Murder Trial For Slain Wilde Lake Teacher's Boyfriend Set

ROCKVILLE, MD — The trial date for the murder of Laura Wallen, a popular Wilde Lake High School teacher, has been set. The 31-year-old history teacher was four months pregnant when she was killed in September, police said.

Her boyfriend, 33-year-old Tyler Tessier, will stand trial on a first-degree murder charge on April 9, 2018.

The proceedings are expected to last 10 days in Montgomery County Circuit Court in Rockville, online court records show.

Police found Wallen's body buried in a field in Damascus on Sept. 13, after she had been reported as a missing person by her sister on Sept. 4, which was Labor Day.

When she did not show up for the first day of classes at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia on Sept. 5, Wallen's family became increasingly concerned. She had been excited for the school year, her family told police, and had been participating in fundraisers in preparation. Wallen was beloved at the school, where she was voted senior class teacher of the year in 2016.

Tessier was the last person to see her alive, police said.

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Tessier did not appear in person for the scheduling conference where the murder trial proceedings were discussed Friday, with public defender Allen Wolf representing him in court in Rockville, according to WTOP. His attorney says Tessier is innocent.

Previously, Wolf told WTOP that Tessier was a "quiet, peaceful person" who "made mistakes in his personal life" but "cared deeply about Laura Wallen and never would have physically hurt her."

As police continue to investigate a motive, prosecutors point to evidence that Tessier was involved in a love triangle — engaged to someone else while Wallen was carrying his child. Both women thought they were in exclusive relationships with Tessier, according to charging documents.

Wallen contacted the other woman on Aug. 28 and asked for a "face-to-face meeting, presumably to inform her about the baby," charging documents state.

Police said this is the message Wallen sent: "It's important that some things are cleared up and I would imagine that if you were in my position, you'd want some answers as well. By no means is this an attempt at confrontation, just looking for an explanation...woman to woman."

Tessier and Wallen were seen on surveillance camera in the Olney Safeway, located near Wallen's condo, between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 2.

In a field near Damascus on Sept. 2, Wallen texted her sister, with whom she was in daily contact: "'Tyler has me on an adventure in the country ... don't know why I'm here but it's for something,'" charging documents say.

When her sister requested a photo, Wallen texted a picture of a field that "appears to be the same field where the clandestine grave was recovered," according to charging documents.

For the week after Wallen was missing, police said Tessier paid several visits to a Damascus property in the 12400 block of Prices Distillery Road where a farm was surrounded by acres of woods and open fields.

When Montgomery County police obtained a search warrant and brought cadaver dogs to the area on Sept. 13, tire tracks led them to a field where they located Wallen's body in a 10-foot-by-10-foot grave, according to charging documents.

Tessier was arrested Sept. 13 on charges of first-degree murder, making a false statement to an officer and tampering with evidence.

He was indicted Oct. 13 on one count of murder.

The autopsy report showed the baby Wallen was carrying was 14 weeks old, meaning the fetus was not viable outside of the womb, according to Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy. Because that is the standard for a murder charge in Maryland, he said Tessier was indicted on one murder count rather than two, NBC Washington reported.

Discovery materials in the murder trial must be submitted by Nov. 22, court records show. Pretrial hearings are set for February 23 and March 1 before the trial begins on April 9, 2018.

Tessier is being held without bail at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility.

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Photos of Laura Wallen and Tyler Tessier courtesy of Montgomery County Police Department.