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Motive sought in brother's killing

Wednesday, April 24, 2002

By Ernie Hoffman, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Westmoreland County authorities are still searching for a motive in the bludgeoning death a young Hempfield man and a plan to kill his parents.

Adam Bishop, 18, was beaten to death in his home Friday. State police have charged his brother, 14-year-old Ian Bishop, and another youth, 15-year-old Robert M. Laskowski, with first-degree murder.

Yesterday, state police Capt. Frank Monaco said investigators could not speculate about why the crime occurred, but he and Westmoreland County District Attorney John W. Peck said the investigation is nowhere near complete.

"We've had some information about differences between the brothers. Whether that would translate into a homicide of this nature is kind of hard to say at this point," Monaco said.

"They were people living in the same household. There's going to be some disagreement."

Police said that three days before Adam Bishop was killed, Ian Bishop enlisted Laskowski's help in planning to kill his brother and parents. Monaco urged any other students at Hempfield Area High School who heard about the planning to contact authorities.

There is no evidence yet that drugs were involved, but investigators have not ruled that out, Monaco said. He and Peck both said they had no evidence that anyone else was part of the plan to kill the Bishops.

"It appears that it's limited to Ian Bishop and Robert Laskowski," Peck said, "But we're not foreclosing the possibility of other people being involved."

Monaco warned that a young man who drove Ian Bishop around for several hours after the slaying or others who saw Bishop that evening might face charges. "It would depend on what they knew at that time," he said.

Police said Ian Bishop hit his brother with a hammer while Laskowski watched inside the Bishops' home near the village of Bovard after school Friday.

Ian Bishop then called a friend and asked him to bring a gun over because his brother was not dead, but the friend brought his mother instead. They found Adam Bishop lying face down in a bathtub with the water running, police said.

When the woman called for help, police said, Ian Bishop fled. He was arrested early Saturday outside Wendover Middle School.

Laskowski was arrested Friday night at his home in the Wendover section of Hempfield.

The Bishops' parents, Jeff and Karen, were not home when Adam was killed, Monaco said. It has not been determined how or when the boys planned to kill them.

Police said Laskowski confessed to them. Monaco and Peck refused to say whether Ian Bishop also confessed. Both boys are charged as adults and are being held without bail in the Westmoreland County Prison.

Peck said he would not seek the death penalty against Ian Bishop or Laskowski, because the U.S. Constitution limits that penalty to those 17 and older. However, they would face a mandatory life sentences if convicted of first-degree murder.

Yesterday, Hempfield High Principal Kathy Charlton said all three boys were into school activities -- especially Adam Bishop. He was a reporter for the school newspaper, a piano player, a soccer player, and had been involved in the school's band and show choir.

Adam had accepted a scholarship at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, Charlton said. "He was a good student."

Ian also played soccer and ran track, said Charlton. He played saxophone in the concert band "and he was quite capable academically."

Robert Laskowski is in ninth grade with Ian and was on the track and swim teams at the high school.

Education writer Jane Elizabeth contributed to this article.