Your take on the Brad Bishop "sighting"

[Mr. Fuji]

I assume most of us have seen the Brad Bishop segment. He was the government employee who went crazy after he got passed over for a promotion and killed his mother, wife, and children. Police are all but certain he committed the murders but Bishop seems to have vanished.

On the segment, one of Bishop's work buddies said that while on a trip to Italy, he was in a bathroom somewhere and he actually saw Brad Bishop there. He said Bishop had long hair and a beard and he looked really scruffy. He said he tried to talk to Bishop, but Bishop got scared and ran off.

Now my question to you is, do you think this was a legitimate sighting? I personally don't believe it was. The odds of this actually happening are astronomically low, and I just can't believe that his friend would chance upon him at a bathroom in Italy. But I'm curious to get your feelings about the "sighting." Did Bishop's friend really run into him, or was he mistaken?

[justins5256]

Although I would have to agree with you that the odds of such an encounter are extremely slim, I thought the sighting in Italy was probably legitimate. I mean, if you were in public, and someone approached you and accused you of being Brad Bishop, would you flake out like the guy in the re-enactment did?

The co-worker (was his last name Harrell?) came across as honest in his interview, in my opinion. I'm not sure what motive he would have to concoct a story like that.

On a different note, wasn't this sighting also re-enacted on AMW? I seem to remember it being slightly different, with Bishop running off and being pursued by the co-worker in the streets while it was raining heavily. Does anyone else remember this?

[crystaldawn]

I don't think I've ever seen the AMW segment although I agree with Justin on the sighting. Normally you would really have to be skeptical but the co-worker seemed very credible to me and not the type to have just made it up for attention. If everything he said is accurate (which I believe it is) that is no doubt why Bishop took off running when the co-worker called him by name.

[Mr. Fuji]

Well, here's the thing. I don't think the guy made up the story. I really think he thought he saw Brad. But I just believe he was mistaken. I think he probably saw somebody who looked like Brad there and started telling him, "You better go to the police, Brad. You better turn yourself in." The guy probably didn't understand English and got kinda freaked out by him and left. Then when Bishop's friend started following after him, he ran off.

One other thing I doubt is that Bishop would look haggardly, the way Bishop's friend described him. He may have a beard, and he may have changed his look a little, but they made him out to be a bum. I bet, wherever Bishop is, he's very prominent and has plenty of money.

[crystaldawn]

Its definitely possible the guy is mistaken. However Bishop working for the State Department and having traveled extensively and speaking several different languages its very plausible that he would be hiding out in another country. I do wonder since UM usually leaves things out how extensive the conversation was between him and his former co-worker. I did read elsewhere on the net about Bishop that he has supposedly been sighted in quite a few different countries.

[Kane]

Originally Posted by Mr. Fuji

One other thing I doubt is that Bishop would look haggardly, the way Bishop's friend described him. He may have a beard, and he may have changed his look a little, but they made him out to be a bum.

Well, it wouldn't be unusual for a fugitive to change his appearance. Sometimes, a fugitive will go as far as looking like a bum, and become part of the homeless crowd, and thus making him less likely to stand out.

However, if you have worked with someone close enough and long enough, chances are you know them when you see them. Unless it can be proven otherwise, I remain convinced that the eyewitness saw Bishop.

[DarkDante]

^ Same here and although it might not mean much in the long run, the FBI/law enforcement agencies seem to regard the sighting as credible as they mention it on a few websites pertaining to the fugitive.

[Awsi Dooger]

Parhaps many people react to the friend that way. That's what the UM skit failed to highlight or analyze, and it fogs my handicapping. We needed a line-up to see how many total strangers would repulsively bolt up the stairs.

Otherwise, it reminded me of a Monty Python skit, the way Bishop looked and how he ran. Based on appearance I would peg Graham Chapman for the role, although he's currently unavailable.

[SP4CE INV4DERZ]

I was watching the Brad Bishop case a few days ago before this post and I kinda had the same thought as Fuji does. I mean that the odds of bumping into someone like that would be 1 in the population of earth 1978... 4.5 billion. I'm not meaning to say that co-worker guy doesn't sound genuine, just the odds of that happening are unbelieveable.

[fabgourmet]

Hey,

Bumping this old thread. This is another case I remember from growing up and I was fascinated to recently see it now as an adult.

I find the sightings in Europe totally credible for a couple of reasons:

1. Bishop held a diplomatic passport at the time of his disappearance.

2. He knew really a lot of languages.

Also, as last year was the 30th anniversary of this case, I found a couple of good articles online updating the case, worth reading:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...030102328.html

also

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/loc...ward-storyutil

Also, it appears that he has been seen not only by this former colleague but also in 1994 by an old neighbor from MD in Basel, Switzerland. This sighting is reported as “verified” but I couldn’t find more information about it.

Unbelievable.

I think he is still alive and has taken on a new life and identity living in Europe doing some type of work as a university instructor or advisor or, possibly, translation work.

I find the sighting by his co-worker totally credible (actually, as an aside, I once bumped into an old college friend I hadn’t seen in several years in Prague totally unexpectedly) and would like to have more information about this sighting. I think it is the real deal.

I don’t think Bishop will ever be caught.

[DarkDante]

I think a lot of us have neglected to take into consideration the fact that this gentleman KNEW Brad Bishop, was friends with Brad Bishop and therefore probably had a greater knowledge of what he looked like than any of us who know him only from the pictures we've seen on "Wanted" posters.

This in my mind makes this individual a bit more credible than the average person who might have seen a suspect/missing person from a "Wanted" poster or a "Missing Persons" poster and then was interviewed on UM.

For example I'm not sure how much credibility can be given to the scores of truck drivers who see missing persons flyers in their travels and then identify the person as Kristi Krebs or John Cheek. We know that in the cases of Kari Lynn Nixon and Gail DeLano, people who appeared to be credible ended up being totally wrong in their sightings of these individuals. So I would think there at least has to be some doubt cast on sightings like that.

But this sighting of Brad Bishop is different from 90% of the others because the person in fact knew Brad Bishop on a personal level prior to his disappearance, so I would say that would make him a lot more credible than the average person who would've reported a sighting, plus also the reaction of the stranger when he was made. A normal person would've just said "Sorry I think you have me confused with someone else", but the stranger realized he had been identified as Brad Bishop, obviously recognized his old friend and therefore darted out of the building as fast as he could to avoid the situation going any further.

[dynoguy88]

I think these two paragraphs from the first link say a lot...

In the modern, digital, hyper-vigilant world of surveillance cameras and watch lists, high-speed computer networks and satellite monitoring, sneaking out of the country is a lot more difficult than it used to be. In 1976, Kight said, it wouldn't have been hard at all, if that is what Bishop did.

"Back in those days," he said, "people would buy a plane ticket, then they couldn't make the flight, they'd give it to someone else. And then that person would fly under the other person's name."

Naturally, I would think Bishop left the country and it would have been much easier to do it back in the 70's. Add to that all of the different languages Bishop could speak and his knowledge of world traveling and he could very easily have started a new life somewhere on the other side of the globe.

I too believe Roy Harrell's sighting. The odds aren't great obviously, but it's not all that uncommon to run into someone you know while visiting another country. I've heard many, many stories of where that has happened and I know several people that had that happen to them.

Harrell knew Bishop very well. This was a man he saw EVERY day for many years at work. He knew everything about the man, his history, his likes, his knowledge - he even knew him well enough to mention in the segment that Bishop was constantly made to feel inadequate in the working field by his wife and mother and once he lost that promotion, that finally caused him to snap and he "put them in their place," sadly.

[Awsi Dooger]

I think Dark Dante's instinct and conclusion is correct. I mention low probability all the time but not in this case, for exactly that reason, the familiarity of the worker with Bishop.

My frustration with this case is it receives a fraction of the coverage it warrants.

The overlooked aspect is the dog. Find him and you find Bishop.

[kadrmas15]

Yes, although the dog obviously has been dead for many, many years now I am sure. However I get what you are saying Awsi. Brad Bishop kind of sounds like Robert Fisher there. Killing the family but taking the dog. I think Bishop traveled around the eastern US for a while after the killings. He had a week head start before anyone would even know he was gone. I am sure he has been in Europe for a long time now like Ira Einhorn was for so long. I do find the sighting of his co-worker credible and do believe it was Bishop that his co-worker saw.

[DarkDante]

In my mind Brad Bishop is two things

1) One of the most sadistic, heartless men ever to be portrayed on UM.
2) Perhaps the least likely fugitive to be caught in the entire UM docket

The first statement while is certainly saying given the docket of sadistic and evil men and women profiled on the program is also quite arguable. While it is possible to say that Bishop would not be a threat to society (being that the people he murdered he knew on an intimate level and the motive for the murders was possibly found in the context of those relationships) and would be far more likely in my mind to lash out at a close acquaintance rather than a stranger therefore somewhat eliminating the possibility of him going on a similar spree against a houseful of strangers.

It should be noted however, that the amount of thought that Bishop put into this crime is apalling. It is possible that the murder spree was planned well in advance as a contingency plan hanging on whether or not he got that promotion at work. Bishop's friend Roy Harrell notes that Bishop's mother and wife had been chiding him about "being washed up and he would never amount to anything" so it is very possible when he did not recieve the promotion he decided to kill his family instead of facing more ridicule.

However as far as we know Bishop didn't even give his family the chance to respond to his misfortune at work as prior to arriving at the house he already had a weapon in hand and a murderous plan in mind which he carried out apparently killing his wife as soon as he entered the home that evening.

The most apalling act of all in this is the murder of his own three sons. While one could scratch out that once Bishop had murdered his wife and mother, his sons were killed to eliminate any witnesses to the crime (or perhaps to stage that a stranger had broken into the house and murdered his family) still killing three young boys who I doubt anyone believes held any ill will against there father for no reason to me displays what a complete sadist Brad Bishop is and he is truly a man without a soul.

However, I also think that Brad Bishop will never be caught. He is now in his early seventies and probably looks very different in comparision to a man at thirty nine. His knowledge of languages and the world at large would (as several others have pointed out) only benefit a man on the run from the law.

Brad Bishop undoubtedly knows all the places in the world he can hide and live a relatively quiet existence far away from law enforcement who have been after him for three decades. I'm sure we all remember the case of Joe Maloney who murdered his wife and then was sighted several years later in Ireland and has still yet to be brought to justice. Several countries in Europe and South America are havens to people on the run and Brad Bishop I'm sure is well aware of all of these places.

It should also be noted that the two sightings of Bishop (one in Italy and one in Prague) probably unnerved him to the point where he is being extra careful (or extra paranoid) as to not being spotted again. I think unless Bishop falls victim to another chance encounter OR to some technology that was not available back in the 70s, he will remain free until his natural death.

But if he is ever captured wow...if you thought the uproar on this forum after JJH was captured in Brazil after five years on the run was something...