Man accuses two others for wife’s death in fire

He previously served 18 months in jail for gross
sexual imposition.

HUNTSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A man who pleaded guilty Monday to a child porn charge blamed two men for his wife’s death in a house fire allegedly set by vigilantes trying to drive him from their rural neighborhood.

Timothy Chandler, 53, spoke outside a Scott County courtroom before pleading guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor for hundreds of child porn photos found on a computer disk by his wife’s family. He was sentenced to five years’ probation and will serve no jail time. He was ordered to pay court costs and register as a sex offender.

“It is unbelievable that anybody would do that,” Chandler said of the alleged vigilantes. “Anybody can be charged with anything and not do it. And then be burned out ... that is the worst kind of thing I could think of.”

In a barely audible voice, he added, “I regret that I was the one who got out of the fire and my wife didn’t. I would take her place in a heartbeat.”

Melissa “Missy” Chandler, 37, was killed in the fire.

Melissa Chandler’s sister, Malinda Lindsey of Monroe, Ohio, attended the court proceedings Monday wearing a T-shirt with a photo of her sister printed on it.

She blamed Timothy Chandler for being “a sick individual. I have nothing good to say about him at all.” She also blamed herself for not persuading her sister to leave Chandler after he was sentenced in 1990 in Ohio for gross sexual imposition, which typically involves fondling. The former school bus driver served 18 months in jail.

“I’ve read a lot of comments that maybe she deserved what she got because she stayed with the person she stayed with,” Lindsey said of her sister. “Her biggest fault was when she loved, she did it with all of her heart.”

Gary Sellers, 39, and Robert Bell, 37, are charged with setting fire to the Chandlers’ tiny rental house where the couple had lived quietly for nine years. The fire occurred Sept. 2, three days after Chandler was released on bond on the porn charge.

Sellers and Bell pleaded innocent Monday to first-degree murder and aggravated arson charges. Both are being held on bond.

“At this point, we are not admitting anything,” said attorney Lief Jeffers, who is representing Bell.

Prosecutors told Criminal Court Judge Shayne Sexton that at this point no enhanced penalties would be sought. That would mean a maximum of life in prison with a chance for parole if Sellers and Bell are convicted.

Lindsey blamed Sellers and Bell for setting the fire.

“I’ve never believed in the death penalty, but I do now,” she said. “They took a life; I believe they should lose their own.”

She said she hated her brother-in-law, but still loved her sister. “She was no more at fault for loving him than I was for loving her,” Lindsey said.

Chandler said Lindsey doesn’t appreciate his loss. “She just won’t understand ... that I lost a wife. I mean she lost a sister, but I am not the one that did it.”