Jeffery Bishop told a Westmoreland County judge that during the altercation his son, Ian, who is accused of killing 18-year-old Adam Bishop on April 19, shoved his mother to the floor. That prompted Jeffrey Bishop to nearly hit Ian, then throw him against the wall.

Adam Bishop came down the steps of the family's home at 307 Laurentz Lane in Hempfield Township's Bovard neighborhood and took his parents' side in the fight, Jeffrey Bishop testified.

"He got pretty mad, swore at his mother. She slapped him, and he pushed his mother over. She stumbled and fell to the floor. I grabbed him and stopped short of hitting and pushed him up against the wall. I think he was afraid I was really going to hit him," Jeffrey Bishop testified.

About a week later, Adam Bishop was dead and Ian Bishop was charged with his murder.

Testimony about the family altercation came out yesterday during a hearing before Westmoreland County Judge Debra Pezze in which she is charged with determining whether the 14-year-old should be prosecuted for first-degree murder as an adult or as a juvenile.

During the daylong hearing, a series of witnesses portrayed Ian Bishop as a good student who during the 9th grade increasingly became a disciplinary problem, showed tendencies toward white supremacy beliefs and was suspected of drug use.

Ian Bishop's lawyers questioned a dozen witnesses in court, including both parents, who said they would welcome their son back into the family home should he ever get out of prison.

"I want to see him because I love him. He's part of my life," Jeffrey Bishop testified.

Testimony yesterday offered the first hint of a motive in the April 19 slaying in which Ian Bishop allegedly bludgeoned his brother repeatedly with a claw hammer.

Jeffrey Bishop said that as a result of that family fight he grounded his younger son, forbade him from seeing his girlfriend, barred him from using the telephone, prohibited him from using the computer and removed his compact disc collection.

"He just shut down. He went into his room and sat on the floor. That lasted a couple of days," Jeffrey Bishop testified.

Police contend Ian Bishop, along with his 15-year-old friend Robert Laskowski, planned for three days to murder Adam Bishop and his parents.

Dr. Judith Rein, a psychologist who examined Ian Bishop over the last several months, detailed the teen's recounting of why he killed his brother. She said Ian claimed the beating came about as a result of another verbal altercation between the two boys the afternoon of the slaying.

"He (Ian) had come off a (drug) high. He came home, went into the house, and his brother confronted him about being on the phone. An argument came up, and they got into an altercation," Rein testified.

Authorities maintain that Ian Bishop, at Laskowski's urging, then repeatedly struck his brother on the head with a hammer, pulled him into a hallway and hit him again.

Witnesses told police that Adam cried, and his brother hit him again. Eventually Ian Bishop and Laskowski pulled the older boy into the bathroom, placed him face down in the bathtub and turned on the water.

Jeffrey and Karen Bishop said yesterday they were devastated by the murder.

"I was stunned. Horrified and concerned for my wife," Jeffrey Bishop said.

Karen Bishop, who sat next to a clergyman throughout yesterday's hearing, sobbed during her brief stint on the witness stand.

"I'm just confused," Karen Bishop said. "I still love Ian with all my heart."

Since his arrest, Ian Bishop has been housed at Westmoreland County Prison. The purpose of yesterday's hearing was to present evidence to show it would be in the best interest of the teen and the community for him to be prosecuted as a juvenile.

Because he was charged with first-degree murder, the case automatically was assigned to adult court. If he is convicted of that charge in adult court, Bishop faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

Should the case be transferred to juvenile court, the longest Bishop could be held in custody is until he is 21.

Rein testified yesterday that Ian Bishop's case should be handled by juvenile authorities because he would receive better treatment. He could opt out of treatment in an adult prison, Rein said.

Rein conducted a number of psychological tests and determined that without treatment he could be a danger to society.

"I would have concerns about his mother and father if he were not to get treatment," Rein testified.

If he ever gets out of prison and receives no treatment, he would be a danger to society, she said.

Yesterday's hearing ended when Pezze ordered the defense to turn over Rein's test results so a prosecution expert could examine the findings.

The hearing will be continued at a later date. Laskowski's attorneys also want his case transferred to juvenile court. No hearing date has been scheduled.

Laskowski, of 516 Buckingham Drive in Hempfield Township's Wendover section, also is awaiting trial as an adult for first-degree murder.

Rich Cholodofsky can be reached at rcholodofsky@tribweb.com or (724) 837-0240.

9th grader fraught with anger, animosity

 Ian Bishop

Months before authorities say Ian Bishop used a claw hammer to kill his 18-year-old brother, Hempfield Area Senior High School officials received an anonymous tip that warned of his future deadly behavior.

School administrators testified Friday in a court hearing about a telephone tip sent through the district's Safe School Hotline that branded the 14-year-old a racist who idolized Adolph Hitler and as someone who wanted to kill minorities.

"He has an evil, psychopathic glare. He's full of hatred and evil. He said he wants to kill people that aren't like him," the caller said.

That call was one of more than 10 incidents involving Ian Bishop that high school administrators testified about yesterday during a hearing to determine whether the teenager should be tried as an adult or prosecuted as a juvenile.

Hempfield school officials said that only after two of those incidents did Ian Bishop get any sort of school sanctions.

Ian Bishop, along with 15-year-old Robert Laskowski, have been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the April 19 claw-hammer bludgeoning death of Adam Bishop in the upstairs of his Bovard home.

Bishop's lawyers presented testimony yesterday about an ever-increasing trend of disciplinary problems that began with the start of school last September and culminated about a week before Adam Bishop was killed.

Administrators said Ian Bishop was a good student who in the eighth grade started to have behavioral problems.

Those problems became more frequent when he entered high school last September.

Principal Mark Grbach outlined 10 incidents that involved racist attitudes, suspected drug use and verbal assaults toward minorities.

The first incident occurred Sept. 12 when Bishop came to school wearing black boots with red shoe laces. Ten days later he wore the same boots with white laces. Grbach said that both outfits are symbolic of white supremacy sympathies.

On Oct. 26, school officials received the anonymous telephone tip about Bishop. School administrators responded to that tip by questioning Bishop, then searching his belongings.

"We found notebooks with offensive drawings, pictures of black people being lynched and swastikas," Grbach testified.

A month later, Bishop was thrown off his school bus for a week after he admitted to throwing a can out of a window at a car.

In February, school officials received another anonymous call about Bishop's suspected drug use. No drugs were ever found.

Just four days later, Bishop was accused of using profanity toward a minority student. He was given 2.5 hours detention. During that detention, which he served on Feb. 14, a teacher confiscated a letter Bishop wrote to his girlfriend in which he wrote glowingly about drug use.

In March, Bishop wrote a school paper glorifying Nazi Heinrich Himmler.

A month later, 10 days before Adam Bishop was killed, school officials suspected Ian Bishop was using drugs so they searched him and found no drugs but two packs of cigarettes.

Grbach said Bishop was given a three-day, in-school suspension for having the cigarettes.

After a number of those incidents, Bishop's parents were notified.

Jeffrey Bishop testified yesterday he routinely questioned his son about those reports. Most of the time his son denied what school administrators said, although he, too, suspected his son may have become involved with drugs.

Over the previous year, Jeffrey Bishop said he saw changes in his younger son as he formed an interest in Nazism. Ian Bishop began to spend time on white supremacy Web sites on the Internet and would print out swastikas and other paraphernalia.

"We had discussions about that over the last year. I told him these acts weren't proper and that his activity was uncalled for. At first he would be argumentative and said I was the one being brainwashed. It became more difficult to talk to him," Jeffery Bishop testified.

A Call for Help 

This is a transcript of an anonymous telephone call Hempfield Area Senior High School received Oct. 26, 2001. The call was made to the Safe School Hotline. The caller said:

"Freshman, Ian Bishop, I-A-N B-I-S-H-O-P, is a racist terrorist. He uses racial threats and he, he's a little Nazi. He uses words such as (racial and ethnic slurs). He called my friend a (racial and ethnic slur). He wears red and white laces inside of his black boots. He wants to be the next Richard Baumhammers. He has an evil, psychopathic glare. He's full of hatred and evil. He said he wants to kill people that aren't like him.

He worships Adolph Hitler. He uses the Nazi salute. He spit on a black kid, made fun of him and that kid later went home crying. He bullies people around. He wants to; he says that Adolph Hitler was right and he wants them all to die. He has an obsession with guns. He always talks about race and religion and he writes such things as "seig heil" on his notebooks. He also brought marijuana to school a few weeks ago, and I've personally witnessed this.

The other events have occurred the whole year long. I've witnessed them myself, and I think something has to be done. This is just terrible what some people have to deal with."

Rich Cholodofsky can be reached at rcholodofsky@tribweb.com or (724) 837-0240.