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

[ahoyhoy]

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

I was typing the same theory while you were posting!

 

[angela]

He told security at the parking garage that his briefcase had been stolen. It sounds like he could have been mugged after leaving the train and may have been wandering around with a head injury. Has anyone heard if he was acting strangely on the train? Was he for sure on a train? So confusing.

 

[i.b.nora]

On Wednesday, December 29th:

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.

At the Hypark parking garage next door to the New Castle County Courthouse where parking attendant Iman Goldsborough claimed to have spoken with him, he told her 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.

(That is the video that has been posted of him at the Hypark parking garage)

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

 

[i.b.nora]

Also on Wednesday

At the Happy Harry Pharmacy in New Castle, at about 6 PM, "Wheeler said, 'Can you give me a ride to Wilmington?' He looked like he was a little upset." said pharmacist Murali Gouro. Gouro had filled prescriptions for Wheeler in the past. Gouro said he offered to call Wheeler a cab, but Wheeler declined and left the store. "He looked a little different," Gouro said.

and

"People who encountered Wheeler on Wednesday night ... say he was disoriented and rambling about his brother, mother and a Hertz rental car."

and

Cathleen Boyer, a security guard at the courthouse, said she was called down to the parking garage just before 7 p.m. after an attendant reported "a homeless man in the garage."

"He came out of the bottom level," Boyer said. "He had dirt on his right leg. His eyes were red, like he was crying or something and he said he was robbed."

Boyer said Wheeler did not smell of alcohol and that his speech wasn't slurred. He wore a black suit jacket, black pants and a white shirt, she said.

Boyer walked out of the building with two state employees when they encountered Wheeler. The two state workers offered him money.

"He told them he didn't want any money. He said 'I have plenty of money,' " Boyer said."

And, then at 10:42, the video.

 

[SuziQ]

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.

AFAIK, HRD and Cadaver dogs are trained differently. Cadaver dogs are or should be specifically trained with chemicals from a dead body. ETA: blood from a live body is different than blood from a dead body, etc. Terminology is changing and I'm probably wrong!

 

[KennyBouy]

A cpl of notes, housekeeping, he was an officer in VN, so he would not have been a staff sgt., probably some staff functionary, like Adjutant or something,...since now he's been seen disoriented Weds nite, (from stroke, or head injury, etc.), it now seems plausible that he crawled into dumpster on his own to sleep or get out of cold, and may have been killed by the crushing mechanism of the trash truck, ..but the cops say homicide so there must be a 'killing injury' and with his disorientation, he'd be an easy victim to be clunked on the head and his pockets rifled...the movement from Wilm. to Newark merits primary explanation....

 

[Steely Dan]

AFAIK, HRD and Cadaver dogs are trained differently. Cadaver dogs are or should be specifically trained with chemicals from a dead body. ETA: blood from a live body is different than blood from a dead body, etc. Terminology is changing and I'm probably wrong!

I'm 99.9999% sure you're right about that.

 

[Steely Dan]

Link

Cadaver Dogs
From Krista Mifflin, former About.com Guide

In Human Remains detection, the Nose Knows.

In a missing persons case it is hard to prove a crime happened without some evidence. In cases where a dead body will be the likely outcome of a search, Cadaver dogs are used to search, rather than standard Search and Rescue dogs. Why? Because a Search and Rescue Dog is trained to find living humans, and not detect decomposing flesh.

Cadaver Dogs are trained to locate and follow the scent of decomposing human flesh. Not a pretty thought, but their job is vital to both families of the victims, and to a justice system that ofttimes needs a body to prove a crime. These dogs work both on and off leash and are trained to detect the scent of decomposition that rises from the soil, same principle as when a dog knows where he last buried his bone....

 

[bessie]

Rumor Alert

The latest from the blog world is that Wheeler was murdered because he was about to expose Phosgene as the cause for the deaths of the birds and fish in Arkansas. I havent found a legitimate MSM source that I can link to yet, but the story is that Phosgene destined for Afghanistan was being stored at an AFB in Arkansas, and an accident caused its release.

ETA: The information is said to have come from a report issued byRussian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

 

[hockeymom]

Something is not right about this whole story. Do we know if his wife or any other family members noticed odd behavior leading up to the days he disappeared? I'm not positive but I don't think strokes present them selves like the way he was acting,but it could be some other kind of head injury.
Whats really sad is how people really didn't come to this poor mans rescue because they thought he was just some homeless guy. Whoever they thought he was,they should have gotten him help instead of letting him wander around.

 

[CHICANA]

Rumor Alert

The latest from the blog world is that Wheeler was murdered because he was about to expose Phosgene as the cause for the deaths of the birds and fish in Arkansas. I havent found a legitimate MSM source that I can link to yet, but the story is that Phosgene destined for Afghanistan was being stored at an AFB in Arkansas, and an accident caused its release.

ETA: The information is said to have come from a report issued byRussian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

I read about that. There was a claim that the accident was caused by defective equipment made/or sold by the defense contractor for which he was a consultant.

Bio of John Webber.
http://www.sldinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/John-Wheeler-Bio.pdf

 

[GrainneDhu]

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.

As I understand it, it is not unusual for people with brain injuries to become aggressive in ways that are not normal for them.

 

[GrainneDhu]

Something is not right about this whole story. Do we know if his wife or any other family members noticed odd behavior leading up to the days he disappeared? I'm not positive but I don't think strokes present them selves like the way he was acting,but it could be some other kind of head injury.
Whats really sad is how people really didn't come to this poor mans rescue because they thought he was just some homeless guy. Whoever they thought he was,they should have gotten him help instead of letting him wander around.

Several media reports have said that many people asked him if he was okay, asked him if he needed help or offered him money during the couple days when he seemed disoriented before his death. Each time, he said he was okay and refused offers of assistance.

Sometimes it's just hard to know what to do for someone who is not making the same sorts of choices I would make (for instance, walking around in public carrying one shoe in their hand). I don't want to leave someone who isn't competent to make their own decisions without assistance but I also want to respect the autonomy of other people who are competent.

A few weeks ago, the New York Times ran a story about the last homeless person living in Times Square (not that there aren't homeless people in other parts of NYC). This man has been living in the area around Times Square for something like 20 years. He has been offered housing repeatedly (as in, on a daily basis). He's not being offered a spot at a shelter, he's being offered an apartment.

And he turns them down every time.

He says that people around Times Square need his protection. It's not completely clear what he means but it is apparently very important to him.

So what to do to help him? While it's not a lifestyle I would choose for myself, he is clearly making that choice even though he has other options. He has managed to feed and clothe himself plus survive NYC's winters for many years. I think it would be difficult to argue he's not competent to make his own decisions, given those facts.

As painful as the information about Mr Wheeler's last days is, I'm not sure what more people could have done for him. Most of the people who expressed concern or offered him assistance had never met him before, so they had no way to know if he was behaving in a way that was unusual for him. As far as they knew, he might have been wandering the streets like that for the last 20 years.

It's so difficult to know when to force assistance on someone who says they do not want it that it's not surprising that sometimes the wrong decisions are made.

 

[CHICANA]

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???

Maybe he was afraid to leave the building ? Knew someone was after him ? I just don't believe this was a random killing. IMO, this man knew too much about too many and someone didn't want him talking.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Surely if he had suffered a brain injury from being mugged the ME will find that in the autopsy.

Has the autopsy report been released yet?

IMO

 

[CHICANA]

His attorney...

Marin, whose office is in Wilmington's central business district, said Wheeler sounded "fine, excellent" when they last spoke by phone, two days before Wheeler showed up in the courthouse garage. Asked if Wheeler was prone to episodes of mental confusion, Marin said, "Oh, God, not at all."

http://www.lineofduty.com/the-blotter/110474-de-cops-what-happened-to-john-wheeler-

 

[slowpoke]

This is certainly a mysterious case. Poor man.

Just going over some things I've read:

Not wearing a coat -- was stated that it was unusual to NOT be wearing a coat in that cold weather

Was not holding a briefcase -- Mr. Wheeler claimed it had been stolen. Could his coat have been stolen, also?

Only wearing one left shoe, but was carrying his right shoe in hand -- odd

Limping -- injured from scuffle with attacker who stole his briefcase? Or his foot was painful due to gout or bad blisters or other injury (reason for not wearing the shoe?)

Eyes red as if he had been crying -- upset over being attacked and briefcase stolen?

Slacks appeared to have some dirt on it -- evidence of scuffle with attacker?

----
Could the attack itself have triggered or caused him to experience a stroke? Brain injury?

What a mystery! I hope the autopsy answers a lot of questions...
----

 

[hockeymom]

I really wish his family would speak out,especially since this man who seems to have a distinguished career is now being accused of arson. Either he had some kind of brain tumor causing him to behave in a different way or someone is trying to make him look like he was crazy.
The people closest to him should know.

 

[robinparten]

Several media reports have said that many people asked him if he was okay, asked him if he needed help or offered him money during the couple days when he seemed disoriented before his death. Each time, he said he was okay and refused offers of assistance.

Sometimes it's just hard to know what to do for someone who is not making the same sorts of choices I would make (for instance, walking around in public carrying one shoe in their hand). I don't want to leave someone who isn't competent to make their own decisions without assistance but I also want to respect the autonomy of other people who are competent.

A few weeks ago, the New York Times ran a story about the last homeless person living in Times Square (not that there aren't homeless people in other parts of NYC). This man has been living in the area around Times Square for something like 20 years. He has been offered housing repeatedly (as in, on a daily basis). He's not being offered a spot at a shelter, he's being offered an apartment.

And he turns them down every time.

He says that people around Times Square need his protection. It's not completely clear what he means but it is apparently very important to him.

So what to do to help him? While it's not a lifestyle I would choose for myself, he is clearly making that choice even though he has other options. He has managed to feed and clothe himself plus survive NYC's winters for many years. I think it would be difficult to argue he's not competent to make his own decisions, given those facts.

As painful as the information about Mr Wheeler's last days is, I'm not sure what more people could have done for him. Most of the people who expressed concern or offered him assistance had never met him before, so they had no way to know if he was behaving in a way that was unusual for him. As far as they knew, he might have been wandering the streets like that for the last 20 years.

It's so difficult to know when to force assistance on someone who says they do not want it that it's not surprising that sometimes the wrong decisions are made.

I agree, the key issue is that the people he encountered didn't know him well, so they could not gauge his behavior. I am really leaning toward the theory that he had a stroke - my husband had three strokes last year, and fortunately he has not suffered any lasting damage from them. But the thing that made me realize something was really wrong was the way he acted the morning after he had the strokes, I knew something wasn't right by the way he was acting and the things he was doing. But if a stranger had encountered him they would not have realized anything was seriously wrong. In fact, my husband worked for a whole day after he had the strokes (of course not realizing he had had them) and people thought he was acting oddly, but just thought he was having an off day. In my husband's case, it took someone who knew him really well (me, his wife) to realize something was really wrong.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I have thought about him maybe having a stroke or some other medical issue but LE has a very legitimate reason for saying this case is a homicide. They know something none of us do to make them declare it a homicide. IMO, they know the COD by now but are not releasing it.

Now he could have been attacked earlier and somehow got away from the person but they may have caught back up with him later on.

So until LE comes out and says they were wrong classifying this case a homicide, I am going to hope and pray they find the person who did this to Mr. Wheeler.

IMO