Slain Wilde Lake Teacher's Boyfriend Faces Life In Prison

COLUMBIA, MD — The boyfriend and accused killer of a beloved teacher at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia, who was four months pregnant at the time of her death, will face the prospect of life in prison without parole when he goes to trial, Montgomery County prosecutors said. Laura Elizabeth Wallen, 31, of Olney, was killed Sept. 3 by a gunshot to the back of the head. Her body was found in a field in Damascus, and her boyfriend, Tyler Tessier, 33, is charged with first-degree murder in the case.

Court records show prosecutors will seek Maryland’s most severe penalty for Tessier when he goes on trial in April, WTOP reports. Authorities say Wallen knew that Tessier was involved with other women, and they have not said what they believe his motive was for allegedly shooting Wallen.

Days before she disappeared Wallen had decorated her classroom for the school year's start at Wilde Lake High School, and her family said the popular teacher was joyful about the coming term. Her parents reported her missing after she was a no-show the first day at school and, even more unlike her, had not called in a substitute.

The Montgomery County Police Department began investigating Wallen's disappearance on Sept. 5. Tessier was interviewed multiple times in the days that followed, according to police.

"In each interview, he provided conflicting statements regarding Wallen's disappearance," police said of the information Tessier provided during questioning between Sept. 5 and Sept. 11.

Police said Tessier admitted to being engaged to another woman and said that he drove Wallen's car to Columbia, where he removed the front license plate and disposed of her iPhone and license.

He was charged on Sept. 13 with first-degree murder.

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. He had stayed there from time to time and described the resident as a "close friend," according to charging documents. The resident was on vacation for Labor Day weekend and said nobody was home, according to police.

Tessier had "been spending a great deal of time at the meat processing plant located on this property during the time that Wallen has been missing," according to charging documents.

When police searched the area, tire tracks led them to a field nearby. Montgomery County police and cadaver dogs located Wallen's body there in a 10-foot-by-10-foot grave, according to authorities.

The owner of the property where Wallen was found has no involvement with the case, officials said previously.

Wallen lived in a condo on Rolling Meadow Way in Olney, according to police.

Her black Ford Escape was found at an apartment complex in the 10600 block of Gramercy Place in Columbia on Sept. 7. The location is about 20 miles from her condo and less than a mile from Wilde Lake High School.

Wallen was popular among students at the high school, where she was voted senior class teacher of the year in 2016. Some of her students went around Columbia posting fliers with her picture and the headline "MISSING" and then proceeded to Olney, where they spoke with her neighbors, according to WJLA.

"...If one of us was in this situation," organizer Saquan Williams told WJLA, "she would've been head-on attacking it and in the streets just like we are."

SEE ALSO:

• 1,000 People Attend Funeral For Laura Wallen
• Teacher's Death 'Devastating,' Crisis Team Responds To Wilde Lake
• Boyfriend Of Pregnant Columbia Teacher Charged In Her Murder
• Missing Wilde Lake Teacher: Police 'Increasingly Concerned'
• Hope Ceremony For Missing Teacher Planned In Columbia
• Missing Wilde Lake Teacher's Vehicle Found: Report
• Wilde Lake Teacher Missing, School Offers Support

Tessier is being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Boyds without bail. He is scheduled to appear in court in February; his trial is set to begin April 9, 2018.

Photos of Laura Wallen and Tyler Tessier, courtesy of Montgomery County Police