In 2003, Samatha Lezark of Wichita Falls, Texas, was twenty-eight years old. And despite being well-known as the friendly and smiling face who greeted community members at a local grocery store, she was suffering some turmoil behind the scenes.
Samantha had been navigating a painful divorce with her husband, John, when everything fell apart on January 6, 2003.
That morning, she never showed up for her shift at work. So, a coworker named Laurie and her husband, Donnie, visited Samantha’s home to check on her. And after they entered via Samantha’s unlocked front door, what they discovered was devastating.
The twenty-eight-year-old was lying dead on her bedroom floor in a pool of blood.
According to records from the Second District of Texas Court of Appeals, “The medical examiner determined the cause of death to have been strangulation by a coaxial cable wrapped around her neck three times and tied with a square knot.”
“A bloody fire extinguisher lay next to Lezark’s body, and her head had contusions consistent with being hit by the fire extinguisher. There were no signs of forced entry.”
Additionally, a laser pointer was found on top of Samantha’s bed, covered in blood splatter.
Immediately, the intricate square knot led investigators to believe that Samatha’s killer had some tactical military training. And her cause of death was also indicative of a close relationship.
“A strangulation death has some up-close and personal aspect to it. Based on what we saw, we thought there was a good chance the killer actually knew the victim,” revealed one detective on the case.
So, authorities were forced to launch a full investigation into Samantha’s life, relationships, and fallouts.
They discovered that she had been going through divorce proceedings with her high-school sweetheart, John, because he had an affair with her best friend. And according to Samantha’s mother, Sharon Keith, she had tried to win John back.
“She just kept trying to make him happy, and she was so devastated when he left,” Sharon said.
But, after John kept entering and exiting Samantha’s life for months on end, Sharon could not bear seeing her daughter get hurt anymore. So, Sharon kicked him out.
After that, Samantha’s friends noticed a change for the better. The twenty-eight-year-old had loved music and her pet cats and enjoyed getting tattoos before the separation. But afterward, Samantha seemed to be starting fresh.
“Her confidence definitely changed. I think Samantha was just trying to have fun, get back out into the world, and try new things,” recalled her friend Lisa.
And one of Samantha’s new adventures just so happened to be online dating. Back in 2003, the concept of meeting potential partners online was brand new. Nonetheless, Samantha decided to go for it.
She frequented online chat rooms under the username “meowmix28″– in honor of her love for feline friends.
Interestingly, though, Samatha reportedly received some warnings from both John and Sharon about the danger of these up-and-coming chat rooms.
John apparently told her that dangerous people lurk inside; meanwhile, Sharon told her daughter not to let any strangers into her home.
“When she started meeting these guys online, I said, ‘You don’t know these people. You’re not letting them come to the house, are you?'” Sharon explained, “And I could tell she didn’t want me to know because it was going to upset me really bad.”
In addition to Samantha’s divorce and tendency to online date, investigators then discovered another intimate detail about the cashier’s life. Apparently, she had engaged in a short relationship with her coworker’s husband, Donnie, shortly before her death.
This, coupled with the fact that Donnie was there upon the discovery of Samantha’s body, prompted detectives to investigate him much more closely. However, Donnie did cooperate with the investigation and provided DNA and fingerprints, which ultimately cleared him as a suspect.
So, authorities were forced to turn back to Samantha’s online presence and learned that on the night of her murder, she was supposed to be seeing a man named Kris. Kris was going to visit her home to watch the latest “Friends” DVD.
Then, after combing Samantha’s computer, investigators discovered a conversation between her and a man who went by the username “KS.” And apparently, the pair had been communicating pretty promiscuously.
In fact, Kris reportedly told Samantha to be topless and blindfolded when he arrived at her home.
“And ironically, she said, ‘What if you are a serial killer?’ But, in the end, she went along with it,” a detective said.
Then, authorities received a tip from one of Samantha’s neighbors about a car with California license plates that had been parked outside of her home in the days leading up to her murder. The plates were traced back to a man who went by Kristoff.
He had been stationed at an Air Force base not far from Samantha’s home, so investigators immediately called him in for questioning. However, Kristoff claimed their relationship had been purely physical and had an alibi for the night of the murder. He had been hitting baseballs in a batting cage with some friends.
Moreover, Kristoff’s DNA and fingerprints were not found to be linked to the crime scene. So, detectives were forced to go back to the drawing board.
Although, it only took one more tip from a young neighborhood boy to crack the case wide open. The boy had told officers that a red and black motorcycle had also been parked outside of Samantha’s home just before Laurie and Donnie discovered her body.
So, the computer forensics team decided to search for the word “motorcycle” in Samantha’s online conversations and found that a man known as “i-am-elliot” had discussed owning one.
And despite the man’s username, his true identity was found to be Kris Russell– a twenty-one-year-old college student who worked at a camera shop and attended Midwestern State University.
This new lead shocked investigators, who recalled Kris’ background and appearance to be unsuspecting.
“He looked like he came from a good home, and he was a decent, clean-cut, all-American kid,” a detective said.
But Kris’ seemingly trustworthy appearance did not deceive investigators much longer. Upon further investigation, authorities learned that he had been a Marine for just a few days before being discharged.
Then, Kris was found to be in possession of numerous laser pointers– just like the one found on Samantha’s bed– as well as a knot-tying book.
And finally, after Kris’ DNA and fingerprints were collected, investigators were able to match them to the crime scene evidence.
“A palm print on the coaxial cable was identified as that of Appellant Kristopher Kyle Russell, and his fingerprint and his DNA were found on the fire extinguisher. Appellant’s partial latent thumbprint was also identified on a laser pointer found on Lezark’s bed,” the court records stated.
Precisely what led Kris to perform such a heinous act was never fully concluded. However, investigators believe it is probable that he lost his temper that night and first attacked Samantha with the fire extinguisher. Then, he strangled her to death.
So, in June of 2006, Kris was eventually found guilty of murder and received the maximum sentence of ninety-nine years behind bars.
