District Court denies 'Lords of Chaos' ringleader Kevin Foster's death-row appeal

Tomas Rodriguez, Fort Myers News-Press
Updated ·1 min read
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Kevin Foster, who led a group calling themselves The Lords of Chaos, shot and killed a popular high school band director. Foster is on death row.
Kevin Foster, who led a group calling themselves The Lords of Chaos, shot and killed a popular high school band director. Foster is on death row.

A death row inmate from Southwest Florida will remain in line for lethal injection after the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, denied his latest appeal.

Kevin Foster, 46, is on death row for the murder of Mark Schwebes, a Riverdale High School music teacher.

He was convicted in 1998 of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Foster was the ringleader of the "Lords of Chaos," a self-proclaimed militia group whose purpose was to create disorder through criminal acts in Lee County.

In April 1996, the victim caught Foster and other members of the group preparing to vandalize the high school and set the auditorium on fire. He told them to leave and said he would report the incident to the resource officer the following day.

Prior coverage: 'Lords of Chaos' ringleader, 'Cracker Barrel' killer, denied Florida death row appeals

Also on death row: Joseph Zieler sentenced to death in decades-old slayings of Robin Cornell, Lisa Story

The group, at the direction and insistence of Foster, then planned the murder of the teacher. They went to his home and when Schwebes answered the door, Foster shot him twice, killing him.

Three co-defendants were involved.

Christopher Black and Derek Shields were sentenced to life in prison. Peter Magnotti was sentenced to 32 years in prison and released in July.

The Lee County Sheriff's Office and Fort Myers Police Department both handled elements of the original investigation.

Foster is one of six Lee County death-row inmates. The latest, Joseph Zieler, was sentenced June 26.

News-Press archives contributed to this report.

Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran, Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews and Twitter @TomasFRoBeltran.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: 'Lords of Chaos' ringleader Kevin Foster denied death-row appeal