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Saturday, July 12, 2003

By Virginia Kopas Joe, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Was it a fight gone terribly awry or a maliciously planned, viciously executed murder of one brother by another?

Were drugs a factor in the beating death of Adam Bishop, 18, on April 19, 2002 in his family home, and, to what extent was another teenager involved?

These are the questions a six-man, six-women jury have to answer after lawyers in the trial of Ian Bishop make closing statements Monday morning.

Bishop, 15, the second-youngest person on trial for murder in recent history in Westmoreland County, faces first-degree murder charges and a life in prison without parole.

One thing is certain in the case: Ian has the love and support of his parents. Yesterday morning, Jeff and Karen Bishop, married 27 years, took the stand and each told of the loving family life they shared, filled with soccer games and track meets, cruise vacations and church activities. And they talked about the discipline and structure they provided for their sons.

Karen Bishop, looking directly at Ian, said "I love both my sons" and recounted in vivid detail the relationship between the boys: "When they were young Adam and Ian would cuddle up and Adam would read to him." This kind of affection continued even as Adam learned to drive: "He would take Ian everywhere with him, even on dates."

It marked the first time Ian Biship showed any emotion during the six days of the trial. He sobbed into a tissue.

Karen Bishop, who works as a school aide at Maxwell Elementary, described Ian as a gifted student, so advanced he took his SATs, or college admission test, in seventh grade.

Ian Bishop also played saxophone in the school's jazz band and was a sprinter on the track team and an altar server at the family's Lutheran church.

His father, Jeff, an investment banker, coached him in soccer and said he was "a good team player."

Karen Bishop also said Ian is a "collector" for whom she bought world currency, stamps and archaeological items and "plenty of Star War figures."

She said police found swords and knives in his room because she started a collection for him. "I would often catch him playing 'Conan the Barbarian' with them," Karen Bishop testified.

Of the much-discussed fight between family members two weeks before the murder, Karen Bishop said it "just got out of hand" after Ian pushed her when she disciplined him for trying to see his girlfriend when he told her he would be on his bike on the Five Star Trail near their home.

"Adam came running down the steps and hit Ian after [Ian] pushed me and I fell on the kitchen floor," Karen Bishop said.

She said the boys were "cool" to each other in the days that followed, but that the family continued to share dinner each night.

The Bishops admitted they were concerned that their younger son was running around with a crowd that used drugs.

They said Adam was, too, and took his parents' side on that issue.

Jeff Bishop said that when he saw Ian for the first time after Adam's death, Ian was in police custody and "his speech was slurred and he looked like he was on something."

Throughout the week, a number of Ian's friends testified that he was on drugs.

Authorities said that Adam, Ian and another teen were in the family's spare bedroom, a computer room, when the attack started. Robert Laskowski, now 16, has also been charged with first-degree murder in the case and is in Westmoreland County Prison awaiting trial later this year.

The defense team, led by Tom Ceraso,. has suggested throughout the trial that Laskowski committed the crime.

Ian Bishop did not take the stand in his own defense. Earlier this week, the judge ruled that a confession that he made to a psychologist is admissible in court.