"48 Hours" Probes Missouri Murder Mystery

(CBS)  More than 17 years have passed since 19-year-old Mischelle Lawless was found bludgeoned and shot to death in her car.

"When I look back, I wish that maybe I'd listened a little more or been there a little more because she was always there for me," Mischelle's best friend, Melissa Gaines, told "48 Hours Mystery" correspondent Erin Moriarty.

It's still not easy for Gaines to read the cheery diary that Mischelle kept the last year of her life:

"January 1st. Slept real late. Family went to Mingo and I went to Leon's. We loved and ate and talked and rented movies. Made me feel loved today and I am really happy. Love him. Great first day of 1992!"

Gaines met Mischelle when they were high school freshmen in Benton, Mo.

"I had just moved to Kelly High School, didn't know anybody," she said. "Her little bubbly self came bouncing up and introduced herself and it was all over. She was part of my life from that moment on."

While Mischelle stood barely five feet tall, she was no lightweight. She was a green belt in karate - halfway to earning a black belt.

"I can't even remember anything she was ever scared of," Gaines recalled. "She was fearless."

"Would it ever occur to you that Mischelle might be in danger?" Moriarty asked.

"No. I mean, that never was a thought to me. Never."

Which is why what happened in the early morning hours of Nov. 8, 1992, was so unexpected and so shocking.

Rick Walter was a 32-year-old part-time deputy sheriff when he discovered the body of Mischelle Lawless.

"This is small town USA. A lot of stuff like this just doesn't happen," Walter said of the brutal murder.

Police documented the grisly scene using blood evidence to reconstruct Mischelle's final, terrifying moments.

"I believe she got out of the vehicle, and I think there was an argument," Walter explained. "She ended up over the guardrail and down the bottom of the slope. A very violent altercation took place. I believe she was beat at the bottom and knocked unconscious. There was a lot of blood…"

There was also blood under Mischelle's fingernails and marks on her right hand and wrist suggesting she had fought her assailants.

"I think that she was fighting for her life. I think she was fighting more than one person," Walter said. "There was a blood trail going back up the hill. They carry her across the guardrail. They put her back in the car."

It wasn't until investigators searched her car and found three spent shell casings from a .380 caliber handgun that they realized Mischelle had been shot, too.

"I think after she got back in the car, I think that's when she regained conscious and somebody reached through the window…shot her point blank in the face; shot her in the back of the head. And then one more time in the back," Walter said, pausing. "I can't imagine what she went through that night."

Investigators canvass the crime scene

At the same time the deputy sheriff was working the crime scene, a 23-year-old local man walked into the sheriff's office with a surprising story.

Mark Abbott reported that he had also seen the woman in the car.

"Scared me. I never really saw anything like that… All I remember is her face was just matted and covered with hair and blood," he told Moriarty. He said he didn't know who the woman was.

Abbott told the dispatcher he thought the woman had been shot and that he had tried to call 911, but a nearby pay phone was out of order.

"I pulled outta there as fast as I could and went straight to the county sheriff's department trying to get an ambulance," he said.

As he was leaving, Abbott saw - as he described to investigators - a white car with several dark skinned Hispanic men driving away from the crime scene.

"Well, a man for sure, and two or three other people," Abbott said.

Mischelle's family got the news when authorities came to their door.

"I answered the door. It was about 3 a.m. I guess," said Jason Lawless, who was 15 when his older sister was killed.

"I don't do this well," he told Moriarty, overcome with emotion. When asked how Mischelle's death affected his family, he said, "Whoever shot my sister, killed my family - every ounce of it, every fiber that held it together."

The first suspect was the last person to admit seeing Mischelle alive: Leon Lamb, the boyfriend she stopped to see.

"She was only there about an hour or so, so it coulda been 11:30 or 12:00 at night," Lamb said of Mischelle's arrival. He said she left "just right at 1:00 a.m."

"January 6th: Called Leon and told him I love him so much..."

Lamb said Mischelle was his first love. From the entries in her diary, Mischelle clearly loved Lamb; but they also argued frequently. Mischelle was hurt that he was seeing other girls.

"No matter how mean he is to me, I still love him..."

Lamb said things were fine that night, although he remembered Mischelle was reluctant to leave his house.

"Now that I look back, it seemed like that she knew something was wrong, maybe something was gonna happen," he said.

Investigators looked closely at Leon Lamb, but they could find nothing to tie him to the scene and he passed a polygraph.

"Did you think it could be Leon?" Moriarty asked Gaines.

"He never crossed my mind, no. I just could never imagine him wanting to harm her like that, ever."

Weeks went by with few other leads and no arrests. Finally, four months after Mischelle's murder came a big break.

Several inmates at the county jail reported that a 17-year-old Illinois boy who had been held there briefly on an assault charge had confessed to killing Mischelle Lawless. His name was Joshua Kezer. When Mark Abbott was shown a photo lineup, he picked out Kezer as the driver he saw near the crime scene.

"Did you say 'Yeah, this is the guy I saw; I know it.'" Moriarty asked Abbott.

"No, no…" he replied. "I said, 'It looks like him and that looks like the car.'"

That's all investigators needed. Joshua Kezer was charged with the first-degree murder of Mischelle Lawless.

"I sat there stunned, I immediately started to just be shaking and confused and I didn't know what was happening," Kezer said. "I just knew that something very real was happening."

Mischelle's family and friends were just as stunned. Neither Jason Lawless nor Melissa Gaines had ever heard Kezer's name mentioned.

"There was no truth to what they were presenting," Kezer said. "Everything was a lie."

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[hohmgrown]

OK - who says that Leon wasn't WITH her in the car? An argument, jealousy - she knew HE was messing around with other women! (maybe he found out she gave him a taste of his own medicine)I am 40 yr old single mother, and have a 20 yr old daughter...MY experience - "Let me out of the car - I'm walking!" Hence the beating at the bottom of the hill. Also - they had sex that night...Leon says they (she) is passionate. But she only stayed an hour or so? hmmmm - I am very passionate and frankly - an hour isn't going to cut it. And back then, there was a resemblance between Josh and Leon. I am telling you - it's the boyfriend. It is.(Or "IF" another car was involved...him? Fam says she'd NEVER pull over for a stranger) She took off after they had sex because she found out he caught herpes. He chased after her? Maybe they had sex in the car? He was driving? I'm sorry but there is something wrong here.

[JLVWALSH]

Just a long list of many wrongfull convicted men in our rush to convict at whatever costs. That sheriff should be help accountable for his actions. How about 16 years in prison ? Sounds like a deal to me ?

[raydernation]

Very profound case, that boy going to jail like that for all those years is unexcusable. That Lamb guy killed her, them Abbotts was up on it to. That Sheriff from back than should be hog tied, and tossed over a cliff. But, whats so scary, theres plenty of people in prison right now that are completely innocent. Very scary indeed. 48 Hours did a good job on this one.

[Farver4girls]

I think 48 Hours gave the wrong title to this episode. Nothing in the story suggested to me that this girl was killed because she knew too much.

[greatlakesgirl]

Somebody knows the truth and should tell who did this to beautiful Mischelle. The family deserves justice and not by the incompetent investigators that put a innocent man in prison. Too many lies and deceit in the prosecutions case, have no idea how they found him guilty with no real evidence. Maybe the jury was told to convict also as they made everyone lie to get a conviction. They owe Mr. Kezer some cash and an apology.

[Jayfe]

Although cases like this are rare, we still hear about too many of them. This was no Marcia Clark screw-up. This was egregious misconduct by an overzealous Prosecutor and Sheriff. When did we last hear about a prosecution of such parties for such misconduct? Is there even a procedure in place for impartial investigation with a view to prosecution? If ever there was a case that warrants at least an investigation of the conduct of the parties, this is it. Yet it seems that noone is willing to even consider it.
We can only hope that such cases will serve to make sceptical jurors more determined not to be bamboozled into a guilty verdict when they still have reasonable doubt.
Shame on this Prosecutor and Sheriff and, as Judge Callahan found, shame on our legal system.

[davebahama]

The police did a lousy job on this one to say the least. This was a rage killing out of Jealousy. The boyfriend Lamb did it and the accomplice was either one of the Abbotts or both. Michelle did not have consenual Sex that night, she was out with some male friends and Lamb saw her and went into a jealous rage. He had one or both of the abbotts with him, they followed her and eventually got her to pull over as she knew who was the other car, it was Lamb's. He hit her and she tried to run away but they caught up with her and beat her unconscious. They brought her back to the car and then realized she can identify them, so they shot her 3 times to silence her. The Abbott going to the police to report it was just a cover up in case they discovered his DNA. The boyfriend would say his DNA was from consenual sex. The boyfriend DID IT!!!!!

[lilredcj7girl]

I would have to agree with you...it is all so obvious, not sure whatelse they are trying to prove

[yorgisgrl]

Lamb's DNA mixed with her blood was under Mischellle's fingernails!!! No way is his explanation that they had passionate (violent?) sex believable. Is there any evidence - ***** or DNA - of Lamb's claim that they had consensual sex earlier that evening? How about any evidence linking Mischelle and the Abbotts - where is the theory that she may have known something damaging to them? This Lamb guy is definitely involved - just not sure who else. The DNA evidence should have sewn up the case before any jailhouse snitch named Josh Kezer. The sheriff should be prosecuted too.

[ltcbsnews]

Thanks to CBS many know of Michelle's tragety. But very few know of Jaunita Smith's short life even though a video exit showing her being murdered when she was only about 17 years old, a video made by her killers. Please read my web site at www.leroythomas.org and, if possible, tell her story?
Saint LeRoy Thomas