NewsJanuary 8, 2025
Former exonerated man, family members express unease over new murder charges in 1992 Lawless case
Leon Lamb, who was recently indicted for the 1992 murder of Mischelle Lawless, has yet to retain an attorney. His family and others express concerns over the new charges, citing past exonerations and questionable investigations.
Leon Lamb, indicted by a grand jury last month for the 1992 murder of Mischelle Lawless and armed criminal action, still does not have an attorney, according to Missouri’s online court database. He is being held in a jail in Faulkner County, Arkansas.
Lamb, Lawless’ boyfriend for more than two years was booked into the jail at 5 p.m. Dec. 20 after special prosecutor Allen Moss issued a news release that afternoon. Lamb and Lawless had broken up months before the murder, but still occasionally reconnected without strings attached.
Lamb’s sister, Mindy Adams, said she remains steadfast in her belief of her brother’s innocence.
“I love my brother,” she wrote in a statement to the Southeast Missourian. “I believe my brother is innocent. I’m standing by him through this. My brother and I have wanted justice for Mischelle Lawless and her family since November 8, 1992. We saw what they did to Josh Kezer and now they’re doing it to my brother, Leon. Scott County Prosecutor Don Cobb, special prosecutor Allen Moss and special investigator David James should be ashamed. I know that God’s got this and I know that Leon is innocent. I’m doing my best to walk in His peace each day because He is my rest and I’m believing that the truth will be brought to light. My thoughts and prayers are with Esther, Valerie, Jason and Marvin Lawless, and Mischelle’s extended family.”
Others close to the case have expressed concern about the new charges and investigation, since the news was released Dec. 20.
Victim's sister issues statement
Valerie Ward, Lawless’ younger sister, posted a response to her Facebook page in the days following the indictment and sent the statement to a reporter. It's one of very few public statements made by a family member since the case was featured on national television more than a decade ago.
“First of all, I want it to be clear that Moss and (detective David) James have not been very forthcoming with my family, and definitely did not keep us aware of what was going on, nor about the arrest. I got a message about 5 minutes before it hit social media. I know there has been contact with my father, and with other people, but they did not contact my mother or me during the investigation and the arrest.
“I know that from the beginning of the investigation, the only person they were looking at was Leon, and as far as I know, they didn’t look anywhere else. They were nonchalant about their certainty that after 30-plus years, they had all the answers. And left us out of almost all of it. I know it made me uncomfortable from the beginning how flippant they were about solving the case, even though it had been a torturous 30-something years that it had been happening.
“With that said, I have no idea who is guilty. We have been told over and over by different people who it is and who it isn’t. My family is always at the mercy of whoever is in charge at the time, and whatever their motives are.
“Obviously, our family would never want to believe it’s Leon; he was part of our family for a long time. However, if that can be proven, by evidence that couldn’t be fabricated, I will not refuse to believe it. And if it is, and this can be laid to rest, that would be amazing. But I’m also not ignorant enough to not carry the skepticism and disbelieve in our justice system that has failed over and over again for my family and for my sister. There are simply many dishonest people in authority positions, and many people connected to them in this area and in the legal and justice systems.
“Therefore, we will wait as everyone else does, because no one has told us anything. And we will pray that this isn’t yet another situation where people in power are finding ways to make things go away, so their lives are easier because our lives have not been easy ever since the night it happened.
“We are tired, we are exhausted. I’m tired of people commenting and making comments when they weren’t close to Mischelle and they don’t have the pain that we do. I’m tired of it being a news story or a cold case podcast. I’m just tired.
“Thank you to those of you that love us and continue to love us and support us even today. Your concern and your messages are appreciated.”
Josh Kezer, exonerated for the murder, speaks out
Meanwhile, Josh Kezer, the man who spent 16 years in prison before being exonerated with an “actual innocence” ruling, is expressing his doubts about the charge against Lamb.
Kezer, such as many attorneys and law enforcement detectives, believes the crime was committed by Mark Abbott and/or Kevin Williams, both of whom have implicated one another at different times, according to witnesses who have testified under oath in civil court. Abbott has testified he found Mischelle slumped over in her car on the night of the murder, tried to use a pay phone and then drove to the sheriff’s office to report a girl had been shot and killed. Abbott is an identical twin.
Former narcotics officer, Bill Bohnert, who testified during Kezer’s exoneration, told the court in sworn testimony that Abbott told him in 1997 that he saw Williams commit the murder. Others have testified under oath that Williams told them Abbott was involved. Former Sheriff Rick Walter had DNA testing and reconstructionists he says are in direct conflict with Abbott’s statements of how he lifted Lawless’s body the night of the murder when he said he found her in her car slumped over.
Kezer is reliving the idea that another innocent man might have been indicted.
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“I’m attempting to navigate this,” said Kezer, who has been involved in trying to solve the case since he was indicted in 1993 and sentenced in 1994. The day after Lamb’s indictment, Kezer wrote, “I’ve felt numb for hours. I hate this case. It should be noted that I walked away from it recently because I want to be over it, work on reform and help others. … I’m 49 going on 50. Death had taken up enough of my life. I wanted to live. But how can I be over it and walk away if they attempt to charge and prosecute another innocent man for the case that ruined my life?
“Several people who knew Mischelle Lawless have messaged me, outraged. They don’t believe Leon Lamb murdered Michelle Lawless and they believe Scott County is targeting another innocent man.”
“If Leon Lamb is guilty, he deserves everything coming to him,” Kezer said in a statement to the Southeast Missourian. “If the charges against Lamb are built on no more than hearsay, wild speculation, conjecture, and a deliberate indifference to Lamb’s reputation and civil/constitutional rights, and which it currently appears they are, Lamb and the Lawless family deserve better.”
Walter declined to comment for this article.
Past investigations, evidence
Walter, the former sheriff who reopened the closed murder case and helped uncover information useful in Kezer’s exoneration, built a case against Abbott and Williams, which went to a grand jury several years ago. That grand jury did not file a true bill, but it was reported that key expert witnesses such as reconstructionists and DNA experts were not called to testify.
Walter’s DNA testing uncovered evidence against both Lamb and Abbott. It found that DNA contained evidence under Lawless’ fingernails belonged to Lamb. Lamb explained this away in that she probably scratched his back during sex they had before she left his house the night of the murder. That explanation appeared consistent with the story he had maintained since 1992. There are no reports or photos associated with the case that Lamb had any defensive wounds when investigators visited him hours after the murder.
Walter has said DNA evidence from Mark Abbott was found on a position of Lawless’ body that is not consistent with Abbott’s story regarding how he pulled Mischelle up from her slumped position upon finding her in her car.
Those close or once close to the current investigation say Moss and James have claimed new evidence and witnesses have been revealed. The state has yet to release what that evidence might be.
James is a retired detective of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office. Among other high-profile cases, James was in charge of the investigation resulting in the arrest of Clay Waller for the murder of his wife, Jacque Waller.
James retired from law enforcement at age 63 in 2021 after 38 years in law enforcement. He served as squad commander for the major case squad from 2000-11. Early in his career, he was hired as a full-time jail deputy, but was promoted to the criminal investigation division in 1988. He aided in a perp walk of Kezer in 1993, when a hearing was being held at the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse on a charge that was later dropped.
Cape Girardeau County was involved in sparking the initial investigation against Kezer in 1993. Jail informants held in Cape Girardeau County jail who knew Kezer concocted a false story in an attempt to negotiate leniency in their own cases. Two of the informants tried to recant before Kezer's case went to trial. They were pressured by law enforcement to stick to their original statements. One of the informants testified the story was a lie in the trial.
Moss has served for several years as the municipal Judge for Scott City. He has offices based in Cape Girardeau, and has experience as an assistant prosecutor and defense attorney. Scott County Prosecuting Attorney Don Cobb was previously a partner with Moss at his law firm. Cobb asked a judge to appoint his friend as a special prosecutor.
Among the diverse roles Moss has played in the law community includes his representation of former Scott City police officer Bobby Wooten during Kezer's exoneration trial. Wooten took a report in 1992, days after the murder, from Mark Abbott, in which Abbott reported he had seen a mixed-race Black man, Ray Ring, near the crime scene. That report was handed into the Scott County Sheriff's Office, but was withheld from the defense, which was a violation of Kezer's constitutional rights to have access to all exculpatory material.
After naming Ring, Abbott later changed his story describing seeing Kezer in the car near the pay phone. At the time of the exoneration trial, Wooten said he questioned whether the signature on the statement was his. Moss was involved to the extent of asking questions to his client during the deposition, confirming that Wooten talked to Abbott about the Lawless murder, that Abbott put himself at the crime scene and that he turned in the report to the sheriff's office.
Wooten has since died.
Moss has stated publicly in news reports he had no previous connections to the Lawless murder investigation.
In previous interviews, James has stated his process is to eliminate suspects closest to victims before moving outside of that circle.
In a statement issued at the time of Lamb’s arrest, Moss wrote “after an eighteen-month investigation it was determined that sufficient evidence existed to bring the case before a Scott County Grand Jury. Based on the evidence presented to the Grand Jury, an indictment for felony has been issued.” The statement said Lamb was charged with murder and armed criminal action, and arrested in Conway, Arkansas. “Additional information will be made available at a later time,” the release stated.
Because of the grand jury process, atypical in Missouri criminal cases, no probable-cause statement was required to be filed with the court. The grand jury process also skips the preliminary hearing stage where the state must show probable cause to a judge.
It is unclear when the public will know the state’s new evidence against Lamb.
Moss did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment for this story.
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