Supreme Court upholds McKinney murder sentence

Convicted murderer Randy L. McKinney,44, has lost his latest appeal of his sentence to the Idaho Supreme Court. McKinney was found guilty of first-degree murder by a Butte County jury in November 1981. He was charged with the April 1981 shooting death of Robert Bishop, Jr. In March 1982, the district court sentenced McKinney to death for first-degree murder, an indeterminate 30 years for conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit robbery and a fixed life term for robbery. According to court records, McKinney and his female companion, Dovey Small, were hitch-hiking from California through Idaho. McKinney was carrying a .22 caiber revolver. The couple met Small’s sisters in Malad. In Blackfoot, one of the sisters called Robert Bishop, who agreed to give McKinney and Small a ride to the interstate to continue their hitch-hiking. At some point, the couple discussed killing Bishop and taking his car, money and credit cards. Bishop drove the group to Moore then he and McKinney went to an abandoned gravel pit to do some target shooting. While he was setting up targets McKinney shot Bishop through the arm and chest. He then put four more shots into the back of Bishop’s head. McKinney was arrested later at the home of one of Small’s sisters in Moore. McKinney has filed multiple appeals of his conviction. In September 2009, the Idaho Supreme Court ruled McKinney was entitled to re-sentencing because of the ineffective assistance of his attorney at his capital sentencing hearing. At that time, McKinney accepted a plea agreement to a fixed life sentence without parole for first-degree murder, concurrent with sentences for conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, and robbery. On Tuesday, the court ruled that McKinney received the exact sentence he bargained for and expressly waived his right to appeal that sentence.