Mischelle Lawless: Looking at Leon

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Several weeks ago, 48 Hours profiled the case of Mischelle Lawless. The show was titled “The Girl Who Knew Too Much.” Mischelle was murdered 17 years ago, at the tender of age 19. She was found bludgeoned and shot to death in her car.

While in jail for unrelated charge, prison inmates pointed the finger at a man, Josh Kezer, who they said confessed to killing Mischelle. More than that, a local man from town also identified Keser as being near Mischelle’s car that night.

48 Hours reports, “No physical evidence tied Kezer to the murder, but the prosecutor told the jury that tests showed there was blood on Josh’s jacket and in a car he was driving.”

The jury was sent to deliberate and within less than 4 hours, they convicted Kezer and sent him to prison for 60 years. Shockingly, he spend more than 15 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. You have to watch the show to see the turn of events.

I think cases like these need to give us pause, that people are wrongly convicted–that eye witnesses are not 100%.

Read moreSo, who could have done this to Mischelle Lawless? 48 Hours interviews several people and one person in particular stands out to me. It’s Leon, Mischelle’s boyfriend at the time. While he took an passed a polygraph years ago, he also was found to have his DNA under her fingernails and mixed with her blood.

Erin Moriarty asks Leon, “Did you have anything to do with Mischelle Lawless’ death?” Leon smirking before he even says a word replies, “Not at all…I loved her”. His arrogant expression is noteworthy. Why would he feel arrogant when he is being questioned about Mischelle’s murder? About the murder of a girlfriend who he dated for three years and states he loved? This is perplexing to me.

Moriarty goes on, “You know that your DNA was found under her fingernails, and how do you explain that?” Notice the smirk on his face dissipates for a second. Then smirking again, Leon replies, “We had sex that night (hard swallow), and um… (shoulder shrug) we were both pretty passionate people, so you know, time and again, she did scratch me during sex.”

Leon’s answer here hits me as someone thinking on his feet–not responding to actually memory recollection. He also doesn’t talk about what happened, but what she did do from time-to-time, which is noticeable to me. It’s another red flag. Why isn’t he just recollecting memories from that night? You would think they would be burned into his mind forever, if that was the last time he saw her, wouldn’t you?

Leon admits without using the words, that he was the jealous type, and that he ran into Mischelle that night when she was driving around with male friends. He was the last person to see her alive.

Moriarty asks, “Did that bother you [that she was with other guys]?” Leon replies, “It did…because we had been together for three years.” He shrugs his shoulders here interestingly, though I don’t believe it negates what he is saying. It’s almost like he is thinking to himself, should I say this, and he thinks why not, and that is why we see the shoulder shrug. You have to wonder if he is self-censoring? Why would he do this?

Moriarty asks,”Did she leave the house upset with you or angry with you at all?”
Leon says, “No, not at all. I mean, we – like I said, we hugged, kissed and said our good-nights and that was it.”

Usually a man who is jealous enough to follow his girlfriend in a car with other men (even if they were only friends) is not the type to calm down and forget about it in the same night. This is a man who has a serious temper. Logically speaking, it would be highly unusual for him to get over his emotions and part on good terms. Everything about Leon is questionable for me. I don’t trust him.