Two charged with murder
HELENWOOD — Authorities are describing a fire a September 2 fire at Butler Lane as an act of vigilante justice that took an innocent life.
Friday morning, Sheriff Anthony Lay was joined by investigators from his department and the State Fire Marshal’s Bomb & Arson division in front of the Scott County Sheriff’s Office as he announced that two neighbors of a Butler Lane woman killed in a house fire here on the Labor Day weekend.
Arrested were Gary Lamar Sellers, 39, and Robert C. “Bobby” Bell, 37, both of 331 Butler Lane. The two men were charged with first degree murder, conspiracy to commit first degree murder, two counts each of aggravated arson, arson and criminal conspiracy in connection with the fire, which killed 37-year-old Melissa Chandler.
At the Friday morning press conference, investigators painted a scene of two angry neighbors, a fire that quickly engulfed the Chandlers’ wood frame home, and heroic action by a third neighbor in an attempt to save the Chandlers from the blaze . . . heroic action that proved to be minutes too late for Chandler, who was pronounced dead at Scott County Hospital Emergency Room shortly after the fire began.
Sheriff Lay said that the alleged motive for the crime was an attempt to “rid [the Chandlers] from the neighborhood.” In August, Melissa Chandler’s husband, 53-year-old Timothy Chandler, was charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor after authorities allegedly found hundreds of images of child pornography in his possession.
Chandler had remained in custody at the Scott County Jail until four days before the fire, when he was released, reportedly because a plea deal was in the works on those criminal charges. The charges, Lay said, “led [the suspects] to rid them from the neighborhood.”
Lay called the case an attempt at “vigilante justice” that took the life “of an innocent woman.”
According to Sheriff Lay, the Scott County Sheriff’s Department received a call from Timothy Chandler about the fire at 2:39 a.m. on the morning of Sunday, Sept. 2. The fire, he said, had been started on the front porch of the residence, blocking the only available exit route from the home, though he declined comment on whether the blockage of the doorway was intentional, saying the case is still under investigation. Authorities did say that a rear door to the home had been nailed shut by the homeowners at some point in the past.
As the fire engulfed the front of the residence — Detective Don Laxton said that the fire spread “very quickly” but declined to comment on whether an accelerant was used to aid the quick spread of the flames — the Chandlers moved to the rear of the residence.
At some point between 2:39, when authorities were notified of the fire, and 2:45 a.m., when K9 Officer Kris Lewallen arrived on the scene, a neighbor — identified as Dick Butler — rushed to the home to assist the Chandlers. Investigators say that Butler used a board to smash through the rear door, allowing exit from the home.
By that time, however, Melissa Chandler had lost consciousness, and subsequently stopped breathing.
When Officer Lewallen arrived on the scene, he and Timothy Chandler performed CPR on Mrs. Chandler and were able to revive her, but she later died from burns and smoke inhalation at Scott County Hospital.
Timothy Chandler was also hospitalized because of smoke inhalation. Butler’s actions were described as “heroic,” with Det. Laxton saying that neither of the Chandlers would have been able to escape the home alive if not for Butler’s quick action.
Authorities immediately felt that the fire was set, and notified the Bomb & Arson division for its assistance. Special Agent Daniel Foster and Special Agent in Charge Windell Frost assisted authorities with the investigation.
According to Sheriff Anthony Lay, reports from neighbors allowed them to concentrate their investigation on Sellers and Bell. According to an arrest warrant obtained from the Circuit Court Clerk’s office, Sellers gave authorities a statement that implicated both Bell and himself in the setting of the fire. The arrest warrant alleges that once the fire was set, the two men “drove [their] vehicle to a close location where both men watched the residence burn.”
After an interrogation at the Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday (Sept. 5) evening, Sellers was placed under arrest by Agent Foster. The following morning, Bell was placed under arrest by Agent Frost at his place of employment in Sevier County.
Both men were arraigned on Friday morning and were being held on $1 million secure bail. They were expected back in court yesterday (Wednesday) for a preliminary hearing. However, it was believed that the hearing would be postponed.