Suspect charged with perjury enters plea in Lyon sisters case

BEDFORD COUNTY (WSLS 10) - One of the suspects charged in connection to the Lyon sisters case entered a plea on Tuesday.

Patricia Welch entered an Alford Plea for one count of perjury. An Alford Plea is one in which the defendant claims innocence, but admits there is enough evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

A Bedford County judge gave Welch a two-year suspended sentence and a $1,000 fine to be paid in 12 months

Welch is one of several people involved in Sheila and Katherine Lyon's case. The two sisters went missing in 1975 in Montgomery County, Maryland.  Welch's brother, Leslie Engleking, pleaded no contest to perjury charges. Her husband, Richard Welch, was considered a "person of interest" in the girls' disappearance. He is the uncle of Lloyd Welch Junior, who is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the Lyon sisters' deaths. He's scheduled to go to trial on April 18, 2017. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

The Welch's previously owned property in Bedford County during the time of the sisters' disappearance.