48 Hours - She Knew Too Much

In 1992, 19-year-old Mischelle Lawless' bloodied body was found in an abandoned car on a desolate strip of highway in Benton, Missouri. Four months into the investigation, investigators got a break: 17-year-old Joshua Kezer had been held briefly in the county jail on assault charges, where, according to several inmates, he confessed to killing Lawless. Kezer was convicted and sentenced to 60 years in prison. Sheriff Rick Walter re-opened the case in 2005. Judge Richard Callahan agreed to review the case and, citing prosecutorial misconduct and a lack of evidence, declared Josh Kezer an innocent man. But someone killed Mischelle and high on the list of suspects is a local man, Mark Abbott, who was once a star witness for the prosecution. “48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 7/21/2012. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays, and stream on demand on Paramount+.

Duration: 40m
Broadcast on: 28 Nov 2024
Audio Format: other

[MUSIC] I was the first responding deputy to the scene that night of November of '92. I'll never forget that night. [MUSIC] A couple came in and reported that a car was setting down at the off ramp with the lights on and the engine running. We opened the door and looked in with my flashlight. And that's when I saw this girl slumped over in the seat. There was a lot of blood in her hair. I really thought that she was dead. Didn't appear to be breathing at all. [MUSIC] Her name was Angel Michelle Lawless. She was 19 year old, a college student. She was approximately half a mile from her residence when I found her. [MUSIC] There's a lot of things that happened that night, still a mystery. She leaves her boyfriend's house and she was on her way home. It's possible that somebody was following her and you have to interstate. [MUSIC] Maybe they knew her and they got her to pull over and stop. [MUSIC] If she knew them and I believe that she didn't know them, I think she knew how bad they were and how serious this situation was. And maybe that's why she ended up down at the bottom of the hill. Maybe she was running for her life and they caught her. The beating started there. [MUSIC] Once it started, it was like in a rage and there was no stopping. But the worst part was you had to come whenever she was put back in the car. [MUSIC] She was shot three times at point blank range. [MUSIC] This was cold blooded. [MUSIC] I think this person is a monster. [MUSIC] It's calling monster, calling me a killer. [MUSIC] Calling me a murderer. I doesn't need to get any worse than that. Josh Keasier was convicted of the murder of Angel Michelle Lawless serving 60 years at the state of a practical facility. [MUSIC] The only thing I remember is when the verdict came back, I went numb. And everything became like I was in a drum. Like all the voices other than my own were at a distance. [MUSIC] I was yelling that it wasn't me, I didn't do it. There was people that came forward and said that he had bragged about killing Michelle Lawless. I had never met Michelle Lawless. The night that Michelle was murdered, I was 350 miles away. I'm going to listen to man. People kept asking me, do you have the right person in prison?

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