding the death of 18-year-old Seth Bishop.

Keating said yesterday that he was confounded by Polio’s admission that he did not know Bishop had pointed her firearm at a mechanic and demanded a getaway car. These details were included in Braintree police reports made public on Tuesday after they had previously been declared missing.

Then Norfolk DA and current Democrat Congressman Bill Delahunt conveniently remains out of the country. He's busy trying to get into Gaza for some strange reason.

US Representative William D. Delahunt, who was Norfolk district attorney at the time of the 1986 shooting, has been in Israel since the Alabama shootings, but was questioned about the case yesterday at a press availability called after the congressional delegation was blocked from entering Gaza.

“I haven’t had a real opportunity to get into the details of the case, but I suspect when I return I’ll have an opportunity to become debriefed,’’ the congressman told the Associated Press.

Three people might be alive today if Delahunt had done his job in 1986. The blood is on his hands.

Instead he made a phone call and the case disappeared. Thanks to him, Amy Bishop went on to become a one-woman crime wave.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

See also this absurd attempt at linking Bishop to tea parties. Yes, the left indeed is that stupid.

I'm sure Keith Olbermann will jump on that one.