Question Answered

The DA in Mass. with jurisdiction over the shooting death of Seth Bishop initially felt the statute of limitations had passed to prosecute Amy Bishop, the Alabama professor who now faces capital murder charges for slaying three co-workers. He was thinking of manslaughter when he aired that thought. Well, he's decided to hold an "Inquest" to hear the evidence known about the shooting to determine if the shooting was in-fact premeditated murder and not accidental. And why not? Amy Bishop has shown through her actions that she will let no one stand in her way. An intentional killing does not have the same statute of limitations in Mass.

So apparently, having reviewed some of the original reports, including those identifying newspaper clippings of stories about similar shootings that pre-dated Seth's killing that were found in Amy Bishop's bedroom, he believes it's worth airing it out. Law enforcement agencies and prosecutors should pay very careful attention to the outcome of this exercise. In many ways, this is "a little too late" and perhaps involves some pay back to a predecessor. But, it is also a chance to see publicly what is known and to review how it went south during the investigation phase. Perhaps it is also chance to apply some of the advances in criminalistics that have occurred since 1986.

Personally, I am looking forward to hearing the original investigators explain away their inaction. Always something interesting going on.