Cindy Smith's case - A detailed case overview

Oxygen's Cold Justice is re-airing tonight, the episode that follows the brutal murder of Cindy Smith in 1988. Smith went missing from a local bar in Lawrence County, Missouri, on July 28, 1988. The 31-year-old nurse’s aide was reported missing when she did not pick up her sons that evening.

Eleven days later, her body was recovered from Dry Valley Cemetery. For over three decades, her brutal murder haunted the small town and devastated her family. It was only when Cold Justice’s Kelly Siegler and Johnny Bonds, alongside local investigators, took up the case again that it was finally solved.

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The discovery of Cindy Smith's body and the identification of suspects

In August 1988, tragedy struck Lawrence County, Missouri, when the body of 31-year-old nurse’s aide Cindy Smith was discovered in a cemetery. On July 28, 1988, Cindy had gone out for the evening with friends at Checkers, a local bar in Lawrence County. She was supposed to pick up her two sons, eight-year-old Shawn and four-year-old Jason, afterward.

When Cindy failed to show up, her disappearance was quickly reported. Following a county-wide search, Cindy’s body was discovered in Dry Valley Cemetery, about 25 minutes from the bar. By then, her body had already begun decomposing, and she had been decapitated.

Cindy Smith's brutal murder triggered an investigation that led to the identification of two potential suspects. The first was Cindy’s estranged husband, Louis Smith, with whom she was going through a divorce. The second was a local man named Lawrence Timmons, a laborer with a troubling history of violent crimes.

In 1976, Timmons was convicted of kidnapping an 11-year-old boy and served four years in prison. His criminal background made him a potential suspect in Cindy’s disappearance and death.

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Main suspect: Lawrence Timmons

Witness accounts from the night Cindy went missing made Lawrence Timmons the primary suspect. Marilyn Chambers, a friend who drove Cindy to Checkers, recalled that Timmons had been behaving aggressively toward women that evening, repeatedly asking them to dance. Chambers also remembered Cindy mentioning that Timmons would give her a ride home that night.

Another witness reported seeing Cindy inside a pickup truck with an unidentified man. While the man’s identity was unclear, the truck’s description closely matched the vehicle Timmons drove at the time.

Cindy Smith's body was found decomposed and decapitated (Image via Getty)

Moreover, Timmons’ then-wife Deborah, who passed away in 1994, had reportedly confided in a friend that she believed her husband had killed a woman and left her body in a cemetery. Deborah allegedly told her friend that Timmons had returned home late that night, immediately washed his clothes, and cleaned his truck the following day. This unusual behavior further raised suspicions.

Timmons also had a disturbing pattern of harassment. Several women in Monett, Missouri, claimed that he used his position at a YMCA to prey on them. One woman even reported receiving an inappropriate email from him shortly after joining the gym.

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Cindy's case was finally solved after thirty years

For decades, Cindy Smith's case remained unsolved, leaving her sons without closure regarding their mother’s murder. The case was eventually taken up by Cold Justice host Kelly Siegler, alongside retired homicide investigator Johnny Bonds. They partnered with Lt. Chris Berry and Sgt. Melissa Phillips of the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office.

Together, they re-examined old evidence, re-interviewed witnesses, and pieced together a circumstantial case pointing to Timmons. They presented their findings to Lawrence County District Attorney Don Trotter.

The testimonies, combined with corroborating evidence, were compelling enough to press charges. On September 6, 2019, Timmons was arrested while already incarcerated on unrelated charges. Thirty years after Cindy Smith's violent death, her family finally received some measure of closure.

However, Lawrence Timmons maintained his innocence throughout the trial, represented by attorney Adam Woody. Ultimately, the murder charge against him was dismissed in late 2021.

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Catch more about the case on Oxygen tonight.