A woman’s ex-boyfriend has been arrested for her murder 32 years after she was found shot to death in her car in Missouri.
Leon P. Lamb, 52, was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action for the murder of Mischelle Lawless, who died at the age of 19 in November 1992.
Lawless’ case was reopened in June 2023 and 18 months later, investigators gathered enough evidence to bring an indictment against Lamb.
The ex-boyfriend was arrested in Conway, Arkansas, and is being held without bond.
He was the last person to see Lawless and the pair had an on-and-off-again relationship, according to The Standard-Democrat.
Another man, Josh Kezer, was charged and convicted for the crime in 1994, but was later acquitted in 2009.
He was convicted after Mark Abbott testified he saw Kezer at a payphone near the exit ramp.
Several jailhouse witnesses also testified he had confessed to the murder at party, where Chantelle Crider, said she saw him arguing with Lawless the week before, according to Southeast Missourian.
Leon P. Lamb, 52, was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action for the murder of Mischelle Lawless, who died at the age of 19 in November 1992. The ex-boyfriend was arrested in Conway, Arkansas , and is being held without bond
He was the last person to see Lawless and the pair had an on-and-off-again relationship
After Kezer’s exoneration, Abbott’s name was pushed forward as a suspect, as people said he had confessed to the murder, with one witness saying he told him: ‘I took care of that bitch.’
Lamb was also a suspect early on as his DNA was found underneath her nails, but he told investigator the pair had sex and she had scratched his back, according to the outlet.
He also told investigator that Lawless had left his house in a good mood before she was found dead off the highway exit.
Lamb also passed a polygraph test, according to Southeast Missourian.
Allen Moss was named special prosecutor of the case last year, and he brought investigator David James out of retirement to help him find Lawless’ killer, he told KFVS 12 at the time.
Neither had any ties to the case when they started, but were certain they’d find who they were looking for among the thousands of pages in the teen’s case file.
Lawless had been out with friends in Sikeston on November 7, 1992 and she never made it home.
She was found by a couple driving of I-55. Off an exit ramp, sat her red car with the engine still running and the lights on near the guardrail.
Lamb was a suspect early on as his DNA was found underneath her nails, but he told investigator the pair had sex and she had scratched his back
She was found by a couple driving of I-55. Off an exit ramp, sat her red car with the engine still running and the lights on near the guardrail
Deputies arrived around 1:30am and found Lawless’ body in the car. Blood was found on the guardrail (pictured)
Allen Moss (right) was named special prosecutor of the case last year and he brought investigator David James (left) out of retirement to help him find Lawless’ killer
Deputies arrived around 1:30am and found Lawless’ body in the car.
‘And it looked like there had been a confrontation at the car of some sort,’ James said in 2023. ‘Her window was down on her car partially. And they found evidence of blood on the guardrail.
‘There’s blood on the ground. And so it looked like and appeared that there was a struggle of some sort that either started at the car or ended at the car.
‘But somehow or another she was over the guardrail and down the embankment. She ends up back in the car. And once inside the car, she is shot several times.’
Early on in the reinvestigation, James visited Lawless’ grave to talk to her, where he told the dead teen that he was ‘sorry’ for what happened to her and that he was ‘here to try and find out what happened.’