Did Univ. of Alabama suspect murder before? (Updated x 2)

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Saturday February 13, 2010 · 2:34 PM PST

2010/02/13 · 14:34

Over the last couple of days, I've read some outrageous accusations about the University of Alabama, Huntsville and its faculty. For some odd reason, after a deranged faculty member, Amy Bishop, murdered several of her colleagues, many people are automatically assuming that the university was wrong in denying her tenure. I even saw speculation that her faculty colleagues must have been creationists or were otherwise jealous of her Harvard degree.

I assumed quite the opposite--that murdering one's colleagues is prima facie evidence that one is unstable and not qualified for a tenured position at a university. And now it appears that some interesting information is coming out about Amy Bishop's past.

In 1986, when she was 20 years old, she shot and killed her brilliant 19-year-old brother. Though this was reported earlier as an accident, reports suggest otherwise. The current Braintree police chief , Paul Frazier, reported the matter thusly at a press conference:

Frazier offered a different account of the shooting, saying Bishop had shot her brother during an argument and was being booked by police when the chief at the time ordered the booking process stopped and Bishop released to her mother....

He said that there was an argument at the home on Hollis Avenue and Amy Bishop had fired three shots, including the fatal one, then fled the house and pointed the shotgun at a motorist in an attempted carjack. She was then arrested at gunpoint by officers.

I suspect there may be an investigation into how and why the charges were dropped in 1986. For me, the most important point is that three biology professors--including two African-American women [CORRECTED: it was actually one African-American woman and one African-American man) and an immigrant from India--now murdered and unable to defend themselves, are being subject to the most outrageous accusations. Let us honor their memory.

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UPDATE: As discussed in the comments, the DA at the time (24 years ago) is now a Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts who is considering retiring from office.
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UPDATE #2: A statement by the current police chief places the blame on the former police chief (not the former DA)

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