Helen Cascell Bedsole was 44 when she was shot to death in her Chesapeake, Virginia, home on November 9, 1993. A man forced his way in as she waited for a new roommate; she was shot twice at close range, once in the head and once in the neck, and her roommate later found her body in the kitchen.

Detectives focused on Helen’s husband, Clark C. Bedsole Sr., after uncovering a history of domestic abuse and repeated, stalled divorce attempts. At the time of the killing the couple’s divorce was days from being finalized and asset division was contested. A Crime Line tip helped link Clark Bedsole to a murder-for-hire plot: investigators say he paid Marlon D. Williams $4,000 to kill his wife. Williams was arrested at a Norfolk construction site and Bedsole was served while jailed on an unrelated charge.

Both men were later convicted of capital murder; the jury recommended a life sentence for Clark Bedsole and Marlon D. Williams was sentenced to death. Does anyone have information about Helen’s life in Chesapeake or about the events leading up to November 9, 1993?