Did Roy Harrell see Brad Bishop in Italy?

[jOHnNyD]

John Walsh’s The Hunt did a segment on Brad Bishop and interviews a family friend who painted the mother in a far more favorable light. The segment too focused a lot on Brad’s demons and also how being kept in Washington as opposed to being sent abroad made things far more difficult financially for him. His insecure feelings were probably magnified by his ever growing financial burden.

[spiraleyes]

Originally Posted by jOHnNyD

John Walsh’s The Hunt did a segment on Brad Bishop and interviews a family friend who painted the mother in a far more favorable light. The segment too focused a lot on Brad’s demons and also how being kept in Washington as opposed to being sent abroad made things far more difficult financially for him. His insecure feelings were probably magnified by his ever growing financial burden.

I really enjoyed The Hunt's profile of Bishop. I am surprised he was never caught. It was on CNN, I believe.

[Yeldarb]

Originally Posted by JC1957

Wasn't there a confirmed sighting of Bishop along with some unknown woman buying a pair of tennis shoes that were paid for with his credit card at a store in North Carolina?

If so, that would be extremely odd for a guy who would soon be committing suicide in the Smokies.

That detail would suggest that Bishop was having a secret affair about the time he tried to put a hit on his family.

I don't think he committed suicide in the mountains if his goal was to live abroad in Europe. He had the resources to build a new identity. But another more recent documentary highlighted a makeshift grave seen a long the trail in Appalachia of where he disappeared. That grave was believed to have been where he buried his dog, the sole living witness behind the massacre.

[Janel "Jaycee" Miller]

I recently found this article about Roy's alleged sighting:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archi...-e9a192efdfb2/

If he did make up the story, at least he seems to be fairly consistent in his telling of it.

[Hot Jock]

Hell to the no. Harrell seemed pretty disingenuous to me. He looked like he was simply enjoying the attention and the Italy story was just the proverbial cherry on top of his entire BS sundae.

[Latka Gravas]

Yes - the story that RH told about the "alleged" sighting of WBB was a very obvious steaming pile of B.S.

I.e., RH stated that in 1978, he saw WBB looking like a homeless vagrant (beard, unkempt & dirty clothes, etc.) in a bathroom in Italy - while he was there on vacation. And, when confronted, the vagrant ran away in fear. Ridiculous. First of all - how would RH have recognized WBB w/a dirty face, full beard, and unkempt clothes - especially if he had never seen him look that way before?! This makes no sense.

If this incident even took place (which I find unlikely), it's slightly possible that RH saw a vagrant in Italy & confronted him. And, if this did occur - the vagrant was probably startled/freaked out that RH was acting like he knew him - and ran away as a result. Or, maybe the vagrant was drunk/on drugs - which would explain his strange behavior.

Going along with this, I don't believe that WBB would commit the heinous act of killing his family, going "on the run" & never being found.....oddly end up as a homeless vagrant in Italy....and then coincidentally run into someone he knew from the U.S. in a public bathroom...when that person was there on vacation. Yeah, right. This "possibility" is ludicrous & laughable.

I agree that RH was making up the story to make himself seem important & possibly because of $, etc.

[Clockwork]

I am saying no. Not only do I think it wasn't him, I also think he knew it wasn't him. This is a colleague who was working and competing for jobs in the same company as him. He has a lot to gain by making him look like a fugitive.

[XCalibur]

Originally Posted by Clockwork

I am saying no. Not only do I think it wasn't him, I also think he knew it wasn't him. This is a colleague who was working and competing for jobs in the same company as him. He has a lot to gain by making him look like a fugitive.

I don't quite get your logic here. Making him look like a fugitive? Bishop already was a fugitive and widely believed to be a murderer. How would Harrel gain anything career wise by making him look like something he already was?

To be certain, I'm not definitively saying Harrel was telling the truth, I have no idea he may or may not have been. Just that I don't understand your reasoning here. If anything Harrel was trying to cast Bishop in slightly more favorable light by implying that his wife and mother might have pushed him over the edge. Of course I think that was a losing battle if he was trying to do that, there was absolutely no excuse for what Bishop did. But I don't think it was to gain anything career wise, unless he did it to get on TV for some kind of notoriety.

[DALLASTEXAN!!]

I think 99.9% chance is no.

.1% chance it was him.

[MediaHoarder]

I'd say 90% or better chance he did. He saw him, there was a moment of shock on both parts of recognition, then Bishop high tailed it out of there to avoid getting caught.

The other sightings are less certain, but I could believe at least some of them given that Roy saw him.

[Stratego]

Absolutely not.

[Clockwork]

Originally Posted by XCalibur

I don't quite get your logic here. Making him look like a fugitive? Bishop already was a fugitive and widely believed to be a murderer. How would Harrel gain anything career wise by making him look like something he already was?

To be certain, I'm not definitively saying Harrel was telling the truth, I have no idea he may or may not have been. Just that I don't understand your reasoning here. If anything Harrel was trying to cast Bishop in slightly more favorable light by implying that his wife and mother might have pushed him over the edge. Of course I think that was a losing battle if he was trying to do that, there was absolutely no excuse for what Bishop did. But I don't think it was to gain anything career wise, unless he did it to get on TV for some kind of notoriety.

I'll clarify. I don't feel as if Bishop was involved in this. I may be in the minority. But to me if someone is working a government job and something like this happens to their family and they go missing, then there is a good chance they knew too much about something. Making Bishop look like the murderer is a good cover. We already know of people - regular people - that died based on knowing something they shouldn't have known. Cindy Anderson probably overheard drug dealers interacting. Stanley Greyziec is another example, and he definitely knew something. Why do we assume that in a more secretive situation like a government job that someone can't be onto some corruption and then get "offed" like that and make it look like they went beserk? The government more than anyone would be able to cover things like this up. Not to mention the day prior William doesn't get a promotion he wanted. He may not have been willing to follow the "rules" to get this position if you get my drift.

Roy Harrell works with him, he likely benefitted in his job from William disappearing. He has plenty to gain by making him look like a crazed lunatic who is still alive on the other end of the world. The odds that two years later he runs into him in Italy in a bathroom is beyond remote. To me I think he was killed himself and that's why he's never turned up.

He didn't seem to have trouble at home, he still had a good job, he had a lovely family. Never heard of issues with his wife. Roy Harrell - him again - implies his wife and mother drove him over the edge. William died with his family in my opinion.

[Gelatinous Goo]

It's not the most outlandish alternative theory ever put out there.

If I recall, however, there were witnesses for him buying new sneakers, the tools needed to dig the hole and also the can of gas.

[Clockwork]

Originally Posted by Gelatinous Goo

It's not the most outlandish alternative theory ever put out there.

If I recall, however, there were witnesses for him buying new sneakers, the tools needed to dig the hole and also the can of gas.

Perhaps. Depending on who the witnesses were, how much the police/FBI/government department was corrupt to begin with. Something is missing in the story. I've never liked it. Things in UM that are coincidental are situations where the man picked up a hitchiker that attacked him but then ended up randomly killing his mother at his house. That's coincidental, and you can buy that, but a guy who likely would benefit from Bishop not being around and then painting him as a crazy person living halfway across the world...................nope, not buying it. And that is just one layer of the story

[MediaHoarder]

Originally Posted by Clockwork

I'll clarify. I don't feel as if Bishop was involved in this. I may be in the minority. But to me if someone is working a government job and something like this happens to their family and they go missing, then there is a good chance they knew too much about something. Making Bishop look like the murderer is a good cover. We already know of people - regular people - that died based on knowing something they shouldn't have known. Cindy Anderson probably overheard drug dealers interacting. Stanley Greyziec is another example, and he definitely knew something. Why do we assume that in a more secretive situation like a government job that someone can't be onto some corruption and then get "offed" like that and make it look like they went beserk? The government more than anyone would be able to cover things like this up. Not to mention the day prior William doesn't get a promotion he wanted. He may not have been willing to follow the "rules" to get this position if you get my drift.

Roy Harrell works with him, he likely benefitted in his job from William disappearing. He has plenty to gain by making him look like a crazed lunatic who is still alive on the other end of the world. The odds that two years later he runs into him in Italy in a bathroom is beyond remote. To me I think he was killed himself and that's why he's never turned up.

He didn't seem to have trouble at home, he still had a good job, he had a lovely family. Never heard of issues with his wife. Roy Harrell - him again - implies his wife and mother drove him over the edge. William died with his family in my opinion.

I can certainly see the merit of the theory that William was a victim rather than a perpetrator and it was a frame job.

Bishop was a Yale grad (Skull and Bones), had worked in counterintelligence operations, and had been posted to Italy, Ethiopia, and Gaborone in Botswana.

Certainly this raises questions of a foreign intelligence connection, did he spy for the Soviets or Chinese and get caught? That might be one way to end up missing and framed as a mass murderer. Wouldn't necessarily conflict with some of the official version either, demanding mother-in-law living off him might have made him financially vulnerable to an offer of some additional money in exchange for information, that was and is a common tactic.

The fact the FBI put him on the most wanted list later is the most dissuading evidence for the theory in my book, had he been taken out they would not want to draw attention to him.

But you are quite right about UM cases of people who knew too much disappearing or turning up dead. Danny Casolaro, Charles Morgan, Doug Johnston (mistaken for Don Devereux) all belong on that list too.