Kathy Gillcrist always knew she was adopted. After retiring as a high school teacher in 2017, she felt a strong desire to learn more about her roots and decided to take a DNA test.
With the help of a third cousin she found through the test, Kathy was able to locate her birth mother, who had given her up for adoption in 1957. However, tracing her biological father proved to be a more challenging task.
When Kathy finally learned her father’s name, she jokingly asked her cousin if he was famous. To her surprise, the truth was far more shocking than she had anticipated.
Through her online searches, she discovered that her father, William Bradford Bishop, was a fugitive wanted by the FBI for the brutal murders of his family in 1976. He had killed his elderly mother, his wife, and their three young sons.
“I couldn’t believe what I was uncovering after taking that DNA test,” Kathy explained. “The drama behind it all was beyond anything I could have imagined.”
Kathy’s shocking journey will be highlighted in an upcoming episode of People Magazine Investigates titled "My Father Was a Mass Murderer," set to air on Monday, December 23.
William Bradford Bishop seemed to live an impressive life on the surface. He was born in Pasadena, California, attended Yale University, and earned a Master’s degree in Italian. He married his high school sweetheart, Annette, in 1959 and served in the U.S. Army before working for the State Department.
Despite his accomplishments, Bishop faced personal struggles. On March 1, 1976, after being denied a promotion at work and dealing with mental health issues, he left home in distress. After withdrawing $400 from a bank, he purchased gasoline and a sledgehammer.
Once home, he committed the unthinkable, murdering his entire family before disposing of their bodies in North Carolina and setting them on fire. A coroner later confirmed that the victims died from blunt force trauma.
Bishop’s involvement in the case was solidified by fingerprints found at the crime scene. Authorities later discovered his car with evidence linked to the murders, but he vanished without a trace.
Over the years, there have been sporadic sightings of him in places like Sweden and Italy, but his current whereabouts remain a mystery.
Kathy, who has written a book about her experience titled It’s in My Genes, believes that her father, now 88, could still be alive. “He was always active and could easily adapt to different situations,” she remarked.
If given the chance to speak with him, Kathy said she would ask, “How do you live with this? How do you justify what you did? Are you happy now?”
For more on this gripping story, catch People Magazine Investigates: My Father Was a Mass Murderer on December 23.
