Cold case files
Read our cold case file and see if you correctly predicted the outcome…
With her brown bobbed hair, Dr Amy Bishop Anderson cut an unassuming character. The respectable mother-offour was a Harvard graduate who taught biology at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Alabama.
Her husband of 20 years, James Anderson, described her as a loving and caring mother and wife. ‘She proved you could be a wife, mother and a researcher,’ he said proudly. ‘That you don’t have to give up the other two.’
They were, to all outward appearances, a normal church-going family, who would watch Netflix movies on weekends.
Yet, despite Amy having been a professor at university since 2003, she was – by all
accounts – unpopular with both colleagues and students. Several colleagues had expressed concerns over her behaviour, complaining that she interrupted meetings, often going off on bizarre tangents, and describing her as strange.
Even possibly unwell… The students weren’t enamoured with the professor either. Many requested transfers out of her classes, labelling her a poor communicator. In 2009, several students got together and signed a petition that was given to the department head. In it they said Bishop was ineffective in the classroom and had odd, unsettling ways. Amy defended herself, saying that the claims, especially that she was crazy, were both sexist and discriminatory. However, one colleague refused to back down. ‘This woman has a pattern of erratic behaviour,’ she said. ‘She did things that weren’t
normal... She was out of touch with reality.’ While no action was taken as a result of the petition or complaints, Bishop’s contract at the university was due to end in March 2010 and despite her pleas, the university decided the best thing to do was not to renew it. Amy Bishop Anderson was furious.
She had no intention of going quietly…
On 12 February 2010, she taught her anatomy and neurosciences classes as usual and then headed over to a biology faculty meeting. She took her seat at the oval table along with 12 colleagues.
Halfway through, Amy calmly stood up, took out a 9mm handgun, and started shooting her colleagues, one by one.
Within minutes, three of her colleagues –
Gopi Podila, Maria Ragland Davis and Adriel D Johnson, Sr – were dead. Three others had been seriously injured.
Professor Debra Moriarty later remembered the scene, saying she’d glanced down at a piece of paper and suddenly heard a bang. She dove under the table and tried to grab
‘She calmly stood up, took out a handgun and shot her colleagues’
Amy’s legs, shouting, ‘Stop Amy, stop. Don’t do this. I’ve helped you before, I’ll help you again.’
Then, Amy turned the gun on her.
Thankfully, nothing happened. Either Amy had run out of bullets or the gun had jammed. Before she could fire again, colleagues pushed her out of the room and minutes later, she was arrested outside the building.
Everyone was left reeling in shock – including an equally amazed world when the gory scene was reported on TV. Amy was a successful woman, with no medical history of mental health issues or indeed a criminal record.
So what had caused the 44-year-old Harvard graduate, mother and genetic expert to turn into a murderer?