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

[colette]

Stories say he was murdered, but not how he was murdered. His wallet might also be missing....

" Investigators say he was killed and tossed in a dumpster in Newark."

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/John_P_Wheeler_III_Homicide_Investigation_010411

 

[Steely Dan]

Evidently a cadaver dog hit on a dumpster is hard to interpret since getting rid of bodies via dumpsters is so effective. It was said somewhere in the past that cadaver dogs will make a positive hit on most dumpsters out there.

If the dog hit on only one of the total dumpsters that would be very interesting.

Cops probe 'exceedingly weird' killing of Bush aide:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40904330/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

Great, now they're naming the couple he had the dispute with.

 

[Lera213]

I believe there are a couple different kinds now,but I get what you are saying.(maybe osm species are more suseptable?) I researched the guy alittle and he did indeed write some manual about the use of biological weapons,and was adamnetly apposed to the US using them. He also consulted for Mitre Company. It does make you wonder. If I lived in Arkansas,I'd be wondering if they are truelly doing testing there and was there any reports of military planes malfunctioning?

This was his early career where he was working on Biological weapons, and if it is connected to these dead birds/fish....and our gov. or another knows something...the general public never will. It will be lame excuses as why these birds/fish died.

 

[colette]

Police found evidence linking John Parsons Wheeler 3d to devices planted at the New Castle home of a neighbor with whom he had been feuding, said the source, who is close to the investigation


The source emphasized that the evidence does not shed light on the murder itself, but it has helped detectives understand Wheeler's state of mind before he disappeared.



Detectives were able to verify that Wheeler had been seen Thursday near 10th and Orange Streets - close to the Hotel du Pont - but a police spokesman declined to say how this was confirmed. An executive at the nearby DuPont Corp. headquarters, which employs outdoor surveillance cameras, said that the company had "cooperated" with the police but declined to elaborate.

read more at:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20110105_Man_found_in_landfill_tied_to_arson_attempt.html

 

[wfgodot]

Police found evidence linking John Parsons Wheeler 3d to devices planted at the New Castle home of a neighbor with whom he had been feuding, said the source, who is close to the investigation


The source emphasized that the evidence does not shed light on the murder itself, but it has helped detectives understand Wheeler's state of mind before he disappeared.



Detectives were able to verify that Wheeler had been seen Thursday near 10th and Orange Streets - close to the Hotel du Pont - but a police spokesman declined to say how this was confirmed. An executive at the nearby DuPont Corp. headquarters, which employs outdoor surveillance cameras, said that the company had "cooperated" with the police but declined to elaborate.

read more at:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20110105_Man_found_in_landfill_tied_to_arson_attempt.html

Wow. The plot thickens. Great find!

 

[fran]

This makes no sense. This victim didn't seem like the type to torch a building.

Wonder what LE has that ties him to the arson attempt?

fran

 

[wfgodot]

Bits and pieces from today's Daily Mail coverage:

Attendant Iman Goldsborough said Mr Wheeler, who had two children from a previous marriage, looked unsteady and was looking for a car that it later emerged was parked elsewhere.

‘He really didn't look good to me.’ she said.

‘I asked him, 'Are you OK?' He was like, 'No.'

Delaware police have now revealed that a smoke bomb was placed under the same neighbour’s house last week but have not released any more details.

In further developments, officers have pried up floorboards at Mr Wheeler’s Wilmington home, although they have said that it is not a crime scene.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ighting-White-House-aide-dumped-landfill.html

 

[colette]

Regarding the decorated Vietnam vet references, I really don't think he set foot in Vietnam, ever. I think the closest he got to Vietnam and combat was looking at maps at the Pentagon.

He was a graduate of West Point, served as a staff sergeant in Vietnam.....


http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/10496-new-details-on-murder-victims-final-hours

 

[i.b.nora]

He was a graduate of West Point, served as a staff sergeant in Vietnam.....

Oh yes, I meant to post that I was able to verify, to my satisfaction that he did actually spend some time at Long Binh, Vietnam. It was on his own resume, and was also verified by a couple of others who knew him and in an interview that was done with him where he talked about his return a little bit.

1969 - 1970, member of the General Staff, Headquarters U.S. Army Vietnam, Long Binh, Vietnam

I do not consider that newsworks site a legitimate news source. If you notice, that reporter is just parroting what other legitimate news sources have reported. But, thanks.

 

[i.b.nora]

Probably some of the best reporting is coming from Chad Livengood and Ira Porter in the Deleware News Journal.

This article seems to have all the bits of information that others are reporting portions of:

Delaware crime: In Wheeler's final days, details of a disheveled man

 

[i.b.nora]

The Newark Police Department has released video of John “Jack” Wheeler inside a Wilmington office building the day before he died. They need the public's help with this case.

The video was taken inside the Nemours Building at 10th & Orange Streets in Wilmington on Thursday, December 30th.

Police say Wheeler “appears confused” on the video and he was in the building as late as 8:30 p.m. that night.

Police have also said that earlier in the day, on Thursday, Wheeler was approached inside this building by several individuals who offered assistance to him, which Wheeler declined.

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/0105110-slideshow-john-wheeler-seen-on-video

 

[dgfred]

Poor fellow, really looks confused.

Could it be that someone slipped something in his drink, alchohol/etc, mild stroke or heart attack??? He is also limping a bit and his shirt is unbuttoned.
Could someone have hit him over the head, mugged or tried to rob him???

 

[angela]

That video breaks my heart. There was obviously something very wrong. Who was he talking to through the window? Security? Why did no one in that building call police. Is the limp new? This is very odd. Could he have had a stroke and wandered into a bad situation and was robbed and murdered? So sad!

 

[i.b.nora]

Probably some of the best reporting is coming from Chad Livengood and Ira Porter in the Deleware News Journal.

This article seems to have all the bits of information that others are reporting portions of:

Delaware crime: In Wheeler's final days, details of a disheveled man

Don't hestitate to read this article. It has tons of information in it.

"People who encountered Wheeler on Wednesday night -- and recognized his face from news reports this week after his death -- say he was disoriented and rambling about his brother, mother and a Hertz rental car."

 

[GrainneDhu]

Evidently a cadaver dog hit on a dumpster is hard to interpret since getting rid of bodies via dumpsters is so effective. It was said somewhere in the past that cadaver dogs will make a positive hit on most dumpsters out there.

In general, all living human beings smell different to a dog and all dead human beings start to smell alike, starting 2-4 hours after death.

But it isn't only human bodies that smell like cadavers. There are other things that can cause a Human Remains Detection Dog to indicate, such as body parts or blood. So if, for instance, a given dumpster had a lot of used diapers or used menstrual pads in it, an HRD dog may hit on it.

Considering Mr Wheeler's age, the fact that until about a week before his death he was apparently acting in a normal manner and then, starting about four days before he died, there are various reports of him being dishevelled, acting disoriented, etc, I have to wonder if he'd had some sort of medical problem such as a stroke.

I wonder why the police were calling it a homicide before the results of the autopsy were in.

 

[wfgodot]

Poor fellow, really looks confused.

Could it be that someone slipped something in his drink, alchohol/etc, mild stroke or heart attack??? He is also limping a bit and his shirt is unbuttoned.
Could someone have hit him over the head, mugged or tried to rob him???

Yes, according to witness reports of his behavior, he does appear to have possibly been drugged.

Which would make the whole case even odder, considering his background.

 

[i.b.nora]

Here is an article from 6ABC Action News and a fuller version of the video, showing the time stamps.

Video shows Wheeler in Del. parking garage

This is on Wednesday night, December 29th at approx 10:42 pm.

"The video came from the Hypark parking garage next door to the New Castle County Courthouse where parking attendant Iman Goldsborough claimed to have spoken with him."

" Goldsborough told Action News that Wheeler seemed dazed and cold. He had no overcoat on and had one of his shoes in his hand and the other on his foot.

"He kind of looked disoriented," she said.

"Wheeler told Goldsborough that his briefcase had been stolen. She said he told her he had just come off a train from Washington - the train station is four blocks from the garage.

Police later found Wheeler's car at the parking garage right across the street from the train station in its designated spot.

Earlier in the evening, Wheeler showed up at a Happy Harry's pharmacy in New Castle, asking the pharmacist to give him a ride to Wilmington. He left without the ride, and showed up in the parking garage about an hour later."

And then, it goes on to report that police have obtained another video of Wheeler taken just hours before he was found dead in a landfill.

"According to Newark Police, Wheeler was seen on video inside the Nemours Building at 10th and Orange streets in Wilmington as late as 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 30th."

So, we see that he was seen on video wandering around that downtown area for over 24 hours before he apparently disapppeared.

 

[dgfred]

If he was acting that same way, someone may have seen him as an easy 'target'.

 

[i.b.nora]

I have been thinking about the idea that since he continued to hang out in that area near the train station, if, in his disorientation he got on the train after he was seen at 8:30 PM on Thursday in Wilmington and got off in Newark.

Maybe he was mugged in Newark at or near that train station. And then, his body removed to the trash bins at the beginning of the route. They would be about 2 miles away from the train station.

 

[ahoyhoy]

My fear is that Wheeler had gradually become ill, in a way that would affect his reasoning.* While his wife was out of town, he had a bad episode, and a random took advantage of him while he was wandering the streets.
If the murder itself was random, it will be that much harder to solve. Hopefully the autopsy results will be swift and conclusive as to why he was acting so weird.

* a tumor or brain disorder could explain why such an accomplished man could be accused of resorting to arson (or even plotting it) in a neighborhood dispute. Those are not the actions of the same man who served for decades so honorably and competently. JMO.