Pursuit of Proof, The Lawless murder: A grand jury with no indictment but key witnesses not called

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Former Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter believes he solved Mischelle Lawless’ murder, and had enough evidence to prove it. DNA tests proved, he said, that one of the suspects was lying about his version of events on Nov. 8, 1992, the night Lawless was found bludgeoned and shot to death in her car at the Benton exit on Interstate 55. Crime reconstruction experts, Walter said, corroborated his theory of how the crime transpired. A witness rescinded a suspect’s alibi. Another witness picked a suspect out of a lineup that put him at the murder scene. Before leaving office, after losing an election to current Sheriff Wes Drury, Walter said he filed two probable-cause affidavits with the county prosecutor.

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