November 7, 2009
By Dan Corcoran
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. -- A jury has convicted Michael Wesley, 28, of murder in a drive-by shooting after his co-defendant admitted firing the fatal shot.
Wesley was charged with murder in the September 3, 2008 shooting of Wendy Jo Whitaker of Springfield.
28-year-old Ronald Smith pleaded guilty to the murder last month and testified agaisnt Wesley. Smith admitted firing the bullet that killed Whitaker as she stopped to pick up her boyfriend, who was Smith's intended target.
Prosecutors convinced the jury that Wesley participated as an "aider and abettor" in the murder.
