LAWRENCE CO.—Get used to seeing a Franklin County dateline a lot more in the future.
Helen Marie Westall
That’s because the judge in the case of Helen Marie Westall, in Lawrence County, has determined a location for change of venue in the case.
The Solicitation to Commit Murder for Hire case against the niece of Bob Westall, who was murdered in March 2012, will be held at the Franklin County courthouse in Benton, this according to the family of the young man convicted of murdering the elderly Westall, Tyler McQueen.
The motion to move the case was made by Westall’s public defender, Brad Vaughn, and successfully argued late last month. The location wasn’t selected right away, however, as judge Robert Hopkins needed time to determine where, out of the area but still in the circuit, the trial would be moved.
Franklin County is on the far western side of the Second Judicial Circuit. The courthouse in Benton has held other venue changes in the past, including the Richland County 2007 “Witchcraft Murder” trial of Jenny Wolfe.
There’s been no definitive date set for Helen Marie’s trial, but a final pretrial conference date has been set for far-off December.
Westall remains behind bars on her four Solicitation charges.
McQueen, whom, it’s alleged, she solicited to kill her elderly (78-year-old) uncle, is still awaiting sentencing in his First Degree Murder conviction from May of this year.