The widow of a Tennessee Army National Guard soldier found shot dead and zip-tied in his home five years ago has been charged with his murder — with investigators revealing the couple were at the time locked in a “heated” divorce and custody battle.
Amanda James Bishop, 39, was taken into custody Tuesday along with her cousin Eric Austin Byrd, 39, over the gruesome 2019 slaying of her 35-year-old husband, Jacob Bishop, the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office said.
In the first major update in the long-running murder probe, investigators said Jacob Bishop, a father of two, had been in the process of divorcing his wife when he was gunned down inside his Lenoir City home on Oct. 1, 2019.
They now believe the soldier’s slaying may have allegedly been motived by the separation and a subsequent custody battle over their daughter.
“They were going over a heated custody battle over their child and we believe this is what sparked the animosity between the two and eventually led to his murder,” Sheriff Jimmy Davis told a press conference.
News of the arrests comes years after Bishop’s mother discovered the guardsman’s body — bound and riddled with multiple gunshot wounds — on the floor of his living room the morning of Oct. 1.
She made the grim find after using a spare key to get inside his house when she couldn’t reach Bishop, who had only just returned home from a nine-month stint in Poland, by phone.
Initially, cops said they didn’t believe his death was a random attack but stopped short of naming any potential suspects at the time.
The sheriff said this week, however, that Bishop’s wife was always a top suspect.
Investigators, who admitted the five-year probe faced a slew of “challenges,” haven’t disclosed exactly how they zeroed in on Bishop’s wife and her cousin — other than to say advancements in technology and new evidence allowed the case to progress.
They also haven’t released details on the alleged roles the suspects played in the killing.
“We hope that these arrests bring some measure of peace to Jacob Bishop’s family and all those affected by this senseless tragedy,” Davis said.
“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,” he added.
Amanda Bishop and Byrd are being held at the Loudon County Detention Center on first-degree murder charges.
Their bond has been set at $1 million, the sheriff’s office said.
