{"id":1668,"date":"2019-12-11T12:01:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-11T12:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=1668"},"modified":"2023-03-27T15:52:10","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T15:52:10","slug":"the-death-of-bill-bishop-was-it-a-heart-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2019\/12\/11\/the-death-of-bill-bishop-was-it-a-heart-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"The death of Bill Bishop: Was it a heart attack?"},"content":{"rendered":"
This is the second in a series exploring theories into Bill Bishop’s death.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n After developer Bill Bishop was apparently found unconscious with a dog leash around his neck and later died, investigators became suspicious of his teenage son Alexander and charged him with murder.<\/span><\/p>\n Alexander has suggested it was a tragic accident caused by the family dog, Winston. Yet Bishop’s ex-wife and family has posed a simpler explanation: Bill died of a heart attack.<\/span><\/p>\n But the heart attack theory doesn\u2019t hold up very well. Four forensics experts who reviewed his autopsy report for the 9th Street Journal were doubtful that Bill died of a heart attack. Three said there was no evidence of one, and the fourth said it was unlikely.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no evidence of a cardiac event. The defense is just trying to fish,\u201d said Bill Smock, police surgeon for the Louisville Metro Police Department and a staff member of the Training Institute for Strangulation Prevention in San Diego.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Where is the case now?<\/b><\/p>\n It\u2019s not clear how much Alexander\u2019s attorney Allyn Sharp will rely on a possible cardiac event in her defense. With the case far from trial amid of a backlog of murder cases, she has a lot of time to prepare.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sharp did not respond to request for comment in time for publication. She has previously told the 9th Street Journal that she will not speak about the case outside the court record.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In a February hearing, Sharp <\/span>said<\/span><\/a> Alexander didn\u2019t kill Bill, never had any issues with discipline, and had no motive to kill his father.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Alexander told first responders on April 18, 2018 he found Bill unresponsive in the theater of the family\u2019s Hope Valley home. He said his father was in an armchair with Winston\u2019s leash wrapped around his neck, with Winston still on the leash, according to court documents. Bill died three days later at Duke Hospital.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The case was shaken up earlier this fall when Judge Orlando F. Hudson Jr. <\/span>threw out <\/span><\/a>swaths of key evidence that implied Alexander had plotted to kill Bill and reap the benefits of his $5.5 million estate, pending an appeal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhen you remove those material misstatements and omissions, it is simply a death that is tragic, but not suspicious,\u201d Sharp <\/span>said<\/span><\/a> at a September hearing in her eventually successful bid to exclude evidence.<\/span><\/p>\n There has not been a trial date set in the case. Alexander, who was 16 at the time of his father\u2019s death, is free on a $250,000 unsecured bond.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Alexander suggests the dog did it; family blames heart attack<\/b><\/p>\n How will Sharp build her case to defend Alexander? There are clues in his statements to first responders and comments that family members have made to the media.<\/span><\/p>\n Before calling 911 that evening, Alexander<\/span> called his mother, Sharon Bishop, five times<\/span><\/a>. In the 911 <\/span>call<\/span><\/a>, Alexander said he thought that Bill was dead and that he took the leash off his neck.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think my dog got his [leash] wrapped around his throat and his face is purple,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n