Tyler Tessier, Accused Of Killing Pregnant Girlfriend And Columbia Teacher, Has Trial Date

ROCKVILLE, MD — A trial date has been scheduled for Tyler Tessier in the murder of his girlfriend, Laura Wallen, a popular Howard County teacher who was pregnant at the time of her death.

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.

Laura Wallen, 31, was four months pregnant when police found her body buried in a field in Damascus in September. She had been shot in the back of the head, police said.

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Tessier did not appear in person for the scheduling conference where the timeline for proceedings were discussed Friday, with public defender Allen Wolf representing him in court, according to WTOP.

Previously, Wolf told WTOP that Tessier was innocent, describing him as 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 pointed to evidence that Tessier was involved in a love triangle — engaged to someone else while Wallen was carrying his child. Charging documents indicate both women thought they were in exclusive relationships with Tessier.

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."

Wallen was reported missing on Labor Day and when she did not show up for the first day of school on Sept. 5, a search ensued.

The last person to see her alive was Tessier, who was on surveillance camera with her in the Olney Safeway 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,'" the text read, according to charging documents.

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.

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

The baby Wallen was carrying was 14 weeks old, according to the autopsy, 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, Tessier was not indicted on two murder counts, according to NBC Washington.

Court records show discovery materials in the murder trial must be submitted by Nov. 22, with pretrial hearings set for February 23 and March 1 before the trial on April 9, 2018.

Photo of Tyler Tessier courtesy of Montgomery County Police Department.