Bloomington woman convicted of strangling mother-in-law
BLOOMINGTON — A Bloomington woman has been found guilty of strangling her mother-in-law in what she claimed was an act of self-defense.
A jury convicted Misook Nowlin of first-degree murder on Tuesday in the death of 70-year-old Wenlan Linda Tyda of Crest Hill in September 2011.
The (Bloomington) Pantagraph reports the jury deliberated for about two hours.
In testimony, Nowlin admitted paying someone to lure her mother-in-law to central Illinois with a job offer. But Nowlin said she choked her with a purse strap and sweater in self-defense during a struggle.
Prosecutors argued the death was no accident.
After the killing, Nowlin placed the victim's body in a tote bag and buried her in a Will County forest preserve.
Defense lawyer Brian McEldowney acknowledged she “was wrong in many respects.”