40 Years Since Bethesda Family Bludgeoned to Death

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BETHESDA, MD — A Bethesda wife, three sons and a mother were bludgeoned to death in a grisly hammer attack 40 years ago this month, with authorities seemingly no closer to finding the killer.

Investigators have a suspect, the same man Montgomery County Police and the FBI have been chasing for four decades: William Bradford Bishop Jr. The fugitive diplomat is accused of killing his family on March 1, 1976.

When they died, Bishop's sons were ages 5, 10 and 14. He allegedly drive all five victims' bodies to Columbia, NC, where he buried the bodies in a shallow grave and lit them on fire.

His name was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list in 2014 -- where it remains to date, and federal authorities last year set up a Facebook page to share tips. A $100,000 reward is offered for tips that lead to Bishop’s arrest.

While hundreds of tips have rolled in, nothing has panned out.

On its Most Wanted website, the FBI describes Bishop as an outdoors enthusiast who had been treated for depression and was prone to violence. Says the FBI:

"Bishop was, and may still be, an avid outdoorsman, camper, and hiker. He had extensive camping experience in Africa. He also enjoyed canoeing, fishing, swimming, jogging, tennis, skiing and riding motorcycles. Bishop enjoyed working out several times a week. He was also a licensed amateur pilot who learned to fly in Botswana, Africa.

Bishop has an American Studies degree from Yale University and a Master's Degree in Italian from Middlebury College in Vermont. He was known to read extensively and may have kept a diary or journal. A longtime insomniac, Bishop reportedly had been under psychiatric care in the past and had used medication for depression. He drank scotch and wine and enjoyed eating peanuts and spicy food.

Bishop was described as intense and self-absorbed, prone to violent outbursts, and preferred a neat and orderly environment."

The FBI: Seeking William Bradford Bishop Jr.Facebook page was launched in May 2015. Posts show age-progression images of what Bishop may look like since fleeing Maryland after the gruesome 1976 murders.

Federal investigators have tracked leads from Mexico to Africa as they search for the man dubbed a “family annihilator” by the FBI. For years investigators assumed Bishop used his experience in the diplomatic corps to live overseas, likely in Europe.

Previous Patch Stories about Bishop:

• ‘Family Annihilator’ from Maryland Named to FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List
• FBI: Bethesda Father Sought for Killing Family Likely in California
• FBI Follows 480 Leads in Search for Bethesda ‘Family Annihilator’

Bishop was added to the notorious FBI list on April 10, 2014. On the one-year anniversary of that date, the federal agency said authorities have followed up on more than 480 leads. According to a news release, investigators have checked lookalike reports in grocery stores, neighborhood bars, truck stops, and even a bridge club. They have also learned from witnesses who came forward last year that Bishop had multiple extramarital affairs with women, a fact not previously known.

Possible Bishop leads include a loner living in Mexico whos body was found off the coast and an Alabama John Doe killed in a car accident in 1981, both determined through DNA testing not to be the fugitive.

In December 2014, investigators questioned a man living in Mexico, who they learned was 81-year-old fugitive Robert Anton Woodring, wanted in South Florida for failing to surrender to serve a sentence for mail fraud. Other tips have come in from the Philippines, Thailand, Italy, and Africa, the FBI says.

“The incredible amount of information we’ve received from the public has been great for this investigation. We have learned new details about Bishop from people who knew him and came forward when we put him on the Ten Most Wanted,” said Steve Vogt, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Baltimore Division. “We can’t stress enough that the calls and e-mails from the public will eventually lead us to finding Bishop and solving this tragic case. We need people to keep giving us those tips.”

FBI’s Most Wanted

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of William Bradford Bishop is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI. A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information that leads to his arrest.

Log onto www.fbi.gov to view more detailed information about the Bishop case, study the age-progressed photos, and view other related images that may help to identify Bishop.

A Montgomery County grand jury indicted Bishop in 1976 for the murders of his mother, wife and sons, ages 5, 10 and 14. Authorities have no sightings of him and say they don’t know whether he is still alive or if he has died in the past four decades. But they want to resolve the brutal slayings.

Investigators believe Bishop killed his family on March 1, put their bodies in the family station wagon, along with the family’s golden retriever, then drove to North Carolina where he buried them in a shallow grave and set their bodies on fire.

The last confirmed sighting of Bishop was one day after the murders when he purchased a pair of sneakers at a sporting goods store in Jacksonville, NC.

“Nothing has changed since March 2, 1976, when Bishop was last seen, except the passage of time,” said Special Agent Steve Voct of the FBI’s Baltimore field office.

Timeline of Events

On March 8, 1976, a neighbor called police because she was concerned about the lack of activity at the Bishop home at 8103 Lilly Stone Drive in Bethesda. The neighbor had not seen anyone at the home for about a week. When Montgomery County Police officers entered the residence, they found a gruesome, bloody crime scene in several rooms.

Montgomery County detectives had been contacted earlier in the week by North Carolina authorities about five burned bodies that had been found in a wooded area. A shovel at the scene was purchased at a hardware store in Montgomery County.

Once police went to the Bishop home, investigators linked the two crimes, believing the burned bodies in North Carolina to be the missing family members. Dental records, jewelry, and clothing descriptions were used to positively identify the bodies found in the shallow grave as Bishop’s family.

As part of the investigation, detectives developed a timeline of Bradford Bishop’s activities before and after the murders. He had purchased a small sledgehammer and a gasoline can from the Sears at Montgomery Mall on March 1. That same day, he had also purchased gasoline at the Texaco station adjacent to the mall.

A vehicle similar to Bishop’s had been observed in the area of the fire. Bishop was last seen about 5:30 p.m. on March 2, when he bought a pair of tennis shoes at a sports store in Jacksonville, NC.

On March 18, 1976, Bishop’s vehicle was found by a park ranger at the Elkmont campground in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park near Gatlinburg, TN. Bloody clothing and an axe were inside the station wagon.

» Photos of fugitive William Bradford Bishop Jr. from the 1970s, plus FBI age-progressed images