The Murder of Angela Mischelle Lawless: An Honest Sheriff and the Exoneration of an Innocent Man

In a small Missouri town in 1992, the body of 19-year-old Mischelle Lawless was found in her car, stalled on the side of a road. 18-year-old Josh Kezer was arrested and charged for her murder-even though he was in a different state at the time, as proven by witnesses-and spent the next 16 years of his life in prison. How was Josh imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit? Author Stephen R. Snodgrass expertly unveils the web of manipulation and corruption that led to Josh's conviction, everything that could go wrong in the American criminal justice system did, from snitch witnesses who were coached by law enforcement to lie, to withheld exculpatory evidence, and an unscrupulous prosecutor knowingly using false testimony that had been recanted. Kezer was convicted and served 16 years in violent Missouri prisons until a part-time deputy who was at the murder scene was elected Sheriff of Scott County and quietly reopened the investigation and has continued his quest to find the real killer. Snodgrass draws on interviews with Josh himself, the research of Sheriff Rick Walter, the first responder to the scene who later went on to exonerate Josh in a re-trial, and his own legal analysis, to reveal the truth behind the case, the conviction, and the exoneration. This book is a timely, compassionate work of true crime that calls for better and more equitable justice for all.

Author: Stephen R. Snodgrass
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 05/15/2023
Pages: 308
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.38lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.81d
ISBN: 9781538172063


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 04/01/2023 pg. 4
Library Journal 04/01/2023 pg. 117

About the Author
Stephen R. Snodgrass has a JD from Washington University in St. Louis and a PhD in psychology from Johns Hopkins. Josh was his first innocence case, but he has since represented two more men wrongfully convicted of murder who have been freed, David Robinson, and Donald Nash. Along with the other two lawyers in the case, Snodgrass received the 2021 Missouri Lawyer of the Year Award for work on the Nash case. Joshua C. Kezer spent 16 years in prison as an innocent man. In 2009, he became the first man in the history of the state of Missouri to be given an Amrine actual innocence ruling. Since his exoneration and release, he's successfully assisted in the exonerations of other innocent men. Seeing parallels between wrongful incarceration and sex-trafficking as modern forms of slavery, Josh has also become involved in the fight to end sex-trafficking. His story has been featured on 48 hours Mystery, On the Case with Paula Zahn, The 700 Club, and on popular podcasts including The Lawless Files with Bob Miller and Crime Junky with Ashley Flowers. He currently resides in Columbia, Missouri with his adopted pitbull, King Titan. He can be found on Twitter as @joshkezer, Instagram as @josh_kezer, and Facebook as Josh Kezer.