Former boyfriend indicted by grand jury for first-degree murder in 1992 Mischelle Lawless case

Leon Lamb, the former boyfriend of Mischelle Lawless, has been charged with first-degree murder relating to her death, according to a news release issued by Allen Moss, the special prosecutor put in charge of the case.

A Scott County grand jury determined that sufficient evidence existed to file the indictment.

The indictment has not been posted on Missouri’s online court database.

Lawless was murdered Nov. 8, 1992. She was found dead in her car on an Interstate 55 exit ramp less than a mile from her home near Benton, the victim of three gunshots, plus a gash on her head. Evidence at the scene found blood at the bottom of a hill off the exit ramp, with blood drops leading back to Lawless’ car.

A jury in 1994 convicted the wrong man for her murder, Josh Kezer, who was exonerated in 2009 after serving approximately 16 years in prison. He was convicted on the testimony of Mark Abbott, an identical twin, who said he saw Kezer in a white car at a payphone near the exit ramp; multiple jailhouse witnesses who recanted their testimony that Kezer “confessed” to the murder at a party; and Chantelle Crider, a surprise witness who testified she saw Lawless arguing with Kezer at a party the week before the murder.

During Kezer’s exoneration, and in a subsequent investigation, Abbott was presented as a possible suspect as multiple witnesses came forward saying the either Abbott or his friend Kevin Williams confessed to the murder or witnessing the other party of the murder.

Lamb was a suspect early on. A subsequent investigation found his DNA under Lawless’ fingernails, but he told officers they’d had sex and she had scratched his back. Lamb said in interviews at the time of the murder that Lawless left his house in a good mood. She was found dead at the exit ramp after leaving his house.

Abbott and Williams have both been considered suspects for a number of years. In the months following Kezer’s conviction, Ron Burton said he coincidentally met one of the Abbott twins in a fishing cabin, and when he asked Abbott about the murder, Abbott told him, “I took care of that bitch”, according to sworn oath testimony Burton gave regarding the matter.

Another witness told the court under oath that Williams had confessed to her that the Abbotts had committed the murder. Yet another witness testified under oath that Williams told her and her husband that the Abbotts were responsible for the murder. Many of those statements were made during the time that Williams and Abbott were involved in a major methamphetamine conspiracy, for which Williams and Abbott all served time in federal prison. When in jail, Abbott told former narcotics officer Bill Bohnert that he watched Williams shoot Lawless, according to Bohnert’s testimony.

Meanwhile, Lamb could not be completely cleared of involvement. During the original investigation, he passed a polygraph, and investigators moved on from him. Publicly, Lamb has always maintained his innocence.

Statements taken during the time of the murder said that Lawless had a short disagreement with Lamb at his car in Sikeston before she went cruising with two other men.

According to the news release, Lamb was arrested in Conway, Arkansas, and is being held without bond.

Because this case was taken to a grand jury, details of the probable cause will not be released as in the majority of criminal cases in Missouri.