Welcome to my review of A Killer in the Family by Peter Ross Range. This is a Kindle Unlimited read, short at just 51 pages and a great introduction to the old case of William ‘Brad’ Bishop, who I had never heard of. Peter Ross Range uses his skills to investigate and write about his thoughts on what may have happened and why.
Bradford Bishop had it all: a beautiful wife, three towhead sons, a nice home in a quiet Maryland suburb, and a promising career in the U.S. State Department. But on March 1, 1976, he threw it all away. After finding out he’d been passed over for a promotion, Bishop snapped. He went home and, in an act of unspeakable brutality, murdered his wife, his three boys, and his own mother—five people in all. Then he vanished off the face of the Earth. Or so it seemed. Almost forty years later, Peter Ross Range (author of the bestselling Murder in the Yoga Store) delivers the definitive story of Bishop’s life and crime, following the trail from his privileged upbringing in California to his wily escape, including never-before reported details and chilling theories as to where he might be today.
Peter Ross Range, author of the best-selling Kindle Single Murder In the Yoga Store, is a Washington, D.C. writer. A former White House correspondent for U.S. News & World Report and foreign correspondent for Time, Range has covered politics, international affairs and war. He has written for The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic and many other publications. He is currently writing a book on Adolf Hitler’s little-known year in prison.
Peter Ross Range is a world-traveled author and journalist who has covered war, politics, history and international affairs. A specialist in Germany, he has written extensively for Time, the New York Times, National Geographic, the London Sunday Times Magazine, Playboy, and U.S. News & World Report, where he was a White House Correspondent. Range has written two books on Adolf Hitler. His newest is The Unfathomable Ascent: How Hitler Came to Power. Range has been an Institute of Politics Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and a Guest Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington. Fluent in German and near-fluent in French, he has covered topics ranging from civil rights to Vietnam, from Wimbledon to Japanese business, from the invention of cable news television to a yoga store murder. When not writing, he likes to play tennis.
William Bradford Bishop, known as Brad Bishop, a state department diplomat, left work early on 1st March 1976 and purchased some tools on his way home. After the usual family routine of dinner, walking the dog and putting the kids to bed, Bishop methodically massacred his family with a hammer. First, killing his wife, mother and three young sons. He then loaded them and the family dog into the family station wagon and drove them for seven hours, where he dumped the bodies and set them alight, then drove another 400 miles before abandoning the vehicle and disappearing forever. Almost five decades later, this cold case has intrigued law enforcement officers, journalists and amateur sleuths for all this time. Peter Ross Range adds new revelations in an accessible manner, laying out the case, what happened and his own thoughts on the case.
This was a good introduction for someone who knows nothing of the case, though I am sure those who followed it know most of what is revealed. For example, what makes a mild-mannered, well educated, gainfully employed man take these actions, and where has he managed to hide for so long, if he is even still alive.
A Killer in the Family goes through many theories about what may have happened. It examines who else may have been involved and what may have occurred, including several comments on the investigations. I liked the nod to many conspiracy theories surrounding the case and will be looking into it further for myself as there is no doubt a lot more to learn that such a short account could cover.
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| Title | A Killer in the Family |
| Author | Peter Ross Range |
| Series | N/A |
| Format | Audiobook |
| Page Count | 51 Pages |
| Genre | True Crime |
| Publisher | Self-Published |
| Release Date | 29th June 2015 |
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