Victim's family wants judge taken off murder case

LANCASTER - John Show wanted the death penalty for Lisa Michelle Lambert in 1992, after a judge found the woman guilty of murdering his 16-year-old daughter with a butcher knife in a jealous rage over a man.

Instead, as the 10th anniversary of Laurie Show's murder approaches, her family faces the possibility that Lambert will be set free by a federal judge who has ruled twice that she is an innocent victim of misconduct by police and prosecutors.

''If she gets out, it'll be a nightmare,'' said John Show, who has written to Congress seeking an investigation of U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell's actions in the case. ''It will be an outrage to us, to this community.''

After being stunned by Show's killing on Dec. 20, 1991, this quiet farming area had to face a reminder last year with the airing of a television movie, ''The Stalking of Laurie Show.''

''It's the case that won't go away,'' said Dale Jerchau, police chief for East Lampeter Township.

Jerchau must endure criticism heaped upon his department by Lambert's attorneys. Dalzell has supported some of those claims against the police and the Lancaster County district attorney's office.

''It's been an awful experience,'' said Jerchau, traffic sergeant at the time of the killing. ''Nobody can figure it out. You look at the facts and they go in the opposite direction.''

Lambert was 19 and living with her boyfriend, Lawrence Yunkin, when she learned that Yunkin had previously dated Laurie Show.

Prosecutors said the liaison enraged Lambert. They said she lured Show's mother away from the condominium they shared in East Lampeter Township, and that Lambert and a friend, Tabitha Buck, then entered the home while Yunkin waited in a getaway car.

Show was stabbed several times and her throat was slashed.

Although Lambert has admitted to accompanying Buck into the apartment, she said that she only intended to play a prank on Show by tying her up and cutting off her hair and that she was framed by corrupt police.

Hazel Show, however, told police that when she returned to her apartment, her daughter's last words were: ''Michelle did it.''

Lambert was convicted in 1992 and sentenced to life in prison. Buck was convicted of second-degree murder and also sentenced to life. Yunkin pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and is serving a 10- to 20-year sentence. All three remain in prison.

Lambert appealed, and in 1997 Dalzell concluded that she was a victim of ''wholesale prosecutorial misconduct.''

''Virtually all of the evidence which the commonwealth used to convict ... was either perjured, altered or fabricated,'' Dalzell wrote.

A federal appeals court later ruled that Dalzell overstepped his authority because Lambert had not yet exhausted her state appeals. The case was returned to state courts, where Lambert has lost several appeals. She also lost a bid for a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Lambert's case is again before Dalzell, who last month reinstated his 1997 findings.

Dalzell, in Philadelphia, has declined to comment about the case. Lambert also declined a request for an interview.

Defense attorney Peter Greenberg called Dalzell's action ''a correct decision. We intend to keep fighting any of the obstacles the attorney general has attempted to put up until justice is done in the case.''

Prosecutors have asked the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to order Dalzell to recuse himself, arguing that any reasonable person would conclude he is biased in Lambert's favor. The judge has refused.

''Based upon what is contained in the record, any reasonable court would conclude that Judge Dalzell is wrong,'' former Assistant District Attorney Jack Kenneff said.

Lambert claimed that Kenneff tried to coerce an expert witness - Dr. Isidore Mihalakis, a forensic pathologist called by the defense to testify about Show's ability to utter her dying words - to change his testimony. Dalzell cited that claim as one example of prosecutorial misconduct.

Asked last week if Kenneff had asked him to alter his testimony, Mihalakis said: ''Of course not. I had already submitted a (written) report of my testimony.''

Kenneff noted that an FBI investigation - recommended by Dalzell in 1997 - resulted in no findings of wrongdoing.

The next court date - when Dalzell wants attorneys to advise him of any testimony they plan to offer - is Dec. 20.

''In a way, we were kind of expecting this,'' said Warren Haas, Show's uncle. ''But it still came as a shock ... We just need to get this finalized.''