File found, Delahunt still absent

American Thinker ^ | February 19, 2010 | Rosslyn Smith

[jazusamo]

The Braintree Police Department, the Norfolk County Prosecutor and the Massachusetts State Police are trying to get their stories down as to why no charges were filed against Amy Bishop in the 1986 shooting death of her brother.  Although the police file that had been missing for more than 20 years was found among the papers of a retired police investigator, now deceased, the case remains highly controversial. 

Shortly after being apprehended in ‘86, Bishop was released without being charged. Congressman William D. Delahunt was the Norfolk DA at the time.  The current holder of the post, William R. Keating, is investigating the entire matter. It is customary for the local police department in Massachusetts to rely on the State authorities to investigate killings because the state has greater resources. That investigation is done in coordination with the County DA's office.  Among the questions that remain to be answered in this case are:

-Why did no one question Amy Bishop and her mother at the time of the shooting? 

-Why weren't state investigators immediately dispatched to the Bishop home to prevent contamination of the scene?

-Why did the state police wait eleven days to question Bishop and her mother, the only witnesses to the shooting?

-Why weren't key facts in the Braintree Police Department report included in the State Police report? These facts include: that Bishop left the scene of the killing with a shotgun, that she later leveled that shotgun at an auto mechanic in an attempt to get a vehicle and that she had to be arrested at gunpoint by Braintree police officers.  

-Why was Braintree Police Chief Polio so passive about this case back in 1986?  

Polio acknowledged yesterday that he read the reports of his own officers for the first time when they were released by Keating's office this week. Polio said he did not read the reports in 1986 because his officers told him the case would be handled by State Police and the district attorney's office.

There are few weapons more feared in close quarters than a pump action shotgun.  Depending upon the load, they can leave a hole through in the target big enough to toss a basketball through, and an experienced user can get several shots off in a matter of seconds. Officers under Polio's command had just risked their lives to disarm Bishop when she had refused to put the shotgun down, and an officer had to grab her from behind.  It defies credulity that he never read their reports on the incident, if for no other reason than to consider updating their service records with a commendation.  

Current Norfolk District Attorney, William R. Keating, seems incredulous about most aspects of this "You didn't tell us!"/"But you never asked!" scenario between the local and state police.  He seems particularly hot over the gap in time before the witnesses were interviewed and the omission of key facts known by the Norfolk PD from the file that State Police had turned over to the prosecutors. 

"If you eliminated everyone from an interview that was emotionally upset after a shooting death, you'd have no one to talk to,'' Keating said.

Experienced prosecutors know that a series of mind numbing errors and omissions that all favor one party are unlikely to be the product of mere coincidence.

Meanwhile, Congressman Bill Delahunt has kept himself well out of the picture. He's in the Middle East on a junket sponsored by the J Street Education Fund and Churches for Middle East Peace. 

US Representative William D. Delahunt, who was Norfolk district attorney at the time of the 1986 shooting, has been in Israel since the Alabama shootings, but was questioned about the case yesterday at a press availability called after the congressional delegation was blocked from entering Gaza.

"I haven't had a real opportunity to get into the details of the case, but I suspect when I return I'll have an opportunity to become debriefed,'' the congressman told the Associated Press.

[Jabba the Nutt]

"He seems particularly hot over the gap in time before the witnesses were interviewed and the omission of key facts known by the Norfolk PD from the file that State Police had turned over to the prosecutors."

Does Braintree, Mass. have such a number of shotgun murders and attempted holdups, where the police have to tackle the perp to grab the shotgun, that the police chief is too busy to read the file? This police chief is either lying or is the laziest police chief in history.

[CaptainK]

http://www.patriotledger.com/news/state_news/x1487802033/Amy-Bishop-s-mother-went-to-bat-for-Braintree-police-captain-at-86-town-meeting

[outpostinmass2]

I read that, also note the police captain got voted down to extend his retirement age. If I’m going to pull favors I want to do it with someone who can give results. Like Ted Kennedy.

[cookiedough]

I don’t think it happened like Amy and her mother said it did. I think Amy shot Seth “by accident” only in that she intended to shoot her father. What do you want to bet that Seth’s and her father’s voices sounded similar and that Amy thought she was shooting at her dad?

I think this because Amy and her father had an argument before he went shopping, and right after that, she started fooling around with the gun.

She kept messing with it, even after she shot one round and even after she could not figure out how to unload it. I don’t think she was trying to unload it. I don’t think someone who is unfamiliar with how to use a gun and has a modicum of common sense would continue messing with it after that unless they were planning to use it for a specific purpose.

I note also that there has been no information given on what the argument with her father was about — not that I can find, anyway.

[jazusamo]

I think he’ll say most anything to lay blame off to others on this, back then you could probably count the number of incidents like this on one hand for several years.

[CaptainK]

LOL

[pray4liberty]

Does Braintree, Mass. have such a number of shotgun murders and attempted holdups, where the police have to tackle the perp to grab the shotgun, that the police chief is too busy to read the file?

Too bad the cops didn't shoot this perp dead when they had the chance.

[MHGinTN]

"I haven't had a real opportunity to get into the details of the case, but I suspect when I return I'll have an opportunity to become debriefed,'' the congressman told the Associated Press. Read, 'I haven't had a chance to consult with Democrat staff on what lies to use at a presser so you will not get any response from me.'

[jazusamo]

Exactly...There’s no way he’s forgotten this case and he sure as heck isn’t going to tell truth as he knows it.