Beverly Likes, 55, the last of four defendants facing charges in connection with the 2006 death Melinda Widby, was released from the Luna County Detention Center last week after prosecutors dismissed a charge of solicitation of murder, the Deming Headlight reported.

Likes' son, Chester, 33, and Craig Winters, 19, were convicted in Widby's death and had agreed to testify against Likes, but discrepancies in their stories led prosecutors to dismiss the solicitation charge, the Headlight reported.

"Basically the situation there is the main witnesses in the case have reversed their position on mor than one occasion ... Basically they are telling different stories on different days," Deputy District Attorney Aaron Jordan told the Headlight. "Those witnesses are no longer credible, and without those witnesses being credible, the state cannot prove its charge."

A fourth defendant, Ronald Davis, was acquitted of a solicitation of murder charge in connection with the Widby killing, but was found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm, the Headlight reported.

Deming police believe that Widby died on or about Feb. 2, 2006, but her remains were not discovered until August 2006 in an abandoned well near Holy Cross Sanitarium north of Deming, the paper said.

The Office of the Medical Investigator was unable to determine a cause of death, since Widby's remains were destroyed by fire, but investigators believe she was alive when Chester Likes dropped her into the well, the Headlight said.

Chester Likes is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in the 50-year-old woman's death, and the now-19-year-old Winters pleaded guilty to kidnapping resulting in death and was sentenced as a juvenile to state custody until he turns 21, the paper reported.

Beverly Likes and Davis surrendered to authorities in Leesville, La., on Sept. 18, 2006, about a month after charges were filed in Deming, according to the Headlight.