"Westbay, now 49, has been free on bond since shortly after the shooting and says Edmonds killed himself."
So Westbay has been free on bond for the past 17-1/2 years, not held in prison for years until the trial as Maher was.
Interesting case (the Westbay case, I mean) his being forced to have an almost 18-year murder charge held over his head all these years, due to a lack of evidence on the part of law enforcement, which has apparently decided that he's guilty regardless of a lack of evidence, is similar to what seems to have happened to Maher.