Amy Bishop won't be tried for brother's death

(FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey announced Friday that he has dropped plans to try Amy Bishop for the 1986 shooting of her brother.

Morrissey said there is no longer a need to try her for the fatal shooting of Seth in the family home.

"We will not move to have her returned to Massachusetts.  The penalty we would seek for a first-degree murder conviction is already in place," District Attorney Morrissey said. "By entering a nolle prosequi, the indictment is withdrawn without prejudice - meaning that if circumstances change, a prosecution could be initiated again."

Bishop, a Harvard-educated biologist, was sentenced to life in prison without parole Monday after being convicted of going on a shooting rampage during a faculty meeting at an Alabama university, killing three colleagues and wounding three others in 2010.

Presuming that Bishop's guilty plea and associated life-without-parole sentence remain undisturbed in Alabama, it is unlikely that Norfolk County authorities will take additional action.

Morrissey came to his decision after consulting with his counterpart in Alabama, District Attorney Robert Broussard, about the details of the plea and its consequences. "And perhaps most importantly, with a life-without-parole sentence in place, there is not an issue of public safety."


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