Police See Through Lie to Find Real Killer in Nurse Murder Case

When LaNell Barsock was discovered dead in the garage of her home in Palmdale, California, in June 2010, her friend told a story that pointed to the victim's boyfriend as the killer. Police believed they had the murderer — until a shocking twist changed everything.

The Night of the Crime

The scene was terrifying. On June 16, 2010, La'Rene Austin ran into the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Palmdale station, covered in blood. Austin told police she had found Barsock dead at her house in a scene so grisly she had slipped in the large amounts of blood on the floor. Claiming Barsock's head was covered with a bag, Austin also told police that she heard a noise inside the house and saw Barsock's boyfriend, Louis Bonheur. Austin said she panickily ran to her car and sped to the sheriff's station, saying Bonheur had followed her in his own car.

The Crime Scene

Detectives discovered that Barsock had been killed in the family room, with someone using a pillow as a makeshift silencer. She had been shot once in the head, and her body was then dragged into the garage. A bloody rug was found stuffed in the backseat of her car, and a pair of bloody latex gloves were found in the garage. Investigators also found a handwritten note: "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," it read in part, as reported by Oxygen. "I have been sleeping with him for four months now..good luck in life."

Love... Then It Fell Apart

When they first met, Barsock and Bonheur's relationship had seemed promising. Barsock and Bonheur first met after her nursing classes one day when she saw him waiting for the bus at their school. Since they were both students, she offered him a ride home, and their love quickly "blossomed," Bonheur's friend Phillipe Louis-John told Dateline, as reported by Oxygen. But eventually the love story took a turn, detectives said.

Bonheur began to act jealous and controlling by going through Barsock's text messages and calling her job to make sure she had really gone to work. A few months before Barsock's death, police had been called to their home for a domestic disturbance, but no charges were filed. Barsock's friend, Marcel Fomotar, said the couple often argued, sometimes about money, and other times because Barsock thought Bonheur lacked motivation in his career. Barsock's mom also told detectives about a time Barsock told Bonheur she wanted to break up. According to her, he chased Barsock in his truck, tried to run her off the road, and even smashed the windows of her car.

Police Doubt His Story

When Barsock was murdered, Austin told police she had been her best friend for 10 years, and they took her story seriously. They quickly focused on Bonheur, who admitted to having an argument with Barsock that day over her cell phone. He seemed to have an alibi, claiming he had spoken with Barsock outside a beauty supply store before leaving for Los Angeles. At the time of her murder, Bonheur said he was shopping at auto parts stores. Despite the alibi and his distraught reaction to Barsock's death, detectives did not believe his story. They arrested him and kept him in jail for more than a month while they kept investigating.

Secret Affair

Turns out, Bonheur had good reason to be checking up on Barsock's whereabouts and communications. Authorities found in the months before her death, Barsock had been having an affair with a flight nurse named Ike, whom she met on a dating website. But Ike's alibi of interviewing for a job in Davis, California, that day checked out. Police ruled him out as a suspect.

Austin's Story

Austin told detectives that on the morning of Barsock's last day, she had gone to Barsock's house to style her hair. Bonheur had planned to drive to Los Angeles, about an hour and a half away, to meet up with Austin's boyfriend and fix his car, but when he found out that someone had added more minutes to Barsock's secret phone, he came back and confronted her. Austin told detectives that she left around 1:30 p.m. and went to a local park to give the couple some space. When she returned around 6:30 p.m., she claimed she found Barsock dead in the garage.

The Story Unravels

Although Austin had claimed to be Barsock's best friend of 10 years, detectives found out the two women had only known each other for a few weeks. The women had met through Craigslist, and they formed a friendship that became romantic — although briefly. Just a few weeks into their relationship, Barsock texted Austin saying that she didn't want anything sexual with her anymore because she planned to focus on her relationship with her boyfriend, but she still wanted to stay friends.

Austin pretended to agree, but prosecutors argued by then, she had become obsessed with Barsock. She even went so far as to impersonate Barsock when going on dates with other women. Austin, who had trouble keeping a job and was in debt, was allegedly jealous of Barsock's home and career.

Detectives then decided to check surveillance footage from a few auto parts stores in Los Angeles. Sure enough, Bonheur appeared on clearly on video, shopping at the time of the murder, exactly as he had said. At that point, the police shifted their focus to Austin.

Authorities believe Austin pretended to do Barsock's hair and then shot her in the head before dragging her body into the garage. She had planned to put the body in Barsock's car to get rid of it, but when she realized Bonheur might be coming home soon, she panicked. Instead of getting rid of the body, she decided to frame him by writing the breakup note herself and claiming she had seen him at the house. Austin's DNA was found on the bloody latex gloves and on a bloody fingerprint on a plastic container in the garage.

Arrest and Sentencing

Austin used the time police were focused on Bonheur to run. After the case appeared on "America's Most Wanted," she turned up in Belize. Austin went to trial for first-degree murder in 2015, was convicted, and sentenced to two terms of 25 years to life. She is currently serving her sentence at the California Institution for Women, according to the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation.

Bonheur, meanwhile, holds no grudges against the detectives in Barsock's case. "I got a lot of good people around me and I can see my wife, my son, a lot of siblings, my friends and it's a blessing from God," he told Dateline, according to Oxygen.

The murder of LaNell Barsock was a heartbreaking case that showed how jealousy and obsession can lead to terrible outcomes. Austin's actions, including trying to cover up the crime, made the case even more shocking. Thanks to the hard work of investigators and the discovery of important evidence, justice was served. Although LaNell Barsock's murder can never be undone, her case reminds us how important it is to recognize unhealthy behaviors and relationships and protect ourselves from harm.

References: Nurse Is Murdered in California and Her Friend's Twisted Tale Is Revealed To Be a Lie | 'Sinister Plot' Uncovered in LaNell Barsock's Murder Case on 'Dateline' | Dateline: The Last Day — The Case of LaNell Barsock