LANCASTER COUNTY — Tabitha Buck, one of the conspirators in the murder of 16-year-old Laurie Show in 1991, is out of prison.
She was released from SCI-Muncy on Saturday, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.
Buck was 17 years old when she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for her role in the murder, which occurred on Dec. 20, 1991 at a townhouse in East Lampeter Township.
But a Supreme Court ruling deemed life sentences for juveniles without the possibility of parole as cruel and unconstitutional, so Buck was given a re-sentencing hearing in 2017.
At that hearing, Buck learned she would be eligible for parole by the end of this year.
Pennsylvania’s Board of Probation and Parole stated a few reasons for her release, including, positive behavior in prison, a positive recommendation made by the department of corrections, participation in prison programs, reports, evaluations and assessments/level of risk indicating Buck’s risk to the community, Buck’s demonstrated motivation for success, Buck’s acceptance of responsibility for the offense(s) committed, expressed remorse, and the development of a parole release plan.
The parole plan is as follows:
- Buck must maintain a job approved by parole supervision staff.
- Buck cannot have direct or indirect contact or associate with anyone who sells or uses drugs, outside of a treatment setting, or possess drug paraphernalia.
- Must attend and complete all treatment recommended
- Must achieve negative results in drug screenings, and Buck is responsible for all screening costs
- Buck must take psychotropic medication, if prescribed by her doctor
- She cannot directly or indirectly contact Show’s family, including correspondence, telephone contact, or communication through third parties
- Buck cannot live or travel to Lancaster County, for any reason
Lisa Michelle Lambert was also convicted of the murder, and is serving a life sentence at a prison in Vermont. Lambert was 18 when she murdered Show, and is therefore ineligible for a new sentence.
A third conspirator, Lawrence Yunkin, Lambert’s boyfriend at the time, was paroled in 2004 after serving 12 years in prison for his role in the murder. Yunkin, who was 20 at the time, testified against Lambert and Buck at their trials in exchange for a one-year prison sentence. But prosecutors later determined he committed perjury during his testimony and withdrew his plea deal. He was tried and convicted of third-degree murder and sentenced to a 10- to 20-year prison term in 1992.
Yunkin and Show briefly dated during a period where Yunkin and Lambert were not together. Lambert was angry when she heard that Yunkin and Show had dated, and spent several months harassing Show prior to the murder.
On the morning of the killing, Lambert and Buck tricked Show’s mother into leaving the house. Buck later admitted that she lured Show to open the front door, and she and Lambert forced her way inside.
Buck said Lambert repeatedly stabbed Show while Buck held down her legs.
