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In its latest episode, Dateline: The Last Day looked at the unsettling story of LaNell Barsock, a resident of Palmdale, California, who was murdered in June 2010.
LaNell Barsock, a 29-year-old who worked as a vocational nurse, was found lying dead in a pool of blood near the garage of her own house in California.
The case took several twists and turns during the investigation. Everyone was taken aback when the detectives found out that the murderer was her "best friend" Larene Eleanor Austin.
Larene was sentenced to 50 years of imprisonment.
Here are five things to know about the LaNell Barsock murder mystery
1) An alleged fight with her boyfriend
On the day of the murder, LaNell Barsock's friend Larene allegedly overheard an argument between LaNell and her boyfriend Louis Bonheuer. Additionally, according to Larene, the boyfriend, Louis, a native of Haiti was a hot-tempered guy.
In her statement, Larene said that she wanted to make sure that things had calmed down between the couple. Thus, she went into the garage, only to find LaNell's dead body on the garage floor.
Larene allegedly rushed into the house when she heard footsteps on the second floor and found Louis standing there. She said that she figured out what had happened between the couple and ran for her life.
According to Larene, Louis was furious with LaNell for dating another guy, and that was the primary reason for their fight.
2) An airtight alibi
Police kept LaNell's boyfriend Louis on their suspect list, keeping in mind Larene's statement about the murder. However, Louis had an airtight alibi for the time of his girlfriend's murder. A surveillance video showed that he was at another location at the time of LaNell's murder.
Additionally, he reportedly also seemed extremely devastated by the death of LaNell Barsock.
This was when the investigation changed its direction.
3) Barsock's interest in women
The police did not give up and began to look at other possibilities. What they uncovered was incredibly shocking. They found out that LaNell Barsock was also interested in women and was involved in a relationship with her so-called best friend, Larene. The two met on Craigslist, and it was reportedly LaNell who initiated the conversation.
However, three weeks into their relationship, LaNell confessed that she wanted to focus on just one relationship and it was with Louis. Larene was not happy with LeNell's decision. Jobless and heavily in debt, Larene allegedly thought she had a future with LaNell Barsock.
According to Detective Joe Espino, who investigated the case along with Robert Kenney, Larene was planning to move in with LeNell and "be happy forever."
Kenney added:
"When she hooked up with Lanell, she thought 'My ticket is here. I'm going to get what I want and what I deserve."
4) Larene's Plan B
The key evidence in the case was a pair of gloves with blood stains on them and these gloves had Larene's DNA on them. Additionally, when detectives asked Larene to take a polygraph test, she refused to do it.
Upon further investigation, detectives found that Larene had tried to look up how to cheat a polygraph test on the internet.
It is believed that on the day of the murder, LaNell Barsock was having her hair weaved while Larene was standing right behind her. According to the police, Larene shot LaNell Barsock in the back of her head through a pillow, which was used as a silencer.
Larene had initially tried to dump LaNell's body in the desert. However, it is believed that she was unable to lift the body in the car so she thought of Plan B, which was to put the blame on Louis.
5) A TV show helped police locate Larene
Larene went missing in the middle of the investigation when Louis was cleared of any involvement. She had fled the country but her whereabouts were tracked after an episode on the case featured on America's Most Wanted.
Larene was extradited and brought back to Los Angeles County later that month. She was arrested in January 2012 and was sentenced to life in prison in 2015.
