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

[GrainneDhu]

I didn't realize they'd have them, in Vietnam, at that point.

He was at Long Binh, but on the General Staff, not supply.

Here is Wheeler's very impressive bio: http://www.sldinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/John-Wheeler-Bio.pdf

West Point, Harvard, and Yale.

Nothing particularly impressive in his service record, however.

"They also serve who only stand and wait." --John Milton

Going back on topic, I'm beginning to wonder if Wheeler's death was called a murder by police simply because of the combination of his social standing and the circumstances of where his body was found. The two circumstances are so disparate, it almost screams murder.

I wish the police would at least indicate if further investigation was supporting the assumption of murder.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

"They also serve who only stand and wait." --John Milton

Agreed. He served and won an Commendation Medal (which isn't given for valor), which means he served well. But he wasn't a combat veteran.

That is on topic because we might be looking for something there that could be combat related.

Going back on topic, I'm beginning to wonder if Wheeler's death was called a murder by police simply because of the combination of his social standing and the circumstances of where his body was found. The two circumstances are so disparate, it almost screams murder.

I wish the police would at least indicate if further investigation was supporting the assumption of murder.

Normally, they'd give a cause of death, if it was apparent, i.e. he was stabbed or shot. They have made a point about waiting for toxicology.

No pun intended, but maybe they jumped the gun.

 

[songline]

I just found this thread so I could not read it all.
but could he have had Alzheimer's?.

What is going on with all sorts of political people
either disappearing, blowing up in a car, getting shot?
:doh::doh::doh:
this is crazy...:crazy::crazy::crazy:

 

[dotr]

Sorry if this has already been posted.

http://www.amw.com/fugitives/case.cfm?id=76128

 

[J. J. in Phila]

I just found this thread so I could not read it all.
but could he have had Alzheimer's?.

That generally would have a longer onset time. Nobody reported any symptoms.

 

[i.b.nora]

Its almost as if someone heard my request for more information on the trash company:

Vigilance is the watchword for landfill checkers

January 19, 2011|By Jeremy Roebuck, Inquirer Staff Writer

"Jose Garcia stands atop a 145-foot mountain of trash, his gaze locked on the trucks dumping pile after pile of Delaware's waste just yards from his feet."

+

"Just two weeks before, one of Garcia's colleagues at Wilmington's Cherry Island Landfill discovered the body of former Pentagon official John P. Wheeler 3d as it tumbled from the back of an arriving truck."

+

"But the fact that Wheeler's body somehow made it to this point, at the end of Delaware's solid waste disposal system, underscores a lesson well-known to those who work day-to-day, like Garcia, as landfill spotters: Each new dump truck brings its own surprises."

"There's always trash," said his boss, Tony Casarino. "Keeping an eye on it is steady work."

+

Casarino, now a site supervisor with contractor Greggo & Ferrara, which oversees the compacting operation, got his start in the business as a landfill spotter at 19.

+

"More than 500 dump trucks pass through the landfill's gates each day, bringing loads from across New Castle County. Each truckful is hauled up the mountain and eventually let loose on a 150-by-80-square-foot patch where Casarino's crews are working that day."

PAGE 2

"Inspectors occasionally find medical waste inadvertently sent from area hospitals or out-of-state mail - a clue that a driver may have picked up his cargo across state lines, a practice prohibited by state law."

+

"That Wheeler's body was discovered at all is something of a miracle, Casarino said. On Dec. 31, a truck hauling waste from somewhere in New Castle County picked up the body and brought it to Cherry Island.

One of Casarino's heavy equipment drivers spotted the corpse moments before driving over it with his massive compacting machine."

Much more about the landfill operations...

 

[Missizzy]

How awful. Talk about trauma. That reminds me of the recent week long "toss" on the Lane County, OR landfill looking for an infant supposedly disposed of in a dumpster. They never found the little guy but the search was massive and took it's toll on the searchers.

I imagine the men and women who work at the landfills have plenty of horror stories.

And I agree, Alzheimer's has a much slower onset. Fronto-temporal lobe dementia can have a seemingly sudden onset but it builds quietly for quite a while. I wonder if he'd become a bit scattered or had any difficulty with decisions or sequencing. Supposedly this is the next "major" disorder for elders to fear. Anyone close to the man would have noticed some changes, however. It's not like a stroke which occurrs in a split second.

We have to remember that even though the man might have been brilliant and didn't see combat, he certainly could have some other, unknown to us, trauma in his life. Did he ever lose a child? Was he ever the victim of a serious crime or an accident? I'd also wonder if he hadn't suffered from a childhood trauma. A simple trigger is all it can take to be whisked back into a frenzied, confused state. At that point, his demise might have been completely dependent on his own actions or his lessened state could have made him a target.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

How awful. Talk about trauma. That reminds me of the recent week long "toss" on the Lane County, OR landfill looking for an infant supposedly disposed of in a dumpster. They never found the little guy but the search was massive and took it's toll on the searchers.

I imagine the men and women who work at the landfills have plenty of horror stories.

And I agree, Alzheimer's has a much slower onset. Fronto-temporal lobe dementia can have a seemingly sudden onset but it builds quietly for quite a while. I wonder if he'd become a bit scattered or had any difficulty with decisions or sequencing. Supposedly this is the next "major" disorder for elders to fear. Anyone close to the man would have noticed some changes, however. It's not like a stroke which occurrs in a split second.

Strokes, or other circulatory problems, can happen very quickly, and JW3 might not have been able to comprehend the symptoms. His wife was out of town; he had been away from home and there was no one "close" to him that would have noticed a subtle change at onset.

At 66, he'd be a candidate for something like that.

There is also the possibility of a head injury. It could have been caused by an accident (he fell and hit his head), or a crime (some one hit him over the head or pushed him down during a mugging.

We have to remember that even though the man might have been brilliant and didn't see combat, he certainly could have some other, unknown to us, trauma in his life. Did he ever lose a child? Was he ever the victim of a serious crime or an accident? I'd also wonder if he hadn't suffered from a childhood trauma. A simple trigger is all it can take to be whisked back into a frenzied, confused state.

Wouldn't something like that have likely manifested earlier, unless it was something that happened around that time.

At that point, his demise might have been completely dependent on his own actions or his lessened state could have made him a target.

You can add, "or caused by a property crime" against him.

Lots of theories, but no evidence released.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Here is a link about a limo drive suspended in the murder of a patron in Delaware.

http://www.examiner.com/criminal-pr...digging-deeper-and-looking-at-taxi-regulation

 

[Missizzy]

Repressed memories can be brought to light by a trigger which can cause a person to experience a fugue state. These are the conditions so popular with filmmakers but they do happen. The trauma could have occurred at any time in his life. From what I've read, a tone of voice, a phrase, a sight, a smell--almost anything can trigger it. The fact that he was seen over a period of time and seemed to be confused, I'm just not thinking head injury or stroke. I don't recall any witnesses saying that he was holding his head as if in pain and I don't think he'd keep moving and wandering. JMO


[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugue_state[/ame]


I highly suggest giving this explanation a quick look. Lots of interesting markers.

 

[Missizzy]

I haven't shared something as I want to keep the person's identity confidential but I have a very personal experience with a seriously disassociative fugue state.

A few years ago, one of our sons who had been raped as a young boy, started experiencing headaches all of a sudden and seemed very "out of character". His friends, his family and his coach all noticed fairly quickly. Over the course of about a week, things really disintegrated. One thing that was very surprising is that he started wetting himself. And this was an extremely popular high school student and state ranked athlete, not one of our more seriously impaired children. Something was clearly very wrong. We made an appointment with a pediatric neurologist at the suggestion of our doctor.

Fast forward a few days and we got a series of phone calls one morning. No one was on the other line, although we could hear crying. I was freaked out as I didn't know who it was as the caller ID was blocked. We must have gotten at least 8 calls and my husband and I gathered around the phone calling out children's names. Who in heck was it?? We were absolutely terrified. My husband used his cell to dial 911 as we knew we had some sort of emergency on our hands. We had no idea who it was or where they were. Another call came in and I heard a sob. I immediately identified the child. He didn't know his name and he was wailing. He didn't know where he was. He was scared.

My husband got the high school on the phone and it turned out that several students had reported strange behavior by this son that morning. We knew he'd gotten on a city bus, so my husband called the bus company and got patched through to the driver who knows our son by sight. The driver said he tried to engage our son but he was in a world of his own. The driver had dropped him near the school but thought it all very odd. Our son walked through the school, leaving his backpack on a bench and not responding in a typical way to anyone. He said some very strange things to several people and was noted to be speaking in a "little boy's voice"...and he was an older teen. A female student was embarrassed to tell the vice principal that our son was wet. Not something that commonly happens to a popular guy at school.

Then a call went into 911 that a young man matching our son's description had almost been hit by two cars on our main street. He'd walked right out in traffic. Even when he was almost hit by a car, he did not respond. The driver was certain that our son was on drugs. That put him almost 2 miles from the high school but the police and ambulance headed in that direction as I kept him on the phone. I talked to him gently and I sang to him. I mentioned family members, pets, and sports. Nothing at all. Just sobbing.

My husband left at that point, determined to find this child. We thought that maybe he'd walked up towards a house we once lived. No, he wasn't there. My husband stopped at his old elementary school and called and called for him. Suddenly he heard a whimper. He was under a bush near the boys' restroom. He'd wet and soiled himself and did not recognize his father. My husband broke down on the phone to me--he was so scared but so relieved to find our boy. The ambulance and police converged at that point and I was given the word, "We've got him". I've never felt so helpless as I was already bedbound and could not rush to the hospital.

Our son had walked almost three miles to the very spot where he had been raped. He couldn't get into the school (it's now an art center) so he'd gotten as close as he could, the wall. He was whisked to the hospital and it took a good 30 hours for his memory to come back. He had no real memory of the morning.

This event followed his testimony in court at the Post Conviction Relief Trial against his rapist. He hadn't seen the man in nine years. That started the downhill slide. We dealt with almost 18 months of these fugue states before he finally left them behind--with a hefty dose of therapy and meds for a while.

It breaks my heart to tell this story. I wouldn't have believed it had I not experienced this myself. It was one of the most upsetting and terrifying of my experiences as a mother....and I've had many. The young man is doing very well right now and is playing professional soccer in Europe.

Triggers are a powerful thing indeed.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

I don't recall any witnesses saying that he was holding his head as if in pain and I don't think he'd keep moving and wandering. JMO

JW3 wasn't holding his head, or visibly injured, but he did say that his briefcase had been stolen.

He also did "interact" with others, responding to questions. He asked about his parked car, but couldn't remember where he parked it; it was where he normally parked it. He looked frustrated on the tape, raising and shaking his arms, at one point. He was not truly disassociative.

 

[i.b.nora]

Cabbie recalls ex-Pentagon official later found dead
USAToday
Sunday January 23, 2011
By Esteban Parra and Ira Porter, The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal

WILMINGTON, Del. — Roland Spence remembers the man who got into his cab the morning of Dec. 29.

In some ways, he was different from the power brokers and politicians who routinely hop into taxis outside the city's Amtrak station.

He was casually dressed, wearing only a sport coat and slacks despite the cold.

He also was more chatty.

"He told me to take him to the Hotel DuPont," Spence said in an interview with the News Journal. "But I don't think he was staying there, because he told me he wouldn't stay there. So I don't know whether he was just going there to eat or meet somebody."

The fare was John Wheeler.

and

"Spence is one of the few to publically describe an encounter with Wheeler. He also may have been one of the last to speak with him.

What's known is that Wheeler wandered around the city for at least three days. Other witnesses and surveillance videos portrayed Wheeler as disoriented and confused.

But not Spence, who remembers him as calm, relaxed and lucid.

He picked Wheeler up at the train station — where politicians disembark a short distance from the homeless and drug addicts who gather near the Sunday Breakfast Mission — and took him to the Hotel DuPont. The fare came to about $9, but Wheeler's tip brought it to $12.

Not bad for a 0.8-mile trip, said Spence, whose Seacoast cab was parked on South French Street when Wheeler popped into the back seat at about 8:48 a.m."

There is more ...

Its not making sense to me.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Cabbie recalls ex-Pentagon official later found dead
USAToday
Sunday January 23, 2011
By Esteban Parra and Ira Porter, The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal

WILMINGTON, Del. — Roland Spence remembers the man who got into his cab the morning of Dec. 29.

In some ways, he was different from the power brokers and politicians who routinely hop into taxis outside the city's Amtrak station.

He was casually dressed, wearing only a sport coat and slacks despite the cold.

He also was more chatty.

"He told me to take him to the Hotel DuPont," Spence said in an interview with the News Journal. "But I don't think he was staying there, because he told me he wouldn't stay there. So I don't know whether he was just going there to eat or meet somebody."

The fare was John Wheeler.


Its not making sense to me.

Okay, on the morning of 12/29/10, JW3 seems fine. The lack of a coat could mean he's going someplace by cab and be inside quickly, like the Dupont. He's also a big guy, so he's likely to stay warm. That makes sense.

JW3 seems fine, is a bit chatty, and has money. He knows where he's going.

6:00 PM, JW3 is in the pharmacy on the north edge of New Castle. He's known to ask people for a lift and he knows the pharmacist. He wants to go to Wilmington. No one said he's disoriented.

40 minutes later, he's back in Wilmington, about 1-2 blocks from the Dupont (a 10-15 minute drive from New Castle). Now, he's acting disoriented, walking around outside holding one shoe.

Next day, he's in the same are, wearing a hoodie, within a block of the Dupont.

http://www.delawareonline.com/artic...imes-and-locations-in-John-P-Wheeler-III-case

1. Now, whatever caused the confusion probably happened between 6:00 PM and 6:40 PM on 12/29/10.

2. There is some connection with the Hotel Dupont area.

Question #1: Where did the trash trucks make their stops? Any in that area?

Question #2: How did he get back to Wilmington?

 

[i.b.nora]

Here is an ABC interview with Roland Spence, the cabbie:

Cabbie drove Wheeler to Hotel du Pont

Tuesday, January 25, 2011
By David Henry

"Action News spoke with a cabbie who says he left John Wheeler off on a corner in downtown Wilmington two days before he turned up dead in a landfill."

+

"Cabbie Roland Spence of Seacoast Cabs didn't want his face shown on television, but wanted to tell his story."

+

"He says John Wheeler got into his cab at the Amtrak station around 9:00 the morning of December 29th.

It was a cold day and Wheeler was wearing just a sportcoat and an open collared white shirt. He wanted to go the Hotel du Pont."

(NOTE: I looked in weather history, it was between 25° and 27° in Wilmington, that morning. During the day, it never got over 40°)

"'You can take me to the Hotel du Pont, but I'm not staying there because it's not worth the money' and he had me drop him off at 11th and Orange," Spence said.

And that's where Spence last saw him, looking lost, just standing on the corner.

"He was just a lonely sort of guy. He just started walking," Spence said.

Spence says Wheeler was holding a small briefcase at the time."

The article talks about him showing up in New Castle later in the day, and then showing up again in Wilmington at a parking garage at about 6:40 PM.

"He was dressed the same as he was when he rode in Spence's cab that morning, but was disheveled and carried a shoe in his hand."

 

[YellowDog]

Could he have been hit by a car knocking his shoe off? Maybe a "hit and run" with not witnesses.

 

[Willow57]

I wonder if he might have picked up a prescription when he was there at the pharmacy? I'm sure-at this point-LE knows the answer to this question. Someone before wondered if he may have had a bad reaction to some medication he may have been taking-maybe he got a hold of the wrong prescription or dosage...? This case is such a mystery and when it it is all said and done we will probably never truly know what happened. Sad!

 

[Monzoo]

I find this story fascinating, since it is local to me. His actions on the 29th seem to make no sense --and I have no idea how he ended up in Newark.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Here is an ABC interview with Roland Spence, the cabbie:

Cabbie drove Wheeler to Hotel du Pont

Tuesday, January 25, 2011
By David Henry


Spence says Wheeler was holding a small briefcase at the time."[/I]

The article talks about him showing up in New Castle later in the day, and then showing up again in Wilmington at a parking garage at about 6:40 PM.

"He was dressed the same as he was when he rode in Spence's cab that morning, but was disheveled and carried a shoe in his hand."

Okay, there was a briefcase, and JW3 said it was stolen by someone.

 

[Missizzy]

The cabbie's story is odd as he says that Wheeler was "chatty" in the cab and then looked "lost" just minutes later on the street corner. Chatty, IMO, does not fit with a fugue state (that I'm aware of) and also doesn't fit with a bad reaction to a drug. One almost thinks that something happened in the cab or upon stepping out of it (stroke, a fall, bumped by a car or whatever) but then there's the unusual choice of clothing for such a cold day.

I wonder what Wheeler's family and friends have to say about this description. Was he known to be chatty with cabbies?