Chicago man posed as meter reader to murder romantic rival

A Chicago man disguised himself as a meter reader so that he could murder a romantic adversary before blowing up the victim’s home last year, prosecutors revealed this week.

Willie Bell, 44, was denied bail during an appearance this week at Cook County court in Illinois.

“The acts of this defendant were cold, calculated and preplanned,” Judge James Brown said during the bond hearing on Tuesday, according to the Chicago Tribune. “The only reasonable order would be an order of no bail," he said.
Bell is charged with first-degree murder and concealment of a homicide in the slaying of 48-year-old Timothy Lawrence.

Prosecutors say Bell and Lawrence had been dating the same woman and that Facebook postings in the days leading up to the murder show Bell growing increasingly jealous over the rivalry.

In surveillance video released last year, Bell was captured purchasing a reflective vest and a worker’s helmet at a local Home Depot, DNAinfo Chicago reported.

A week later, security camera’s from Lawrence’s home show him arriving to the house wearing the work gear.

He is seen leaving the house an hour later with a bandaged hand and wearing a shirt that says “I’m that dude,” DNAinfo Chicago reported.

He got into Lawrence's 2004 Buick LeSabre and used the dead man’s credit card to buy gas at a nearby station, prosecutors said according to the Tribune.

At about 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 14, 2015, Bell was spotted re-entering Lawrence’s home with an accomplice carrying several gas cans.

Police received a 911 call about 15 minutes later reporting that Lawrence’s home was on fire — the house exploded while fire officials were en route to put out the blaze.

Once the flames were extinguished, authorities found Lawrence’s charred remains with a gunshot wound in his head, prosecutors said.

Police eventually arrested Bell when they linked cell phone records to Lawrence house and his DNA to Lawrence’s car, according to DNAinfo.

Bell is a truck driver and is divorced with one adult child, his public defender told the Tribune.