Developer's death in Durham home ruled a homicide

Bill Bishop, 59, a prominent developer in the Tampa area was found unconscious in his Dover Road home, near Durham's Hope Valley Country Club, on April 18. He died in a local hospital two days later.

The autopsy report states "ligature strangulation" as the cause of death, noting that led to a heart attack that deprived Bishop's brain of oxygen.

Although no charges have been filed in the case, police have focused their investigation on Bishop's 16-year-old son.

According to previously released search warrants, the son said he found his father unconscious in the theater room with a dog leash wrapped around his neck and the dog still on the leash. The leash wasn't on Bishop when paramedics arrived at the house.

Details of the teen's story kept changing, investigators said, and he told first responders that his father emotionally abused him and that he wouldn't be upset if he died.

An application for a search warrant to examine a laptop Durham Academy had assigned to Bishop's son noted that investigators found suspicious information on the teen's cellphone, such as searches for calculating the value of an estate, transferring bank accounts after a death and the prices of gold.

The teen has declined to talk with police during their investigation, according to a previously released search warrant.