LAWRENCE CO., Ill.—In what will effectively be a “natural life” sentence, the woman who orchestrated the murder of Bob Westall two years ago this month is being sent to DOC on a sentence that will keep her in prison until she’s elderly.
Helen Marie Westall
Helen Marie Westall, who will be 50 years old later this year, was sentenced Tuesday on one of the two Solicitation to Commit Murder in the death of her uncle, to which she entered a plea of guilty in January, in exchange for a Solicitation to Commit Murder for Hire charge was dismissed. Both were Class X felonies.
Helen Marie will have to spend at least 85 percent of her 30-year sentence behind bars, which equates to 25.5 years. She does get nearly two years (727 days) credit for time served in Lawrence County’s jail. Be that as it may, she will be almost 74 years old before she’s eligible for parole…almost the age her uncle, Bob Westall (78), was when he was murdered on March 24, 2012, at his sister’s apartment on the campus of Lawrenceville’s United Methodist Village.
Westall was the second defendant in the case to be sentenced in their actions that lead to Bob Westall’s death: Tyler McQueen. 22, whose trial took place a year ago in April and May, is now serving a 50-year sentence in DOC. Helen Marie is said to have solicited McQueen to kill her uncle for money and a car, and gave McQueen earnest money in advance of the deed. However, McQueen, despite being pressured to state in a police interview that he actually killed the elder Westall, still maintained even at trial that he did not land the fatal stab wounds that ultimately killed Westall. McQueen instead believed that though he beat Westall (whom he claims was coming at him with a knife after McQueen broke into the apartment in order to carry out the deed), he did NOT kill Westall…and believes that Helen Marie—and perhaps another individual—came behind him after he left Bob dazed on the floor with a broken nose, and actually inflicted the fatal stab wounds, then positioned the body in the bedroom for someone to discover. Because Helen Marie’s trial was still pending, she didn’t testify at McQueen’s trial…something that might have helped his case, with the assertions made as above, substantially.
Tyler McQueen, mugshot from DOC
McQueen’s sentencing is under appeal. It’s unclear whether Helen Marie will appeal hers.
McQueen’s mother, Karen McQueen, told Disclosure she believes Helen Marie “got off easy.”
“She was the reason it all happened,” Karen said. “And exactly what happened will never come out now.” Karen finished by stating that Helen Marie Westall is “dangerous.”
The McQueen family was familiar with Westall through various contacts, and already had an averse opinion of her through those contacts; their information, and a recap of the situation, will be featured in the upcoming issue of Disclosure, on stands April 16, or available right here at the e-Edition with an online membership on April 14.