The Lawless Files

Former sheriff Rick Walter explains some of the physical evidence that discredits Mark Abbott's story; we review Judge Callahan's ruling; read some troubling emails where Mark Abbott shames the victim. 

Among the questions: Is there enough evidence for a conviction? What were the roles of the responding officers? Was DNA taken from Kevin Williams? 

Mark Abbott made different claims about where he went after he found the body of Mischelle Lawless. In this bonus episode, Bob Miller and Tyler Graef hop in the car and retrace the routes. Was it possible for Mark to return to the crime scene and make it to Heather Pierce's by 2 a.m.? The key to that answer lies in the statement made by officer Roy Moore.

Former chief deputy Tom Beardslee gives his account of what happened in the moments following his first interview with Mark Abbott. Full interview can be found at www.thelawlessfiles.com with an access pass.

Suspects Mark Abbott and Kevin Williams continue to testify in depositions of Josh Kezer's Habeas appeal, and continue to contradict one another. Josh's attorneys catch that Williams' story has changed about who he saw at the party the night of the murder.

As Josh Kezer fights for his innocence, his attorneys call current suspects Mark Abbott and Kevin Williams to testify in depositions.

This episode explores some creative reimbursement collections by Bill Ferrell; the firing of a drug task force officer who testified at Josh Kezer's hearing; and new testimony by Chantelle Crider.

This episode looks at where Mark Abbott and Kevin Williams went the morning after the murder, then an interaction that Williams had with then-sheriff Rick Walter shortly after he reopened the case.

More about the dark culture of Scott County, and new information emerges that the wrong man is in prison for the Mischelle Lawless murder.

Coming soon. The Angela Mischelle Lawless murder and Josh Kezer exoneration story, as never told before.

Episode 1 introduces listeners to the Mischelle Lawless murder of Nov. 8, 1992. The investigation would eventually lead to the conviction of an innocent man. The first episode in Season 1 gets right into the investigation of the murder through the eyes of a former deputy and the man who would later reopen the murder as a sheriff. The first episode introduces two witnesses (or was it one?) who were identical twins.

In this episode, listeners learn more about who Mischelle knew, and what her diary said about some of the suspects in the case. Did she know the identical twin who claims to have found her body? What does the diary disclose about motives and other suspects? Editor's note: This episode was updated on Jan. 15, 2022. A portion of this episode with information about a missing diary page was cut from the episode after new information was presented.

Mark Abbott makes a major change in his story, and introduces a new person near the crime scene. Meanwhile, chief deputy Tom Beardslee was not given the opportunity to interview Abbott a second time.

Ten days after the murder, Mark Abbott told an officer that he saw a mixed-race black man at the payphone. And he knew the man at the payphone, because he'd seen him at a party earlier that night. That man was with Lyle Day all evening on the night of the murder.

In episode 5, we learn how the jailhouse informants that implicated Josh Kezer for the murder of Mischelle Lawless tried to recant in 1993. We learn more about how Scott County built its case against Kezer.

Josh Kezer's attorneys try to fight back against the murder case, calling the sheriff among others to testify under oath in depositions.

Josh's attorneys had pushed forward and received recanted statements from jailed informants. In this episode, we find out how the state pushed through the statements, accusing wrongdoing of Josh's defense attorney.

Just a couple of months after Josh Kezer's conviction, Mark Abbott's friend gets busted on drug possession charges. Josh Kezer's former attorney unveils a dramatic reveal about a connection involving the sheriff.