Soldier was found tied up and shot dead at his home. Five years later his widow has been charged with murder

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Then, on Tuesday, Loudon County Sheriff Jimmy Davis announced that Bishop’s widow, 39-year-old Amanda James Bishop, and her distant cousin, 39-year-old Eric Austin Byrd, had been arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Jacob Bishop, a father and Tennessee Army National Guard soldier, was found dead at his home in Loudon County in Tennessee by his mother in 2019 Davis said at a press conference: “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.” The widow was always a top suspect, the sheriff said, saying that “in a case like this you always look at the spouse or ex spouse, so she was right up there at the top of the list.” While the sheriff’s department had been working “tirelessly” for five years to crack the case, he said the investigation had faced numerous challenges. Amanda James Bishop, 39, has been arrested and charged with the murder of her husband, soldier Jacob Bishop, five years on from his death His brother, Josh Bishop, told WATE that there was “kind of a relief in a sense” that arrests had finally been made. There’s a seven-year-old girl that not only lost her father but lost her mother too.” Eric Austin Bryd, along with his distant cousin Amanda James Bishop, has been arrested and charged with murder He thanked the police “from the bottom of my heart”: “We want to thank every single one of them for that.