Man charged with murder told police he smoked marijuana the day of the fatal 2020 crash outside Hebron

A man charged with first-degree murder told police in a recorded interview that he smoked marijuana the day in 2020 that he crashed into an oncoming vehicle in an attempted suicide outside Hebron that killed one and injured another.

William P. Bishop, 44, of Chicago, in his third day of a bench trial before McHenry County Judge Michael Coppedge, sat without visible emotion as the recorded interview with police played in the courtroom Wednesday.

In addition to first-degree murder, Bishop is charged with two counts each of aggravated battery and aggravated driving under the influence in connection with the crash that killed Jason Miller, 41, of McHenry, and left Miller’s passenger and co-worker, Rory Fiali, 58, of also of McHenry, with life-altering injuries.

Prosecutors have alleged that Bishop acted deliberately and criminally when he drove his Jeep Cherokee across the center line and hit Miller’s work van. Bishop’s attorneys said he suffers from bipolar depression, was in the throes of a manic episode and is not culpable of any crime.

McHenry County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Trent Raupp testified Wednesday that he met with Bishop in Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital about 7:30 p.m. May 18, 2020, five hours after the crash. Bishop repeated much of what he told officers earlier in the day.

Bishop said he suffered from mental illness for years, sees a psychologist, had been suicidal and had heard voices saying that he should kill himself. His paranoia was impacted by messages he read on social media, the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns in the weeks prior, and work-related stress, he said.

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William Bishop looks back at the people in the gallery during a break in his bench trial before McHenry County Judge Michael Coppedge on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022, in the McHenry County courthouse in Woodstock. (Gregory Shaver — gshaver@shawmedia.com/Gregory Shaver for Shaw Media )

Bishop also said he did not sleep the night before and his brain was “spinning” and “twisted.” He left his apartment in the morning, and before driving out to McHenry County, he drove around the city of Chicago for a while. He smoked some marijuana around 10:30 a.m., he said.

Brianna Simpson, a forensic scientist, later testified that marijuana was found in a glass pipe and vape cartridge found in Bishop’s car.

Jennifer Bash, a forensic toxicologist specialist, said Wednesday she tested a sample of Bishop’s blood drawn about two hours after the crash. He had 10.8 nanograms of Delta 9 THC in his blood, she said.

At this level, he would be considered to have twice the legal limit and be driving under the influence of THC, according to Illinois law. The legal limit for THC is 5 nanograms.

Bash said the levels of THC would have been higher at the time of the crash.

Bishop said he was driving back roads to clear his head and listening to the Howard Stern show on the radio when he saw Miller’s white work van approaching from the east as he travelled west on Vanderkarr Road in rural Hebron.

“Signals were coming through the radio that were saying basically, suggested in my mind that I was supposed to hit the car in front of me,” Bishop was heard saying on the recording to Raupp.

When asked what he remembered about the collision, he said he remembered it was head-on and he had been driving fast.

“It’s time to end it, and you should hit that car,” he said the messages in his mind told him.

When Raupp asked if he should call his family and let them know he was in the hospital, Bishop said “no” and went on to say that he felt he had done something years ago that caused the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Mark Peters, who examined Miller’s body two days after the crash, said he died from blunt trauma to the chest and abdomen caused by a motor vehicle crash.

The state rested its case Wednesday and Coppedge denied defense attorneys’ argument for a directed finding that prosecutors did not prove their case.

Defense will begin its case beginning Thursday morning. Bishop remains out on bond after posting 10% of a $1 million bond in June 2020, court records show.

Correction: This article has been updated to correct the town Rory Fiali lives in. He is from McHenry.