By Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON – The Tazewell County woman’s confession in court to killing her mother in Funks Grove last summer was not a plea bargain, and McLean County’s chief prosecutor said the guilty plea was unexpected.

However, the attorney for Christine Roush, 22, indicated at a hearing last month that the case was close to being resolved.

The Washington woman faces 20 to 60 years in prison when Judge Robert Freitag is expected to sentence her on January 31st.

Prosecutors did not reveal a motive when describing for the judge what the evidence would have been had Roush’s case gone to trial.

State’s Attorney Jason Chambers told WJBC’s Sam Wood that prosecutors aren’t required to present a motive, and there’s little else he can say about the case while co-defendant Matthew Isbell, 22, of Marquette Heights awaits a May 7th jury trial.

“I still have to be careful because there’s that co-defendant that’s out there,” said Chambers.

“He still has his pending case, and because of that, I have to be cautious talking about any specifics of the case because we need to make sure that he gets his fair trial as well,” Chambers added.

Roush admitted killing Teresa Poehlman, 22, of East Peoria. Authorities believe Roush hit her mother over the head with a crowbar, strangled her, and repeated stabbed her at the Sugar Grove Nature Center in Funks Grove in early July.

Isbell’s lawyer said in court filings her client saw the murder, but was “merely a pawn” in Roush’s murder plot.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]