Bombshell update in horrific decades-old cold case murder of Missouri teen

A woman’s ex-boyfriend has been arrested for 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 killing of Mischelle Lawless, who died in November 1992 at age 19.

Lawless’ case was reopened in June 2023, and 18 months later, investigators gathered enough evidence to file charges 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 was reported to have had an on-and-off relationship The Standard Democrat.

Another man, Josh Kezer, was charged and convicted of the crime in 1994 but was later acquitted in 2009.

He was convicted after Mark Abbott testified that he saw Kezer at a payphone near the exit.

Several jailhouse witnesses also testified that he confessed to the murder at a party, where Chantelle Crider said she saw him arguing with Lawless the week before, according to Southeast Missouri.

He was the last person to see Lawless and the pair dated on and off

After Kezer’s acquittal, Abbott’s name was put 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 because his DNA was found under her fingernails, but he told the investigator that the pair had sex and that she scratched him on the back, according to the outlet.

He also told the investigator that Lawless left his home in good spirits before she was found dead near the highway exit.

Lamb also passed a polygraph test, according to Southeast Missourian.

Allen Moss was named special prosecutor on the case last year and he brought investigator David James out of retirement to help him find Lawless’ killer, he said KFVS 12 at the time.

Neither had any connection to the case when they started, but they were confident they would find who they were looking for among the thousands of pages in the teen’s file.

Lawless had been out with friends in Sikeston on November 7, 1992, and she never came home.

She was found by a couple driving on I-55. At an exit, her red car was parked near the guardrail with the engine running and the lights on.

Lamb was a suspect early on when his DNA was found under her fingernails, but he told the investigator that the pair had sex and that she scratched his back

She was found by a couple driving on I-55. At an exit, her red car was parked near the guardrail with the engine running and the lights on

Officers arrived around 1:30 a.m. and found Lawless’ body in the car. Blood was found on the guardrail (photo)

Allen Moss (right) was named special prosecutor on the case last year and he brought investigator David James (left) out of retirement to help him find Lawless’ killer

Officers arrived around 1:30 a.m. and found Lawless’ body in the car.

“And it looked like there had been some sort of confrontation at the car,” James said in 2023. “Her window was partially on her car. And they found evidence of blood on the guardrail.

‘There’s blood on the ground. And so it seemed and seemed that there was some kind of struggle that either started at the car or ended at the car.

“But somehow she was over the guardrail and down the embankment. She ends up back in the car. And once in the car she is shot multiple times.”

Early in the reinvestigation, James visited Lawless’ grave to talk to her, where he told the deceased teen that he was “sorry” for what happened to her and that he was “here to try to find out what happened had happened’.