Lisa Michelle Lambert
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Lisa Michelle Lambert is best known for her involvement in the December 20, 1991 murder of 16 year old Laurie Show in a suburb of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
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[edit] Early Life
Lisa Michelle Lambert is the daughter of Judy and Leonard Lambert. At the age of 16 she was thrown out of her parent's home because her parents suspected her of stealing a valuable coin collection, going as far as filling out a police report for the stolen coins. Her parents said of the time she spent at home that she was: "[a] pathological liar and was very good at it." [1] It has also been claimed that Lambert frequently carried a knife around with her, although that has been disputed by former classmates and friends. Lambert met boyfriend Lawrence (Butch) Yunkin at the pool for an apartment building in 1989 when he was working as a lifeguard there. In 1990, both Lambert and Yunkin worked along side Charles Carl Roberts, who would later murder several Amish school children and kill himself in October 2006.
[edit] The Stalking of Laurie Show
Lambert became obsessed with Laurie Show, a girl three years her junior who had casually dated Yunkin on two occasions during a break in the relationship of Lambert and Yunkin. Laurie's mother Hazel Show later claimed that these casual dates stopped because Show was raped by Yunkin. Lambert began a campaign of terror against the Shows, calling day and night and threatening Laurie's life. Lambert was free to do as she pleased because, at the time, there were no anti-stalking laws in the state of Pennsylvania. Lambert would physically confront Show on two occasions, once at her workplace in the local mall, and once while Show was alone in a parking lot. The second occasion involved a group of Lambert's friends attacking and beating Show to the ground and leaving her there.
[edit] The Murder
On December 20, 1991, Lisa Michelle Lambert and Tabitha Buck entered the home and bedroom of Laurie Show and stabbed and murdered her by cutting her throat. There is still much hearsay over who did the actual killing, but it is generally accepted as fact that Lambert was the one who murdered Show.[2] Lambert was six months pregnant at the time of the murder.
Tabitha Buck has made her claim that she was not the murderer very clear in an appearance on ABC's news program 20/20. Buck said on the program that her conversation during the murder with Lambert was: "I said, "Oh my God, did you kill her?' She said, "I don't know.' ... She just kept cutting."
[edit] Trial and Sentencing
Lambert was sentenced to a life in prison for first degree murder in the trial following the murder of Laurie Show. Her accomplice Tabitha Buck was found guilty of second degree murder and Lawrence Yunkin was found guilty of third degree murder.
[edit] Release, Re-Incarceration and Rape
In April 1997 Lambert was released from prison in a surprising reversal of her life sentence. Federal Judge Stewart J. Dalzell reversed the sentence and called the incarceration of Lambert a "miscarriage of justice". Over 40,000 Lancaster County citizens signed a petition calling for his impeachment upon this news.
Lambert's case had been taken up by lawyer Christina Rainville who managed to convince the Judge that Lambert's imprisonment was part of a larger cover-up for a gang rape her client had suffered at the hands of police officers. Lambert also claimed that her child was a result of the rape, although a DNA test conclusively proved this statement false.
On December 29, 1997, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals would then overturn Judge Dalzell's decision. Lisa Michelle Lambert returned to prison on February 4, 1998.
[edit] In the Media
- A 2000 USA Network movie was made about the stalking and murder of Laurie Show at the hands of Lisa Michelle Lambert titled The Stalking of Laurie Show
- In 1999 ABC's 20/20 aired a special on the situation and obtained interviews with Lambert, Yunkin and Buck, and it was widely noted that Lambert appeared to feel no remorse for her involvement in the death of Show.
