Idaho Supreme Court agrees to set aside death sentence for convicted killer McKinney
Randy L. McKinney's death sentence has been set aside by the Idaho Supreme Court Thursday, Jan. 3, in facor of a term of fixed life.
"Randy L. McKinney was sentenced to death for first-degree murder (both premeditated murder and felony murder) and received prison sentences for conspiracy to commit murder, robbery, and conspiracy to commit robbery," according to the ruling. "His death sentence, but not his conviction, was set aside in a federal habeas corpus proceeding; thereafter, he and the State reached a sentencing agreement under which he was resentenced to fixed life without possibility of parole for first-degree murder, to be served concurrently with his other sentences. In this appeal, McKinney alleges that his sentence violates the double jeopardy clauses of the Idaho and federal constitutions, as well as Idaho’s multiple-punishment statute, I.C. § 18-301 (repealed 1995)."
McKinney was sentenced to death in the 1981 shooting of Robert Bishop, Jr. According to documents, McKinney was hitchhiking through Idaho with his girlfriend, Dovey Small in April, 1981.
"They stopped in Blackfoot, Idaho, to visit Small’s sisters," said the ruling. "While there, McKinney and Small developed a plan to rob and kill Robert Bishop, an acquaintance of one of Small’s sisters. McKinney traveled with only Bishop to a gravel pit near Arco, Idaho; shot Bishop to death; and took his car and wallet. McKinney originally was sentenced to death for first-degree murder, in addition to prison."
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