The Lords Of Chaos was a teenage militia group that would go from vandalism to the murder of teacher Mark Schwebes
According to court documents the Lords Of Chaos consisted of members Kevin Foster, Pete Magnotti and Christopher Black with a couple of other teenagers in and out of the group. The Lords Of Chaos would terrorize a Florida town with random acts of vandalism
On the night of the murder teenager Derek Shields would join the group whose plan that night was to vandalize the Riverdale High School which two of the members were students. The vandalism went well however when they were watching the fire from the parking lot two of the group would be identified by teacher Mark Schwebes
The group were panicking that Mark Schwebes would tell the school authorities the next day of what they did. So Kevin Foster, the so called leader of the Lords Of Chaos, decided that Mark Schwebes needed to be killed to prevent him from identifying the goup
The Lords Of Chaos would come up with a plan and were able to locate the address of Mark Schwebes home. Derek Shields would walk up to the home and knocked. When Mark answered the door he would be shot multiple times by Kevin Foster
The Lords Of Chaos would soon be arrested and the group received sentences ranging from thirty years for Pete Magnotti who was seventeen at the time of the murder, Derek Shields and Christopher Black were sentenced to life and Kevin Foster would be sentenced to death
Pete Magnotti was released from prison in 2023. Derek Shields and Christopher Black are still serving their live sentences and Kevin Foster sits on Florida Death Row
Lords Of Chaos Case
The evidence presented at trial established that in early April of 1996, a few teenagers organized a group called the “Lords of Chaos.” The original membership of the group was made up of Foster, Peter Magnotti and Christopher Black, the latter two of whom were attending Riverdale High School (“Riverdale”) at the time. Foster, the leader of the Lords of Chaos, was not a student. The group eventually grew to later include, among other Riverdale students, Derek Shields, Christopher Burnett, Thomas Torrone, Bradley Young and Russell Ballard as additional members. Each member of the Lords of Chaos had a secret code name. Foster’s code name was “God.” The avowed purpose of the group was to create disorder in the Fort Myers community through a host of criminal acts.
On April 30, 1996, consistent with its purpose, the group decided to vandalize Riverdale and set its auditorium on fire. Foster, Black, and Torrone entered Riverdale and stole some staplers, canned goods, and a fire extinguisher to enable them to break the auditorium windows. Leading the group, Foster carried a gasoline can to start the fire in the auditorium while the other group members, Shields, Young, Burnett, Magnotti, and Ballard, kept watch outside.
The execution of the vandalism was interrupted at around 9:30 p.m., when, to the teenagers’ surprise, Riverdale’s band teacher, Mark Schwebes, drove up to the auditorium on his way from a school function nearby. Upon seeing the teacher, Foster ran, but Black and Torrone were confronted by Schwebes who seized the stolen items from them. Schwebes told them that he would contact Riverdale’s campus police the next day and report the incident. Schwebes then left to have dinner with a friend, David Adkins.1
When Black and Torrone rejoined the others, Black declared that Schwebes “has got to die,” to which Foster replied that it could be done and that if Black could not do it, he would do it himself. Foster was apparently concerned that the arrest of Black and Torrone would lead to the exposure of the group and their criminal activities.
Subsequently, Black suggested that they follow Schwebes and make the killing look like a robbery. However, upon further discussion, the group decided to go to Schwebes’ home and kill him there instead. Foster then told the group that he would go home and get his gun. They obtained Schwebes’ address and telephone number through a telephone information assistance operator, and confirmed this information by calling and identifying Schwebes’ voice on his answering machine. They then went to Foster’s home where they obtained a map to confirm the exact location of Schwebes’ address, and procured gloves and ski masks in preparation for the killing. Foster decided to use his shotgun in the killing, and replaced the standard birdshot with # 1 buckshot, a more deadly ammunition. The group also retrieved a license tag they had stolen earlier to use during the crime.
Black, Shields, Magnotti, and Foster agreed to participate in the murder, and at 11:30 p.m., drove to Schwebes’ home. Shields agreed to knock at the door and for Black to drive. When the group finally arrived there, Foster and Shields walked up to Schwebes’ door, and as Shields knocked, Foster hid with the shotgun. As soon as Schwebes opened the door, Shields got out of the way, Foster stepped in front of Schwebes and shot him in the face. As Schwebes’ body was convulsing on the ground, Foster shot him once more.
Although there were no other eyewitnesses, two of Schwebes’ neighbors heard the shots and a car as it left the scene.2 Paramedics arrived at the scene almost immediately and declared Schwebes dead. The medical examiner confirmed that Schwebes died of shotgun wounds to his head and pelvis, and that Schwebes would have died immediately from the shot to the face.
On the way to Foster’s home after the killing, the group stopped to remove the stolen tag, and Foster wiped off the tag to remove any fingerprints before discarding it. Once home, the four of them got into a “group hug” as Foster congratulated them for successfully sticking to the plan. Foster then called Burnett and Torrone and boasted about how he blew off part of Schwebes’ face and to watch for it in the news. The next day, on May 1, 1996, while at Young’s apartment, the six o’clock news reported the murder, and Foster continuously laughed, hollered, and bragged about it. Young testified that Foster said that he looked Schwebes right in the eyes before shooting him in the face and then watched as this “red cloud” flowed out of his face.
The police found Foster’s shotgun, a ski mask, gloves, and a newspaper clipping of the murder in the trunk of Magnotti’s car. According to Burnett, he was directed by Foster to put those items in Magnotti’s trunk. Foster’s fingerprint was found on the shotgun, the latex gloves, and the newspaper. Burnett and Magnotti’s prints were also found on the newspaper.
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/fl-supreme-court/1000298.html
Lords Of Chaos Members Now
Kevin Foster
| DC Number: | Y01561 |
|---|---|
| Name: | FOSTER, KEVIN D |
| Race: | WHITE |
| Sex: | MALE |
| Birth Date: | 06/16/1977 |
| Initial Receipt Date: | 07/22/1998 |
| Current Facility: | UNION C.I. |
| Current Custody: | MAXIMUM |
| Current Release Date: | DEATH SENTENCE |
Derek Shields
| DC Number: | Y01564 |
|---|---|
| Name: | SHIELDS, DEREK |
| Race: | WHITE |
| Sex: | MALE |
| Birth Date: | 08/19/1977 |
| Initial Receipt Date: | 07/30/1998 |
| Current Facility: | OKEECHOBEE C.I. |
| Current Custody: | CLOSE |
| Current Release Date: | SENTENCED TO LIFE |
Christopher Black
| DC Number: | Y01565 |
|---|---|
| Name: | BLACK, CHRISTOPHER P |
| Race: | WHITE |
| Sex: | MALE |
| Birth Date: | 04/17/1978 |
| Initial Receipt Date: | 07/30/1998 |
| Current Facility: | AVON PARK C.I. |
| Current Custody: | CLOSE |
| Current Release Date: | SENTENCED TO LIFE |
Peter Magnotti
| DC Number: | Y01562 |
|---|---|
| Name: | MAGNOTTI, PETER E |
| Race: | WHITE |
| Sex: | MALE |
| Birth Date: | 08/08/1978 |
| Custody: | MINIMUM |
| Release Date: | Released |
