Crime & Safety
Jury Selection Scheduled for Essex Woman Charged with Plotting Husband's Murder
Karla Porter allegedly hired a gunman to kill her husband at a Towson Hess gas station in 2010.
The Baltimore County State's Attorney is moving forward with the trial of an Essex woman who stands accused in a murder-for-hire scheme targeting her husband.
Karla L. Porter was charged with first-degree murder in the death of her husband, William R. Porter, a manager at the Hess gas station in the 1600 block of East Joppa Road in Towson.
Jury selection is slated to begin on Monday, Aug. 5, according to a news release.
The trial had been posted multiple, most recently to accommodate the schedules of the defense attorneys.
Find out what's happening in Essex-Middle Riverwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
On March 1, 2010, William Porter was shot twice in the head at the Hess gas station.
Convicted gunman Walter Bishop was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the murder in November 2011.
Find out what's happening in Essex-Middle Riverwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Karla Porter's sister Susan M. Datta was found guilty in November 2010 for providing the gun used in the slaying. She was sentenced to life in prison without parole in June 2012, according to online court records.
The Porters' nephew, Seamus Coyle, was sentenced to life in prison on the murder charge, along with a concurrent sentence of 25 years for conspiracy to commit murder and five years without parole for use of a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence in June 2012 for helping Karla Porter contact Bishop for the murder-for-hire scheme.
Patch Editor Tyler Waldman contributed to this report.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.