Police Still Baffled by Killing
By Paul
Peirce
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, April 24,
2002
Authorities remained baffled for a motive Tuesday as they continue to investigate the bludgeoning death of a Westmoreland County teen-ager.
Ian Bishop, 14, is accused of killing his brother, Adam, 18, by hitting him in the head with a claw hammer. Police say Bishop allegedly hit his brother after school Friday in the family's home in the Bovard section of Hempfield Township.
State police Capt. Frank A. Monaco and Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck said yesterday in a late-afternoon news conference that no motive has been established in the slaying. Monaco and Peck also dispelled rumors that anyone else was targeted other than Adam Bishop, a senior at Hempfield Area High School, and his parents.
Police said Ian Bishop told a freshman classmate — Robert Matthew Laskowski, 15, of Wendover — before the attack that he also intended to kill his parents, Jeffrey and Karen. Bishop allegedly told Laskowski of his plans while the two were at the high school.
Both Ian Bishop and Laskowski, who witnessed the attack, have been charged as adults with first-degree murder and related criminal charges. Both are being held separately in isolation in the county jail, without bail, pending preliminary hearings scheduled April 30 before Youngwood District Justice James Falcon.
"We are continuing to develop areas as far as a motive is concerned. We are receiving a tremendous amount of input from the public in this case and are pursuing every bit of information we receive," Monaco said.
Peck urged anyone with information related to the case to contact state police.
"This certainly is an unusual case because of the ages and relationship of one of the defendants to the victim and because of the type of crime," Peck said. "But we're not even close to coming near the end of gathering all the information we need."
Monaco said evidence indicates there probably was a major "difference between the brothers … obviously there was some discord there within that family." He said police still are trying to to determine the specifics.
He said there is no evidence that drugs or drug sales may have led to the murder.
"There may have been some drug usage, but there's no proof of it (being a motive)," Monaco said.
Paul Peirce can be reached at ppeirce@tribweb.com or (724) 837-5374.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/search/s_67766.html
Teen's Parents Were Target
Robert Laskowski (S.C.
Spangler/Tribune-Review)
By Paul Peirce
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, April 23, 2002
A 14-year-old Hempfield Area High School student accused of bludgeoning his older brother to death with a claw hammer Friday also intended to kill his parents, authorities said Monday.
Ian Bishop, 14, of 307 Laurentz Lane, who is accused of killing his 18-year-old brother, Adam, in the family's Bovard home, also had planned for three days to kill his parents, Jeffrey and Karen, during the attack. However, the parents were not at home Friday afternoon when he beat his only sibling to death.
The disclosure was made yesterday as Ian's alleged accomplice, Robert Matthew Laskowski, 15, of 516 Buckingham Drive, in the Wendover section of the township, was arraigned before Youngwood area District Justice James Falcon on charges of first-degree murder, homicide and conspiracy to commit murder.
Ian Bishop and Laskowski are freshmen at Hempfield Area High School.
Both Ian Bishop and Laskowski have been charged as adults for the killing of Bishop's brother, Adam, who was a senior at the same high school.
Court papers have not given a reason for Ian Bishop's planned attack on his family. Both state police Capt. Frank Monaco and Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck said yesterday that police are still trying to determine a motive.
"We're working on one theory, but we're not 100 percent sure at this point, and that theory hasn't been completely verified <#201> so I really can't say anything at this point," said Monaco, commanding officer of Troop A in Greensburg.
Monaco said troopers do not believe the murder and Bishop's planned attack on his parents were inspired by the Columbine High School massacre, which occurred April 20, 1999.
"We don't think that is the motive, but we haven't ruled that out altogether yet, either," Monaco said.
Peck said it is "too early" to say whether his office will pursue the death penalty in view of the fact that the murder may have been premeditated.
Laskowski, who is thin with light-brown, short-cropped hair, showed no emotion at his arraignment, nodding periodically toward Falcon, who informed him of his right to an attorney and his preliminary hearing date, April 30. Laskowski, who was handcuffed, wore blue Nike shorts; a sleeveless, white T-shirt and white, high-top tennis shoes.
He declined to speak with reporters as he was being taken into court. He did not appear to acknowledge his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Matthew T. Laskowski, who were in the courtroom with their private attorney, Lee Demosky of Greensburg, who declined comment.
According to the arrest affidavit filed by Trooper Dennis Bernard Jr., neighbors of the Bishops, Teri Lynn Bumbaugh and Matthew J. Bumbaugh, her son, were summoned to the Bishop residence by Ian Bishop at approximately 3:30 p.m. via a telephone call. Police said Matthew stayed on the portable telephone with Ian, while both Bumbaughs ran over to the house.
Matthew Bumbaugh told officers that Ian Bishop stated, "Come over quick. I need help."
According to court records, Laskowski told troopers after his arrest early Saturday that during the telephone conversation between Ian Bishop and Matthew Bumbaugh, he heard Ian Bishop ask Bumbaugh to "bring a gun to finish off the victim (Adam Bishop), because he was not dying fast enough."
Matthew Bumbaugh also told police that Ian Bishop admitted to him during the conversation that he had struck his brother in the head with a hammer.
Police allege that when the Bumbaughs arrived at the Bishops' house, Laskowski was standing in the front doorway and Ian Bishop, who was covered with blood, was climbing a staircase in the house, drinking from a gallon milk jug.
"Ian Bishop did not appear to be distressed, nor did the defendant (Laskowski)," Bernard wrote in the affidavit.
Police said the carpet, walls, bathroom tub, bathroom floor and ceiling of the second floor were covered with blood. Police recovered the claw hammer and a small wooden club, both bloodied, in a hamper in a second-floor hallway.
When the Bumbaughs saw Adam Bishop submerged, face down in a bathtub with water running from the shower, Teri Bumbaugh told Ian Bishop to shut off the water or his brother would drown.
Ian Bishop replied, "Maybe that would be good," police said.
Teri Bumbaugh told police that as she ran outside to find the house number to summon help, Ian Bishop went into his room to change clothes and then fled on foot with Laskowski.
"By his own admission, (Laskowski) stated that the plan that was discussed approximately three days prior was to kill the victim, Adam Bishop, and also kill Ian Bishop's mother and father," Bernard said in the affidavit.
Bernard also said that while Laskowski held a club during the attack on Adam Bishop, he did not strike him.
Laskowski told Bernard that he helped Ian Bishop carry his brother into the bathroom and lay him face down in the tub, after "Ian Bishop had struck the victim numerous times in the head with a hammer and a club."
Adam Bishop was pronounced dead at 8:37 p.m. Friday at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, where he was airlifted by medical helicopter.
Adam Bishop's brutal death at the hands of his brother continued to mystify and sadden many fellow students in the school district. Two senior classmates of Adam Bishop, Mary Wargo and Nicole Johnston, camped out at Falcon's office yesterday afternoon hoping that the Bishop boys' parents would appear at Laskowski's arraignment. The couple did not attend the brief session.
"We wanted to tell them how much everyone liked Adam," said Mary Wargo. "Everyone really cared about them because they were both really nice boys. <#201> We'll all miss Adam tremendously."
Wargo said she wrote with Adam on the school newspaper, The Royal. She said Ian Bishop was a sprinter on the track team.
Johnston also noted that Adam Bishop was an accomplished pianist and often played at school choral concerts. He was a past member of the school tennis team and its jazz ensemble and was an active member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Jeannette.
"He (Adam) planned to major in music in college and had a music scholarship to attend Capital University of Columbus, Ohio. He was looking forward to showing everyone what he could do with his life. <#201> He was excited about graduating from high school <#201> now he won't get the chance," said Johnston.
"Adam was so accomplished (at piano), he could play anything you asked. He loved music," she said.
The students said both boys also had been active in the youth soccer program for many years.
"I never knew the two to fight before or be violent toward each other. I talked to someone who rode their bus (Friday) morning, and there was no sign <#201> they appeared happy. <#201> He (Ian Bishop) must have done a good job of hiding it pretty well," Johnston said.
"Nobody knows what it was about <#201> that's what makes it all so sad. I can honestly say I know Adam loved his brother," Wargo added.
Wargo said the mood at school yesterday "was somber and sad."
She said more than 20 students took advantage of crisis counseling offered by guidance counselors and the school psychologist.
Hempfield Superintendent Dr. Wayne Doyle said the special crisis counseling sessions were offered to anyone who needed them and that many students were taking advantage of it. High school teachers were given updates on the incident during special staff meetings both in the morning and the afternoon.
Ian Bishop was arrested between midnight and 1 a.m. Saturday at a pavilion outside Wendover Middle School.
Prior to his capture, Ian Bishop reportedly fled to the high school, where a dance was being held, and he later was spotted at Westmoreland Mall. Authorities searched the mall without success before finding the younger Bishop a few hours later at the middle school.
It is uncertain where Laskowski went after he and Ian Bishop fled the Bishop home. However, it is believed that Ian Bishop went to the high school, about six miles from his home, without Laskowski.
At the high school, Bishop reportedly spoke with several students attending a "Beach Dance," telling them they would not be seeing him around school anymore, but would probably "be seeing me on the news," according to sources.
Doyle said Ian Bishop did not go to the school dance after the killing, but retrieved items from his locker.
"To our knowledge, he (Ian Bishop) did not attend the dance, but he was seen in the building that night removing some items from his locker," Doyle said.
Doyle said he did not know what Bishop retrieved from his locker. Peck declined comment.
"I just can't even begin to imagine what the parents are going through," Doyle said.
Both teen-agers are being held in the county prison.
Adam Bishop's family will receive friends from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, at Gaskill Avenue and 2nd Street in Jeannette. Funeral services will be held at 6 p.m. Friday in the church.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions in Adam Bishop's name be made to Holy Trinity Church in care of a scholarship to be established in his memory.
The John V. Graziano Funeral Home Inc. at 228 N. Second St., Jeannette, is in charge of arrangements.
Paul Peirce can be reached at ppeirce@tribweb.com or (724) 837-5374.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/search/s_67562.html
Brother Planned Murder
By The Tribune-Review
Sunday, April 21,
2002
Fourteen-year-old Ian Bishop planned his brother's murder days before the attack and showed no remorse as his sibling lay bloodied in the family's Bovard home, face-down in a bathtub filling with shower water.
That version of events, outlined by police in court documents, included a chilling exchange between Bishop and the neighbor he called for help at 3:30 p.m. Friday.
"Shut the water off, or your brother will drown," said the neighbor, Teri Lynn Bumbaugh.
"Maybe that would be good," Bishop replied, according to court records.
Bumbaugh had driven to the Bishop home, at 307 Laurentz Lane, after Ian Bishop called her house, yelling for help, police said. Inside, she saw blood on the upstairs carpet and walls, and on the bathroom's floor, ceiling and tub. A bloody claw hammer and a small wood club were on a hamper in the hallway.
Ian Bishop was walking upstairs, drinking from a gallon milk jug, when she arrived, Bumbaugh told police. He did not appear upset, she said. As she helped his brother, who by then was unresponsive, Bishop changed clothes, she said. He fled when she called 911.
State police arrested him between midnight and 1 a.m. Saturday at a pavilion outside Wendover Middle School.
Police also arrested a juvenile they said was standing at the door to the Bishop home when Bumbaugh arrived. The boy, who was not identified by police, said Bishop had planned the attack "a few days prior," police said.
That boy was charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy. He was being held at Westmoreland County's juvenile detention center. His role in the attack was unclear Saturday night.
Bishop was in the county prison, facing adult charges of homicide and aggravated assault. He was denied bail, and faces a preliminary hearing April 30.
His brother, Adam, an 18-year-old pianist and a reporter for The Royal, the student newspaper at Hempfield Area High School, was pronounced dead at UPMC Presbyterian, Oakland, at 8:30 p.m. Friday. His parents, Jeff and Karen, were present, according to the Associated Press.
Adam Bishop had been flown to the hospital after paramedics could not revive him at the scene. The Allegheny County Coroner's Office listed the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head.
Adam Bishop would have graduated this spring. He had worked hard to improve his academic standing, said Denise Valerio, a journalism teacher at the high school and an advisor to the student newspaper and yearbook staffs.
"He was an interesting kid," she said. "He had a really clever, witty sense of humor. He'd had some academic problems, and he was trying to turn that around. Recently, he had."
Bishop and Valerio had talked Friday. "I have a lot to prove," he told her.
"Not too many people know how talented you are," she said.
"And he said to me, 'I hope time will tell,'" she continued. "The irony is that now no one will know."
"It's a shame."
Ian Bishop is a freshman. He normally sat near the front of the school bus, said Bryan Jones, 18, who knew both boys. Adam Bishop rode in the rear of the bus, Jones said.
"They seemed like they got along fine," he said. He saw the pair returning from school Friday and noticed nothing unusual.
"Everything seemed normal," he said.
Others said the boys appeared to live a normal, middle-class life near Bovard, an old mining town off Route 119 in Hempfield Township. A sign on the home's front door Saturday read, "Home is where you build your nest."
"I feel for the family," said Carol Dupilka, a neighbor. "I just can't fathom it. My heart goes out to them."
Hempfield school administrators will make additional guidance counselors and a school psychologist available to students Monday, high school principal Kathy Charlton said. The district also operates a 24-hour hot line students can use.
Lou Ann Judice, the president of the district's teachers union, said the next days will be difficult for students.
"We try so hard to protect kids," she said. "How do you protect them from something like this?"
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/search/s_67427.html
State police continued to search early this morning for a 14-year-old Hempfield Township youth suspected of fatally bludgeoning his 18-year-old brother with a hammer Friday.
Adam Bishop of 307 Laurentz Lane, Bovard, died at 8:37 p.m. at UPMC Presbyterian, Pittsburgh's Oakland section, according to the Allegheny County Coroner's Office.
Trooper Tom Spallone, state police public information officer, said police had not yet decided last night whether to charge Ian Bishop, who fled on foot from his home shortly after the attack.
"So far as we can surmise, the 14-year-old struck his older brother at least twice with a hammer," Spallone said.
Spallone said the brothers got into a fight at about 4 p.m. in an upstairs bedroom of their home. The boys' parents were not at home at the time, and police did not know last night what prompted the attack.
Ian Bishop apparently panicked after the attack and phoned a friend, who came to the house with his mother, Spallone said.
It was the friend's mother who called the 911 dispatch center, which in turn notified state police.
Ian Bishop ran off after speaking with the friend and his mother. Police, accompanied by four of the Ian's friends, combed Westmoreland Mall around 8 p.m. and were sure they had caught sight of him.
A friend of Ian's, who spent at least some time with the 14-year-old after he ran, was being questioned by state police late last night. Police did not know that the friend had any involvement in the attack.
Both brothers were honors students at Hempfield Area Senior High School.
Andrea Altieri said she attended school with both brothers. She said Ian was in the freshman class with her while Adam was a senior who would have graduated this spring.
A neighbor, who declined to be identified, said Adam played piano and had a college music scholarship.
"From what I can tell, there didn't seem to be any rifts between them," Altieri said.
Altieri said she last saw the brothers together while they were all waiting for the school bus to pick them up yesterday morning. She did not notice any arguments or tension between the two. She last spoke to Ian yesterday afternoon in the honors American history class they take together.
"I'm shaken," Altieri said. "I'm friends with Adam, too. I don't see what they could have gotten into a fight over. They were always good kids."
State police helicopters flew circular search patterns over Bovard and nearby woods throughout the afternoon and into the night, as neighbors gathered in small groups along Laurentz Lane to watch investigators go through the brothers' home.
"We're kind of shocked," said neighbor Mike Shaffer. "This is a quiet neighborhood."
Milt Klopfer can be reached at mklopfer@tribweb.com or (724) 836-6660.
Close Window to Return to TBC Web Site