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LAWRENCE CO., Ill.—The man convicted of the murder of an elderly Lawrenceville resident has been sentenced in Lawrence County Circuit Court.
Tyler McQueen, being escorted from the Lawrence County courthouse post-conviction in early May
Tyler McQueen, 22, has been jailed since his late March 2012 arrest on the murder of Bob Westall, 78, at the United Methodist Village apartments. His two-week trial, most of which consisted of jury selection, occurred in late April of this year, and ended with a verdict of guilty in one of the First Degree Murder counts with which he was charged.
McQueen had been set for sentencing several times since his conviction, each one being continued because of the pendency of his co-defendant’s case. Helen Marie Westall, charged with being the “brain” behind the murder with two Solicitation to Commit Murder for Hire, is set to go to trial on a venue change in Benton in January, which you can read about in the current issue on stands and available at the e-Edition right now.
McQueen’s sentencing came today, however, and he was given 50 years by Judge Robert Hopkins. This came after several of Westall’s family members gave victim impact statements (the majority of which contained the phrase “Bob was murdered in his bed,” which has never been proven) as well as statements from McQueen’s family (whom special prosecutor Mike Vujovich attempted to paint out as “dysfunctional,” to the confusion of most, as there’s been no accusation of such a thing ever made.)
There’s still a pending motion for a new trial in McQueen’s case, and that’s to be heard on January 3, 2014, so McQueen remains at the Lawrence County Jail until at least that date instead of being transported to DOC.
Be sure you pick up the current edition of Disclosure so you can keep up with what’s going on in the case, and then read the next issue, on stands January 8, 2014…you can sign up via PayPal for a print subscription by clicking this link.