'She Keeps Saying It Was An Accident'

The events surrounding Amy Bishop's 1986 shooting of her brother just keep getting stranger with denials and finger-pointing in every direction.

Accused Alabama campus killer Amy Bishop insists the 1986 shooting of her brother was an accident, even as authorities probe whether she may have been inspired by a celebrity murder case in a National Enquirer article found on her bedroom floor.

Norfolk District Attorney William Keating said Bishop’s actions after the shooting of her 18-year-old brother were “parallel” to the escape plan of the killers depicted in the news article, which the Herald has learned was an Enquirer piece about the 1986 shooting of “Dallas” star Patrick Duffy’s parents in Montana.

Despite the new evidence, Bishop’s Alabama attorney, Roy W. Miller, said, “She keeps saying it was an accident."

In the Duffy case, two teenagers gunned down Duffy’s parents and fled to a car dealer, where they stole a pickup truck at gunpoint.

After fatally shooting her brother with a shotgun, Bishop allegedly fled to a dealership, held a worker at gunpoint and demanded a getaway car. Braintree police arrested her at the scene but she was never charged.

Former Braintree police Chief John V. Polio said he never heard about the article and pointed the finger at state police detective Lt. Brian Howe, who Polio says was called to the scene but never came.

“Howe declined to come,” Polio said. A Braintree police report backs up Polio’s assertion.

Howe has moved out of state and has not been interviewed by investigators. Attempts to reach him have been unsuccessful.

“Who’s talked to Howe?” Polio said. “He’s the key person in this.”

But John Kivlan, the top prosecutor on the case under then-Norfolk District Attorney Bill Delahunt, said Braintree police didn’t call Howe until after the crime scene was processed.

“Had the state police been there . . . they would have gone through the whole room. They certainly would have seen the newspaper and seized it,” Kivlan said. “There’s a serious question as to whether information was intentionally withheld from Howe.”

Speaking of Delahunt, it appears he's been living large off his campaign warchest.

U.S. Rep. William Delahunt’s critics yesterday pounced on the seven-term congressman’s extravagant campaign spending as more details emerged about his all-in-the-family payroll.

The Herald reported yesterday that Delahunt blew through a whopping $560,000 in campaign cash last year, including hiring his son-in-law as his campaign manager.

Delahunt, 68, also paid $48,000 to his ex-wife Katharina Delahunt, a campaign receptionist, and hundreds to his daughter Kara for freelance photography, fueling speculation he’s draining his war chest and won’t seek reelection.

“I didn’t know the congressman had his own jobs plan,” quipped state Rep. Jeff Perry (R-Sandwich), who’s running for the seat. “We’ve been hearing a lot of talk in Washington about jobs, jobs, jobs, and I guess he’s addressed that by hiring his own family."