NC - Loving father or abusive parent, spouse? Tales conflict in suspicious dog-leash death

[cherrymeg]

Uhm she also wants the dog?! WHAT?!

Asking for a dog that has wrapped themselves around a dead person could be hard to find a home for. Maybe they bonded. Asking for control of an estate after knowing someone for a year - shady.

 

[cherrymeg]

There are so much details on that article.
Especially the gf saying he died of a heart attack.
plus the ex-wife saying this
"“He’d want to be remembered as someone who loved people and the land and who enjoyed making the world a more beautiful place,” Sharon Bishop, his ex-wife, said in his Tampa Bay Times obituary, which added that he was a native of Pittsburgh."
However she claimed he was abusive and had a bad temper.

I am not sure what happened here, but it all stinks. Just confused.

Do people write mean obituaries?

 

[OTPTarheel2018]

This strikes me as a crazy set of circumstances that are being interpreted as a murder. It seems reasonable and realistic that the man had a heart attack at the same time as taking the dog for a walk. The dog could have run circles around the deceased man and pulled on the leash, possibly causing injuries to part of his neck.

The girlfriend clearly wanted control of his estate, and casting suspicion on the man's son would have helped her achieve that goal.

The son found his dad slouched in a chair with dog nearby. Was the leash around the chair- was it a wing chair, a kitchen chair...
I have a 4 legged 95 lb-er and he's tangled me in the leashed around my ankles, never above.

I wonder if there were any Google searches on " OTC or Rx drugs can cause heart attacks" by the son or Ex-GF. Just wondering because once upon a time I was married to an anesthesiologist. I learned much!!

Something is rotten in Denmark, I mean Durham....JMO...even if the son is not involved the GF and estate stuff is odd.

JMO

 

[OTPTarheel2018]

How does the girlfriend or ex get control the estate. Asking for the dog is possibly the right thing to do if you feel like the dog could be put down. You go out with someone for a year I don't think you get more than the dog. Did this man not have a lawyer or someone that could manage the estate. Could someone be appointed to do that that isn't an ex girlfriend? The son may have looked up things but he didn't follow through on the financial side.

Maybe someone else did those searches on the son's phone. Not that I believe this, but I believe in exploring possible scenarios.

JMO

 

[cherrymeg]

Maybe someone else did those searches on the son's phone. Not that I believe this, but I believe in exploring possible scenarios.

JMO

Did the dad die right away? I swear I read it took him a few days. I might be wrong.

 

[OTPTarheel2018]

Did the dad die right away? I swear I read it took him a few days. I might be wrong.

Yes.

On April 23, 2018 on Facebook, Seel wrote, “My partner, Bill Bishop, had a massive heart attack on Wednesday and died on Saturday (9:32am – April 21, 2018). I was with him until his last breath. A devastating end to an amazing year full of family, travel, laughter, love, hopes, and dreams. Today is our one year anniversary – I am grateful for all that he gave to Elena and me over this past year, and was blessed to be a part of his son’s Alexander and Jefferson lives. A great love story with an unfortunate end.”

From Heavy.com - it's at the end of the article.
https://heavy.com/news/2019/02/alexander-bishop/

JMO

 

[cherrymeg]

Yes.

On April 23, 2018 on Facebook, Seel wrote, “My partner, Bill Bishop, had a massive heart attack on Wednesday and died on Saturday (9:32am – April 21, 2018). I was with him until his last breath. A devastating end to an amazing year full of family, travel, laughter, love, hopes, and dreams. Today is our one year anniversary – I am grateful for all that he gave to Elena and me over this past year, and was blessed to be a part of his son’s Alexander and Jefferson lives. A great love story with an unfortunate end.”

From Heavy.com - it's at the end of the article.
https://heavy.com/news/2019/02/alexander-bishop/

JMO

Thanks! I don't know about you but I wouldn't want her in charge of my estate. It's possible the son, brother and their mom suspected she was a gold digger and were looking at ways to keep her from cleaning him out. Or creating a new will while high or drugged or love sick. Or to make sure one couldn't be forged. Also who would even invent the dog strangled my dad?

 

[x_files]

Asking for a dog that has wrapped themselves around a dead person could be hard to find a home for. Maybe they bonded. Asking for control of an estate after knowing someone for a year - shady.

They need to look closer at the gf. Why was she given the estate? makes zero sense. Just freeze it.

 

[borndem]

A retractable leash could be 26 ft long. The chair was a leather chair in a home entertainment area. That chair could have been big enough that the dog, knowing something was wrong, could have been jumping all over him, trying to get him to move.

bbm

You bring up an excellent point, IMO! If the dad was having a heart attack, the dog could have jumped up to either play -- the dog thought he was playing -- or the dog thought he was in distress -- the leash could have somehow gotten around the man's neck and the dog and/or the man could have strained and thrashed around enuff to put pressure on his neck. Hmmmm.

 

[borndem]

Agree, this case hits all the buttons for hinky.

Wasn’t Durham also the place where a guy named Peterson killed his wife?

How long was this dog leash? It was supposedly wrapped around father’s neck three times and the dog was still on it.
I can’t picture the dog still standing with all four feet on the ground.

bbm
Your question has probably been answered already, but yes, Durham, NC, and the Hope Valley subdivision is where Michael Peterson lived with his wife whom he allegedly killed. This case was the one where Peterson said that an owl came into the house and attacked her. He was convicted of murder, but an appeal about the blood evidence resulted in a "Court Ordered Release."
WS thread --
GUILTY - NC - Kathleen Peterson, 48, found dead in her Durham home, 9 Dec 2001

 

[borndem]

How does the girlfriend or ex get control the estate. Asking for the dog is possibly the right thing to do if you feel like the dog could be put down. You go out with someone for a year I don't think you get more than the dog. Did this man not have a lawyer or someone that could manage the estate. Could someone be appointed to do that that isn't an ex girlfriend? The son may have looked up things but he didn't follow through on the financial side.

Surely he had a will, and if so, an executor/trix. (Maybe I missed that part in these threads -- if so, please excuse my not knowing.) We may not get the details of this, but it gets hinkier by the day, doesn't it?

 

[cherrymeg]

They need to look closer at the gf. Why was she given the estate? makes zero sense. Just freeze it.

Hopefully they tested him for drugs and didn't let the girlfriend show them around the house. She might have been his ex or almost ex. This guy didn't have an attorney?

 

[cherrymeg]

Surely he had a will, and if so, an executor/trix. (Maybe I missed that part in these threads -- if so, please excuse my not knowing.) We may not get the details of this, but it gets hinkier by the day, doesn't it?

Maybe he was acting weird partying with his ex girlfriend and they were afraid he'd draw up a new will on a whim. Maybe they were worried that GF would do something crazy an end up in charge of his estate. The searches could also be seen as checking how much financial damage could be done to the father. Did she have access to all his money, bank accounts etc. could she take money and hide it from everyone?

 

[jjenny]

Girlfriend saying he died from a heart attack is presumably due how the death was originally reported.
"The incident was reported as a "cardiac arrest call" just after 6 p.m. on April 18, 2018, at a home in the 3400 block of Dover Road, according to the news release."
16-year-old Durham son charged in dad's 2018 murder, police say

 

[jjenny]

Good question. Legally speaking (from a non-lawyer perspective), if there is a plausible alternate theory to explain the death, aren't prosecutors wasting their time asking a jury to ignore the alternate theory?

Wouldn't be the first time defense claims some other cause of death than prosecution. Not sure why you are assuming prosecutors are wasting their time here.

 

[meanmaryjean]

You know- I am firmly straddling the fence on this one. And that is pretty rare for me. Time will tell.

 

[emmalpage81]

What a rather odd case. I am very much undecided (on anything). Hopefully more will be revealed in due course.

 

[borndem]

It is strange that his girlfriend was allowed to temporarily control his estate.

https://heavy.com/news/2019/02/alexander-bishop/

5. Bill Bishop’s Girlfriend Sought Control of His Estate

There was a battle for control of William Bishop’s multi-million dollar estate after his death.
According to the Herald Sun, Julie Seel, the girlfriend of Bill Bishop “successfully sought temporary control of his estate, saying she needs to protect his assets worth millions of dollars.”

They’d dated for a year at the time of the death. The newspaper reported that Bishop’s divorce with his wife – and the mother of Alexander – was finalized just weeks before Bill Bishop died.

Julie Seel is a clinical psychologist at Duke Integrative Medicine and, according to the newspaper, Bishop’s ex wife and sons tried to get her removed from controlling the estate.

Girlfriend of Durham man in dog-leash death takes control of estate, demands dog

‘ON AND OFF’ RELATIONSHIP
On July 30, Bishop’s two sons ages 16 and 17, and Sharon Bishop as their mother and representative, petitioned for Seel to be removed and a family friend to be appointed.

The filing states that Bill Bishop and Seel dated “on and off” for less than a year and were broken up at the time of his death.

“Five days before decedent was found unconscious … she had sent decedent an email ending their relationship, and placed all of his belongings that were in her house into her garage for him to pick up,” the sons’ filing states.

Now this is just plain odd...

There was also this quote in the article above:

On April 23, 2018 on Facebook, Seel wrote, “My partner, Bill Bishop, had a massive heart attack on Wednesday and died on Saturday (9:32am – April 21, 2018). I was with him until his last breath.

https://heavy.com/news/2019/02/alexander-bishop/

My bold in the quote above.

This quote was under the 5th Facts you need to know, so what is that??

What made her think/say it was a heart attack? Was he conscious in the hospital? If so, what did he tell her? If not, why did she think it was a heart attack?

Verrrry hinky, this one.

 

[cherrymeg]

Now this is just plain odd...

There was also this quote in the article above:


https://heavy.com/news/2019/02/alexander-bishop/

My bold in the quote above.

This quote was under the 5th Facts you need to know, so what is that??

What made her think/say it was a heart attack? Was he conscious in the hospital? If so, what did he tell her? If not, why did she think it was a heart attack?

Verrrry hinky, this one.

Wasn't his heart enlarged and he had blockages in several arteries? I need to find that article. He was alive for several days. I don't think that is normal with strangulation there's a lot that isn't normal. I doubt the son would have been charged he hadn't said the dog's leash was around his dad possibly strangling him. If he said his dad was dead and or he didn't think he was breathing, that would be a heart attack and people wouldn't have questioned it.

 

[LietKynes]

Following.
It's safe to assume this estranged GF was indeed a gold digger.
MOO