Life Sentence for Nephew in 2010 Hess Murder

The nephew of the Towson gas station owner who was shot to death at the station was sentenced Monday to life in prison for his role in the 2010 murder.

According to a news release from the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office, Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Bollinger sentenced Seamus Coyle, 30, of Rosedale, for helping his aunt, Karla Porter, contact  the gunman who killed William “Ray” Porter, Karla’s husband, at the Hess Gas Station on Joppa Road in Towson on March 1, 2010.

Coyle was convicted on Sept. 20, 2010 of first-degree murder and related charges, according to online court records. According to the news release. Bollinger sentenced Coyle 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.

"This sentence is exactly what we felt was appropriate in this case," Baltimore County prosecutor John Cox said.

Coyle is the latest person to be sentenced in this elaborate murder-for-hire scheme in the death of Porter.

, the gunman in the case, averted the death penalty in November and was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole.

, of Middle River, who provided the gun for the murder, was sentenced earlier this month to life in prison for her role in the crime. , who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in September 2010, is scheduled for sentencing on July 6, 2012, according to the news release. 

Karla Porter is scheduled for trial in Carroll County Circuit Court on March 18, 2013, the release stated.

"There have been some variances with the sentences, but they have all been harsh and long prison terms, which is what should be the case with a crime like this," Cox said.