Bethesda Family Annihilator 40 Year Search To Resume

BETHESDA, MD — Authorities are planning a public relations push this spring in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee to spark new interest in a murder that happened 42 years ago in Bethesda.

Police are searching for William Bradford Bishop Jr., who is on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List and accused of killing his family on March 1, 1976. Bishop allegedly beat his wife, three sons and mother to death with a hammer, the FBI says.

When they died, Bishop's sons were ages 5, 10 and 14. Bishop — a Yale graduate with an impressive passport — allegedly drove all five victims' bodies to Columbia, NC, where he buried the bodies in a shallow grave and lit them on fire.

Knoxville-based WBIR-TV reports authorities say it's possible that Bishop is hiding out in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. On March 18, 1976, Bishop's vehicle was found by a park ranger at the Elkmont campground in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park near Gatlinburg, TN. Bloody clothing and an axe were inside the station wagon.

"Keeping this information out there, alive, that this did occur and he could potentially be up in a cabin as a recluse with a beard -- I don't discount anything," Montgomery County. Md., Sheriff Darren Popkin told WBIR-TV. "Anyone in that general area that has any information -- nothing is too small. We are happy to look into anything."

His name was added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list in 2014 -- where it remains to date. A $100,000 reward is offered for tips that lead to Bishop's arrest.

While hundreds of tips have rolled in, nothing has panned out.

On its Most Wanted website, the FBI describes Bishop as an outdoors enthusiast who had been treated for depression and was prone to violence. Says the FBI:

"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. Bishop enjoyed working out several times a week. He was also a licensed amateur pilot who learned to fly in Botswana, Africa.

Bishop has an American Studies degree from Yale University and a Master's Degree in Italian from Middlebury College in Vermont. He was known to read extensively and may have kept a diary or journal. A longtime insomniac, Bishop reportedly had been under psychiatric care in the past and had used medication for depression. He drank scotch and wine and enjoyed eating peanuts and spicy food.

Bishop was described as intense and self-absorbed, prone to violent outbursts, and preferred a neat and orderly environment."

On March 8, 1976, a neighbor called police because she was concerned about the lack of activity at the Bishop home at 8103 Lilly Stone Drive in Bethesda. The neighbor had not seen anyone at the home for about a week. When Montgomery County Police officers entered the residence, they found a gruesome, bloody crime scene in several rooms.

Montgomery County detectives had been contacted earlier in the week by North Carolina authorities about five burned bodies that had been found in a wooded area. A shovel at the scene was purchased at a hardware store in Montgomery County.

Once police went to the Bishop home, investigators linked the two crimes, believing the burned bodies in North Carolina to be the missing family members. Dental records, jewelry, and clothing descriptions were used to positively identify the bodies found in the shallow grave as Bishop's family.

As part of the investigation, detectives developed a timeline of Bradford Bishop's activities before and after the murders. He had purchased a small sledgehammer and a gasoline can from the Sears at Montgomery Mall on March 1. That same day, he had also purchased gasoline at the Texaco station adjacent to the mall.

The last confirmed sighting of Bishop was one day after the murders when he purchased a pair of sneakers at a sporting goods store in Jacksonville, NC.

Federal investigators have tracked leads from Mexico to Africa as they search for the man dubbed a "family annihilator" by the FBI. For years investigators assumed Bishop used his experience in the diplomatic corps to live overseas, likely in Europe.

See Related:

• 40 Years Since Bethesda Family Bludgeoned to Death
• 'Family Annihilator' from Maryland Named to FBI's 10 Most Wanted List
• FBI: Bethesda Father Sought for Killing Family Likely in California
• FBI Follows 480 Leads in Search for Bethesda 'Family Annihilator'

Possible Bishop leads include a loner living in Mexico whose body was found off the coast and an Alabama John Doe killed in a car accident in 1981, both determined through DNA testing not to be the fugitive.

In December 2014, investigators questioned a man living in Mexico, who they learned was 81-year-old fugitive Robert Anton Woodring, wanted in South Florida for failing to surrender to serve a sentence for mail fraud. Other tips have come in from the Philippines, Thailand, Italy, and Africa, the FBI says.

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of William Bradford Bishop is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI. A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information that leads to his arrest.

Log onto www.fbi.gov to view more detailed information about the Bishop case, study the age-progressed photos, and view other related images that may help to identify Bishop.

» Photos of fugitive William Bradford Bishop Jr. from the 1970s, plus FBI age-progressed images