Tyler McQueen, last fall. He was always happy to see Jade, so he was always grinning when he stepped off the elevator.
LAWRENCE CO.—A young man is on trial for murder in Lawrence County beginning tomorrow, April 22, 2013.
Tyler McQueen, 21, was arrested a little over a year ago and charged with the murder of elderly Bob Westall, who was staying at his sister’s apartment a Lawrenceville’s United Methodist Village facility. Westall was found dead in the apartment on the morning of Sunday, March 25, 2012. The investigation lead to McQueen’s arrest about a week later, as well as the arrest of Westall’s niece, Helen Marie Westall. Both have been held since their arrests, unable to post bond on enormous bail. Speculation as to why this whole thing happened has boiled down to this: Authorities state that Helen Marie (who has been described as being “not quite right“) offered McQueen $10,000 cash (ostensibly from an inheritance she’d receive when Bob was gone) and an old car if McQueen would do the deed.
But the question we anticipate will be raised is: DID he do it?
There have been problems right up to the wire with this case, particularly back when former prosecutor Lisa Wade was still in office. Despite the presence of Special Prosecutor Michael Vujovich from the Springfield office, they couldn’t negotiate a plea with McQueen, even after one was scheduled to go down last fall. Right up until the plea, there were scramblings going on in the investigation, including a massive search for what was supposed to be the murder weapon, months after the crime took place. When McQueen withdrew his plea and reissued his demand for a jury trial, things changed considerably. While Vujovich still has the lead in the case, Wade’s no longer in the picture; it’s Chris Quick, new prosecutor in Lawrence, who, unlike Wade, has had experience in serious trials. McQueen’s attorneys, George Woodcock and Bill Hudson, bowed out, and Fairfield’s Matt Vaughn—whom, we hear, is really doing an amazing job at defense—has taken over.
What exactly the defense will be may lie in what the DNA evidence shows. Whether it’s unequivocal or circumstantial remains to be seen. We’re going to bring it all to you with our usual intensive murder trial coverage (John C. Curtis Jr., Terry Payton, Ricky Turner), which will include posts, newsblasts, and evening podcasts. We likely will also be trying out some video if all goes well…so stay glued to the site here, mark your feeds, watch the Facebook page and Twitter for alerts, and you’ll have a front-row seat for this trial in Lawrence County.