DE DE - John 'Jack' Wheeler, 66, Wilmington, 30 Dec 2010

[J. J. in Phila]

Beau Biden was the Attorney General of the state. I'm surprised that he would be involved in what was a local case.

 

[lonewanderer]

Snipped for length only:



He could have bought or even found the hoodie. They are available is drug stores.

I didn't see this program. Could you elaborate on the e-mail.

The kitchen was discovered by his wife when she came back home, I think. IIRC, Wheeler's sword had been out and some of the floorboards were pulled up.

The show portrayed it as his neighbor discovering it after checking on Jack. The neighbor called in a suspected robbery around the time Jacks body was found. The neighbor didn’t know Jack was dead yet.

As for the Westpoint items, I would really like to know where it was normally at in the house. Was it hinhing? Did he throw it? Did it fall down after he slammed something and then comet fell all over it? To me, this would be the boiling point to kicking something, leading to the limp. I will have to look at it again, but there was a footprint in the comet. Perhaps he stood on the foot while he kicked with the other?

 

[lonewanderer]

Snipped for length only:



He could have bought or even found the hoodie. They are available is drug stores.

I didn't see this program. Could you elaborate on the e-mail.

The kitchen was discovered by his wife when she came back home, I think. IIRC, Wheeler's sword had been out and some of the floorboards were pulled up.

The show portrayed it as his neighbor discovering it after checking on Jack. The neighbor called in a suspected robbery around the time Jacks body was found. The neighbor didn’t know Jack was dead yet.

As for the Westpoint items, I would really like to know where it was normally at in the house. Was it hinhing? Did he throw it? Did it fall down after he slammed something and then comet fell all over it? To me, this would be the boiling point to kicking something, leading to the limp. I will have to look at it again, but there was a footprint in the comet. Perhaps he stood on the foot while he kicked with the other?

 

[lonewanderer]

Two more small details before I try to go to bed:

This was an older person who was pretty well set financially, did he not have a landline phone? If he did, why didn’t he call his wife or someone before setting out to do what he did?

For varying reasons, I think he may have been getting extremely impatient when speaking to the attendant about his parking ticket. The one where he has his show in his hand. I think he was already spiraling pretty badly, and this was another major stressor.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

I see Wheeler as suffering from confusion, in the medical sense. It could have been a psychological problem, a mini-stroke, or even some medication.

 

[Betty P]

I see Wheeler as suffering from confusion, in the medical sense. It could have been a psychological problem, a mini-stroke, or even some medication.

I've always interpreted that last day as him having a psych break. He may have been prescribed some medication for the bipolar that he had stopped taking. When his wife was around, she probably reminded him to take it. He was delusional, even possibly hallucinating. He was also probably sleep deprived, which would have made the situation worse. Mini-strokes also sound like a good guess. I'm not a health care professional by any means.

As for Beau Biden, he was probably asked to supervise the investigation by a friend, etc. Our governor has stepped in to supervise a number of murder investigations in our state, both as AG and governor. It's not unusual, especially if they've worked previously as a prosecutor or judge. Beau Biden probably knew Wheeler personally and worked with him on his projects.

ETA: Biden was probably under pressure from Wheeler's friends and family. It's possible he left the homicide ruling to account for the possibility of Wheeler being mugged. Trying to save face for the guy.

 

[Razz]

Beau Biden was the Attorney General of the state. I'm surprised that he would be involved in what was a local case.

Yes, he was the Atty General at the time. Below is a link that will take you to an article about Beau Biden's involvement in this case.

Family Of Slain Ex-Pentagon Official Wants Info

 

[Betty P]

Yes, he was the Atty General at the time. Below is a link that will take you to an article about Beau Biden's involvement in this case.

Family Of Slain Ex-Pentagon Official Wants Info

My other theory is something that happens in cities to homeless people. It's possible he became a victim of police brutality. If he didn't have any ID or a cell phone, was having a psychological break or other illness, had been sleeping in empty buildings or in the rough, etc., police probably encountered him. He may have become hostile during some of these encounters. In cases like this, LE sometimes considers homeless people a nuisance. If provoked, they'll become annoyed and rough up the homeless person. They'll also relocate them to other neighborhoods or towns. I'm actually surprised he didn't end up in jail.

It's an alternate theory, but it might explain why officials clammed up about everything.

 

[lonewanderer]

My other theory is something that happens in cities to homeless people. It's possible he became a victim of police brutality. If he didn't have any ID or a cell phone, was having a psychological break or other illness, had been sleeping in empty buildings or in the rough, etc., police probably encountered him. He may have become hostile during some of these encounters. In cases like this, LE sometimes considers homeless people a nuisance. If provoked, they'll become annoyed and rough up the homeless person. They'll also relocate them to other neighborhoods or towns. I'm actually surprised he didn't end up in jail.

It's an alternate theory, but it might explain why officials clammed up about everything.

Maybe.

I think he was dressed pretty well with slacks, shoes, and undershirt. He also had the Rolex and WestPoint ring. I think he would seem more like a nutty old rich guy.

 

[kemo]

I think the fact that he was a reputable citizen yet his body appeared to have been badly beaten and he was found in the landfill led to the reasonable assumption that he was a murder victim. It was only after the investigation uncovered the events of the two earlier days and his obvious psychotic break that any alternative explanation emerged.

It would be quite a coincidence that it was while he was in the throes of this psychotic break that some intelligence agency or terrorist group would manage to kill him (has it ever been established why any such group would target him?).

It seems extremely unlikely that anyone specifically targeting him would have found him on the streets of Newark, that night and any random street predator would be expected to steal the wallet and watch from such a victim but not to take a serious effort to dispose of the victim’s body. There is no accounting for the behavior of someone in a psychotic mental state but climbing into a dumpster when confronted with extremely cold weather is certainly a real possibility.

What appeared to be a murder with very sinister overtones has turned out to be just a tragic accident and a reminder of the unpredictability of mental illness.

 

[caravanserai]

DBM

 

[DaisyChains]

Two more small details before I try to go to bed:

This was an older person who was pretty well set financially, did he not have a landline phone? If he did, why didn’t he call his wife or someone before setting out to do what he did?

For varying reasons, I think he may have been getting extremely impatient when speaking to the attendant about his parking ticket. The one where he has his show in his hand. I think he was already spiraling pretty badly, and this was another major stressor.

I believe Jack never had the chance to call even if he had a landline phone because he was captured. I believe it was a hit. I believe he was taken to the locations where he was seen after being attacked and possibly injured at his home. The captors would have easily been able to put a gps tracker on him as they sat and waited and sent him out to get whatever information it was they were after. Perhaps jack lied and told them whatever they were after was not in his home or the info really was somewhere else.

Jack could have even sent them on a wild goose chase with him in an effort to buy himself time or sadly perhaps they had inflicted some sort of traumatic brain injury in the initial attack and were waiting to see if his condition would improve for gaining the info they desired.

They could have even had him tapped so he was scared to tell anyone what was happening as he walked around. Just considering that whoever did this might have been involved in tech/cyber security alone should make us think like the potential hit man/org in tech.

Once they realized he was not going to provide the info (this is my hope bc we don’t want that info out) they murdered him and finished the hit. He looked as if he had already been attacked to an extent in the videos. I believe he was out of sorts bc he was being held captive while appearing free and alone. The captors did NOT want to be seen with him.

 

[DaisyChains]

I think the fact that he was a reputable citizen yet his body appeared to have been badly beaten and he was found in the landfill led to the reasonable assumption that he was a murder victim. It was only after the investigation uncovered the events of the two earlier days and his obvious psychotic break that any alternative explanation emerged.

It would be quite a coincidence that it was while he was in the throes of this psychotic break that some intelligence agency or terrorist group would manage to kill him (has it ever been established why any such group would target him?).

It seems extremely unlikely that anyone specifically targeting him would have found him on the streets of Newark, that night and any random street predator would be expected to steal the wallet and watch from such a victim but not to take a serious effort to dispose of the victim’s body. There is no accounting for the behavior of someone in a psychotic mental state but climbing into a dumpster when confronted with extremely cold weather is certainly a real possibility.

What appeared to be a murder with very sinister overtones has turned out to be just a tragic accident and a reminder of the unpredictability of mental illness.

it was thought people involved in cyber crimes (potentially contracted by an enemy of the US) might be involved bc Jack was significantly involved in cyber security with the department of defense if I remember correctly.