DA sought review of shooting investigation following request by chief and sheriff

After first declining to re-open an investigation into circumstances surrounding the 2011 shooting death of Dickson County Sheriff’s Deputy Keith Bellar, District Attorney Dan Alsobrooks asked for the appointment of a special prosecutor Tuesday to review the investigation. On Wednesday, the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference named 13^th Judicial District DA Randy York to determine whether further review by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is needed. Dickson Police Department Chief Rick Chandler, whose department handled the investigation into the murder/suicide in which Jayson Eggenberg shot Bellar and then himself, and Sheriff Jeff Bledsoe met with Alsobrooks Tuesday to request a review of the investigation. “I think we had a good investigation,” Chandler said Wednesday. But concerns raised more than a year later by Bellar’s widow and family over allegations of threatening text messages sent to Eggenberg by other law enforcement officers prompted the chief and sheriff to request the additional review. In his letter to conference Director Wally Kirby, Alsobrooks said he believes there is no criminal offense left to investigate. But in response to the requests from Chandler, Bledsoe and Bellar’s family, he requested “an independent and second look at the facts of the case to determine if there needs to be additional investigation by the TBI.” Brandi Bellar said she is “cautiously optimistic” about the review and in a post on her Facebook page says she was contacted by York Wednesday evening. York said Wednesday he plans to start fresh with an impartial review of the facts of the case to determine whether further investigation is needed.