Lamb waives extradition; attorney vows to 'vigorously defend' client to prevent repeat of history in Lawless case

Leon Lamb has voluntarily waived his extradition rights and will be transferred to Missouri from Arkansas to face charges in the 32-year-old murder case of Mischelle Lawless.

Lawless was killed Nov. 8, 1992 at the Interstate 55 exit ramp near Benton in Scott County. She was found shot three times. An assault occurred outside of the car about 100 feet down the exit embankment, where blood had pooled in the grass. She was a nursing student at Southeast Missouri State University and a waitress at Shoney’s in Sikeston.

Lamb was her ex-boyfriend. He is the last person known to have seen Lawless alive. He has told investigators she stopped at his house and they had sex before she left to go home.

Josh Kezer was convicted as a teenager then exonerated of the crime 16 years later. His attorneys, including Charlie Weiss who is now representing Lamb, demonstrated that Kezer was innocent by presenting witnesses who recanted testimony from their original statements. They also presented witnesses who testified that Mark Abbott or Kevin Williams confessed to being present at the murder scene and implicating the other. Kezer’s team also showed that Scott County law enforcement and prosecutors violated his constitutional rights by not handing over exculpatory evidence, including notes that were said to have been destroyed, which included a list of suspects. Also withheld from Kezer’s defense was a report that Mark Abbott implicated another man named Ray Ring.

Russ Oliver, a former Stoddard County prosecutor and the attorney leading Lamb’s defense, said Lamb is ready to take on the litigation process.

“Our team is ready to vigorously defend Leon in court against these allegations,” Oliver said. “We firmly believe that after 32 years and after the conviction of an innocent man, they once again have charged the wrong man. Charlie and I are here to fight to ensure that history does not repeat itself.”

Lamb was indicted Dec. 20 on first-degree murder and armed criminal action charges.

Special prosecutor Allen Moss, former law partner with Scott County Prosecuting Attorney Don Cobb, is representing the state of Missouri on the case. Investigators David James, a retired detective from Cape Girardeau County, and Mike Williams of the Scott County Sheriff’s Office, are working the investigation.

It is unclear where Lamb will be taken. He is being held in custody without bond in Faulkner County, Arkansas.

Several other suspects have been identified over the three decades of the case, which is convoluted, partly because of false testimony and statements and also because of lapses in the investigation itself.

A grand jury was held in 2017 to consider Mark Abbott — who identified Kezer at a payphone near the crime scene after previously telling an officer it was Ray Ring — and Kevin Williams, who Abbott implicated in 1997 while he faced sentencing in a federal methamphetamine conspiracy case.

Abbott reported the crime to the sheriff’s office after he says he reached into the car, grabbed Lawless by the shoulder, pulled her up and dropped her after seeing her condition. Abbott’s stories changed several times after his first interview with then-chief deputy Tom Beardslee. The grand jury did not indict either Abbott or Williams. Abbott has confessed to the crime to multiple former prisonmates, according to investigative files.

At the time of the murder, Lawless was casually dating a man named Lyle Day, with whom she’d had a public fight a few days before she was killed. Day and Ring were friends. Investigative reports associated with the case explain that Mark Abbott said Ring called Williams’ house days after the murder looking for Abbott. Abbott has testified he didn’t know Ring at the time of the murder, though Ring is named as one of Abbott’s associates in files connected to the meth conspiracy investigation. The meth investigation kicked off in October 1994, about three months after Kezer was sentenced.

In a report Abbott made about Ring to a former Scott City police officer, Abbott said he had met Ring at a party in Sikeston the night of the murder. Abbott has denied making the report to the officer, Bobby Wooten. Wooten was represented by Moss when Wooten testified during Kezer’s exoneration trial.

Lawless is said in investigative reports to have met Day at a tanning salon owned by a man who knew Mark Abbott well. Ring at the time of the murder told police he knew who Lawless was, and stated he knew personal information about Abbott, including that he was friends with Williams. Ring said at the time he was with Day the entire night of the murder.

Meanwhile, Lamb, who has no known connection to Abbott or Ring, has consistently stated that Lawless left his house in good spirits after they’d been intimate. Lamb had dated Lawless for more than two years before their split in the summer of 1992, but they occasionally reconnected in the months following the breakup. Friends of Lawless and Lamb have stated that Lamb wanted space from Lawless. Those accounts are supported by Lawless’ journal entries, which expressed her desire to date Lamb exclusively. The diary also vaguely expressed some arguments the couple had. The diary also noted Lawless’ frustration with Day in the days before the murder. It is unclear exactly why Lawless was upset with Day.

Lamb’s DNA was found under Lawless’ fingernails, which he explains must have happened when they had sex earlier that night.

Then-Sheriff Bill Ferrell and deputy Brenda Schiwitz visited Lamb hours after the murder. They did not order a gunshot residue test and did not report seeing any defensive wounds on Lamb.

It is unclear what new evidence has been obtained by the new investigators. Oliver filed a motion for discovery Jan. 29.