Witness says boy killed brother because he was gay

A teenage boy beat his brother at least 18 times in the head with a hammer and a club out of hatred, and because he thought he was gay, one witness testified during the boy's murder trial in Greensburg, Pa., this week. Ian Bishop, 15, told Heather Exton that he also had "a plan to kill his whole family" the night of April 19, 2002, at their home in Hempfield, Exton testified Monday. Westmoreland County prosecutors say Bishop, who was 14 at the time, beat his 18-year-old brother, Adam, to death, put him in a bathtub, and bragged about it to his friends. Prosecutors are seeking a first-degree murder conviction, which carries a life sentence without parole. Defense attorneys say Bishop is innocent and that the fatal blows were struck by someone else. Defense attorney Tom Ceraso suggested it was Robert Laskowski, now 16, who struck most of the blows. Laskowski also is charged with first-degree murder in connection with Adam Bishop's death. Exton, 17, said she sat with Ian Bishop alone in a car parked outside a mall and asked him why he killed his brother. "He said because of hate and because he said he was [gay]," Exton testified. Bishop told her he also was upset that his family didn't want him to have contact with his girlfriend. Exton's former boyfriend, Jesse Brown, 20, also testified that Bishop confessed to killing his brother at various points that night.