William Bradford Bishop, Jr.


April 10, 2014

William Bradford Bishop, Jr., a man wanted for murdering his wife, three sons, and his mother, is the latest addition to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List.


Audio Transcript

Mollie Halpern: William Bradford Bishop, Jr., a man wanted for murdering his wife, three sons, and his mother, is the latest addition to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

Charles A. Adams, Jr.: To be able to take a hammer to your children’s heads and faces while they’re sleeping I think really exhibits the brutality of the crime.

Halpern: I’m Mollie Halpern of the Bureau with Wanted by the FBI. Bishop, a former U.S. State Department employee, killed his family on March 1, 1976—the same day he learned he had been passed over for a promotion. Bishop, an insomniac, had been under psychiatric care for depression. Case agent Charles Adams says Bishop then drove to North Carolina where he…

Adams: …dug a hole, a shallow grave, and laid the bodies in that shadow grave and then proceeded to set them on fire.

Halpern: The next day, Bishop was seen buying tennis shoes with a woman his age and what may have been the family dog. His car was found at the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, and inside were maps and hiking information.

Adams: He was an avid outdoorsman. Not only that, he had an aptitude for learning languages: Spanish, Serbo-Croatian, French, Italian.

Halpern: Bishop is also a pilot.

A $100,000 reward is being offered for information leading to Bishop’s arrest. Report tips to 1-800-CALL-FBI or visit www.fbi.gov.

- Related FBI.gov Top Story: William Bradford Bishop Added to FBI Top Ten List

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