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HUNTSVILLE — Two men accused of murdering a 37-year-old Helenwood woman in a fire were encouraged by comments from other members of their community, but didn’t intend to hurt anyone.
That’s the testimony that was revealed in a preliminary hearing for Robert C. Bell and Gary L. Sellers in General Sessions Court here Wednesday (Sept. 19) afternoon.
Bell and Sellers, who each face several charges including first degree murder and aggravated arson, were bound over to the Scott County Grand Jury by Judge James L. (Jamie) Cotton, Jr. at the conclusion of the 80-minute hearing.
In a case that has made international headlines, the two men were charged following what authorities termed a case of vigilante justice: Attempting to rid their neighborhood of a man who had been charged with sex crimes involving children.
Timothy Chandler, 52, had been charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor after allegedly being found in possession of child pornography. He made bail and returned home on August 29. Three days later, Chandler’s home burned in the early morning hours. Chandler escaped from the home with minor injuries, but his wife, 37-year-old Melissa Chandler, died a short time later at Scott County Hospital.
Authorities allege that the Chandlers’ escape from their home after flames consumed the front of the house was made slower by the fact that a rear door had been nailed shut by the homeowner. A neighbor — Dick Butler — smashed the door in to enable the couple to escape in what was described by investigators as a heroic act.
But Wednesday’s testimony revealed that the men believed that the Chandlers had an escape route through the back of the house.
The state’s lone witness at Wednesday’s hearing was Tennessee Bombs & Arson Special Agent Daniel Foster. Bombs & Arson Special Agent in Charge Windell Frost and Sheriff’s Department Chief Detective Bill Lane were prepared to testify but were not called by prosecutors. Defense attorneys did not offer testimony or evidence.
During his 65 minutes on the stand, Foster, who filed charges against both men, described his investigation, which began the morning after the fire occurred and concluded with the arrests of Sellers on September 5 and Bell on September 6.
Foster said that he determined that the fire began on the left side of the home’s front porch, and was started on two bed mattresses that had been located on the porch. He testified that both men’s statements indicated that an empty paper beer container had been used to start the fire.
Foster indicated that his investigation had centered on a red pickup truck seen in the area, and that the truck had been identified as belonging to Sellers.
The Wednesday following the fire, he said, Sellers voluntarily gave a statement to investigators, saying that he “couldn’t sleep” and “wanted to talk about it.”
As a result of that statement, Sellers was placed under arrest. Bell was taken into arrest the following day at his place of employment in Sevier County.
According to Foster’s testimony, Sellers told him that he had “been doing a lot of drinking” the night the fire was started and that “they [Sellers and Bell] decided they didn’t want someone like that fella [Chandler] living in their neighborhood.”
Foster testified that Sellers told him that the two men had talked to “three or four other people” who said that “someone should get ‘em out of the neighborhood or burn ‘em out.”
According to Foster’s testimony, Sellers told him that conversations about starting the fire began at midday Saturday, Sept. 1, and continued until the fire was set at 2 a.m. the following morning. Sellers allegedly told Foster that he had driven the truck, stopped 25-50 feet away from the Chandler home and waited for Bell to cross a barbed-wire fence and start the fire, then get back into the truck, at which point they drove to a neighbor’s home and watched from their vehicle.
Foster testified that Bell told him that he had “discussed [the fire] most of the day,” and that he was “pumped up from talking to other folks to burn them out and chase them off.”
He said that Bell told him that he had been “pilled up and drinking all day.”
Foster testified that he was “pretty sure” Bell told him that he knew people were home at the time of the fire, but that Bell said he thought they could escape through the rear of the home.
A major point of contention during cross-examination, however, was that nothing appeared in the written statement of either suspect, nor the transcript of the audio recording of Bell’s interrogation, about the two men talking to anyone else about starting a fire at the Chandler home or about chasing Chandler out of the community.
Defense attorney Leif Jeffers, representing Bell, questioned Foster at length about why those facts were not included in the written statements or on the audio recording of Bell’s statement. Foster indicated that Bell may have told him additional things not included in the statement before the recorded portion of the interview began.
Another point of contention by Jeffers was Foster telling Bell on the recording that their interview was “confidential,” unless an attorney or the court brought it out.
Jeffers also pointed out that there was nothing in the statements to indicate that the two men knew there was anyone home at the time of the fire.
in further cross-examination, Foster testified that Bell had told him that he “didn’t want anyone to get hurt” in the fire.
The state’s only piece of evidence entered at the hearing was the official report of an autopsy conducted on Chandler. That autopsy report has not yet been made public.
After the state rested its case, defense attorney Jim Logan, representing Sellers, argued that the state had not established probable cause of felony murder against his client. He argued that felony murder would “require the state to show that may client had some knowledge that people were in the residence,” and requested the court to reduce the charge of first degree murder to reckless manslaughter.
Assistant District Attorney Tom Barclay successfully countered that state law does not require that a person intended to injure a victim, only that the person intended to commit arson, in order for conditions for a first degree murder charge to be met.
Judge Cotton also reduced the bail of both suspects from $1 million secure to $250,000. Jeffers had argued for a reduction to $25,000, stating that bail conditions should not be “burdensome or overbearing.” In making his case, Jeffers admitted that the $25,000 he requested was low, but added that the circumstances surrounding the case are “extremely unique,” and said there was no risk of Bell re-offending.
The state had opposed a bail reduction for Bell, citing his misdemeanor convictions in several different states, from South Carolina to Washington. Barclay added that Bell had a violation of probation charge pending in Scott County.
Charges against the two men could be heard by a grand jury as soon as October 8.