Lamb's defense cites other suspects in request for lowering bond; says case is 'downright weak'

Leon Lamb’s defense attorneys filed a new motion Wednesday, Feb. 19, in which they argue Lamb should be eligible for release on bond for the death of Mischelle Lawless, laying out a host of reasons why, including previous sworn testimony implicating other suspects.

Lawless was murdered Nov. 8, 1992, at the Interstate 55 exit ramp near Benton. She was a 19-year-old nursing student at Southeast Missouri State University, who worked at Shoney’s restaurant in Sikeston at the time of her death.

The 15-page filing, a “motion to release defendant on bond”, also alleges the evidence against Lamb is “downright weak”, adding he has never been charged or convicted of any felony or violent crime.

Lamb’s attorneys are asking for a surety bond in an amount no more than $100,000. A surety bond is a type of contract that involves a third party, who is financially responsible if the defendant doesn’t appear.

The motion explains that, when considering bond amounts, the courts shall take into account: “the nature and circumstances of the offense charged; the weight of the evidence against the defendant; the defendant’s family ties, employment, financial resources, including ability to pay, character, and mental condition; the length of the defendant’s residence in the community; the defendant’s record of convictions; the defendant’s record of appearance at court proceedings or flight to avoid prosecution or failure to appear at court proceedings; whether the defendant was on probation, parole or release pending trial or appeal at the time the offense for which the court is considering detention or release was committed; and any validated evidentiary-based risk assessment tool approved by the Supreme Court of Missouri.”

The filing addressed the court rules, including “the weight of the evidence against the defendant”.

“The evidence against (the) defendant is exceedingly weak,” the filing stated. “There is compelling evidence that has been known for years that other persons were involved in her killing. In the evidentiary hearing on Josh Kezer’s innocence case in December 2008 before Judge Richard Callahan in Cole County Circuit Court, several witnesses testified that they had received information that Mark Abbott and Kevin Williams were involved in the murder.”

Abbott is an identical twin who reported the crime to the Scott County Sheriff’s Office after telling police he found Lawless in the car and tried to pull her up when he noticed blood all over her. He later told police he saw Kezer at a payphone when he tried to call 911, providing the state’s only evidence that Kezer was in Missouri on the night of the murder.

The filing mentioned testimony by former narcotics officer Bill Bohnert, who took a statement from Abbott in 1997 in which Abbott — sitting in jail on federal meth distribution charges — said he saw Kevin Williams commit the murder.

The document also cited several other witnesses. One such witness testified that Williams, a friend of her late husband’s, told her in 1994 that they had the wrong man in prison, that Williams was present at the crime scene the night of the murder and that Abbott had killed Lawless. The witness also testified that another person, now deceased, told her Abbott had bragged about killing Lawless.

The motion also described sworn testimony from a man who said he ran into Abbott in a fishing cabin in the months following the murder. The witness asked Abbott about the murder, knowing he had been a witness in the trial, to which Abbott allegedly replied they had the wrong man in jail, and “I asked him what he meant by that, and he said, ‘Well, I took care of that bitch.’”

The filing describes sworn testimony from a married couple who knew Williams and testified that, while riding with Williams in his vehicle, Williams told them, “That’s where it all started”, referring to the “Lawless girl’s murder that happened there”. The witnesses said Williams indicated Abbott had murdered Lawless.

The filing mentioned another witness who claimed Abbott threatened him saying, “You know what, you had better listen to me … man, I will do to you like I did that (expletive) Lawless girl. I’m going to bury you. Don’t you (expletive) get it?”

The filing explained that Lamb has family ties in Missouri, and has held full employment all his life, including management roles at a restaurant and truck stop. The motion claimed he has “respectable character and stable mental condition.” It notes Lamb has been convicted of two DWIs and pleaded guilty to passing a bad check in 2004, but has no recorded violent criminal charges or felonies.

The motion’s final remarks claim the “case against Defendant is downright weak. He has never been charged or convicted of any felony or other violent crime. He is close to his sister and is able to live with his sister pending the trial or other disposition of the charges against him. Defendant is of good moral character and has never missed any required court appearance. Defendant poses no risk of flight or danger to the community, and is willing to be evaluated by a validated Court-approved evaluation program for release.

Lamb saw Lawless occasionally in the months after they broke up in the summer of 1992. Friends of Lawless and Lamb have stated Lamb discontinued the relationship and Lawless kept pursuing him after the split, hoping to rekindle a commitment from him. They’d dated monogamously for more than two years, but were seeing other people in the months leading up to the murder. Lawless also was regularly seeing a man named Lyle Day at the time.

Lamb has stated to police and testified under oath that Lawless stopped by his house the night of the murder, and they had a sexual encounter before she left. Investigators near the time of the murder did not note in any reports that Lamb had any defensive wounds. DNA found under Lawless’ fingernails was determined to be Lamb’s, which Lamb has explained must have happened during their sexual encounter.

Because the charges were handed down by a grand jury, the public is not privy to the probable cause that led to Lamb’s arrest. Special prosecutor Allen Moss is attempting to keep that information under wraps until trial, asking the judge to issue a gag order on the defense.

Lamb is represented by former prosecutor Russ Oliver and Charles Weiss, who represented Kezer during his exoneration.

Kezer was convicted in 1994 and was exonerated Feb. 18, 2009, after spending nearly 16 years in prison. No physical evidence ever tied Kezer to the crime. Kezer provided several alibi witnesses who placed him 350 miles away from the crime scene near the time of the murder, but former special prosecutor Kenny Hulshof convinced a jury to take the word of Abbott, who said he saw Kezer at the scene, and four jailhouse informants who falsely claimed Kezer confessed to the crime at a party. Multiple informants stated later that the story was fabricated to negotiate leniency on their own cases.

Lamb is being held in Cape Girardeau County on no bond.