GUILTY IL - Jacob Wheeler, 22, & Jessica Evans, 17, White County, 25 Aug 2012 - #1

[SmoothOperator]

There is a small gas station/food mart in Crossville, just a few miles away. But I don't know if it stays open all night or not. There is probably an all-night gas station in Carmi, and I know the Shell Mart next to the Interstate, just outside of Grayville (to the north of the campsite) would be open. However, nothing indicates that Jacob and Jessi went to any of these places. Someone would have seen them and remembered, I'm positive. Especially if they got in an altercation with Coston.

Thank you for the info about possible establishments that could have been open during the time in question.. And I'm not at all implying that the two got into an altercation with Coston at any public establishment(actually that's never even crossed my mind as its not a realistic possibility imo).. My question regarding local businesses was strictly in looking at possible locations that the two would have been in their vehicle driving to and it is at that point that I theorized "could have" been when the couple crossed paths with Coston.. On some road, local, back road.. Not at/near a business..

Others have offered up the suggestion of possibly their being in their vehicle moving from one fishing spot to another, or from a fishing spot back to where they were actually camping.. This suggestion imo sounds even more plausible than they're having made a run to a gas station or store.. Jmo

Anyway one thing I feel certain about at this point in time with the statements from Maier is that there was a "random type situation" that occurred between the couple and Coston.. A random type situation that in most cases would be standard and not lead to anyone being harmed..

Maier says that it's this random type situation that led to the horrible events.. To be clear, again what I'm saying is that my opinion is that there was a "random type situation" that occurred when the couple initially crossed paths with Coston.. This is what brought the couple's existence to Coston's knowledge.. Before the random situation occurred where these two world's collided according to Maier Coston was not even aware of the couples existence..

I don't know I'll leave it at that as I'm pretty detailed in exactly what it is that I present as a theory to begin with, but for some reason your reading the theories of implying something completely different.. Something I'm not even saying or implying:waitasec:

If I go into anymore detail I'm gonna have literally talked myself into a 360..round and round in circles.. lol..

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

Since I seem to be the one to out the elephant in the room. . .anybody else feeling any anger towards the bartender that night? Good gawd, if Coston was as really drunk and obnoxious that night as been reported, then somebody over served him! :furious: Not trying to be too harsh on the bartender, it probably never crossed their mind that Coston was going to go out and kill two young kids. . .but still. . .it irritates me! :banghead:

I see your point...

But if Coston wanted to drink that night, he was going to get it any way he could.

He very possibly had a bottle or two or ten of liquor in his car, too.

He could have been drinking before, during, and after his visit to the American Legion.

JMO

 

[iamnotagolem]

I'm not sure why you quoted my post for this, that's not what I said. I said that if Coston was out of control, Jacob may have grabbed his gun (for protection) and pointed it at him (to get him to stop) or possibly fired into the air (to show that it was loaded).

I personally don't see most people just pulling out a gun and shooting someone if it's not necessary. I also don't imagine most rational men would continue to go after a younger, physically fit man with a gun if they were unarmed themselves. Whether my scenario is totally off base or not, it's pretty obvious that Coston was not a rational man at that point in time.

As far as that goes, it's just as possible that he attacked when Jacob reached for the gun and managed to get it away from him then. I just thought there may have been a couple of shots fired before the actual murders because 3 shots seems like an odd number. I guess it's also possible that there were only 4 bullets in the gun, but I just feel that he emptied the gun on Jessica. MOO

I bolded the portion of your post that I was responding to. I'm not sure if you own guns or have your permit to carry, but if you are carrying a gun for protection you do NOT pull a gun unless you intend to shoot the attacker. You do not fire a warning shot, you do not point it at the attacker and say back off. If you are in fear for you life to the point that it is obvious you need a gun, you pull the gun and you shoot the attacker, you shoot until the threat is eliminated.

I am by no means saying that DC didn't get Jakes gun and use it on him and Jessica, but if he did, I am guess that he immobilized jake prior to obtaining his gun. If two guns were used, then possibly DC used his own gun, shot Jake in the head, then took Jakes gun and shot Jessica.

Must attend to kids, will try to explain my point better later.

 

[Chris_Texas]

I too would like to know what took place leading up to this. But really more to fill in the blanks. Obviously nothing this killer says can necessarily be believed, and nothing he says can even begin to justify this crime. But there are some oddities in this case and I am looking forward to having those questions answered.

 

[Confusion]

I bolded the portion of your post that I was responding to. I'm not sure if you own guns or have your permit to carry, but if you are carrying a gun for protection you do NOT pull a gun unless you intend to shoot the attacker. You do not fire a warning shot, you do not point it at the attacker and say back off. If you are in fear for you life to the point that it is obvious you need a gun, you pull the gun and you shoot the attacker, you shoot until the threat is eliminated.

SBM
I don't doubt that you (and many others) would just pull out a gun and kill someone with it if they were advancing to attack you, but that doesn't mean everybody would; which is probably why some people do get killed with their own guns. I just don't see a trained soldier panicking that way anymore than I see a police officer doing it. With an armed drunken "psycho", it would no doubt be the smartest move.

Maybe the laws are different where you live, but every place I've lived, it's illegal to shoot someone if there is any other option (such as running away), and at this point there has been nothing stating that Coston had a gun of his own. If he did, then I agree that it would be foolish to just stand and point a gun at someone who appears to want to kill you.

 

[iamnotagolem]

SBM
I don't doubt that you (and many others) would just pull out a gun and kill someone with it if they were advancing to attack you, but that doesn't mean everybody would; which is probably why some people do get killed with their own guns. I just don't see a trained soldier panicking that way anymore than I see a police officer doing it. With an armed drunken "psycho", it would no doubt be the smartest move.

Maybe the laws are different where you live, but every place I've lived, it's illegal to shoot someone if there is any other option (such as running away), and at this point there has been nothing stating that Coston had a gun of his own. If he did, then I agree that it would be foolish to just stand and point a gun at someone who appears to want to kill you.

I live in one of the least gun friendly states, everyone has the right to self defense.

I hope we soon have more information from LE so we know what happened that night.

 

[Confusion]

I'm guessing that a lot of questions won't get answered until the trial, or maybe never if he just pleads guilty to get a shorter sentence.

 

[88keys]

SBM

Maybe the laws are different where you live, but every place I've lived, it's illegal to shoot someone if there is any other option (such as running away), and at this point there has been nothing stating that Coston had a gun of his own. If he did, then I agree that it would be foolish to just stand and point a gun at someone who appears to want to kill you.

I'm really curious as to where there are laws that say it's not OK to defend yourself, with deadly force if necessary.

I live in the LEAST gun-friendly state in the union, and we still have the right to defend ourselves.



We all have so many questions and theories...but I just don't think we're going to know until Tuesday.

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

I'm really curious as to where there are laws that say it's not OK to defend yourself, with deadly force if necessary.

I live in the LEAST gun-friendly state in the union, and we still have the right to defend ourselves.



We all have so many questions and theories...but I just don't think we're going to know until Tuesday.

In my state... If an intruder comes into your home with intent to steal and who knows what else....

And then you handed him/her all your jewels....

And the perp cut his finger on one of the jewels....

Then YOU would be sued for injuring the intruder!

:banghead::maddening::banghead::maddening:

 

[nao]

jmo think it's road rage, its said Jacob loved his truck (i know that loyalty, its ya best bud, never lets you down) so i did'nt think jacob ditched it.

Jacob would of got out and confronted danny C, well that did'nt go well , so now Jessica is probaly yelling and screaming up a storm, hence the boom boom boom to quiet her.
It takes a bit of force to remove a bumper so- jmo-danny C backed out of the entanglement lost his bumper. Dumb and drunk.

Don't forget danny C has children, really rural, lots of people there lives changed forever, just cause danny C was dumb and drunk, thou it sounds by the comments from the legion, danny c was just a sh** desturbing accident waiting to happen.(not just that nite-just his personality-or maybe just when he drinks)

the motive-reason will be nothing, just a dude in a bad mood

 

[Public_Hysteria]

jmo think it's road rage, its said Jacob loved his truck (i know that loyalty, its ya best bud, never lets you down) so i did'nt think jacob ditched it.

Jacob would of got out and confronted danny C, well that did'nt go well , so now Jessica is probaly yelling and screaming up a storm, hence the boom boom boom to quiet her.
It takes a bit of force to remove a bumper so- jmo-danny C backed out of the entanglement lost his bumper. Dumb and drunk.

Don't forget danny C has children, really rural, lots of people there lives changed forever, just cause danny C was dumb and drunk, thou it sounds by the comments from the legion, danny c was just a sh** desturbing accident waiting to happen.(not just that nite-just his personality-or maybe just when he drinks)

the motive-reason will be nothing, just a dude in a bad mood

Sadly, I think that this is probably the most likely scenario. People can get quite worked up when road rage is involved, we had someone not so long ago who was stabbed over (what I believed to be) quite a minor accident. Not to mention that DC was seen very intoxicated earlier in the night, which surely would have exacerbated anything that happened out there. Sometimes there's just no reasoning with a drunk.

I also kind of feel that it could possibly have something to do with hunting. If DC was out in the woods intoxicated and hunting (not quite sure what the liklihood of this is, I'm not a hunter myself), it's quite possible that he accidentally shot Jacob, then shot Jessi because she was screaming (or to get rid of the only witness), then tried to cover his tracks by 'staging' the murder/suicide. People do some stupid things while drunk, this could have made perfect sense to him at the time.

Of course, this is all just speculation. Hopefully we find out more after Tuesday. Whatever the case, it's horrible for all involved.

I feel terribly for DCs family, no doubt their lives have been shattered because of one horrific act.

Prayers for all involved.

 

[Angelonline]

WARNING A LITTLE GRAPHIC...

Okay I thought about this a lot since last night. So here is my amatuer profile of Coston (based on previous arrest and noted behaviour on that night) and my two probable scenarios.
Coston does not respect authority, he probably has a mood / personality disorder and self medicates with alcohol, which only makes his mood/personality disorder worse to others, but makes him feel better. When drinking he feels invincible and thinks women find him attractive. Drunk or sober he has little respect for women(this is strictly a guess) or law (I inferred this from the repeated arrests for the same things). Coston drinks heavily at times and acts obnoxious when drinking, but is more "sober" than some due to a high tolerance, thus he does not black out or have much memory loss. Coston also tends to have some degree of paranoia and thinks everyone is out to get him/ No one will give him a break.

Scenario 1- Coston while driving home stops to urinate by the road side. He sees or hears someone so goes deeper into the wooded area to see what is going on. (He is feeling invincible). He comes upon Jacob and Jessica sees they are out camping. He thinks Jessica is pretty (and is certain she finds him attractive) so he says something crass to Jacob about her. Jacob yells for him to get lost, go away and possible calls him a name or two. Coston, says something like "no one dog talks me" and he gets in Jacobs face, when Jacob reacts Coston pulls out a gun that he had taken out when he stopped to urinate and shoots Jake point blank. Jessie starts screaming and while he was attracted to her just moments before now he can find nothing but contempt for this women who wont shut up. So he shoots her several times just to make sure she will stop screaming. Coston then sobers up real quick and carries out the rest to make it look like a murder suicide, losing the bumper when pushing the truck off the road. So he throws it and Jake in the back of his truck and deposits them in seperate areas.

Scenario 2- Jake and Jessica are loading up to come home, since Jess has to work early the next morning and Coston comes along driving erraticaly. Jake who is partially in the road while packing up the truck is hit by Coston. When Coston gets out to see what he has hit, he sees Jakes lying there and Jessica starts screaming and runs at him. He realizes immediately he is in big trouble for killing someone while DUI. He makes a quick decision pulls his gun and shoots, her repeatedly to make the screaming stop. He then realizes Jakes is not dead only slightly injured or stunned, so he shot him once to finish off what he has started. Then carries out the rest to make it look like a murder suicide. Sometime during all of this he also realizes there is blood on his bumper from the accident and he gets rid of the bumper. (The coroner only said cause of death was a gun shot wound, I did not read where he said no other injuries.)

 

[88keys]

I also kind of feel that it could possibly have something to do with hunting. If DC was out in the woods intoxicated and hunting (not quite sure what the liklihood of this is, I'm not a hunter myself), it's quite possible that he accidentally shot Jacob, then shot Jessi because she was screaming (or to get rid of the only witness), then tried to cover his tracks by 'staging' the murder/suicide. People do some stupid things while drunk, this could have made perfect sense to him at the time.

The only thing is there is not much that you hunt at night. The best hunting for almost anything is usually early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Twighlight times. Racoons are hunted at night, but not many people hunt them (and it usually involves dogs). Maybe spotlighting deer or hunting coyotes...but I just don't think someone that intoxicated is going to think "I know! I'll go do some illegal hunting!' Of course, who knows what a drunk is thinking? And that could explain why he went back south instead of staying at his home to the north of the campsite.

I wonder if Jacob's truck was parked off of the side of the road, and Coston (being drunk) hit it. Maybe that's how the argument started.

 

[Backwoods]

I have to wonder if some kind of property rights/trespassing dispute might be involved.

Though I realize the couple wasn't likely on Coston's property, I do believe it has been said they were on private property ...? Maybe it was property that Coston, especially in his inebriated state, somehow felt entitled to "watch over" -- maybe he investigated, wouldn't believe they had permission to be there, and things escalated...

 

[concernedmother]

http://www.14news.com/story/19445912/former-neighbors-shocked-over-accused-murderers-actions
snipped
Those 14 News spoke with on Monday who know Danny Coston say his arrest and the crimes he's accused of committing came as quite a surprise.

"Shock, just total shock. Because from what I'd seen of him, from what I knew of him, he didn't seem like the type of person that would be in any way connected with something like this," said Michael Champion, a former co-worker of Coston's.

Champion says he worked with Coston about a decade ago.

"Well, he seemed kinda quiet. He seemed friendly and outgoing. He wasn't loud or obnoxious, violent, anything like that. He just seemed like a nice guy, you know," Champion said.


A nice guy. That's a description we got from several people where Coston grew up, south of Carmi. A place where this double murder investigation has many choosing to stay away from the camera, including a former neighbor.

"I knew him growing up. He would ride by here on his four-wheelers, three-wheelers, hunted, fished. I've never, I never knew anything bad from Danny," said the neighbor. "He's always been very polite to me, and I just hate it. I feel sorry for all three families."

snipped On Monday, the White County State's Attorney was drafting formal charges against the 36-year-old. He tells us he plans to file them first thing tomorrow morning

 

[ttcRider]

I always find it funny when people say they know someone from when they actually were friends with him 10 plus years ago! I'm certainly not the same person I was 10 -15 years ago. Why not ask some of the people at that Legion that night what kind of guy he was. :banghead:

 

[iamnotagolem]

I always find it funny when people say they know someone from when they actually were friends with him 10 plus years ago! I'm certainly not the same person I was 10 -15 years ago. Why not ask some of the people at that Legion that night what kind of guy he was. :banghead:

Things certainly change as we age, my husband recently discovered a high school classmate died. He was upset since he was friends with him all through school and his first sleep over was at his house. He did a little googling to find out how he died. Turns out it was suicide by auto accident, he was going to court the next day due to taking naked photos of a teen. He certainly wasn't the same guy my husband knew. People change.

 

[scorekeeper]

It could be quite possible that the drinking caused the divorce or the divorce caused the increase in drinking....or both

People change a lot from early 20's to mid 30's....hopefully, they grow up and become more responsible

 

[SmoothOperator]

l

There's a lot of reasons aside from race, like height, weight, hair color. Couldn't we either list a variety of reasons instead of one?

Well I'd say you're free to name as many differing reasons as you'd like to come up with.. Imo T4Tide stated Race as one that imo would be a visual difference that could be easily distinguished with certainty and without doubt.. You or anyone can name as many others as can be thought of, but imo ones that you gave as examples such as height, weight well with those there is an entire differing spectrum that can exist an therefor make it just a whole helluva a lot more difficult than coming out and stating something such as race which can be determined immediately, with certainty and not all the in between spectrum that exists with height, weight, etc..

I do not understand the issue that is had with using a differentiating characteristic such as race?.. Is that a problem?.. If not then I do not at all understand the need to have T4TIDE name anything other than race as a differentiating characteristic..??

It is no different then saying I have green eyes and she has Hazel eyes.. It is just quite obviously an easier time in differentiating the color of my skin versus something like the tiny amount of color of my eyes..

 

[pinkzebra]

Totally agree with Smooth Operator. People can have different perspectives on height, weight, etc., but something obvious that can be distinguished right away IS race, no matter if you're Indian, African American, Asian, etc. Much easier and in no way detrimental.