Son challenges search warrants in Durham dog-leash death. Could evidence be thrown out?
The 17-year-old charged with killing his father with a dog leash a year ago wants evidence in the case thrown out, claiming the lead investigator lied to get it.
The recent court filing on behalf of Alexander Bishop says a Durham police investigator intentionally misrepresented a document to claim more than $460,000 worth of gold bars was missing.
Misstatements about the gold and other items led to police being improperly granted access to the family’s house, computers, cell phones, and bank records, according to the filing.
Attorney Allyn Sharp, who represents the teen charged with killing 59-year-old developer William “Bill” Bishop, argues the gold wasn’t missing because Bill Bishop had sold it in 2016.
“These material allegations about ‘missing gold’ are intentionally false and/or show reckless disregard for the truth,” her April 15 filing states.
The filing also contends that search warrants sought by investigator T. Huelsman include other false and misleading statements that mischaracterize what Alexander Bishop said about his father, the position of his father’s body, and doctors’ concerns about the manner of death. About 20 search warrants have been obtained in the case.
“Investigator Huelsman has demonstrated through his search warrant applications not just a single or even limited number of misstatements, but a pattern of deliberately false allegations and reckless disregard for the truth,” the filing states.
Durham County District Attorney Satana Deberry and the Durham Police Department declined to comment on Sharp’s filing.
“The matters you’re inquiring about will be addressed in the upcoming court proceedings,” police spokesman Wil Glenn wrote in an email.
Found unresponsive
On April 18, 2018, police responded to Bill Bishop’s home on Dover Road after Alexander, one of his two teenage sons, called 911.
Officials found Bishop without a pulse in an oversized leather chair. He regained a pulse after officials performed CPR, but died three days later in the hospital.
The teen told police he had found his father unresponsive with a dog leash wrapped around his neck and still attached to the family’s yellow Labrador retriever.
A state medical examiner ruled Bishop’s death a homicide and said he died from strangulation.
A Greenville pathologist hired by Bishop’s family called that ruling into question, The News & Observer has reported. That report noted Bishop had heart disease and that his body showed no self-defense injuries.
The family believes Bishop had a fatal heart attack and that’s what doctors told them, Bob Idol, an attorney representing the two sons in estate matters, has said.
The homicide investigation began six days after Bishop was found, according to Sharp’s filings.
Alexander Bishop, then 16, was indicted by a grand jury Feb. 18 on a charge of first-degree murder. He was arrested four days later and was released Feb. 25 from jail on an unsecured bond.
About the gold
Bishop was a prominent Florida developer who moved to the Triangle in 2008 to get a doctorate at UNC-Chapel Hill. He was worth about $5.5 million in 2017. His divorce from Alexander’s mother, Sharon Bishop, was finalized about two weeks before he was found, according to court documents.
Julie Seel, whom police described as Bill Bishop’s girlfriend, has been providing statements to police and questioning Alexander and his mother’s actions since Bill Bishop’s death, according to court documents. In estate filings, Bishop’s sons have questioned Seels’ relationship with their father.
The police investigation surfaced in search warrants sought by Huelsman. In general, search warrants become public documents after they are executed and returned to the courthouse.
In warrants seeking access to the Bishop family’s homes, bank records, safe, cell phones and other items, Huelsman mentions gold bars worth more than $460,000 and describes a purchase order found in Bill Bishop’s home office.
“Part of the paperwork seized included a purchase order of 20, 10 ounce gold bars and five 32.15 ounce gold bars totaling $462,773.30,” states an August 2018 search warrant. “At this time, it is unknown where the gold bars or other valuables belonging to William Bishop’s estate are located.”
“I believe Sharon and Alexander Bishop obtained the gold from the Liberty Safe in William Bishop home on 4/20/2018,” a February 2019 warrant states, according to Sharp’s filing.
But Sharp contends the purchase order records the gold being sold to a buyer named “Eric” and shipped to Tampa-based precious metals dealer Gainesville Coins.
“The purchase order clearly shows that on August 26, 2016, William Bishop sold twenty 10-ounce gold bars and five 32.15-ounce gold bars with payment method being bank wire with the total amount paid and wired to William Bishop being $462,773.30,” the recent filing states.
‘How should I be feeling?’
The filing also argues the warrants mischaracterize what Alexander Bishop told emergency officials after his father was found unresponsive.
“Alexander told officers on scene that he felt relieved that his father was gone, explaining that he had been emotionally abused his entire life,” a warrant states. “Alexander told officers that he was extremely fearful for what his father would do if he survived.”
Sharp’s filing says body-worn cameras show Alexander Bishop asked “How should I be feeling right now?” and that he was afraid what his father might do because he had left the leash on the dog.
A separate filing seeks to suppress those and other statements made by Alexander Bishop, arguing that police prevented his mother from entering the home and seeing her son and didn’t read him his rights before asking him questions.
State law says juveniles must be advised of rights that include remaining silent and having a parent present.
“As a result of statements made by Defendant Bishop to officers at the scene in response to their questions during this custodial interrogation, a criminal investigated was initiated,” Sharp’s filing states.
Sharp asked in the filing that a hearing on the concerns be set after prosecutors provide all of the case’s discovery — all of the information and evidence they have gathered in the case — which was still incomplete as of April 15.
Correspondent Matt Goad contributed to this story.
This story was originally published April 29, 2019 at 1:43 PM with the headline "Son challenges search warrants in Durham dog-leash death. Could evidence be thrown out?."
