Lords of Chaos (self-styled teen militia)
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The Lords of Chaos was a self-styled teen militia based in Fort Myers, Florida that went on a crime spree culminating in the murder of the members' high school band director. The Lords of Chaos pre-date the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado by two years. The Lords of Chaos case has been widely documented, most notably in the Dateline NBC special "When A Killer Calls", and in the non-fiction book Someone Has to Die Tonight by Jim Greenhill (Pinnacle True Crime, Kensington Books, ISBN 0-7860-1755-4, March 2006).
The origins of the group's name are unclear, though the members may have had the Lords of Chaos video game in mind. They were the inspiration for the title of the book Lords of Chaos, as well.
[edit] Crimes
The first crime attributed to the group occurred on April 13, 1996, in Fort Myers, Florida, when the group went on a vandalism and arson spree. Florida juvenile records show that only the group's ringleader, Kevin Foster, had any prior arrests or any kind of criminal history, and his primarily consisted of driving violations. The other members of the group had no arrest history. The first spree was quickly followed by a second that included an attempt to burn a Baptist church bus; and subsequently, the burning of a bird cage at a themed restaurant, which resulted in the deaths of two macaws.
On April 20, 1996, the group destroyed an historic Coca-Cola bottling plant in Fort Myers. The building burned after an explosion caused by propane tanks being arranged inside the building by the group. Foster lit a fuse that detonated a pepsi soda can packed with gunpowder which, in turn, ignited the propane.
On April 26, 1996, the group committed a masked armed robbery and carjacking.
Finally, on April 30, 1996, Mark Schwebes, 32, the band director at Riverdale High School in Lee County, Florida caught members of the group on school grounds and confiscated several cans of peaches which they apparently intended to throw through the school's auditorium windows prior to setting it on fire. Schwebes told them to go home and to expect a visit from the school's deputy the next day. They later confessed they planned to burn down the school and it was unsure what the peach cans were for, according to "Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of Satanic Metal". A few hours later Schwebes answered a knock on his door and was shot twice, once in the face and once in the buttocks.
Court records show that the Lords of Chaos apparently had plans for other crimes, including the armed robbery of a Hardee's restaurant and a racist mass murder at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. However, these plans were thwarted when members of the group were arrested on May 3, 1996
[edit] Members
There were four core members of the group:
- Kevin Foster, the leader.
- Chris Black.
- Pete Magnotti.
- Derek Shields.
Hangers-on included Chris Burnett, nicknamed "Red", and Thomas Torrone, nicknamed "Dog", who were not present at the murder and who received less serious charges and punishments than the core four after the pair agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
As is typical with any group of this nature, there were several other members loosely associated. Foster, whom the others called "God", was sentenced to death and is on Florida's Death Row. Magnotti, nicknamed "Fried", was sentenced to 32 years in prison. Black ("Slim") and Shields ("Mob") both received life sentences without the possibility of parole.
The group was notably organized, including the use of nicknames, the writing of a manifesto, the creation of a group symbol and the advanced planning of crimes in writings and sketches.
[edit] References
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The remainder of this article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please discuss this issue on the talk page, or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since January 2006. |
- Greenhill, Jim (2006). Someone Has to Die Tonight. Pinnacle true crime: Kensington Publishing Co.
- 10,000 (+/-) pages of public records generated in the criminal case in the 20th Judicial Circuit of Florida.
- Juvenile criminal records of the members of the Lords of Chaos.
- Dateline NBC (2002). When A Killer Calls. NBC Universal.
- The (Fort Myers, Fla.) News-Press (1996-). Numerous published news accounts.
