Testimony Begins In Lafayette County Murder Trial

Testimony has begun in the trial for an area woman accused of killing her husband’s grandmother. 31 year old Shannon Bussan of Elizabeth, Ill., is charged in Lafayette County Circuit Court with first- degree intentional homicide in relation to the death of 83 year old Lynne Montgomery  of Benton. The trial began Monday at the Lafayette County Courthouse with jury selection, attorneys’ opening arguments and the trial’s first witnesses. Bussan is accused of killing Montgomery on February 27, 2023, at Montgomery’s Benton residence as part of a plot to take money Montgomery kept in a safe. After her death, notes were found in Montgomery’s home alleging Bussan had been hurting her. Per charging documents, an autopsy conducted on Montgomery found multiple blunt force injuries and that Montgomery possibly was prevented from breathing. The defense on Monday maintained Bussan’s innocence, however, and argued Bussan is the victim of a frame job carried out by jealous family members looking to use Montgomery’s death, which her attorneys attribute to natural causes, to harm Bussan.