LaNell Barsock Murder Details and Investigation Timeline

It was on the evening of June 16, 2010, when the entire community of Palmdale, California, was left shaken to the core as LaNell “Nell” Crystal Barsock was found dead in her suburban home. The 29-year-old had actually established a good life for herself, as explored in NBC’s ‘Dateline: The Breakup’ as well as ‘Dateline: The Last Day: The Case of LaNell Barsock,’ so her homicide was extremely unexpected. Nevertheless, with the help of extensive investigations, forensic evidence, and international cooperation, officials were able to apprehend her assailant within a few months.

LaNell Barsock Was Found Dead in the Garage of Her Sprawling Home

Although a native of Southern Los Angeles, California, LaNell Barsock had decided to build a life for herself in Palmdale, California, upon completing her studies. She initially earned her nursing certification to work in local healthcare centers, but later decided to expand her wings and return to school to become a Registered Nurse. It was during this time that she came across Louis Bonheur in 2006, who had relocated from Cameroon to California just a year prior and was taking an English course at the same school.

LaNell and Louis’ first encounter was by chance, but her kindness shone through, even then, as she offered him a ride home after realizing he was waiting for a bus. One conversation led to another and then another before the duo realized the attraction between them was mutual, leading to the blossoming of a romantic relationship. In fact, they bought a sprawling 3,400-square-foot home in Palmdale together in 2009, with her having dreams of converting it into a health center for the elderly. The couple not only lived together but also seemed to be planning for a future together.

In other words, LaNell seemed to be leading an almost idyllic life by the time the summer of 2010 rolled around – she was beautiful, had a great career, and maintained great personal relationships. However, it all came to an end on the evening of June 16, 2010, as she was found shot once in the back of her head in the garage of her home. She was declared dead not long after authorities arrived at the scene, and her autopsy confirmed her cause of death to be the bullet wound. Later on, it came to light that she had been shot in the living room and then dragged to the garage.

Initial Investigations Into LaNell Barsock’s Case Led to a Single Individual

On the evening of the fateful day, a woman by the name of La’Rene Austin burst into the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Palmdale station in a panic, claiming she had found her best friend dead. She stated she had gone to her best friend of 10 years’ house at around 6:45 pm and entered through the open yet dark garage, only to slip on something. “I’m looking at the blood … then I saw her legs,” she told officials. “… I walked around the corner, and she had a bag over her head.” She said she then heard noise on the stairs and saw her live-in boyfriend come downstairs.

La’Rene claimed she couldn’t find her phone anywhere to dial 911, so she ran outside, got in her car, and rushed to the station, asserting that Louis had even followed her in his truck for a while. Since she was covered in blood and seemed really panicky, officials had her remain at the station while they began their investigations, secured the scene, and took photos of the blood on her. That’s when they found out that LaNell had been killed in the living room with the help of a pillow as a makeshift silencer before being dragged to the garage. The bloody rug that had been stuffed into the backseat of her car, the scrubbed-up floors, and the pair of bloody latex gloves found near her remains reiterated the same.

La’Rene had claimed that she was at LaNell’s home the previous evening to do her hair and returned that morning to finish the job, but the couple got into an argument. She stated they had argued every day that week, so she left around 1:30 pm to give them some space before returning 5 hours later, claiming she had spent the entire day at a nearby park. Louis was allegedly controlling, checking his girlfriend’s cell phone often, with officials discovering his concerns weren’t unfounded. LaNell was having an affair with a flight nurse named Ike, whom she had met on a dating site, with him even giving her a secret cell phone so that they could communicate. Thus, it appeared as if Louis had a motive.

The First Arrest Made in LaNell Barsock’s Case Was a Red Herring

According to La’Rene, the secret phone was what LaNell and Louis were arguing over on the fateful morning. As per her account, he had left home for Los Angeles around 10:30 am but returned within an hour after finding out that the phone was still active. She claimed he even followed them when they tried to step away by going to a local hair shop before picking up lunch, with things settling down when LaNell handed him the phone. However, she said something happened, and they began fighting again, which is when she chose to leave to give them space to settle things down.

The fact that officials could not locate Louis immediately did not help the building suspicion on him, especially as they had also found a handwritten break-up note in the home. The note suggested that LaNell had broken up with him for Ike in a rather demeaning manner, which they hypothesized could have angered him enough to go to extremes. After all, it said, in part, “Dear Louis, I am leaving you for Ike. He makes more money, so you can do whatever you want to do with the house. I am moving out of state with Ike… I have been sleeping with him for four months now… good luck in life.” In the end, while Ike was quickly ruled out because he had been interviewing for a new job at the University of California at Davis at the time of the murder, Louis was arrested.

Investigators found Louis at LaNell’s mother’s home that evening, where he said he had decided to sleep that night to avoid a long commute to work the next day. During his interrogation, he seemed genuinely distraught to learn of his girlfriend’s death, but detectives believed they had the murderer right in front of him. That’s because, apart form La’Rene’s statements, they had his own confession about having returned home that morning to fight with her about the phone, but he said he had left again by 12:30. Moreover, investigators had uncovered that officials had been called to the couple’s home about a domestic disturbance just a few months prior, and that once, when LaNell tried to break up with him, he allegedly chased her in his truck and tried to run her off the road. However, the physical evidence proved he was not involved in her homicide in any way, shape, or form.

LaNell Barsock’s Case Had Started Out on Lies

While Louis was arrested for LaNell’s murder and booked into the county jail within 24 hours, detectives continued to look into the matter to ensure they had left no stone unturned. That’s when they discovered that while LaNell and Louis had had their fair share of issues, with him behaving towards her in a rather controlling manner, he had an alibi. According to the victim’s loved ones, apart from checking her phone, her boyfriend used to follow her to work and stay in the parking lot to see who she had lunch with, and he even called her employer to make sure she never played hooky. However, on the day of the homicide, after the fight, he did indeed make his way back to Los Angeles, California, with his cell phone records and surveillance footage proving the same.

Louis’ phone records showed he drove away from his home around 12:30 pm, as he had claimed, and he even spoke with LaNell on a call roughly two hours later. Then, all throughout the day, he could be seen in several auto parts stores in Los Angeles, buying parts for his vehicle, exactly as he had claimed. He had the receipts from them in his car on the day of the arrest, but they hadn’t proved he was physically there; the surveillance footage did. As if that’s not enough, his bank records, cell phone records, and personal relationships also made it clear that he hadn’t hired anyone to harm his girlfriend. He was thus released after 4 months in jail, with him only being glad that officials were still looking into the matter and had cleared his name.

It turned out that LaNell’s assailant was no one but La’Rene. She had lied to investigators from the get-go as they discovered that they were not high school best friends but essentially strangers who had met merely weeks prior. La’Rene had put an ad in the personals section of Craigslist, and LaNell had replied, which led to a friendship and sexual relationship. However, the latter broke up with her within weeks, stating she planned to focus on her boyfriend since they seemed to be getting to a good place, but she still wanted to remain friends. This text, officials believe, became the catalyst for the homicide as La’Rene had reportedly already become obsessed with her and could not see losing her.

La’Rene Austin Was Eventually Identified as LaNell Barsock’s Assailant

According to records, La’Rene adopted LaNell’s persona over the ensuing few months, going so far as to impersonate her when she went on dates with other women. However, what incriminated her the most was DNA evidence from the gloves at the scene and the two live loose bullets in her purse when she had arrived at the police station that fateful night, which officials had recovered. They discovered that she had bought a gun in February 2010, and it was the same kind that had been used in LaNell’s murder, with the bullets having been in the barrel when the shot was fired, as per forensic testing. Unfortunately, by the time authorities had determined she was the one behind the homicide, she had gone on the run. She was later discovered in Belize and arrested with the help of local officials and the FBI, resulting in her extradition and trial in 2015. In the end, she was found guilty and sentenced to two terms of 25 years to life.