The Lawless Files

25/07/2024

Court orders an innocent man released from prison. State refuses. Legal fight ensues.

For the second time in weeks, a Missouri prison has ignored a court order to release an inmate whose murder conviction was overturned.

22/07/2024

Two years ago today authorities found the body of Timmy Dees. It was just the beginning for Barb Hall in her journey to find truth and justice. She is getting closer week by week.

01/06/2024

Disgusting people. A dispatcher and K9 officer.

12/05/2024

On our way back home from a short trip this morning, the family and I were listening to a Harry Potter audiobook. We were at the part in Order of the Phoenix when Molly Weasley, the primary maternal character in the book series, has come into contact with a common creature that magically turns into the person’s worst fear. For some, that might be a giant spider or snakes or some dreadful monster. But for Molly, this creature kept turning magically into the images of her dead children. The fear left Molly paralyzed, sobbing and unable to perform the simple spell to get rid of the creature. After another character stepped into help get rid of the creature, Molly kept sobbing and apologizing. She was embarrassed she couldn’t overcome her fear. It’s one of the more heartbreaking scenes in all the books, especially when you have previously finished the series. Molly Weasley eventually will lose one of her children. Her worst fear will come to life. This fictional scene played out in my vehicle, I kid you not, as I was passing by the I-55 exit at Benton. On Mother’s Day of all days.
The sight of the interchange took my breath in the moment. The exit ramp. And everything that happened there. I thought of Mischelle’s mom Esther, an exceedingly private person. And then I thought of Barb, Karen, Ericka, Jama, Connie, Kathy …
My heart goes out to all the mommas today who have lived through their worst nightmares. And especially for those who have not received justice. I once read that grief pours out when love has nowhere else to go. Love will pour out today, I’m sure.
We will continue to remember those who are no longer with us, and the families left to bear the grief of their tragic absence. — Bob Miller

28/02/2024

It was on this day two years ago that Timmy Dees went missing. We haven’t forgotten. Our thoughts are with Barbara Hall today. This will be a tough day for her, but we are also inspired by her relentless pursuit of truth and for justice. .

22/01/2024

****UPDATE*****

BROOKE AND CHILD HAVE BEEN LOCATED AND SAFE. INVESTIGATION IS ONGOING. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE

update as of 1506 on 01-23-2024. The witness has come forward and stated they seen Brooke and her child on Friday 01/19/24 in the Dexter area. Law enforcement is still looking to speak with Brooke. If anyone has any information, please contact the Stoddard County Sheriffs Office. ******

Further clarification regarding this case. The Stoddard County Sheriffs Officd received a call from the Stoddard County Children’s Division in reference to a hotline call they received from a mandated reporter in regard to the wellbeing of a 1 year old child of Brooke Baker.

The Stoddard County Sheriffs Office received information that Brooke Baker left her mother’s residence on approximately 01/18/2024 in the middle of the night. Brooke did not take her vehicle due to it not running.

Information received from Brooke’s mother was that she had spoke with her via text informing her the child was fine as of 01/20/2024 and that she should be contacting law enforcement shortly. No contact with law enforcement was ever made.

Law enforcement is actively looking for Brooke in an attempt to check the safety of the 1 year old child. It is believed by law enforcement that Brooke is avoiding law enforcement. If you have any information about the location of Brooke and her child please contact the Stoddard County Sheriffs Office. *******

Update: ****Brooke is believed to be in no danger and avoiding speaking with authorities due to investigation. Family has never filed missing person report and has spoke with her but she refused to give whereabouts. ****

The Stoddard County Sheriff's Office is asking for assistance in locating Brooke Baker/Galloway, age 28. The Sheriff's Office needs to check her and her daughter’s welfare. She has not been seen in approximately 5 days. Last seen around Dexter area. We appreciate any information you may have about her whereabouts. If you have information please contact the Stoddard County Sheriff's Office at 573-568-4654

10/01/2024

The way Josh Kezer was treated changed how I (Bob) felt about the death penalty. Then I learned what happened to David Robinson in Sikeston and it strengthened my beliefs that the government should not be in the business of killing people, especially not when it is also in the business of convicting the wrong people. This is not a partisan issue. This story illustrates that.

A group of Republican lawmakers raised concerns about the death penalty and advocated for legislation that would abolish it in Missouri.

09/01/2024

Josh Kezer gave an interview to a St. Louis radio station.

Listen to Book 2 - The Murder of Angela Mischelle Lawless by KTRS 550am on

17/11/2023

Bob covered Mark Abbott's sentencing yesterday for the Southeast Missourian. He pleaded guilty to felon in possession of a firearm. But to be fair, it appears law enforcement set up a sting. Abbott admitted to being in the middle of a m**hamphetamine relapse and admitted possessing the gun, but he insists the person who brought it to his house said he would be back in 3 hours to retrieve it and never came back. That matches other information we've received about this arrest. Thirty-seven months is on the lower end of the sentencing scale, but Abbott would get points for cooperating with officers and admitting to the crime. This case has always felt like it was about som**hing other than a gun case. Available court documents (some are sealed) don't include any information relating to any other case, or government cooperation other than his own admission to the gun charge. Barring other cases coming forward, Abbott has already served about half of his sentence and will likely be out in less than two years.

Federal Senior District Judge Rodney Sippel sentenced Mark Abbott to 37 months in prison Thursday, Nov. 16, following Abbott's guilty plea for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Abbott, 53, of Cape Girardeau was indicted May 3, 2022. The search of Abbott's home was conducted March 22, 2022. T...

12/11/2023

We did a podcast episode on this, but we thought it would be a good time to remind folks. Several individuals involved in the original Mischelle Lawless trial committed perjury, and some more than once. The proof is in the depositions and trial transcripts. Perjury in a murder case is a Class A felony. Before anyone asks, no, we don’t expect or haven’t heard anything looming about perjury. It just seems prudent to remember that perjury is a primary reason why the wrong person was convicted and why the Lawless family hasn’t gotten justice for Mischelle. Missouri law provides for the punishment of those who would try to pervert the justice system, especially in murder cases. There is no statute of limitations for Class A felonies. It is our view that perjury should be on the table for anyone who lied under oath to send Josh Kezer to prison. In fact, it seems like lawmakers crafted the murder provision of this law precisely for a case like this.

08/11/2023

Today we remember Mischelle. It was on this day 31 years ago she was murdered. I grieve for her family. I cannot fathom the torture of losing a child or a sibling in the way Marvin, Esther, Jason and Valerie lost Mischelle. But I have come to understand the toll of watching the system fail again and again and again. I’ve seen it with the Lawless investigation. With Connie Goodwin. With Barb Hall. Ericka and Kimberly. Karen Langston. Jama Furgerson.
We all need to strive to do better for justice and the families of victims. That includes me. I’m learning that families don’t just suffer loss when their loved one is taken from them. They must deal with their grief while navigating the ubiquitous stress and frustration of an investigation. While navigating the weight of the spotlight. While moving through life when everyone knows their story. They see the looks of pity. They struggle over whether to grieve quietly or advocate loudly. Neither answer is right. There are only crushing consequences. They bury their children while placing their trust with law enforcement only to have their hearts broken all over again. Moving on is no easier than staying in the fight. It’s a life or guilt decision.
They have to deal with people like me, asking questions, making them relive the worst moments of their lives, and airing out the flaws of the ones they love. All of it is horrific. All of it is ugly. And so damn unnecessary.
It hurts to think about the actions that could have spared all this heartbreak. No one deserves to die like Mischelle did. The people who took Mischelle’s life have never been held accountable. I hope her killers read this post. I hope they feel claustrophobic knowing people are still coming for them. I hope the thought of a police knock on their door haunts their sleep. I hope they hear the cell doors slam shut in their self-imposed silence. I hope they know their only relief will come from a confession.
But more importantly I hope that every single person who knows what happened and holds key information reads this post and takes action today. Mischelle’s parents wanted so badly to get accountability for their daughter they had her body exhumed. They buried Mischelle twice. The family doesn’t need to say how badly they want justice.
So here we are again. It’s November eighth. Another year has passed with no resolution. Marvin still ties the flowers to the stop sign. Esther still has Mischelle’s photos on display. Mischelle has now been gone 12 more years than she was alive. But she matters as much as she ever has. We have a special prosecutor and a new investigator now. If you are a witness who hasn’t been truthful or hasn’t come forward, you can relieve some of the weight this family is carrying. Its time to muster some courage and share what you know. It’s time to let Mischelle rest in peace. It’s time to do the right thing.

Sincerely,
Bob Miller
The Lawless Files

08/11/2023

Well this is … interesting.
Let us know what you think in the comments.

No doubt you’ve heard som**hing about the Lawless case.

07/11/2023

It's interesting. Prosecutor Don Cobb told Bob in July that he didn't want the name of the special prosecutor released to the public, due to the distractions it could cause Allen Moss. Fast forward a few months and the special prosecutor and his new investigator conducted a TV interview with KFVS. No shade to KFVS. They were kind to the Lawless Files podcast when we first launched. Crystal Britt, in particular, is knowledgeable about the case and a true professional. She has spent time with the family. But this might be a good time to remind folks that The Lawless Files has shared potential leads and evidence with the prosecuting attorney's office in good faith. Anyway, since the special prosecutor and investigator were seen in KFVS news promos, Bob wrote an update for the Southeast Missourian on some of the latest developments in the case, including naming the names of those newly involved in the investigation. I encourage you, if you've been considering subscribing to the Southeast Missourian, do so after clicking on the article. This lets the analytics people know that investigative content is valued and worth supporting. BTW, the anniversary of Mischelle's death is officially tomorrow.

Wednesday, Nov. 8, marks the 31st anniversary of the murder of Angela "Mischelle" Lawless. Lawless was a 19-year-old college nursing student who was killed on the Interstate 55 exit ramp less than a mile from her home near Benton, Missouri. She was the oldest of Marvin and Esther Lawless' three chil...

19/10/2023

A report of possible human remains found in Wayne County, Missouri leads to a break in a missing persons case.

19/10/2023

Huge story out of Wayne County. Our thoughts are with Patrick Chapman’s family. He had been missing since May 10, 2020.

A report of possible human remains found in Wayne County, Missouri leads to a break in a missing persons case.

15/10/2023

The highway patrol investigators in charge of Timmy Dees’ death investigation never fully interviewed Barbara Hall, Timmy’s mother. We have focused a lot on the questions Barb had about different aspects of the case. What’s not been focused on is that they refused to even look at information Barb had collected. The picture you see here are printouts of screen shots taken from Barb’s phone and some from her friends’ phones. The cup is for context on the height of this stack. When Barb told the detectives she had leads to share, they said everyone was lying to her. They said this without knowing what information she obtained or from whom she obtained it. Unfortunately, we know not everything shared with Barb is or was truthful. And the detectives did check out one lead that was passed along to Timmy’s father and the private investigator he had hired. But when it came to Barb, they wanted nothing to do with the information you see here. In many missing person and cold cases detectives want leads. It’s part of the job to track down leads. In Timmy’s case, the investigation was closed due to the assumptions that the people to last see Timmy were being truthful and despite the undetermined cause of death and despite a 911 call Timmy made in the moments just after he was last seen alive. And while we’ve got your attention: if you’re the kind of person who would lie to a grieving mother about the death of her son, for any reason, shame on you. The lies only give false hope to a family desperate for the truth.

12/10/2023

Compare this to how Madison County treated the Timmy Dees case. Night and day.

12/10/2023

This seems like an important story. We would like to believe that politics doesn't affect investigations, though we know that it sometimes does. Clearly, in St. Louis, it did.

To protest Kim Gardner, one detective was willing to let murder suspects walk free, even if he believed that they should be behind bars.

03/10/2023

Be on the lookout in Bollinger County.

***PLEASE SHARE***

Reference: Missing Person Investigation
Date: October 2, 2023

On Friday, September 29th, 2023, the Bollinger County Sheriff’s Office received information in reference to a report of a missing person. The missing person was identified Leah Lamb. Lamb has a registered address in Saint Louis, Missouri, but is believed to have been residing within Bollinger County, Missouri, prior to this report. Lamb is described as a forty-two (42) year old white female with blonde hair, five feet one inch (5’1”) tall and weighing one hundred and twenty (120) pounds. If you have any information pertaining to Lamb or her whereabouts, please contact the Bollinger County Sheriff’s Office at (573)238-2633.

- Sheriff Casey A. Graham

27/09/2023

UPDATE: Mr. Francis has been located, and his immediate family has been notified.


Missing Person

On 9/26, we received a report that 47-year-old white male Jason Francis was missing and was last known on 9/23, leaving his residence (unknown clothing description), possibly on a green four-wheeler in the 1700 block of County Road 272 near Chaffee, Mo. His family and friends are very concerned and have not heard from him since. A missing persons investigation is ongoing, and if you have any information about Jason's whereabouts, please reach out to the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office.

01/09/2023

At nearly every turn, Barbara Hall struggled to get law enforcement to investigate Timmy Dees' death. Once they got involved, did investigators predetermine Timmy's cause of death before they truly investigated it? In interview recordings obtained through Barb Hall's public records request, we see that detectives were sharing their theories with the last people to see Timmy alive and before he called 911. And those witnesses/persons of interest told different stories. The case remains closed.

26/08/2023

Now available to non-subscribers. It's a tough watch. Let us know what stood out to you in the comments.

Did detectives make a premature conclusion on the death of Timmy Dees? The Lawless Files takes a look at original interviews with three persons of interest, ...

20/08/2023

Hey all. Be sure to subscribe to The Lawless Files Case Updates newsletter. We will be announcing the release of some new content on the Timmy Dees case via the newsletter in the next couple of days. https://www.thelawlessfiles.com/

11/08/2023

Some more information on the murder of Montez Moss in Scott City.

Scott City murder suspect Mary Ruble allegedly admitted to multiple Scott City police officers she shot and killed Montez Moss on July 24. A probable-cause statement, authored by Scott City Sgt. Brooks Brockmire and obtained by the Southeast Missourian, describes alleged confessions made as to how a...

02/08/2023

Bob covered the Andy Cooper sentencing for the Southeast Missourian yesterday. The hearing took a few hours. New information was revealed at the trial beyond just how long Cooper will spend in prison. There was more news than just the sentence. The prosecutor revealed that Cooper had been involved in a crash in 2008 similar to the one that took Abby Cohen’s life in 2020. You can find out more about that wreck, plus reactions and testimony given at the sentencing in the article linked below.

A former Sikeston, Missouri, police captain was sentenced Tuesday, Aug. 1, to 14 years in prison for his role in the death of a Sikeston woman who was planning a honeymoon and pursuing a career in criminal justice...

01/08/2023

Andy Cooper has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for his role in the death of Abby Cohen. Ten years for involuntary manslaughter and four years for armed criminal action to run consecutively. Cooper, a former Captain at the Sikeston Department of Public Safety, was convicted of these crimes in June for his reckless driving and reaching a speed of 90 miles per hour as he ran a stop sign and collided with the car Abby was a passenger in. Much more details coming soon at semissourian.

31/07/2023

👀

Derontae Martin, 19, was found shot in the head at a Fredericktown party in April 2021. Family members don’t believe it was su***de.

24/07/2023

Huge federal m**h bust out of Charleston. Nineteen people, alleged to have been involved in a violent gang called JBM, were indicted in drug conspiracy charges.

CHARLESTON, MO. -- A federal prosecutor announced the indictment of 19 members of a Charleston, Missouri gang accused of being the main suppliers of m**hamphetamine, co***ne and fentanyl into Southeast Missouri.

15/07/2023

Today we remember Doug Teel and his family. It was on this day 13 years ago that Doug was found dead on Highway 72 just outside of Fredericktown. The death was quickly ruled a death by car, but an autopsy showed wounds and broken bones in areas of his body that were not struck by the car. Karen Langston, Doug's mother, has been told her son was beaten and placed in the road. If you haven't already, please listen to the Lawless Files episodes on Doug's death.

‎Show The Lawless Files, Ep Doug Teel case, Part 1: How did a 19-year-old end up in the middle of the road to be struck by a car? - Nov 30, 2022