Woman pleads guilty to being accessory to murder

Another person will be sentenced in connection to the murder of Kristy Aschliman.

Bonneville prosecutors said an Idaho Falls woman has pleaded guilty to being an accessory to first-degree murder.

Kayla Bennett’s attorneys are asking that she only be put on probation.

In January 2013, Aschliman was shot and killed by convicted murderer Adan Arroyo on East Lincoln Road in Bonneville County.

Arroyo was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

Prosecutors say they plan to ask the judge for a rider, which is retained jurisdiction, where Bennett would be placed with the Department of Correction for a year, then put on probation.

But whatever the judge decides, prosecutors said they are happy to put the final pieces of Aschliman’s murder to rest.

“There was a fantastic investigation here,” said Chief Deputy Prosecutor James A. Murdock. “Everybody that could be involved was involved. The sheriff’s office, the state police certainly and the city police as well. The sheriff’s office did a great job of investigating this. Detective Merdrano, who was named in the information here, the one Ms. Bennett withheld information from, was one of the investigators. That’s why it came together so well.”

Prosecutors have said Bennett did not have anything to do with the murder itself, but she did have knowledge of the crime and concealed it from police.

The normal sentencing for people who are convicted of accessory to first-degree murder is a maximum of five years in prison, but prosecutors say its been a while since they’ve seen someone do jail time for this type of crime.

Bennett’s hearing is scheduled to be held sometime in March.