GREENVILLE - Don Dial is up for parole next month in a more than decade-old Hunt County murder case that was part of a scheme to obtain the proceeds from the deceased‘s fraudulent insurance policy.
Sandy Dial disappeared near her Garland home in December 1991. Her body was found two days later inside her car not far from where Don Dial had once lived. She had been shot to death.
Five years later, Don Dial, along with two other people, were indicted in the case.
DeEllen Bellah was convicted for posing as Sandy Dial for a year while acting as her best friend in order to obtain a $100,000 insurance policy, which named Bellah as the beneficiary. She received a 50 year sentence.
Don Dial, the victim’s brother in-law and former officer with both the Royse City Police Department and Hunt County Sheriff’s Office, was convicted to 80 years in prison.
Both convictions were upheld on appeal. Bellah was denied parole in 2009.
Charges were dropped against a third defendant, the victim’s ex-husband, due to a lack of evidence.