Mischelle Lawless: The Mysterious 'Mark' (Part 3)

In the early morning hours of November 8th, 1992, 19-year-old nursing student Mischelle Lawless was found dead, just outside Benton, Missouri, on the side of Interstate 70. Investigators claimed the evidence suggested Mischelle had fought for her life, ran from her attacker and was pursued and caught before being returned to her car where she was shot three times in the back of the head. After questioning Mischelle’s boyfriend and friends, the case went cold until April 7th of 1993, when 17 year old Josh Kezer was arrested and charged with the murder of Mischelle Lawless. Kezer’s arrest was based on information provided to police by two jailhouse informants, and supporting testimony of a witness who claimed to see Mischelle and Josh arguing at a party the night of her murder, as well as another witness who placed Kezer at the scene of the crime. Despite the lack of physical evidence and the questionable credibility of the witnesses and informants, Josh Kezer was found guilty of second degree murder and he was sentenced to 60 years in prison. However, sixteen years later Josh Kezer was exonerated when discovered that the eyewitness placing Kezer at the scene had changed his account of that evening multiple times. Kezer sued for wrongful conviction and won.

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[lidet]

I laughed so loud when you said, "Some people have small bladders, Stephanie, and I think you're judging right now and it's not right." Lol the level of dry sarcasm killed me! You two just play off of each other so well.

[maggie_maeve]

Stephanie at the beginning of the video “Mark drove a small truck.”
As the video progresses, “He drive a small baby truck.”
“He drove a teeny tiny, baby truck.”
“He drove an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot truck.”

[dannylenderman]

Stephanie, my wife and I are from this area and trust me on this, men and women DO pull over on the side of the road to use the bathroom. It doesn't matter how close you are to your house, especially when you've been drinking.

[dancingoctopus]

Derrick did not just drop the fact that there was a hit on his family and a jail house informant saved him without thinking we are going to want more on that.

Honestly, story time with Derrick and Stephanie would be bomb. Like Derrick tells a story to Stephanie and she gets to react.

[Amberielle]

If the “Mark” in her diary is Mark Abbott, perhaps dear misguided Mischelle told Mark that she was pregnant like she had done to other guys, and Mark was in a serious relationship and decided to kill Mischelle. The reason he talked about the rings is because when he had spent time with her he saw them on her.

[heather_doestruecrime]

I’m from a “partying and cruising” small town, and I just find it extremely hard to believe that Mischelle & Mark Abbott WOULDNT have known about each other - even if they had no personal relationship, I know the name & face of everyone from where I lived just from attending parties and having mutual ‘friends.’ Him claiming he didn’t know of her immediately threw me off. If her best friend said she also mentioned a set of twins, how many twins were in that area? Because there was one set of partying, attractive twins from my town and only one. Coupled with him supposedly finding her body & inserting himself into the investigation, her writing about a Mark in her diary, hanging out at the same spots he did, and some of his statements not making sense and him telling proven lies (like Ray’s sighting) makes me believe he was involved.

[dont_panic]

I've been watching Stephanie for a while & no one tells a victim's story like her! I started watching Detective Perspective & now I'm binge watching Breaking Homicide! I can't get enough! Love you guys as a team best though 💕

[michellemooney]

Can we just give Derrick a shout out for always keeping cool and never being anything short of super respectful to Stephanie no matter the conversation, not just any man would be able to handle doing a podcast with a strong woman 💪🏻I never saw Big Brother or anything but I love that Derrick is from my home state and 👏 it 👏 shows 👏! I am here for the banter, Stephanie’s deep dives, and Derrick’s feedback and theories. ❤

[jendermer]

I’ve been listening to you guys for a few years. Just a suggestion, but it would be cool if you did an episode explaining how you both got into true crime and how you merged together & with your team. Maybe a little on what you do outside of the podcast, true crime related, maybe personal, and what you’ve learned together through this work. I know I would love it and it could give you a little break with a little flavor of something different.

[larissashakir]

What if Mark Abbot happened to be driving behind Michelle and flashed his lights had her pull over in order to kind of meet up with her in a non public place. And then what if Michelle told Mark she was pregnant? And he lost it, shot her because he didn’t want his girlfriend to find out?

[DenGirl]

Thank you, Stephanie and Derrick and Shannon! Another amazing episode.

I can totally see someone flashing their headlights at Mischelle’s car to make her think it’s the cops. Interesting theories though.

[PeachyKeenLishy]

Thank goodness for Crime Weekly. Needing this today!

[bjndhmy]

Love your show! I would really love it if you would cover a crime local to my area. The case of Thomas Brown from Canadian, Texas. He was a High School senior who disappeared and his body was found 2 years later under very strange circumstances. It's an unsolved mystery and if you research it, some things about it and people involved are very shady. The local sheriff, kids in the town, the media, some important people are covering something up. There's a podcast about it as well. It is very good. I would love for you to dive in to it and give us your take.

[lucyhouse]

Could it be as simple as she was driving.. saw
“ someone she knew”.. and they signaled to her to pull over . Back in the day before cell phones .. people would do a hand signal to “ call me 🤙 “
Something like that .. but of course a signal to pull over . Even unrolled windows.. yelling to pull over . I don’t know., I’ve just been mulling this over .
Thank You for continuing this case .

[gypsy]

I love the new intro. You guys dressed up as old fashioned detectives gave me my first chuckle of the day lol.

[SarahBurnette]

How Michelle got out of the car?
I always thought Derrick's idea of, she felt nauseous and had to vomit as a possibility. It's also possible she just puked up spit/saliva/snot that wouldn't necessarily register as "vomit" to be looking for.

[debbiemillerbeck]

Still with Derrick. So far, there is no reason why Mark would lay in wait to ambush her. Did she smoke? Could be the reason why her window was halfway down in winter. Unless he confesses, we may never know.

[ColleenDaumen]

This has been a fascinating case thus far, so many twists and turns. As always, Stephanie, your script is brilliant. I love you guys!!! 🩷🩷🖤🖤🩷🩷🖤🖤🩷🩷

[sweettea]

I work 3rd shift Friday nights when the podcast is released, but I always come back in sundays to watch on youtube to see pictures and listen to the facts for a 2nd time. Thanks for all your work, Stephanie & Derrick!

[callysto]

I was really looking forward to this episode! I hadn't heard anything about this case before. The local authorities are super suspicious. I have a feeling they were corrupt and not just incompetent. I hope her family can finally get the justice they deserve 🙏