LAWRENCE CO., Ill.—The woman authorities said talked a man into murdering her uncle is headed to prison for her part in the crime.
Westall arrives for court
Helen Marie Westall, 49, was charged with two counts in March of 2012 following the murder of her uncle, Bob Westall, 78: Solicitation of Murder, and Solicitation to Commit Murder for Hire. In those, the prosecution alleged that Westall in the first count persuaded Tyler McQueen, 22, to kill her uncle, then in the second count, that she offered him money and a car if he did the deed.
Today in Lawrence County Circuit Court, Westall, represented by public defender Brad Vaughn, entered an open plea of guilty to the second count, Solicitation to Commit Murder for Hire, with the first count to be dismissed. The count to which she pled guilty is still a Class X felony, and as such, the prosecution asked for, and the defense agreed to, a sentencing cap of 30 years, but no less than 20, in Illinois Department of Corrections.
Westall is set for sentencing in March 25, one day after the two-year anniversary of the crime.
Tyler McQueen was sentenced to 50 years in DOC on December 20 after his April-May 2013 trial in which Westall did not appear as a witness as requested by the defense. McQueen has been held since his March 30, 2012 arrest; he was to have been transported to DOC earlier this week to start serving the rest of his sentence, but the weather precluded that; authorities believe that he’ll be sent out at the end of this week.