Researchers say ‘gender-bias evidence’ led to conviction of only woman on Mississippi’s death row

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – A woman sentenced to death for her role in killing two people and dismembering their bodies is again asking the Mississippi Supreme Court for relief, citing expert reviews that show the jury in her case was improperly swayed by “gender-bias evidence.”

Lisa Jo Chamberlin was sentenced to death in 2026 in connection with the murders of Linda Heintzelman and Vernon Hulet.

According to the Hattiesburg American, she and her boyfriend killed and dismembered the two in 2004.

Chamberlin filed her latest motion on Thursday, saying that the transcript of her trial was reviewed by two experts who said in a 2026 report that her trial was “infected” with gender-bias evidence, and that “prosecutors deliberately chose words and phrases that evoked negative stereotypes of women.”

The research was conducted by Sandra Babcock and Kim MacLin. Babcock is a clinical professor of law at Cornell Law School. MacLin is a professor of psychology at the University of Northern Iowa.

According to researchers, that evidence included references to Chamberlin’s “failings as a mother, to her sex life, and to her sexual orientation,” which biased the jury against her.

Chamberlin’s attorney, Beth Windham, said that the two reviewed the transcripts of her case alongside her co-defendant Roger Gillet, and found that there was a “stark difference in the evidence prosecutors presented and the gendered narratives they employed in each case.”

Gillet also was convicted of two counts of capital murder in connection with the case. But unlike Chamberlin, he received two life sentences.

The filing comes just days after justices rejected her request for a rehearing in her case, and about two months after the same court rejected her previous request for a new trial.

In an August 2026 ruling, the high court rejected claims by Chamberlin that the trial court violated the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Andrew v. White, which prohibits prejudicial evidence from being used if it violates the Due Process Clause.

The court rejected Chamberlin’s motion for a rehearing in October.

Beth Windham, attorney for Chamberlin, said her client intended to include data from MacLin and Babcock’s research in her October 2 motion for rehearing. Windham had asked for additional time to file, but the request was rejected by the state.

Windham is asking that Chamberlin’s motion be granted and that her sentence be set aside so she can have a new trial.

WLBT has reached out to Babcock for comment. This story will be updated once a comment is provided.

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