In 2012, I began to research the case that resulted in Timothy McEnany’s arrest and subsequent conviction for the murder of Katherine Bishop — a kind, elderly woman, living in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania.
I’d seen the sensationalism that grotesquely slanted, made-for-television accounts, such as Forensic Files episode “A Case of the Flue” offered, which seemed more focused on distracting viewers from the obvious holes in the case, and miscarriage of proper investigation, protection of a crime scene from (obvious) interference by someone who should have been the investigation’s lead suspect, and of course, the sensationalist malpractice with which that television program’s host presented most cases.
I understood, of course, the intention of the television show’s producers — Paul Dowling and Leisa Healy — was simply ratings, and narrator, Peter Thomas had a script to read, intended to lead viewers to accept the series’ objectives, not necessarily to expose the sad reality that this was a problematic case in which the worst malpractice seen was that of the law enforcement agencies and investigators.
McEnany was accused of murdering that Hummelstown woman in March, 1993; and despite mishandling and tampering at the crime scene by the victim’s family, gross errors and misrepresentations of so-called “expert witnesses”, and a litany of inconsistencies longer than your arm, I found it incredible that McEnany was tried and found guilty of the crime he certainly didn’t commit.
Now, under normal circumstances, I might concede that it’s best not to interfere with the justice system — after all, if McEnany was found by a jury of his peers to be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, then the justice system would have functioned as it was meant to function. But that is not what happened in this case.
By attempting to cover-up the misdeeds that have plagued this investigation from the start, former District Attorney Chardo put his spin on the case, in that 2006 episode of television’s Forensic Files (A Case of the Flue) saying, “Over the course of eight years, McEnany has had the benefit of a thorough review of his case. After two jury trials and appeals, twenty four jurors and each court that has reviewed the matter has been convinced that the evidence proves Timothy McEnany’s guilt in the murder of Kathryn Bishop.”
That clearly misleading spin by Chardo would wash nicely, if the jurors weren’t being transported back and forth from the courthouse by the former State Trouper, who was now the Sheriff involved in the case!
It would wash nicely if it weren’t for this author having heard the victim’s grandson respond in a state of PANIC, asking “How do you know… who are you?” to an “anonymous phone call”, in which he was told, “We know what you did to your grandmother… you won’t get away with this.”
In this website, we will begin to piece together this story, as I pour through hundreds of pages of testimony, court records, apparently doctored-up police documents, and explore the possibility that there was everything from jury tampering to a crime scene that appears to have been sanitised by the real perpetrator’s family.
We will expose the District Attorney’s misrepresentation of what actually happened, and will demonstrate that Timothy McEnany did not receive a fair and thorough review of his case, and that accountability was and remains severely lacking for those in law enforcement, who were involved (many of whom “coincidentally” benefitted in their careers for the roles they played in the cover-up).