The mysterious death of a real estate developer found strangled with a dog leash nearby took an unusual turn Friday when his teenage son was charged with killing him. Durham Police said in a news release Alexander Bishop, 16, was arrested and charged with the April 2018, murder of his father, 59-year-old William Bishop.
The strange death at first sounded like a freak accident but soon gave way to investigators’ suspicions and an autopsy ruling the death a homicide. The son told them he found his father with the leash wrapped around his neck, and the approximately 60-pound dog was still attached and “freaking out.” The son said he removed the leash from his father’s neck to check for a pulse.
Investigators spent months probing the case – parsing unusual details such as a purported safe filled with gold and filing at least seven search warrants.
Alexander Bishop told an EMS supervisor “he wasn’t going to be upset about his father dying. He explained that his father verbally abused him and his mom for a number of years.”
“Alexander explained that there had never been [any physical abuse that occurred], just constant verbal abuse over minor things like dishes being left in the sink and homework not being completed,” a detective wrote.
The boy’s mother, who lived elsewhere, soon arrived and told officers her son had called her to say he had found his father in the basement. An autopsy later determined William Bishop had died from homicide by strangulation, with ligature marks around his neck.
Bishop and his ex-wife, Sharon, had been separated since late 2016. They were married in 1998 in Florida. The couple had two boys, about a year apart in age. William Bishop was granted permanent custody in 2017, according to court documents.<5>
CITED REFERENCES
5. “Boy, 16, ‘strangled his wealthy real estate developer father to death with a dog leash because he had ‘verbally abused him for years,’ then told responding paramedics he ‘wasn’t upset’ about his dad’s death”
Uncredited. Associated Press: February 22.
Link: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... death.html (accessed February 24, 2019).
