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

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 A witness rescinded a suspect�s alibi.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.

Angela Mischelle Lawless

But no charges followed against the two suspects named by Walter and his chief investigator.

Prosecutor Paul Boyd decided not to have a judge decide, in a public preliminary hearing, whether there was probable cause to proceed with a trial. Instead, Boyd opted to go with a grand jury, whose proceedings are kept secret. In 2017, a grand jury was convened to hear 15 hours of testimony over a two-month period, Boyd said. The grand jury did not come back with an indictment, meaning the panel did not believe enough evidence existed to proceed with charges and a trial.

But the Southeast Missourian has learned that at least three key witnesses, and likely a fourth, were not called to testify before the grand jury. The witnesses who the Southeast Missourian has learned were not called are:

Mark Abbott testified that he found Mischelle Lawless the night she was murdered, and said he reported it to the sheriff's department, though at the time a jailer and a dispatcher thought it was his twin brother, Matt Abbott. Some within the Scott County Sheriff's Department believed him to be a suspect early on in the investigation, though the department's lead detective told the jury he was not. He has since been considered a suspect in the murder after witnesses say another man implicated him, and that DNA evidence, according to former sheriff Rick Walter, shows he lied about how he described interacting with Lawless that night.48 Hours ~ screen grab

• A DNA expert, who could explain the technology and reliability of touch DNA.
• A crime reconstruction expert, who, Walter said, could have explained techniques used to re-enact the crime scene to show that suspect Mark Abbott was lying about his physical interaction with Lawless� body that night.
• The ex-wife of another suspect, who now says that her then-husband, Kevin Williams, was not at a party as he has claimed on the night of the murder.

The absence of these witnesses in the grand jury is one of several unusual developments uncovered recently by the Southeast Missourian in a case that has been rife from the start with investigative mistakes and prosecutor errors and misleading statements, several of which led to the conviction of the wrong man. Josh Kezer was convicted of the crime in 1994 with no physical evidence. After imprisoned informents recanted, and lawyers and detectives unearthed investigative wrongdoings and a failure to turn over materials helpful to the defense, a judge ruled �actual innocence� in a rare ruling. The judge who ruled him innocent, Richard Callahan, said the justice system failed Kezer at all levels.

In addition to the new developments and evidence, three on-the-record sources told the Southeast Missourian that former Sheriff Bill Ferrell, who ultimately was in charge of the original investigation that led to Kezer�s wrongful conviction, has been in consistent contact with Williams, meddling with the murder suspect during the ongoing, open investigation. Two of the sources claim Ferrell has shared information about the case with Williams. Ferrell denies the accusations.

Three witnesses have testified Kevin Williams told them Abbott committed the murder, according to court documents. Four witnesses testified Abbott stated or implied to them that Williams killed Lawless.

As for the grand jury, Walter would not discuss his interactions at the proceeding. Neither would he provide the probable-cause affidavits, saying only they named two suspects. The Southeast Missourian learned from independent reporting that Mark Abbott and Kevin Williams are the suspects, which Walter ultimately confirmed when the newspaper acquired information from several sources and court documents. Abbott and Williams have been considered suspects for a decade or more; they implicated each other, according to six witnesses in Kezer�s exoneration trial.

Both Abbott and Williams served prison time on federal charges for dealing methamphetamine.

Walter has not shared what role either man is believed to have played in the murder. Williams declined to comment for this story through his attorney. Abbott did not return multiple messages.

DNA expert

Both DNA expert Richard Eikelenboom and crime reconstruction expert Eugene Liscio said they were not contacted by either the Scott County Sheriff�s Department or the prosecutor�s office to appear before the grand jury.

Former Scott County sheriff Rick Walter filed two probable cause affidavits in 2016 before he left office, but Scott County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Boyd asked for a grand jury to be convened instead. Boyd did not call two of Walter's expert witnesses when the grand jury convened.Southeast Missourian file

A second crime reconstruction expert, James G. Kent of Los Angeles, likely was not called to testify either, Walter said. The Southeast Missourian recently reached out to Kent, but in an email he said he would not comment on the case or whether he testified before the grand jury. Kent said he had been instructed by current Sheriff Wes Drury not to talk about it. But Drury told the Southeast Missourian he never gave such an instruction.

Nearly 10 years ago when sheriff, Walter hired the three experts to help solve the lingering case.

He told the Southeast Missourian the DNA evidence points to one of his suspects, though he said he cannot adequately explain the science involved, which is why he believes the experts should have been called to explain it. He said before leaving office, he had set aside funds for the experts to travel for testimony. Or, he said, they could have communicated to the jurors via Skype or another video messaging system.

The evidence of the DNA expert and two crime reconstruction experts support Walter�s theory about what happened around 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 8, 1992, at the Benton, Missouri, exit on Interstate 55, Walter said.

The evidence, including a blood trail, shows Lawless had an altercation outside of her car on the grassy embankment along the northbound exit ramp. Her body then was placed in the front seat of her vehicle, where she regained consciousness and then was shot three times, including once in the back of the head, Walter said.

Scott Liscio Crime reconstruction expert

Abbott told police and investigators that he reached through a window and lifted Lawless up to check on her. He originally said he thought she may have been passed out from drinking. He claimed at the time he leaned well into the vehicle to check on Lawless. But multiple officers reported that when they arrived at the scene the window was approximately halfway down, which the defense and Walter argue would not have allowed Abbott to lift Lawless as he described.

�I believe she was never moved after she was shot,� Walter said.

Walter said he received a written report from Kent, the crime reconstruction expert, in October 2015, outlining his findings, which supported other evidence in the case.

Eikelenboom said his forensics company, based in Colorado, operates a lab in the Netherlands, Independent Forensic Services, that specializes in touch DNA.

Eikelenboom said his company started DNA testing in the Lawless case around 2009.

Richard Eikelenboom, DNA expert who was ready to testify for the prosecution in the Mischelle Lawless case.

The lab tested samples of the clothing Lawless was wearing when she died. Her body was exhumed for DNA testing, too, Eikelenboom said.

�We tested a lot of samples,� he remembered. �From the clothing, we had good results, and we had a match with one of the suspects,� he said.

The touch DNA testing focused on �grip marks� on the victim, which showed �forceful contact.�

Eikelenboom said �forceful contact is not like tapping someone on the shoulder. It is like fighting with someone.�

�You know the victim was dragged over a hill,� he said, adding �there is no doubt about it� that an altercation occurred outside of the car.

He said he is �pretty confident� in the touch DNA evidence in this case.

Eikelenboom said touch DNA testing is a more difficult process than testing blood or semen.

�Because touch DNA is more complicated, you would expect you would get the expert to testify and explain it,� he recently told the Southeast Missourian.

He said he was surprised he was not called to testify to the grand jury. �We expected (to be called). We were ready to go,� he said.

Walter said the DNA experts recommended charges based on what they found.

Kezer, following his exoneration and successful lawsuit against Scott County in which a settlement was reached, donated $10,000 toward the investigation to find the actual murderer or murderers. Walter said that donation went toward the DNA testing.

Kezer, who remains committed to finding justice in the case, said he doesn�t trust Boyd.

�The decision to prosecute the case with integrity is his,� Kezer said. �He chose not to call expert witnesses that recommend prosecution. Why? He owes the Lawless family and my family answers.�

Eikelenboom said no one from the Scott County prosecutor�s office or the office of Scott County Sheriff Wes Drury have contacted him. Drury became sheriff in 2017 after unseating Walter in the 2016 election.

Reconstruction expert

Crime reconstruction expert Liscio of Toronto said he only learned a grand jury had convened after being contacted by Walter.

Liscio said he looked at crime-scene photos as to how Lawless� body was found in the car.

�The quality of evidence wasn�t the greatest,� he said.

But Liscio, who teaches at the University of Toronto�s forensic science program, said he tried to recreate the position of the body with the help of �some young women about the same size as Mischelle.�

He said, �We put the people in the vehicle and tried to see how people would fall over (resulting in certain body positions).�

Liscio said he videotaped the actions as part of the study.

Lawless was shot three times, with one of the bullets striking Lawless� back, he said of the evidence.

One of the bullets was fired from inside the vehicle, Liscio said evidence of the bullet�s trajectory shows.

�I think it would have been from the driver�s side window. It wasn�t fired from outside the window. It was fired from inside the window, meaning a person actually reached in,� Liscio said.

Walter said Mark Abbott, a suspect along with Kevin Williams, at one point told officers he saw Lawless in her vehicle.

�Abbott said he only touched her on her left shoulder,� Walter said. �If DNA was found anywhere else, then he would have a problem,� Walter said.

The evidence, he said, contradicts Abbott�s statement. �I always said he was a liar,� Walter added.

Mark Abbott is the man who pointed Kezer out of a lineup. In 1997, when in prison facing federal drug charges, he also told police Kevin Williams was with him the night of the murder, and he implicated Williams. That information was ignored because there was already a conviction in the case.

That information was later revealed in Kezer�s exoneration hearings. Williams, according to witnesses� testimony in court documents, told several people he knew details about the murder, including where he said the incident started � in a trailer at a mobile home sales lot where he said he sometimes worked in November of 1992. Williams implicated Abbott, according to the witnesses.

�Injustice is not done�

Boyd said there is no statute of limitations for murder. The prosecution �has one shot left based on the wrangling in this case�s history. It would be improper to waste the time and resources of the county at any criminal trial based on conjecture and assumptions not grounded in admissible evidence,� he wrote.

Former Sheriff Bill Ferrell told the Southeast Missourian recently Abbott and Williams came to the attention of investigators.

�I know that their names were brought up and they were checked out,� he said, adding that Williams had an alibi. Abbott was considered a suspect early in the investigation, due to several changes in his story. It is unclear why Abbott was ruled out as a suspect, but then-detective Brenda Schiwitz told the jury at Kezer�s trial Abbott was not a suspect, one of several points that was admonished by the judge who exonerated Kezer.

Drury said after becoming sheriff his department would continue to investigate the cold case.

Walter said he left the file with the department, but he said Drury has not reached out to him to discuss the investigation.

�My job is to find facts and seek justice,� Drury said, adding those investigating the case want to make sure �justice is done� while also ensuring that �injustice is not done.�

Another witness who was not called to testify was Terri Williams, Kevin Williams� ex-wife, who now says she cannot vouch for Kevin Williams� whereabouts at the time of the murder.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

bmiller@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3625

How it was reported:

The Southeast Missourian interviewed 14 witnesses or sources close to the Mischelle Lawless murder case, plus reviewed hundreds of pages of court records. Several sources were contacted but declined to be interviewed. Former sheriff Rick Walter would not talk specifically about his participation with the grand jury, nor did he provide the probable-cause affidavits he turned into the prosecutor. He did, however, add context and clarity to information gathered from other key witnesses who provided new information about the case. The Southeast Missourian also reviewed previous reporting from Josh Kezer�s eventual exoneration in 2008 and 2009. Kevin Williams declined to be interviewed through his attorney; Mark Abbott did not return messages. Reporter Mark Bliss can be reached at mbliss@semissourian.com or (573) 388-3641.