Convicted kidnapper and Foote murderer’s Supreme Court bid fails

The Mississippi Supreme Court has refused to hear the case of convicted murderer and kidnapper Albert Lee McDonald who shot five people, killing two who were well-known New Albany residents.

Briefly, the court said McDonald’s motion was untimely, and this means the Mississippi Court of Appeals decision this past fall stands.

Albert Lee McDonald

McDonald had filed multiple appeals citing double jeopardy, ineffective counsel and involuntary pleas and confessions. All were denied by the appeals court at that time.

McDonald was serving a 20-year sentence for aggravated assault, 30-year sentence for kidnapping and life sentence for capital murder.

This all stems from a 2005 crime spree.

About 5 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 17, at a Bratton Road address, McDonald, then 24, apparently got into a domestic dispute with Denise Spight, shooting her. Harold Dye of New Albany and Tommy Thomas of Tupelo just happened to be nearby and when they reacted to the shooting, McDonald also shot them.

At that point McDonald disappeared for a time but on Sunday officers discovered the bodies of Chico and Charlotte Foote in their home, a short distance away on Martintown Road. The couple’s car was missing and officials believed McDonald had taken it and left the state after shooting Foote and strangling his wife.

Spight, Dye and Thomas later recovered.

McDonald was arrested in Missouri five days later, after authorities traced a call he made to family members.

At trial, McDonald pleaded guilty to two counts of capital murder, three counts of aggravated assault, three counts of burglary and one count of kidnapping.

He began filing the multiple appeals in 2015 with six arguments.

The court ruled several of the appeals were well beyond the statute of limitations and that he had clearly agreed to actions at the time that he now contested. As far a double jeopardy is concerned, the state retired to files all but one capital murder charge, one aggravated assault charge and one kidnapping charge so he was not ultimately convicted for two of any of the charges.

The crime drew attention due to the extent of it and because the Footes were well-known and well-liked in the community.

Charlotte Foote was the daughter of near-legendary coach Wade Ivy and had worked at both B. F. Ford Elementary School and the Bank of New Albany.

Chico Foote was a successful business owner of Midwest Merchandisers in Chicago and later worked with Bluff City Nissan where he had a well-known relationship with popular Memphis weather forecaster Dave Brown.

Foote was also an enthusiastic big game hunter and his large mounted wild animal collection is now on display at the Union County Heritage Museum.