John Jefferson
Background: October 2019 crime scene in Loudon County, Tennessee, after the body of Jacob Bishop was found. (WBIR/YouTube). Insets, left to right: Jacob Bishop (Tennessee Department of Safety), Eric Byrd, Amanda Bishop (Loudon County Sheriffs Office).
Amanda Bishop, the wife of Tennessee Army National Guard soldier Jacob Bishop — who was found by his mother shot to death, bound and zip-tied in his apartment in 2019 — has been arrested along with her cousin, Eric Byrd, according to police.
The Loudon County Sheriff’s Department announced the break in the now five-year-old murder case on Wednesday, according to a statement on Facebook
Police said Amanda Bishop, 39, and Byrd, 39, were arrested in Kingston, Tennessee, on Aug. 13. Amanda is a resident of Kingston, court records show. Byrd is a resident of Lenoir City. Both are detained at the Loudon County Detention Center. Both face charges of first-degree murder, according to an indictment obtained by Law&Crime. Bonds are set for each defendant at $1 million.
“We hope that these arrests bring some measure of peace to Jacob Bishop’s family and all those affected by this senseless tragedy,” Loudon County Sheriff Jimmy Davis said.
According to police, in October 2019, Jacob Bishop, then 35 years old, returned to the U.S. after a yearlong Army deployment in Poland.
In an interview for Knoxville NBC affiliate WBIR in 2021, Bishop’s mother explained finding her son five months after he returned to the states. She found him tied up in his apartment after she went there worried because he had failed to return her calls.
“When you find your son dead on the floor in his apartment, that’s something that sticks in your brain and it don’t go away. It does not go away,” Diane Bishop said.
For years, the case remained unsolved, and as WBIR reported on the passing of two years since Bishop’s death, Jacob’s case was the only unsolved homicide in Loudon County in decades.
Bishop was a friendly, sociable man, his mother said, and this was affirmed by police as they conducted their probe. Detectives ended up investigating some 400 possible suspects with ties to the late soldier.
And no one spoke of ill of him.
Bishop’s mother told WBIR she wouldn’t make her son out to be “a saint” but “he was a good man,” she said.
At the time of his death, police noted that Jacob and Amanda Bishop were in the middle of a divorce and custody dispute.
In an interview with local ABC affiliate WATE on Wednesday after police announced the arrests, the late soldier’s brother Josh Bishop told reporters that while he was grateful for the development, it “doesn’t change nothing.”
“I still don’t have my brother. My mom still doesn’t have her son. But as far as justice, it’s nice to know where they are, you know what I mean, so no one can do this again,” he said.
Jacob Bishop is survived by his daughter who is now 7 years old.
Jacob Bishop’s brother said what he wants his niece and the world to know about his brother is that he loved his children and his family and his country, he said.
“Really, what I want is for his kids to know about their dad. There’s a 7-year-old girl that not only lost her father but lost her mother too,” Josh Bishop said.
“Today’s arrests mark a crucial step towards justice for Jacob Bishop and his family,” Sheriff Jimmy Davis said Wednesday. “This case has remained a top priority for our office, and I commend the relentless efforts of our detectives and partner agencies who have worked tirelessly to bring those responsible to justice.”
Prosecutors did not immediately return a request for comment to Law&Crime on Thursday.
Both Amanda Bishop and Byrd will appear in court next on Aug. 19.
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