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Collier County Fair president dead in apparent murder-suicide
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The president of the 2008 Collier County Fair and his wife were found dead Sunday in an apparent murder-suicide and arson at their North Naples estate.
DAVID ALBERS / Daily News
North Naples Fire Control & Rescue District investigators work the scene of a murder-suicide and arson fire at 6641 Sandalwood Lane in North Naples on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2007.
Collier County sheriff’s officials are investigating the apparent murder-suicide that involved fair president Rick Lane Bell, a road paving contractor who has worked on major roads and other projects in Collier County.
Bell, 48, and Sherri L. Bell, 47, were discovered dead shortly after deputies responded to a barn fire, reported around 5:50 a.m. Sunday, at 6641 Sandalwood Lane in North Naples.
Collier sheriff’s officials said they believe Rick Bell killed his wife and then committed suicide in the attached garage.
Fair Vice President Doug Holland said Sunday he’d heard the news earlier in the day, when a friend called.
“I’ve been getting phone calls all day,” Holland said.
Bell was “very good to work with, and brought a lot of good ideas to the fair,” Holland said. “He accomplished a lot. He brought in a new ride company, and (established) a $25,000 scholarship that will be given away this year. He got it all approved.”
The two saw each other Saturday night at the Demolition Derby in Collier County.
“I spoke with him briefly,” Holland said.
Longtime Naples roofer Ken Kelly was shocked when told about what occurred.
Kelly said he didn’t know Bell all that well, but what he knew of him was only good.
“The really neat thing about him was that he gave so much of himself to the community,” Kelly said. “He gave away so much of his time and (supplies) to build Collier County Fairgrounds.”
Other fair board members couldn’t be reached Sunday or declined to comment.
Bell was the owner of Rick Bell Paving, a road construction company.
According to a biography about him posted on his company’s Web site, he started in construction in 1975 in South Carolina and moved to Naples in 1982 to help supervise the construction of Interstate 75 and an expansion of Pine Ridge Road.
After three years of touring Florida to work on road and bridge projects, he became a permanent resident of Naples in 1985, doing excavation work at the Vineyards, Orangetree and other developments in Collier County, according to the Web site biography.
According to the Web site, the company has worked with many well-known construction firms in Southwest Florida, including Kraft construction, Jack Antaramian’s development company, Divco Construction, Bonita Limestone Transportation, and others.
The Web site also says his company helped in the building of several Collier County schools, the former Cleveland Clinic on Pine Ridge Road, Naples Yacht Club, LaPlaya Beach Resort and many other well-known projects in Collier County.
Neighbor John Gulotta said he had no idea what occurred. His wife, Joan Ann, went out to pick up her newspaper Sunday morning and saw patrol cars around the Bell home.
“I only knew him to say ‘Hi,’” Gulotta said.
Another neighbor declined to talk much about the incident or to identify herself, but she said what occurred was sensitive, and that no one would be talking to news reporters about the tragedy.
When deputies arrived, they found the couple dead, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputies said it appeared there had been a struggle inside the house, where they found Sherri Bell dead.
Rick Bell was found in the garage in his Cadillac Escalade apparently dead from carbon monoxide poisoning, sheriff’s officials said.
Investigators say that there was no one else home at the time of the fire. It wasn’t immediately known exactly what started the fire in the home.
North Naples fire officials referred questions about the fire to the Sheriff’s Office.
Settled among pine and cypress trees on a secluded road off of Old Livingston Road, the Bell home -- which sat on nearly 3 acres -- was already decorated for Christmas. Signs on either side of the road leading up to the home stated, “Welcome friends.”
Sheri Bell’s death is under investigation by the Collier Medical Examiner’s Office, which will determine a cause of death.
Sheriff’s officials declined to release any other information Sunday.
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