48 Hours - She Knew Too Much

Episode Date: November 28, 2024

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+.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca I was the first responding deputy to the scene that night of November of 92. I'll never forget that night. A couple came in and reported that a car was sitting 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. Her name was Angel Michelle Lawless. She was a 19 year old college student. She was approximately a half a mile from her residence when I found her. There's a lot of things that happened that night that are still a mystery. She leaves her boyfriend's house and she was on her way home. It's possible somebody was following her up the interstate. Maybe they knew her and they got her to pull over and stop. If she knew them and I believe that she did 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. Once it started, it was like in a rage and there was no stopping. But the worst part was yet to come whenever she was put back in the car. She was shot three times at point blank range. This was cold blooded.

I think this person is a monster. I was calling monster. Calling me a killer. Calling me a murderer. It doesn't need to get any worse than that. Josh Keiser was convicted of the murder of Angel Michelle Lawless, serving 60 years at the state congressional facility. The only thing I remember is when the verdict came back,

I went numb. Everything became like I was in a drum. Like all the voices, other than than my own were at a distance. 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 Wallace. I had never met Michelle Wallace. The night that Michelle was murdered, I was 350 miles away. I'm an innocent man. People kept asking me, do you have the right person in prison?

In the back of my mind, there was a possibility that maybe Josh didn't do this. If Josh Keeser didn't do it, I hate to think that there's somebody still out there that's responsible for this and got away with it all these years. I think they should be locked up like the animal that they are. I would very much like to find out who that is, and I will. The girl who knew too much. Tonight's 48 hours mystery. You know, when I look back, I wish that maybe I had listened a little more or been there a little more because she was always there for me. More than 19 years have passed since 19-year-old Michelle Lawless was found bludgeoned and

shot to death in her car. Some of this stuff's hard to read. And it's still not easy for her best friend to read the cheery diary that Michelle kept the last year of her life. January 1st, slept real late, family went to Mingo and I to Leon's. We loved and ate and talked and rented movies. Made me feel loved today and I am really happy. Love him.

Great first day of 1992. Melissa Gaines met Michelle when they were high school freshman in Benton, Missouri. I had just moved to Kelly High School. Didn't know anybody. Her little bubbly self come bouncing up and introduced herself, and it was all over. She was part of my life from that moment on. While Michelle stood barely five feet tall.

She was just little bitty. She was tiny. She was no lightweight. She was a green belt in karate, halfway to earning a black belt. I can't even remember anything she was ever scared of. She was fearless. Would it ever occur to you that Michelle might be in danger?

No. No. I mean, that never was a thought to me. Never. Which is why what happened in the early morning hours of November 8, 1992 was so unexpected, so shocking. How brutal a murder was this? Very. That's Rick Walder, the man with the mustache. He was a 32-year-old part-time deputy sheriff when he discovered the

body of Michelle Lawless. This is small town USA you know a lot of stuff like this just doesn't happen. The female's head is slumped over on the passenger seat. Police documented the grisly scene using blood evidence to reconstruct Michelle's final terrifying moments. What appears to be blood splatters on the highway. I believe that she got out of the vehicle and I think there was an argument.

Full of blood 16, 18 inches away from the left. She ended up over the guardrail and down the bottom of the slope. A very violent altercation took place. I believe that she was beat at the bottom and knocked unconscious. There was a lot of blood. There appears to be a trail or something like that.

There's something right there. There was also blood under Michelle's fingernails and marks on her right hand and wrist, suggesting she had fought her assailants. I think she was fighting for her life. I think she was fighting more than one person. There was a blood trail going back up the hill. They carry her across the guardrail.

Some blood ripped on the guardrail. They put her back in the car. It appears to be a.380 caliber. It wasn't until investigators searched her car and found three spent shell casings from a.380 handgun that they realized Michelle had been shot too. I think after she got back in the car, I think that's when she regained conscience

and somebody wretched through the window, shot her point blank in the face, shot in the back of the head, and then one more time in the back. I can't imagine what she went through that night. At the same time Rick Walter was working the crime scene, a 23-year-old local man walked into the sheriff's office with a surprising story. It scared me. I'd never really seen anything like that.

Mark Abbott reported that he had also seen the woman in the car. All I remember is her face was just matted and covered with hair and blood. Did you know who it was? No. No. Abbott told the dispatcher he thought the woman had been shot and that he tried to call 911, but a nearby pay phone was out of order. Pulled out there as fast as I could and went straight to the county sheriff's department trying to get an ambulance. As he was leaving, Abbott saw, as he described to investigators,

a white car with several dark-skinned Hispanic men driving away from the crime scene. Well, a man for sure and two or three other people. Michelle's family got the news when authorities came to their door. I answered the door. It's about 3 a.m., I guess. Jason Lawless was 15 when his older sister was killed. I don't do this well. How would you describe the effect on your family?

Whoever shot my sister... killed my family. killed my family. Every ounce of it, every fiber that held it together. The first suspect was, of course, the last person to admit seeing Michelle alive, the boyfriend she stopped to see, Leon Lamb. What time did she arrive at your house? She was only there about an hour or so, so it could have been 11, 30, or 12 at night.

And what time did she leave? Just right at 1 a.m. Was Michelle your first love? Yes, ma'am. Was Michelle your first love? Yes, ma'am. January 6th. Called Leon and told him I love him so much. And from the entries in her diary, Michelle clearly loved Leon. But they also argued frequently.

Michelle was hurt that Leon was seeing other girls. No matter how mean he is to me, I still love him. But that night, says Leon, things were fine, although he remembers Michelle was reluctant to leave his house. Now that I look back, it seemed like she knew something was wrong, maybe. Something was going to happen. Investigators looked closely at Leon, but they could find nothing to tie him to the scene, and he passed a polygraph.

Did you think it could be Leon? He never crossed my mind, no. Why not? I just could never imagine him wanting to harm her like that, ever. Weeks went by with few other leads and no arrests. And then finally, four months after Michelle's murder, a break. A big one.

Several inmates at the county jail reported that a 17-year-old Illinois boy who had been held there briefly on an assault charge had confessed to killing Michelle Lawless. His name was Joshua Keezer. When Mark Abbott was shown a photo lineup, he picked out Keezer as the driver he saw near the crime scene. Did you say, yeah, this is the guy I saw? I know this is it. No.

What did you say? It looks like him, and that looks like the car. That's all investigators needed. Joshua Keezer was charged with the first degree murder of Michelle Lawless. I sat there, stunned. investigators needed. Joshua Keiser was charged with the first degree murder of Michelle Lawless. I sat there stunned. I immediately started to just be shaken and confused and I didn't know what was happening. I just knew that something very real was happening. Michelle's family and friends were just as stunned.

Had you ever heard your sister mention the name Josh Keiser? No. Had you ever heard the name Josh Keiser? No. There was no truth to what they were presenting. Everything was a lie. So get this, the Ontario liberals elected Bonnie Crombie as their new leader. Bonnie who? I just sent you a profile.

Her first act as leader asking donors for a million bucks for her salary. That's excessive. She's a big carbon tax supporter. Oh yeah, check out her record as mayor. Oh get out of here. She even increased taxes in this economy. Yeah, higher taxes, carbon taxes, she sounds expensive. Bonnie Cromby and the Ontario Liberals.

They just don't get it. That'll cost you. A message from the Ontario PC Party. You don't believe in ghosts? I get it. Lots of people don't. I didn't either, until I came face to face with them. Ever since that moment, hauntings, spirits, and the unexplained have consumed my entire

life. I'm Nadine Bailey. I've been a ghost tour guide for the past 20 years. I've taken people along with me into the shadows, uncovering the macabre tales that linger in the darkness, and inside some of the most haunted houses, hospitals, prisons, and more. Join me every week on my podcast, Haunted Canada, as we journey through terrifying and bone-chilling stories of the unexplained. Search for Haunted Canada on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. We want to know who did it, of course. We just would really like to know why.

Was there a purpose behind it? Valerie Eubanks is Michelle Lawless' kid sister. Was it just a fluke? Was she at the wrong place at the wrong time? Did she walk up on something? You know, you just want to deny it. You don't want it to be true. Esther Lawless is their mother.

What do you know about her last hours? Who she was with? She was with some of her friends from Sexton that she hung out with all the time. Driving around in Sexton they would drive up and down Main Street and park in Malco parking lot or whatever and hang out. It seemed to be a very typical you know Saturday night. In the days before November 7th and 8th did Michelle express any kind of concerns or being afraid of anybody? Not to us, no.

Do you think that Michelle would have stopped for a stranger on the street? Not at all. We always kind of felt that someone she knew was involved, and that's what made her pull over and stop. Which is what made the arrest of Joshua Keizer so puzzling. There's no mention of him anywhere in Michelle's diary. Had you ever met her? Heard her name? No.

The first time I'd ever seen her is when my attorney brought me a picture of her obituary. That's the first time I had actually ever seen her face. When they began to ask me a few questions about some murder, I was like, well, you know, why are they asking me about this stuff? Josh certainly fit the type. He was a 17-year-old dropout and rumored to be a gang member. He came from a broken home, bouncing between his parents and living on the street. You know, he had long hair. He was dirty.

He slept on the street a lot of times and slept wherever he could. He had already had a couple different run-ins with the law. I wasn't really that different than most kids that don't have advantage. I was just going through some very, you know, difficult struggles. Even though Josh insisted he was 350 miles away the night of the murder, investigators hauled him into the office of Bill Farrell, the Scott County Sheriff back then. He settles into his chair like a split second later. called him into the office of Bill Farrell, the Scott County Sheriff back then. He settles into his chair like a split second later.

Literally comes halfway over his desk and accuses me of killing, and I quote, his little girl. And that they were charging me with first degree murder. More than a year later, in June of 1994, Josh Keizer got his day in court. What did you believe would happen at the trial? I believed I would win. What were they gonna present?

They had blood underneath the victim's fingernails. Was it yours? It was not my type. It was not my DNA. They did not have fingerprints, palm prints, no weapon, no paper trail, no motive. But the prosecution did have those jailhouse informants No fingerprints, palm prints, no weapon, no paper trail, no motive. But the prosecution did have those jailhouse informants

who took the stand and swore that Josh had confessed to the murder, and then a surprise witness. You went to the trial? Yes, ma'am. Although Chantel Crieder could only see the back of Keezer's head in court, she whispered to a friend that she thought she recognized him as a young man who had argued with Michelle at a Halloween party just one week before her murder.

This guy kept asking her out and she refused. He was real arrogant and very hateful. What do you mean hateful? He called her a bitch because she kept refusing. It was like, leave me alone. Then he asked me out, and I told him, I said, are you crazy? You just asked my best friend out. There's no way.

And he slapped me in the back of my hair. Josh Kieser looked like him. It looked, yeah, it looked like him. Finally, the connection the prosecutor needed. Chantelle was questioned for hours by Sheriff Bill Farrell and became the state's star witness. So you took the stand. And what did you say on the stand?

I believed it was Josh. Also on the stand, Mark Abbott, the man who had reported seeing Michelle Lawless in her car the night of her murder. Once again, he identified Josh as the driver of the white car he saw near the crime scene. But the defense pointed out that Abbott had reported seeing several men that night and had given conflicting descriptions. They chose to rely on the credibility of a man who first claimed that it was a light-skinned black man, then a carload of Mexicans, and then they finally settled on a pale white kid from Illinois. No physical evidence tied Josh to the murder.

This is the leather jacket that they... But the prosecutor told the jury that tests showed there was blood on Josh's jacket and a car he was driving. At the end of the trial, the jury was out just three and a half hours. I was sitting there ready to jump and then the verdict came back...guilty. Guilty of second degree murder in the death of Michelle Lawless. The only thing I remember is when the verdict came back, I went numb. I was confused. I remember hearing myself yelling and screaming.

It wasn't me. It wasn't me. What did you think when he yelled that, leaving the courtroom? What else can he say but I didn't do it. Josh Keizer's sentence? 60 years in prison. Josh was sent to a notorious prison known as The Walls, the Missouri State Penitentiary. Now closed, it was such a violent place.

It was once called the bloodiest 47 acres in America. And for nearly 10 years, Josh lived right here in housing unit 4, cell number 99. There was a point that I got attacked when I was in prison. There were some men who wanted to rape me and they tried and they failed. Praise God. But in the process of defending myself, I got beat up quite bad and ended up in the hospital. On two occasions, I prayed for death.

I didn't want to wake up. We're going toward where Michelle was found that night. There's nothing about this whole case that makes me feel good at all. In 2005, more than 12 years after finding Michelle Lawless shot dead in her car... Yeah, I go by here a lot. Rip Walger was no longer a part-time deputy. He was now the sheriff of Scott County. I think about the family and I can't imagine what the family went through.

For years, Walter had nagging doubts about the conviction of Josh Keizer. Talk to the average, everyday lay person, you know, and they would tell me the same thing. This kid didn't do it. So as first order of business, the new sheriff did something extraordinary. He reopened Josh Keeser's case. You must know how incredibly unusual that is. It's very unusual. In the law enforcement community, that's not a real popular thing to do.

This wasn't a cold case. This was a closed case. But Walter, with a wife and three children, quickly discovered that his decision to get to the truth made some people very uncomfortable. You've had death threats? Sure, sure. Undeterred, Walter hired an investigator

from another county, Brandon Cade, who knew nothing about the case, to conduct an independent review of the files. At first, Cade thought he was wasting his time. to conduct an independent review of the files. At first, Cade thought he was wasting his time. Reading the court transcripts, everything, they had witnesses that said he confessed. It seemed pretty rock solid when I first read through it.

But as he dug through the files, that rock solid case began to crumble. Every bit of it, once you really took it and examined it piece by piece and just looked at it a little harder, it came apart. BOOM! Remember those jailhouse informants who claimed Josh had confessed?

After getting better deals in exchange for their testimony, these three later admitted they lied. And there's more. This is the leather jacket that belonged to Josh Keeser. And this was evidence that supposedly tied him to the murder. Right. Right. The jury had been told that luminol tests done on this jacket and a car Keeser borrowed indicated drops of blood. We had it tested and in fact it wasn't blood.

It wasn't blood at all? No. And yet the jury in Josh's trial heard it was. Right. And what about the surprise star witness, Chantel Crider, who connected Josh Keeser to Michelle at the Halloween party? And in fact, did Chantel see Josh at a party? Did she see him arguing with Michelle Longs?

No. Was he even at that party? No. How do you know for a fact Josh Keizer wasn't at that party? Dawn Pierce hosted the Halloween party. Because I know every guy that was there that was not a strange man to me. So why did Chantel testify that Josh was there? She now says she was pushed hard

by the then sheriff, Bill Farrell. Did you feel pressured in that room? Yes, ma'am, I did. I really did. They kept going on and on and on about how my testimony was that important because I was what they needed to link them together. Just days after the verdict, Don Pierce and another girl who was at the party went to

Keezer's attorney and provided a sworn statement. They contacted his defense attorney the next Monday and said that he was not at our party. They had a list of all the kids that was there. That list was given to Sheriff Farrell, but somehow the information went nowhere. Everyone wanted to believe that this thing was done and over with and the guy was in jail. Jason Lawless believes there was a lot of pressure

on Sheriff Farrell to find his sister's killer. He wanted a conviction, he wanted it quick, and he wanted it fast, and he got it. And you're trying to make it right? I'm trying, and I will. Rick Walder was about to find out he wasn't all alone in his search for the truth. There was absolutely no reason why they convicted him.

Jane Williams was a church volunteer at the Missouri State Prison where Josh Keiser was serving out his sentence. I'm not an attorney. I had never read a trial transcript before. I really knew nothing about any of this. But as I began to just read it and truthfully just pray about it, I felt very clearly that I had to do something about this. Armed with her passion, Jane wrote a detailed summary and found lawyers willing to take Keeser's case for free. In December of 2008, after spending more than 15 years in prison...

You see it? ...Josh finally got what he wanted. Judge Richard Callahan agreed to review his case. Witness after witness testified for Josh... They followed her. They got the wrong guy. Including a tearful Chantel Crier. I regret it horribly. It affects me every day.

An innocent man has been locked up. And he doesn't deserve to be. But will it be enough to convince a judge to order a new trial? Dracula, the ancient vampire who terrorizes Victorian London. Blood and garlic, bats, and crucifixes, even if you haven't read the book, you think you know the story.

One of the incredible things about Dracula is that not only is it this wonderful snapshot of the 19th century, but it also has so much resonance today. The vampire doesn't cast a reflection in a mirror, so when we look in the mirror, the only thing we see is our own monstrous abilities. From the host and producer of American History Tellers and History Daily comes the new podcast, The Real History of Dracula. We'll reveal how author Bram Stoker rated ancient folklore, exploited Victorian fears around sex, science and religion, and how even today we remain enthralled to his strange creatures of the night. You can binge all episodes of The Real History of Dracula exclusively with

Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus and the Wondria, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Did you know that after World War II, the U.S. government quietly brought former Nazi scientists to America in a covert operation to advance military technology? Or that in the 1950s the US Army conducted a secret experiment by releasing bacteria over San Francisco to test how a biological attack might spread without alerting the public? These might sound like conspiracy theories, but they're not. They're well-documented government operations that have been hidden away in classified files for decades. I'm Luke Lamanna, a Marine Corps recon vent, and I've always had a thing for digging into the unknown.

It's what led me to start my new podcast, Redacted Declassified Mysteries. In it, I explore hidden truths and reveal some eye-opening events, like covert experiments and secret operations that those in power tried to keep buried. Follow redacted, declassified mysteries with me, Luke Lamanna, on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. To listen ad-free, join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Two long months passed after the court hearing. Josh Keizer sat in prison, afraid to get his hopes up. And then on February 17, 2009, Judge Richard Callahan made an unusual ruling. Instead of ordering a new trial,

he went ahead and declared Josh Keizer an innocent man. As you sit here today, do you believe that Josh Keizer had anything to do with the murder of Michelle Lawless? Absolutely not. I believe he's innocent and I so found. I let out this just roar. I mean I just let it out. I yelled. I shouted with everything I had in me. The very next day, Keizer walked out of prison, a free man for the first time in 16 years. He hugged his mother. He hugged James Williams, the social worker who had championed his case.

For years he had had to carry that he was a monster killer who brutally killed someone, which was not true. And then he turned to Sheriff Rick Walter. I wanted to thank him personally for what he'd done. Both the prosecutor, Kenneth Holshoff, and former Sheriff Bill Farrell have declined our request for interviews. But in court documents, Farrell denies any wrongdoing.

And Holshoff has said publicly, he still believes Keeser's guilty. What do you think of that? I think we've done the right thing, and we move on and try to find out who done this. Sheriff Walters still believes it was someone Michelle knew. There's people of suspicion. We have right now about six or seven different people that we're definitely interested in and we're looking at. On that list... Still today I'm a number one suspect in this murder. Am I or am I not?

That's right. Mark Abbott wants a star witness for the prosecution. Now Abbott's account that night raises questions. Questions starting with what he says he did when he found Michelle in her car. I just reached in the window when I grabbed her and she came up. What's wrong with that story? The side window was only partly open. Not wide enough, says the sheriff, to fit Mark's story.

You could reach through the window and grab somebody and set them up, not the way he said. Did you kill Michelle Lawless? No. But there are a lot of people in this town who think you did? A lot. A lot of people think I did. I've also spoken to a number of people who've said you've bragged about it. One of them was Ron Burton,

a gun shop owner and longtime friend of Abbott's family. Burton remembers one chilling conversation with Abbott soon after Keeser was convicted. He said, and I quote, I took care of the bitch. And that's what he said and he kind of had a smirky little grin on his face and I'll never forget it because it shocked me. Do you think he was kidding? No, no I don't. Abbott denies ever saying that. You're saying that Ron Burton is lying?

Lying. There's also an affidavit from a narcotics detective who says Abbott told him that he didn't kill Michelle but watched another man do it. Were you there when someone else killed her? No. He's full of shit. Why would so many people think you're capable

of something like this, that they'd point the finger? I don't know why I did tell him to anger him like that. They're pointing the finger at you, why? I do not have an answer to that. I do not. Abbott says he never met Michelle, but her close friend Melissa Gaines has a different recollection.

Did Michelle ever mention a Mark Abbott? Yes. Yes, she did. She had said that she had met Mark Abbott, one of the Abbott boys, and thought he was a good-looking guy. And I told her, Michelle, you know, don't mess with either one of the Abbott boys. thought he was a good-looking guy. And I told her, Michelle, you know, don't mess with either one of the Abbott boys.

You know better than that. In fact, there are two Abbott boys. They're identical twins. Those boys, they would change places with each other, from little boys on. You can't tell them apart. Which is why to this day, the sheriff isn't absolutely sure

which Abbott brother came in to report finding Michelle. Two people in the sheriff's office say it was Matt. So, was Matt Abbott involved? Was Mark involved? Matt said he never was, but yet we got two people that says he walked in and reported it. They have him down as Matt Abbott. So, you know, that could be a conspiracy, couldn't it? Mark and Matt Abbott were later convicted on federal drug charges in 1997,

making some people in town wonder if maybe Michelle Lawless had something on them. There's a lot of theories out there. One of them was that she had information on their drug dealing, and there's a lot of money involved in that, and that's motive enough for somebody to kill somebody. Along with Abbott, Sheriff Walter hasn't ruled out Leon Lamb, the last person to admit to seeing Michelle Lawless alive. Did you have anything to do with Michelle Lawless's death?

Not at all. I loved her. You know that your DNA was found under her fingernails. Yes, ma'am. And how do you explain that? We had sex that night. And we were both pretty passionate people. So time and again, she did scratch me during sex.

But Leon confirms what Michelle wrote in her diary, that the couple had frequent arguments, especially when he saw her with other men, and in fact the night of her murder, Michelle had run into Leon while she was driving around with male friends. Did that bother you? It did. You know, because we had been together for three years. Did she leave the house upset with you or angry with you at all? No, not at all.

I mean, like I said, we hugged, kissed, and said our goodnights, and that was it. These are only two of a half dozen suspects. Looked like from the pictures that they were some blood transfer. And Sheriff Walter needs more than theories and speculation. This is kind of like behind the knee, right? He needs hard evidence. To find it, he went all the way to the Netherlands,

to a place known as the Crime Farm. Did you know that after World War II, the U.S. government quietly brought former Nazi scientists to America in a covert operation to advance military technology? Or that in the 1950s, the U.S. Army conducted a secret experiment by releasing bacteria over San Francisco to test how a biological attack might spread without alerting the public? These might sound like conspiracy theories, but they're not. They're well-documented government operations that have been hidden away in classified files for decades. I'm Luke Lamanna, a Marine Corps recon vent, and I've always had a thing for digging into the unknown.

It's what led me to start my new podcast, Redacted, Declassified Mysteries. In it, I explore hidden truths and reveal some eye-opening events, like covert experiments and secret operations that those in power tried to keep buried. Follow Redacted, Declassified Mysteries with me, Luke Lamanna, on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. To listen ad free join Wondery

Plus in the Wondery app. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little known British territory called Pitcairn and it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reached the age of 10 that was still a virgin. It just happens to all of them. I'm journalist Luke Jones and for almost two years I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it,

people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn Trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery+. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple podcasts or Spotify. Halfway around the world from Scott County, Missouri, there's a rustic house in the Netherlands known as the Crime Farm. I came here in hopes of finding some DNA.

We're looking to maybe get some skin cells off of some of the clothing. Dutch forensic experts Selma and Richard Eichlenboom began the painstaking process of trying to find a killer's DNA. Using techniques not widely available in the U.S., Richard first examines the material with crime scopes, which emit different kinds of light to locate normally invisible spots of skin cells or other material. Does this actually have fingers up here?

No, it's like this. Those spots will be tested for what's called touch or grip DNA. Number one. They'll compare what they find with DNA samples from the people of interest on the sheriff's list. They didn't have Mark Abbott's DNA, so they're using a sample from his identical twin, Matt. Is the DNA of identical twins identical, completely identical?

Normally it is. The Dutch team made an intriguing discovery that raises even more doubts about Mark Abbott's story, of how he pulled Michelle upright in her seat that night. And where exactly did you grab her? On the shoulder, kind of. Might have been by the breast a little bit. I can't fully remember, but I know it wasn't too far. You know?

If I were the driver. Yeah, your shoulder. This shoulder? Yeah, on that side. But the Dutch couple say they found what is likely Abbott DNA in other places on Lollis' clothes. I mean, did you just grab the shoulder? Did you grab more of her body to pull her up? Do you remember?

I just grabbed her shoulder. I know what he said where he touched her. If it's somewhere else that that he it was impossible for him to touch her and that's that's where we find it then he has a problem. In December 2009 Mark Abbott was moved temporarily from the federal prison where he was doing time on those drug charges to Missouri for a hearing on an unrelated charge. Walter, hey. How you doing? I see you got a lot of busy things going on around here.

You're famous. Yeah, thanks. I can't thank nobody but you. Abbott agreed to talk to Sheriff Walter about the lawless case, even offering his own DNA sample, which was shipped off to the crime farm for additional testing. And what about Leon Lamb? The Dutch confirmed that Lamb's DNA is mixed with Michelle's blood that was found under her fingernails.

No surprise since Lamb says he had sex with Michelle earlier the night she was killed. But they don't find anyone else's DNA, and that is something of a surprise, since it appears Michelle fought her attacker. She wouldn't take anything off anybody. She would fight if she needed to. And I believe she fought for her life that night. A reason to continue looking at Leon, says Sheriff Walter, although he points out Michelle may not have made contact with her assailant.

If she grabbed their clothing, she's not going to get any of their skin cells. You know, unless she got them in the face, there's a good chance that we're not going to get anything. So far, none of the team's findings point conclusively to any one suspect, but Selma Eichlenbaum believes the findings can help the sheriff get someone to talk.

This DNA results, it can become a leverage for the sheriff to get things starting up again. Sheriff Walter is hoping that those DNA results and further investigation will allow him to go to a grand jury soon. A lot of people are really scared about this case. Who are they afraid of or what are they afraid of? Maybe they're afraid of the people that done this.

Six months after Josh Keizer was released, we took him back to the now closed prison where he served most of his nearly 16 years in custody. It's now being redeveloped as a museum and office park. What's it like to be in here? Strangely, way too familiar. And where'd you sleep? Right here. I lived in this cell.

Swept this cell, mopped this cell. When you look around here, how would you describe your life now? I am blessed and highly favored. I'm living the dream. I am blessed and highly favored. I'm living the dream. Josh got a job working construction. His own apartment. And he often speaks about his experience, advocating for judicial reform.

He remains close with James Williams and enjoys strong support from his church community. He insists he is not bitter. I don't look back my 16 years in prison and get hateful and angry about all of it. It does not excuse what was done to me. There is no excuse for that. It was wrong. it was evil. Which might explain why he was so eager

to assist with the prison renovation. Do you believe that Michelle's death will be solved? That you will find out who killed her? I have to believe that. I really do. To this day, Michelle Lawless' family remains tormented by the mystery of her senseless murder. Whoever took her life needs to pay for what they did. It's not going to bring her back. I know that, but it will help all

of us rest a little easier. I owe that to her family to find out who done it. I owe it to this community to find out because if there's somebody that's got away with murder, they need to pay for their crime. In 2010, Scott County paid $4 million to Josh Keizer to settle a wrongful conviction lawsuit. In 2011, Keizer donated $10,000 to the Scott County Sheriff's Department to fund the continuing investigation of the Wallace murder. as their new leader. Bonnie who? I just sent you her profile. Check out her place in the Hamptons. Huh, fancy. She's a big carbon tax supporter, yeah? Oh yeah, check out her record as mayor.

Get out of here. She even increased taxes in this economy. Yeah, higher taxes, carbon taxes. She sounds expensive. Bonnie Cromby and the Ontario Liberals. They just don't get it. That'll cost you. A message from the Ontario PC party. They just don't get it. That'll cost you. A message from the Ontario PC Party.

It was 1983. Power suits and perms were all the rage. Nightclubs pulsed with energy. And from bedrooms to boardrooms, cocaine was the drug of choice. One woman was raking in cash to keep that supply chain moving. Her name was Laney Jacobs.

But Laney had her sights set higher. She dreamed of becoming a Hollywood movie producer. That's how it starts. Before it ends, someone will be shot dead. From Wondery and the team behind the hit series Hollywood and Crime comes a gripping tale of ambition, betrayal, and the dark side of moviemaking. Follow Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Listen everywhere on December 2nd, or you can binge all episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+, starting November 11th.

From the award-winning masters of audio horror, Oh, I see a face right up against the window. Bleach white, no hair, black eyes, a round hole for a mouth. It's flat, Taylor. It's completely flat. I don't know what that is. I don't know what kind of a head is flat. comes the return of Dark Sanctum. Look. What is that coming under the door?

It's blood. Seven original chilling tales inspired by the Twilight Zone and Tales from the Crypt. Get back in your car. Lizzie, it's OK. I'm here now. Josh, get in your car. Lizzie, it's okay. I'm here now. Josh, get in your car! Oh!

Oh! Oh! Starring Bethany Joy Lenz, Clive Standen, and Michael O'Neil. Welcome to The Dark Sanctum. Listen to Dark Sanctum Season 2 exclusively on Wondry+. Join Wondry+.

In the Wondry app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.