Tragic Betrayal: How Bradford Bishop Murdered His Entire Family and then Disappeared
On March 1, 1976, 39 year old Bradford Bishop did the unthinkable, murdering his entire family without warning. After that, he disappeared from sight, becoming one of the world' most wanted fugitives
Background
What would drive a seemingly ordinary man to murder his wife, mother, and three children? For nearly five decades, authorities have struggled to find the answer as well as locate the man responsible for the horrific, cold-blooded murder of his entire family on a March evening in 1976.
Bradford Bishop
Born on August 1, 1936, in Pasadena, California, William Bradford Bishop Jr. was an overachiever, to say the least. Besides his family, Bishop’s priorities were focused on higher education and career advancement.
After graduating from high school, he attended Yale University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in History. For his master's, he attended Middlebury College in Vermont to study International Relations. Bishop is also reported to have obtained a Master’s Degree in Italian.
After college, Bishop joined the United States Army, where he worked in counterintelligence. He was fluent in five languages, including English, Spanish, Italian, French, and Serbo-Croatian.
With this background, Bishop was able to easily transition to a career with the U.S. State Department after leaving the Army. He was assigned to the Foreign Service during which time he held several posts abroad in Italy, Ethiopia, and Botswana.
In 1974, Bishop returned to the U.S., where he was assigned to the State Department’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. At the time, he was living in the suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, with his wife Annette, his three sons, and his mother Lobeila.
From the outside, Bishop seemed to have it all. A good career, a nice house in the suburbs, and a loving all-American family. However, no one could have known that a setback to his promising career would trigger a horrific bloodbath and a multi-decade manhunt.
March 1, 1976
On March 1, 1976, Bishop’s obsession with his career advancement culminated in an unfortunate meeting with his superiors. That day, he learned that he would not be receiving a promotion that he thought he deserved.
Bishop left work early that day, telling his secretary that he wasn’t feeling well. The FBI believes that Bishop left work on his motorcycle, returned to his home, where he switched cars and drove to the bank to withdraw several hundred dollars.
He then drove to the Montgomery Mall, where he purchased a gas can and a ball-peen hammer. After that, he stopped at a gas station where he filled up his car and the gas can he had just bought. He then drove to a hardware store and bought a pitchfork and shovel.
According to police reports, Bishop returned home between 7:30 and 8:00 p.m. and bludgeoned his wife to death. Investigators found a book nearby that was splattered with blood, indicating that she was likely attacked from behind and taken by surprise.
Bishop’s mother, Lobelia St. Germain, was likewise brutally attacked and murdered when she returned to the house after walking the family dog. Bishop then went upstairs and murdered his three sons, ages 14, 10, and 5, as they slept.
He then loaded the bodies of his family into his station wagon, and along with the family’s golden retriever, Leo, drove more than 250 miles to a wooded area near the town of Columbia, North Carolina.
Discovery of Bodies
After arriving in North Carolina, Bishop dug a large hole and placed his family members inside. According to law enforcement, He placed the youngest children at the bottom, with his wife and mother on top. He then doused the grave with gasoline and set it on fire.
However, the large amount of smoke attracted the attention of Forest rangers who went to investigate. Upon arriving on the scene, they made a gruesome discovery. In addition to the bodies, they recovered the gas can, pitchfork, and shovel. Markings on the tools traced them back to Bishop’s purchase in Maryland.
On March 18, investigators found Bishop’s abandoned car 400 miles away near a campsite in the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. Inside was a blood-stained trunk, seats, and a spare tire, a blanket where the bodies were wrapped in, a gun, and dog biscuits.
Last Known Sighting and Disappearance
On March 2, the day after the murders, Bishop was seen purchasing a pair of tennis shoes at a store in Jacksonville, North Carolina. He was with his dog Leo and was possibly accompanied by an unknown woman.
It took neighbours and friends a few days to notice that something was amiss. Mail and newspapers went uncollected, and no one was seen coming in or out of the house.
According to law enforcement, “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.”
These hobbies and skills undoubtedly would have given him the means and access to blend in to new environments. His multi-lingual background most likely aided him in some ways, and he could have taken up jobs in teaching and sports.
Also, as a former employee of the State Department, he could have used his diplomatic passport once before ditching it for an entirely new identity.
Mental Health and Motives
Bishop had no criminal history, a promising career, and a beautiful family. So what was his motive? After doing some investigating, authorities learned that he struggled with depression, insomnia, and had problems controlling his rage.
During his work at the State Department, Bishop struggled silently with his mental health. He confided in a colleague, Roy Harrell Jr., about his rage issues. Harrell urged him to seek help so it wouldn’t limit his career. Bishop was also described as an overachiever, mistrustful of people, and very selective of the people he let into his life.
There were also rumors of tension at home between Bishop, his wife, and his mother. Allegedly, he tried to convince his family to move to Europe with him, should he get the promotion he was seeking. However, his wife preferred the laid-back suburban life in Maryland. It has also been reported that Bishop was criticized by his wife and mother for his lack of career advancement. However, this has not been confirmed.
It has been established that the Bradfords were facing some financial difficulties that Bishop hoped would be solved with the job promotion. However, there has been some debate regarding the extent and severity of these issues.
Fugitive Status
The FBI believes that Bishop’s background and intelligence training have helped him to stay on the run and avoid capture. In 2014, Bishop was placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. And though he was removed from the list in 2018, he is still being actively sought by the FBI, and he also has an active INTERPOL Red Notice.
There have been a handful of alleged sightings over the years, including, in early 1979, a few years after the murder, in Sorrento, Italy, when Bishop’s former colleague Roy Harrell swore he ran into Bishop in a restaurant bathroom.
At the time, Bishop allegedly had a beard and was several pounds heavier. After asking the mystery man to confirm his identity, the man quickly denied it and exited the bathroom.
One interesting development took place in 2021, when a DNA test confirmed Bradford Bishop to be the father of an adopted woman named Kathy Gillcrist, from a previous relationship with her birth mother before his marriage to Annette.
The FBI has created age-progressed depictions to show how Bishop might look today. If he is still alive, Bradford Bishop would be 89 years old.
Sources:
“WILLIAM BRADFORD BISHOP, JR.” FBI.gov, https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/murders/william-bradford-bishop-jr
De Alba, Simone & Cremen Alanea. “Where is Bradford Bishop, a man accused of brutally killing his entire family before disappearing?” WUSA9, 18 June 2025, https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/crime/true-crime/bradford-bishop-man-accused-brutally-killing-entire-family-disappearing/
Yancy, Shawn, Yarborough, Rick, & Jones, Steve. “FBI Confirms NC Woman Is Accused Killer William Bradford Bishop's Daughter.” NBC4, 27 September 2021, https://www.nbcwashington.com/investigations/brad-bishop/fbi-confirms-nc-woman-is-accused-killer-william-bradford-bishops-daughter/
Baker, Donald P. “OLD LETTER SHINES NEW LIGHT IN ‘76 SLAYING OF BETHESDA FAMILY.” Washington Post, 31 March 1993, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1993/03/31/old-letter-sheds-new-light-on-76-slaying-of-bethesda-family/
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